Regulation - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Equifax Fined up to $700 Million for 2017 Data Breach

August 2, 2019

About two years ago, hackers breached the credit reporting agency Equifax and stole personal information from nearly 150 million people. Along with names and birthdates, the hackers also obtained social security and driver’s license numbers. As consumers responded in anger and disbelief that Equifax could be so negligent, government regulators immediately started investigating the agency. Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the results of that inquiry: Equifax agreed to pay a minimum settlement of $575 million that could Continue reading →

Regulation, Security, Cyberattack, Equifax, Credit, FTC, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Google Accused of Stealing Content from Lyrics Website

July 25, 2019

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Since 2009 the website Genius has provided music lovers with a reliable source for lyrics to countless songs. A few years ago, though, the company noticed that someone else was exploring the site along with its usual batch of curious fans. The situation started when Genius published the lyrics to the hit song “Panda” by Desiigner with help from the artist himself. Since the company received assistance directly from the source, their lyrics served as the only accurate transcription of Continue reading →

Product Development, Ethics, Regulation, Entrepreneurship, Startups, Silicon Valley, Antitrust, Google

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

FTC Hits Facebook with $5 Billion Fine

July 23, 2019

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In March 2018, the New York Times revealed that Facebook had allowed Cambridge Analytica to gather personal information from more than 50 million users without their knowledge. Soon after the newspaper published its findings, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began its own investigation of the social media giant. After about a year of inquiry, last week the government agency imposed a $5 billion fine on Facebook, the largest penalty ever issued by the FTC.

It is also the same amount Continue reading →

Social Media, Cambridge Analytica, FTC, Regulation, Data Mining, Facebook, Legal, Ethics, CEO

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Chicken Producers Face Price-Fixing Investigation

June 27, 2019

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Last week, the U.S. Justice Department intervened in a class-action lawsuit against some of the nation’s largest poultry producers. The plaintiffs in the case claim that companies like Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, and Pilgrim’s Pride conspired together to fix the price of chicken. Given that these allegations involve some of the top firms in a huge industry, the federal government decided to take over legal proceedings for the rest of the year. “The Justice Department wants to make sure they Continue reading →

Regulation, Legal, Production, Poultry, Operations Management, Tyson, Ethics, Food & Drink, Price-fixing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Uber and Lyft Drivers Strike for Improved Pay

May 10, 2019

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Today, Uber will start to trade shares on the New York Stock Exchange in one of the mostly highly anticipated IPOs ever. Although the ride-hailing service had been pushing for a $100 billion valuation, it began the day trading at $45 per share, amounting to a valuation of about $82.4 billion. This enormous windfall will create instant fortunes for those who invested early in Uber. For the company’s millions of drivers, however, it’s unlikely they will benefit that much from Continue reading →

Regulation, Global, Uber, Ethics, Lyft, Labor Relations, Strikes, Compensation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

[VIDEO] Why Robocalls Are Almost Impossible to Stop

April 26, 2019

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In 2018 Americans received as many as 48 billion unwanted robocalls from telemarketers and scammers. Although legislators have tried to put a stop to these irritating interruptions, completely stamping out unwanted or fraudulent robocalls appears to be a nearly impossible task. This video shows how the power of the Internet as well as regulatory loopholes allow robocallers to operate without much interference.

Questions:

Why is it often difficult for regulators to collect penalties issued against robocall companies?
Why can’t regulators Continue reading →

Robocalls, Global, Telemarketing, Ethics, Regulation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos

Brexit Confusion Does Damage to U.K. Businesses

April 2, 2019

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In 2016 a majority of U.K. voters chose to leave the European Union, a controversial decision that led to years of confusion and infighting among lawmakers. In fact, British officials were supposed to have all the details of “Brexit” hammered out by March 29, 2019. They missed that deadline, of course, and unfortunately aren’t any closer to brokering a deal to leave the European economic community. Now the nation faces the risk of crashing out of the EU with no Continue reading →

EU, U.K., Europe, Global, Currency, Ethics, Regulation, Manufacturing, Product Distribution, Brexit

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 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Update: U.S. Grounds All Boeing 737 Max 8 Planes

March 14, 2019

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On Tuesday we looked at how countries around the world responded to the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Initial investigations showed similarities between this disaster and the crash of a Lion Air flight five months ago, which also involved a Boeing 737 Max 8 model jetliner. As a result, China and Indonesia almost immediately pulled the aircraft from use while countries like the U.K., India, and Egypt quickly followed suit. But not every country joined the international Continue reading →

Regulation, Transportation, Air Travel, Safety, Global, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Boeing Faces Fallout after Tragic Plane Crash in Ethiopia

March 12, 2019

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On Sunday Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after take off, killing all 157 people on board. Although the cause of this tragedy will be under investigation for some time, many in the aviation industry were quick to blame the disaster on the model of aircraft used for the flight: the Boeing 737 Max 8. After all, this marks the second time within five months that this type of jetliner has crashed soon after taking off. In October a Lion Continue reading →

Regulation, Transportation, Air Travel, Safety, Global, Reputation, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Philadelphia Passes Ban on Cashless Stores

March 8, 2019

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According to a recent Pew Research Center study, approximately 29 percent of Americans said that they don’t use cash for any purchases during a typical week. Instead, they depend on credit and debit cards as well as mobile payment apps like Apple Pay. These increasingly cashless consumers are becoming so common that some companies have stopped accepting paper and coin money for the sake of efficiency. For instance, in 2016 the salad chain Sweetgreen announced it was going cashless in Continue reading →

Regulation, Operations Management, Legal, Ethics, Product Distribution, Money, Cash, Retail

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media