Global - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

AAA Forecasts a Busy Thanksgiving Travel Week

November 18, 2021

Last year’s Thanksgiving was an unusual one: with travel restrictions largely in place and mass vaccinations still months away, fewer people traveled home to see their families for the holiday. According to AAA, however, that will not be the case in 2021 as the transportation agency expects 6.4 million more people to travel than in 2020. Lifted restrictions as well as clearly defined safety procedures for air travel have made many Americans confident about taking a trip for Turkey Day, Continue reading →

Automotive, Transportation, Travel, Air Travel, Thanksgiving, Holidays, Supply & Demand, Global

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

[VIDEO] How the ‘Great Resignation’ Is Reshaping the American Workforce

November 16, 2021

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The pandemic completely upended the concept of work in the U.S., resulting first in mass layoffs as companies closed down followed by mass resignations when businesses returned. This video looks at how the first problem may have led to the “Great Resignation” as workers continue to leave their jobs and companies struggle to attract talent.

Questions:

Why have employment rates in travel and hospitality struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels?
What are some of the causes of the Great Resignation? Continue reading →

Compensation, Hiring, Motivation, Travel, Global, Human Resources, Supply & Demand, Labor Relations

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Videos

Thanksgiving Prices Increase as Supply Chain Problems Continue

November 4, 2021

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While shoppers managed to buy most of their treats this Halloween despite the current supply chain crisis, unfortunately the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday will be a bit trickier. Like many other consumer products, nearly every component of the traditional Turkey Day dinner will be more expensive than ever before. For example, an executive chef in Arkansas said that he paid over 20 percent more for 25 pasture-raised turkeys than he did in 2020. And according to Norman Brown, director of sweet Continue reading →

Promotions, Supply chains, Product Distribution, Marketing, Shipping, Global, Thanksgiving, Holidays, Supply & Demand

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

[VIDEO] Why the U.S. Is Always Hitting a “Debt Ceiling”

November 2, 2021

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As debates in Washington about raising the debt ceiling once again make the news, this video provides a comprehensive and straightforward explanation of the U.S. national debt. Along with examining the sale of government bonds, the video also considers whether or not the country should retain the debt limit.

Questions:

How does the sale of bonds benefit both investors and the government?
Do you think the U.S. should continue to maintain a debt limit? Why or why not?

Bonds, National debt, Economics, Regulation, Securities Markets, Debt ceiling, Global, Ethics, Federal Reserve

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Videos

This Year’s Halloween Sales Expected to Increase after Quiet 2020

October 29, 2021

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While supply chain problems are bringing uncertainty to the upcoming Christmas season, retail analysts are optimistic that Halloween will be a vast improvement over 2020. Last year, the pandemic largely prevented kids from trick or treating and discouraged many adults from having costume parties, leading to a multi-billion dollar drop in retail sales during the spooky season. With an increasingly vaccinated population and lifted restrictions across the country, though, sales from 2021’s Halloween festivities are expected to increase by 20 Continue reading →

Retail, Supply chains, Marketing, Product Distribution, Global, Halloween, Seasonal, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Experts Advise Americans to Start Holiday Shopping Early

October 21, 2021

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For months, supply chain problems have led to increased prices and long delays that show no sign of ending anytime soon. As a result, industry analysts are recommending that consumers start their holiday shopping as soon as possible if they want their items to arrive by December. While supplies remain low because of factors like jammed ports and truck shortages, demand is expected to ramp up this holiday season as experts predict a 7 to 9 percent increase in retail Continue reading →

Global, E-commerce, Supply & Demand, Supply chains, Transportation, Operations Management, Product Distribution

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, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Trending Products on TikTok Lead to Massive Sales

October 19, 2021

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With more than 1 billion users worldwide, TikTok has become a commercial powerhouse as companies fight for the attention of this enormous user base. Products that go viral on the short video platform are almost guaranteed to see sales skyrocket, leading some stores to create “As Seen On TikTok” sections to corral all these in-demand items together. For example, the New York-based candy store It’Sugar started stocking a brand of fruit-shaped gummies after they appeared in untold thousands of videos Continue reading →

Marketing, Promotions, Global, Product Distribution, Social Media, Supply & Demand, TikTok

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Southwest Airlines Suddenly Cancels more than 2,000 Flights

October 13, 2021

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Last month, we looked at how air travel has become so complicated during the pandemic that people are turning to travel agents to make sense of the mess. But not even the most experienced agents could have prepared Southwest passengers for the problems that many encountered this past weekend. On Saturday the carrier cancelled more than 1,000 flights and then another 800 on Sunday, followed by 360 more cancellations and close to 1,000 delayed flights on Monday. Southwest apologized for Continue reading →

Travel, Product Distribution, Global, Labor Shortage, Supply & Demand, Airlines, Supply chains, Transportation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

[VIDEO] Why China’s Evergrande Has Global Markets on Edge

October 8, 2021

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For weeks, stock markets across the globe have become increasingly volatile as investors await the fate of Evergrande, an enormous Chinese real estate company with more than $300 billion in debt. Analysts predict that the property developer will not be able to pay back what it owes, which would likely have damaging ripple effects across the global economy. The video below looks at Evergrande’s current debt debacle and the possible ways that this situation could be resolved.

Questions:

Why are Continue reading →

Debt crisis, Credit crunch, Economics, China, Global, Ethics, Corporate bailouts, Real Estate, Stock markets

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 18: Financial Management, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Videos

Hours-Long Outage Adds to Issues for Facebook

October 5, 2021

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More than 3.5 billion people around the world communicate through Facebook and its collection of apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus. But for about six hours yesterday, no one was using these platforms as Facebook disappeared from the Internet. Company representatives said that this outage occurred when “backbone routers that coordinate network traffic” failed and brought services completely to a halt. The total shutdown meant that Facebook could not remotely reset its network, requiring it to send out a Continue reading →

Marketing, Operations Management, Regulation, Global, Facebook, Ethics, Product Distribution, Social Media, Antitrust

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media