Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Closed Baby Formula Plant Resumes Production

August 31, 2022

Earlier this year, we looked at how the nationwide shortage of baby formula was poised to continue for months after Abbott Nutrition shut down a Michigan plant in February. An inspector from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) discovered a leaking roof in the facility, pools of water on the floor, and cracks in production equipment used to produce the brand Similac. FDA commissioner Dr. Robert Califf described the conditions as “egregiously unsanitary” while acknowledging that the federal agency should Continue reading →

Regulation, Entrepreneurship, FDA, Manufacturing, Food & Drink, Supply & Demand, Operations Management, Global, Ethics

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, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

[VIDEO] How Supply-Chain Bottlenecks Shifted to East and Gulf Coast Ports

August 26, 2022

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Global supply chains have been all out of sorts since the start of the pandemic, but for the most part traffic and delays have been isolated to ports on the Pacific. As the video below explains, though, bottlenecks have now moved to East and Gulf Coast ports that are unprepared for this influx of ships and container boxes.

Questions:

What are some reasons why shipping traffic and delays have moved from Pacific ports to East and Gulf Coast ports? Continue reading →

Supply chains, Transportation, Product Distribution, Shipping, Operations Management, Supply & Demand, Pandemic

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

“Quiet Quitting” Trend Takes off on TikTok

August 24, 2022

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Like other social networks, TikTok users share almost everything about their lives on the app, from their favorite music and TV shows to their anxieties about work. In fact, talk about the latter has increased significantly in recent weeks as videos about “quiet quitting” generate millions of views among young professionals. The phrase is meant to convey the opposite idea of “hustle culture,” another popular work-related topic on TikTok that encourages people to devote themselves entirely to their careers. Quiet Continue reading →

Motivation, Ethics, Training, Company Culture, Human Resources, TikTok, Social Media, Labor Relations

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Mattel Sues Rap Snacks over “Barbie-Que” Chips

August 19, 2022

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Since 1994, Rap Snacks has sold chips, popcorn, and even instant noodles featuring hip hop stars like Snoop Dogg, Migos, and Lil Baby on the packaging. The most recent addition to this lineup of talent is Nicki Minaj, who launched her “Barbie-Que Honey Truffle” potato chips earlier this summer. While Rap Snacks hoped this high-profile partnership would make a big splash on social media, the brand instead attracted the attention of an entirely different audience: the notoriously litigious toy company Continue reading →

Food & Drink, Copyright, Promotions, Marketing, Entertainment, Ethics, Packaging, Music, Legal

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Airbnb Looks to Limit Unauthorized Parties

August 17, 2022

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Most people who rent rooms or houses from Airbnb use their short term rentals as home-base for a vacation or business trip, nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary. Occasionally, though, the company must deal with customers who host unauthorized gatherings, potentially leading to noise complaints and safety issues. In fact, numerous incidents of violence have occurred at Airbnb parties that got out of control, leading the company to institute a new set of policies to prevent these illicit Continue reading →

Travel, Product Distribution, Marketing, Airbnb, Ethics, Entrepreneurship

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] The Fall (and Rise?) of Unions in the U.S.

August 12, 2022

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Thousands of workers at Amazon warehouses and Starbucks stores across the country have voted to unionize in recent months, potentially reversing decades of declining union membership in the U.S. This video takes a close look at the history of unions in postwar America, examining the reasons why service industries largely stayed unorganized and how that could change in the coming years.

Questions:

Why did union membership start to decline in the 1970s and 1980s?
Do you think U.S. legislators Continue reading →

Motivation, Global, Ethics, Human Resources, Manufacturing, Unions, Labor Relations, Compensation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Videos

Managers Strive to Hit the 90-Day Mark with New Hires

August 9, 2022

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Seeking out qualified employees and then hiring them is a costly process for even the biggest companies, which is why most managers strive to keep their staff around for as long as possible. Sometimes fresh hires don’t feel the same way, though, and they leave their new jobs as swiftly as they joined. These “quick quits” are especially prevalent in the current job market where employee turnover remains high. As a result, companies are focusing on a key milestone: a Continue reading →

Management, Marketing, Motivation, Franchising, Hiring, Training, Company Culture, Human Resources, Onboarding

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing

Warner Bros. Scraps Release of Batgirl

August 3, 2022

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Last year, the movie studio Warner Bros. announced that it was working on a slate of films created specifically for the streaming service HBO Max. Among these titles was Batgirl, whose budget ballooned to more than $90 million after completing most of the film. But rather than release this star-studded adaptation of a DC Comics character, Warner said yesterday that the movie would never stream online nor would it ever appear in theaters.

Along with ditching Batgirl, Continue reading →

Product Distribution, Movies, Hollywood, HBO Max, Promotions, Entertainment, Marketing, Accounting, Ethics, Streaming, Advertising

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 18: Financial Management

[VIDEO] How Consumer Confidence Relates to Inflation

July 29, 2022

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Consumer confidence in the economy has taken a nosedive as prices climb higher due to rising inflation, potentially indicating that the U.S. is on the road to a recession. This video looks at how the government collects data on consumer confidence while also examining the ways that low economic expectations can further fuel inflation.

Questions:

Why does the government collect data on consumer confidence? What sort of questions do they ask participants?
How can declining consumer confidence potentially drive inflation even higher?

Consumer Research, Federal Reserve, Focus Groups, Consumer Confidence, Economics, Inflation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Videos

Big Tech Firms Aim to Take Over Sports Broadcasting

July 27, 2022

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Each year, media companies spend tens of billions of dollars for the rights to broadcast sporting events from professional leagues like the NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball. In fact, by 2024 Disney, Comcast, Paramount, and Fox are expected to spend a combined total of $24.2 billion on broadcast rights for sports, almost double what they paid ten years ago. That is, unless tech conglomerates like Apple and Google splash even more cash in an effort to expand into this Continue reading →

Promotions, Marketing, Entertainment, Google, Television, NFL, Product Distribution, Apple, Sports, Branding

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