NickelsMcHughMcHugh - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Grocery Delivery Services Operate on Tight Schedules

July 7, 2017

For more than a decade, the growing e-commerce industry has turned the retail world on its head. From books to beds and everything in between, online shopping offers customers convenience and value that many traditional stores can’t compete with. Still, there’s at least one area of retail that e-commerce hasn’t conquered entirely: groceries. While experts estimate that 10 percent of all shopping in the U.S. now occurs on the Internet, overall online food sales are less than half that number. Continue reading →

Operations Management, Food, Packaging, Product Distribution, E-commerce, Peapod

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Big Dairy Companies Drive Down the Price of Organic Milk

July 6, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

When people think of the organic food movement, their thoughts will often wander to images of upscale urban grocery stores and the fancy clientele that patronize them. But the early days of organic food production certainly wasn’t led by city slickers. In fact, more than 20 years ago a group of Amish farmers developed one of the nation’s first major organic agricultural operations. Centered around the small town of Kalona, Iowa, this collection of primarily dairy farmers has thrived on Continue reading →

Operations Management, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Food, Product Development, Sustainability, Organic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price

[VIDEO] Fourth of July by the Numbers

July 3, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

During this year’s Fourth of July holiday, Americans will spend an average of $71 per household on food for barbeques and cookouts. While 63 percent of people will attend a professional fireworks display sometime over the weekend, 26 percent of the populace will launch their own pyrotechnics (hopefully in a safe manner). This short video features a few more Fourth of July facts to add some statistical context to the nation’s Independence Day celebrations.

Questions:

Why are 98 percent of Continue reading →

Marketing, Promotions, Product Distribution, Seasonal, Holidays

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Looking Back on Ten Years of the iPhone

June 30, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

One decade ago this month, Apple launched the iPhone and changed the business world forever. The rise of smartphones caused entire industries to collapse as new ones quickly appeared to take their place. Of course, the iPhone fundamentally changed Apple more than any other organization. Before the smartphone’s launch, the tech company earned 40 percent of its sales from iPods and had a market capitalization of $72.9 billion, less than a third of Microsoft’s valuation at the time. Today, iPhone Continue reading →

Silicon Valley, Product Development, Innovation, Startups, Mobile, iPhone, Apple

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Cyberattack on Ukraine Quickly Spreads Across the Globe

June 29, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

On Tuesday Roman Klimenko headed into his Kiev accounting office for work just like he does every day. A few hours after he opened his tax preparation software, however, something went horribly wrong. “The screen became red,” said Klimenko. “A warning appeared, and everything on the hard drive was scrambled.” In a matter of moments he lost all of his filings from last year.

This same situation played out across tens of thousands of Ukrainian computers in that same instant. Continue reading →

Operations Management, Global, Ethics, Security, Ransomware, Cyberattack, Ukraine

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

Bottled Water Now Outsells Soda in the U.S.

June 27, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

During the 1990s and early 2000s, studies showed that Americans drank an average of more than 50 gallons of soda per person. In the years that followed, however, soda began to lose its appeal as consumers increasingly avoided sugary drinks. American soda consumption has since shrunk to an average of 38.5 gallons per person. In the meantime, many of these former Coke and Pepsi drinkers switched to bottled water, which now exceeds soda in terms of total volume sold.

Last Continue reading →

Marketing, Food, Packaging, Sustainability, Soda, Bottled Water

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

[VIDEO] How the Federal Reserve Works

June 23, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

When the economy was on the verge of collapse due to the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve dropped interest rates to zero in an effort to get money moving around again. The economy is not in such dire straits now, of course, so the Fed has once again returned to raising rates gradually. This video quickly reviews how the Fed works and demonstrates the ways that the central bank affects the nation’s money supply.

Questions:

What are the Continue reading →

Economics, Banking, Federal Reserve, Interest Rates, Money Supply, 2008 Financial Crisis

Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Videos

Grammarly Receives Millions from Investors for Spell Check App

June 21, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

As anyone who’s stayed up all night painstakingly crafting an essay can tell you, writing is often a difficult and frustrating enterprise. But until something better comes along, humans are stuck with the written word and all of its exasperating aspects. Businesses especially must make sure that they communicate clearly with customers as well as employees. After all, office workers spend a significant amount of time trying to make sense of bad writing, which reduces efficiency and ultimately costs Continue reading →

Product Development, Innovation, Venture Capital, Startups, Writing, Skills, Grammarly

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 18: Financial Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Amazon Acquires Whole Foods in Multi-Billion Dollar Deal

June 19, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

A few months ago we looked at how increased competition has hurt sales at Whole Foods and slowed its growth in recent years. Faced with the possibility of shutting down stores, CEO John Mackey cleared five people from the board of directors, appointed a new chairwoman, and hired a new CFO. Executives even developed plans to cut costs while also improving operations.

Then suddenly everything changed: last week Amazon announced that it would buy Whole Foods for $13.4 billion. This Continue reading →

Management, Food, Retail, Amazon, Automation, E-commerce, Acquisitions, Whole Foods

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price

[VIDEO] Why Japan Has So Many Vending Machines

June 16, 2017

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

In Japan you can buy almost anything from a vending machine: hot tea, sushi, umbrellas, even bread in a can. This video takes a look at the economic and cultural factors that have contributed to Japan’s vending obsession, such as an excess of coinage and a shortage of unskilled labor.

Questions:

How does Japan’s low birth rate contribute to its vending machine culture?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of relying so heavily on vending machines?

Global, Food, Human Resources, Product Distribution, Birth Rate, Japan, Vending Machines

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos