Chapter 7: Management & Leadership - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Returning Office Employees at Amazon Struggle to Find Room to Work

February 18, 2025

When the pandemic required nearly everyone to stay at home in 2020, the business world seemed to embrace remote work as a potential savior of productivity. Tech companies were especially quick to implement tools like videoconferencing and cloud computing that let employees work from anywhere. But all that’s changing as more companies start to require staffers to either spend more time in the office or else find a new job. The return-to-office trend sets up a potential culture clash with Continue reading →

Motivation, Ethics, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Amazon, Remote Work, Office Culture, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions

How the Global Tech Outage Affected Businesses Big and Small

July 24, 2024

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Over the weekend, businesses around the world scrambled to recover after a faulty software update caused one of the biggest IT outages in history. The Texas-based cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike released a security update last Thursday that was supposed to protect computers from malware and cyber attacks. Instead, the flawed update caused Microsoft Windows to crash and impacted more than 8.5 million computers. The global tech meltdown disrupted nearly every aspect of society, especially healthcare and transportation. Hospitals canceled procedures, and Continue reading →

Operations Management, Global, Entrepreneurship, Product Distribution, Crisis management, Information Technology

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Paramount Merger with Skydance Creates New Hollywood Powerhouse

July 10, 2024

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Over the last few years, the rise of streaming video has created many problems for the old-school movie studios that once dominated Hollywood. Paramount, for instance, enjoyed more than a century of success as it produced huge film franchises like Top Gun and Mission: Impossible while owning major television networks like CBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV. But Paramount struggled as customers shifted away from movie theaters and traditional cable packages and toward streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. The company tried Continue reading →

Management, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Product Development, Entertainment, Streaming, Product Distribution, Hollywood, Mergers, Paramount

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Zara Attempts to Rebrand as a Luxury Fashion Line

May 3, 2024

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The fashion company Zara became a multi-billion dollar force in the industry thanks to its unique ability to churn out stylish clothing at low prices. Of course, critics of the Spanish firm would not likely call its business model “unique”: Zara has long been accused of ripping off its designs from luxury fashion houses. Those days might be in the past, however, as the company looks to reinvent itself as a high-end brand working with some of the world’s top Continue reading →

Management, Marketing, Global, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Branding, Fashion, Zara

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

WGA and Hollywood Studios Reach Tentative Agreement

September 26, 2023

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For 146 days, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have picketed in front of Hollywood movie and television studios, demanding increased financial security and more control over their work. Talks mostly broke down as the months stretched on, until last week when the two parties met over five straight days and brokered a tentative deal. Although this agreement still needs to be written into a contract and ratified by the WGA’s more than 11,000 members, industry observers Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Ethics, Unions, Product Development, Entertainment, Streaming, Strikes, Film & Television, WGA

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] How One Farm Makes Most of MLB’s Dirt

September 8, 2023

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When Major League Baseball groundskeepers prepare an infield before a game, not just any dirt will do. 26 out of 30 teams in the league depend on professional grade stuff made by Duraedge Products in Pennsylvania, which mines and processes Pittsburgh red bed claystone to create “infield mix.” This video follows the entire process from mining to mixing, showing how every year Duraedge transforms 30,000 tons of clay into a vital product for baseball teams around the country.

Questions:

Why Continue reading →

Management, Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, Manufacturing, Product Development, Transportation, Product Distribution, Facility Location

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

Luxury Picnic Planners Try to Dodge Bad Weather

September 6, 2023

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When indoor gatherings became restricted during the pandemic, people turned to outdoor events like picnics in order to socialize while staying safe. Spotting an opportunity, some event planners launched luxury picnic companies that have since turned into profitable enterprises. From romantic dinners to full-scale weddings, these outdoor dining startups charge as much as $300 per person for gourmet meals with elaborate decor and cozy seating. That is, as long as the weather cooperates.

For example, Rachel LeBar of Colorado Luxe Continue reading →

Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, Product Development, Crisis management, Food & Drink

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price

Domestic Production Sets Bath & Body Works Apart

July 26, 2023

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Making a $7.95 bottle of soap for Bath & Body Works (BBW) once took three months to accomplish. Parts traveled more than 13,000 miles across multiple countries to end up at the company’s Ohio distribution center, a difficult journey that the beauty brand sought to change in 2008. Years of working with local officials and skeptical suppliers resulted in BBW’s “beauty park” located outside of Columbus, an industrial campus that handles nearly every aspect of production. Featuring 10 manufacturers with Continue reading →

Management, Operations Management, Global, Manufacturing, Product Development, Supply chains, Product Distribution, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

The Tricky Task of Tracking Telecommuting

April 7, 2023

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Working from home became commonplace during the pandemic as companies increasingly kept in contact with employees through platforms like Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. As offices opened back up, though, managers started requiring workers to come in at least a few times per week. According to a recent study from the Labor Department, 72.5 percent of American businesses reported that their employees rarely or never work remotely, close to the level of 76.7 percent that preceded the pandemic.

The Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Remote Work, Office Culture, Telecommuting

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions

Rising Inflation Could Damage Economic Gains Made by Women

March 8, 2023

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People around the world celebrate International Women’s Day every March 8th, paying tribute to the achievements of women while also campaigning for greater gender equality. While issues like equal pay and opportunity for women have certainly received a lot of attention in recent years, companies still have a long way to go before they reach total parity. To make matters worse, economists say that women are disproportionately feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis brought on by rising Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Global, Ethics, Human Resources, Compensation, Regulation, Hiring, Gender equity, Wage gap

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions