NickelsMcHughMcHugh - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Improving Conditions at Bangladesh’s Garment Factories

November 1, 2016

In April 2013, more than one thousand Bangladeshi garment workers died when the Rana Plaza building collapsed. Considered to be the deadliest garment factory accident in history, the tragic event led to worldwide condemnation of many Western clothing companies. After all, brands like H&M, Walmart and Zara had long pushed producers in Bangladesh’s growing garment industry to make clothes faster and cheaper. While this allowed retailers to set low prices at their stores, the focus on efficiency forced Bangladesh’s factories Continue reading →

Ethics, Manufacturing, Labor Relations, Clothing, Zara, Walmart, H&M, Bangladesh, Human Rights, Garment Industry

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Americans Expected to Spend More than $8 Billion This Halloween

October 28, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

For most people, the Halloween season is about creepy costumes and candy rather than shopping. But even though the retail sales of All Hallow’s Eve can’t compare to the December holidays, Americans still manage to spend a scary sum of money at the end of October. The National Retail Federation estimates that this year consumers will spend as much as $8.4 billion preparing for Halloween, amounting to an average of $82.93 per shopper.

Costumes account for $3.1 billion of this Continue reading →

Marketing, Retail, Product Distribution, Halloween, Christmas, Seasonal

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

[VIDEO] You’ll Be Eating Crickets Soon. You Have No Choice

October 27, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Although the world’s population is always increasing, the physical size of the globe stubbornly remains the same. As a result, humans might soon face a shortage of some key resources, including food with high protein content. But here’s where the humble cricket hops in: while many Americans may consider them pests, crickets can be a nutritious and environmentally sustainable food source. This video takes a look at the ways one cricket farm operates and how its owners hope to market Continue reading →

Marketing, Operations Management, Global, Food, Sustainability, Agriculture, Crickets

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, Videos

Chinese Factories Produce Knockoffs at Record Speed

October 25, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Israeli entrepreneur Yekutiel Sherman had a great idea for a product: a selfie stick that folded seamlessly into the back of a smartphone’s case. He spent a year carefully designing his idea, producing prototypes and securing small investments from family and friends. By December 2015 Sherman launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to finish funding the item, now called Stikbox. But while the project immediately attracted investors, his popular crowdfunding campaign also caught the attention of Chinese bootleg manufacturers. Within Continue reading →

Operations Management, Global, Ethics, Manufacturing, Product Development, China, Supply chains, Product Distribution, Knockoff products

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 A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Canadian Country Store Attracts New Employees with Free Land

October 21, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

The remote region of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Canada, is not known for its bustling population. Just 130,000 people live on the 4,000 square-mile island, with 1,000 others leaving each year for the past two decades. As the population steadily drops, many Cape Breton natives have worried about the future of the island’s tight knit communities. Among these concerned citizens was Jim and Ferne Austin, local entrepreneurs who operated the Farmer’s Daughter Country Market in sleepy Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia, Continue reading →

Motivation, Global, Human Resources, Retail, Canada, Hiring, Company Culture

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 13: Marketing

Manufacturers Attempt to Overcome Skills Gap with Apprenticeships

October 20, 2016

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According to a study conducted by the Manufacturing Institute, over the next decade American workers will miss out on two million industrial jobs due to lack of training. For years the Obama administration has tried to close this growing skills gap by promoting German-style apprenticeships that provide on-the-job education for young workers. In Germany roughly half of all high school graduates opt for these intense training programs, not least of all because they are virtually guaranteed employment at the end. Continue reading →

Training, Human Resources, Manufacturing, Education, Germany, Apprenticeships, Skills Gap, Illinois

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management

Poultry Plant Employees Endure Inhumane Working Conditions

October 18, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

The grisly nature of the meat industry practically ensures that the business will never be pretty. Still, conditions in a slaughterhouse can always get worse if management marginalizes their workforce. According to the global development agency Oxfam America, that’s precisely what’s happening at a number of U.S. poultry plants. In facilities owned by big names like Tyson, Perdue and Pilgrim’s Pride, workers complained that superiors regularly denied them bathroom breaks. Some even reported wearing diapers while working on the line. Continue reading →

Management, Ethics, Food, Labor Relations, Poultry, Tyson, Perdue, Employee Mistreatment

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions

ATM Fees Reach Nearly $5 for Out-of-Network Withdrawals

October 14, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

If you’re in need of cash in a pinch, you’d better hope that your bank has an ATM located nearby. For the 10th consecutive year, the fees charged by banks for usage of ATMs by non-customers has risen to a record average of $4.57. That number is actually the combination of two separate fees: one charged by ATM owners for non-customers and another by the account holder’s bank for withdrawing out-of-network. In 1998 the combination of these charges amounted to Continue reading →

Ethics, Regulation, Dodd-Frank, Banks, ATMs, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Fees

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

[VIDEO] The Formula for Selling a Million-Dollar Work of Art

October 13, 2016

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For those of us who aren’t involved in the upscale art world, the multi-million dollar price tags attached to some works can seem baffling. This video from Vox takes a peek into this exclusive market and shows how assessing a piece of art’s value often has more to do with the reputation of the artist and their dealer rather than the work itself.

Questions:

Should a work of art’s value be tied more to its artistic worth? Why is Continue reading →

Videos

Assessing Severe Weather Damage with the Waffle House Index

October 10, 2016

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

As of this writing, Hurricane Matthew is currently roaring up the Carolina coast. (Hopefully anyone from the area reading this post is doing so in a safe, relatively dry place.) Federal and state officials flooded social media and television urging residents to evacuate the area before the cyclone hit land. Nevertheless, some people ignored their warnings and stayed put. In most cases, the diner chain Waffle House would be among these stubborn stragglers. The company has an official policy in Continue reading →

Management, Operations Management, Branding, Waffle House, Hurricane Matthew, Natural Disasters

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 13: Marketing