Chapter 3: Globalization - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

McDonald’s BTS Meal Causes Global Frenzy

June 15, 2021

In fall 2020 McDonald’s launched the Travis Scott meal, a branded partnership that significantly boosted sales at the fast food chain and earned more than $20 million for the rapper himself. The success of this promotion led to more collaborations with recording artists, including McDonald’s latest branded venture with the South Korean pop group BTS. According to observers, U.S. sales of the BTS meal are currently outpacing last year’s Travis Scott promotion, with restaurant visits up 12 percent from the Continue reading →

Promotions, Marketing, Entertainment, Global, Music, Ethics, Product Distribution, Asia, Coronavirus, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Companies Confront Rising Costs by Reducing Packaging

June 8, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

The pandemic led to widespread disruptions across the world’s supply chains, leading to inflation and higher prices for many commodities. In response to these increasing costs, some companies have elected to reduce the size of their packaging rather than raise prices. For instance, Walmart shrank its Great Value paper towel rolls from 168 sheets to 120 sheets while the Tillamook County Creamery Association reduced its family sized ice cream containers from 56 ounces to 48 ounces.

“Consumers check the Continue reading →

Ethics, Supply & Demand, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Supply chains, Economics, Packaging, Marketing, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

[VIDEO] The Economics of IKEA: Why Does Labor Lead to Love?

May 28, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

The Swedish company IKEA is famous across the globe for its meatballs and its wide array of furniture that customers must assemble at home. This video looks at how the retailer encourages sales by creating the “IKEA effect” with its winding floor plan that causes customers to snake through a series of product showrooms.

Questions:

What sort of strategies does IKEA use to keep costs low?
How does the “IKEA effect” encourage customers to purchase furniture and home goods?

Retail, Packaging, Economics, Operations Management, Product Distribution, Global, IKEA

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

AT&T to Sell WarnerMedia in Multi-Billion Dollar Deal with Discovery

May 18, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

In 2018, the telecommunications conglomerate AT&T purchased the media company Time Warner for a whopping $85 billion. Along with placing the telecom giant in prime position to reshape the entertainment world, the enormous price tag associated with this deal also saddled AT&T with a huge amount of debt. The company hoped that streaming services like HBO Max would bring in new customers and revenue streams that would justify its massive investment.

Three years later, however, it appears that AT&T’s merger Continue reading →

Streaming, Television, Product Distribution, Global, Cable, Mergers & Acquisitions, Product Development, Entertainment

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Gasoline Pipeline Hack Causes Fuel Shortage on East Coast

May 12, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Last week, hackers began a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, a major conduit that supplies nearly half of the East Coast’s oil. The hack completely shut down petroleum transportation as the Colonial Pipeline Company “proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations, and affected some of our IT systems.” Although the company expects to have most of its capabilities returned by the end of the week, the shutdown has resulted in Continue reading →

Logistics, Operations Management, Supply & Demand, Ethics, Transporatation, Energy, Oil, Economics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

Microchip Shortage Impacts Everyone from Tech Giants to Dog Groomers

May 4, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

At the beginning of the year, we looked at how an explosion in demand for consumer electronics led to a shortage of microchips across the globe. This semiconductor shortfall has continued in the intervening months and its impact has spread across numerous industries. Along with preventing carmakers from installing vital microchips in vehicles, the shortage has also hindered production of iPads, farming equipment, and even dog grooming machines.

“This particular problem affects all aspects of manufacturing, from little people Continue reading →

Supply chains, Product Distribution, Supply & Demand, Global, Coronavirus, Manufacturing, Pandemic, Microchips

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] How Bilateral Trade Agreements Are Obstructing the Global Vaccination Process

April 29, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

The current vaccine rollout that is going strong throughout the country is largely the result of multi-billion dollar deals struck between economic powers like the U.S. and U.K. with pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Moderna. But while bilateral trade agreements across the globe allowed for the largest vaccine rollout in history, this video looks at why these deals are also delaying the vaccination process in struggling countries like Brazil and India.

Questions:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of bilateral Continue reading →

Supply chains, Operations Management, Global, Product Distribution, Ethics, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Trade Agreements

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Videos

Airlines Prepare for Travelers to Return This Summer

April 27, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Last year, the onset of the pandemic devastated air travel as lockdown orders kept planes on the ground all over the world. After numerous airlines nearly collapsed as a result, the federal government provided the industry with three bailouts amounting to tens of billions of dollars in relief. This allowed airlines to keep many of their employees on the payroll while they waited to see if travel would recover. And now with ticket sales on the rise once again, analysts Continue reading →

Airlines, Regulation, Transportation, Hiring, Travel, Global, Layoffs, Human Resources, Coronavirus

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

How Supply Chain Delays Are Hurting Small Businesses

April 22, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Earlier this week, we looked at how pandemic lockdowns led to increased consumer demand as well as supply chain problems that are delaying deliveries around the world. Large-scale disruptions such as the Suez Canal blockage and the traffic jam at the Port of Los Angeles have resulted in wide-ranging financial damage to all sorts of small operators who cannot get their hands on vital merchandise. For instance, one restaurant in Oklahoma must pay $200 for a case of gloves that Continue reading →

Transportation, Product Distribution, Operations Management, Shipping, Entrepreneurship, Supply & Demand, Coronavirus, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

[VIDEO] Supply Chain Problems Lead to Traffic Jam in Port of L.A.

April 20, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

On any given day since mid-2020, the Port of Los Angeles has had as many as 30 container ships anchored outside and waiting to eventually dock. This video looks at how the pandemic inspired a boom in online purchases while also causing a shortage of shipping workers, leading to the transportation crisis currently taking place at ports across the world.

Questions:

How did the pandemic lead to supply chain problems that caused traffic jams at major ports around the Continue reading →

Shipping, Operations Management, Supply & Demand, Global, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Transportation, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos