Chapter 15: Distribution - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

The Gradual Return of American Manufacturing

September 23, 2014

In the 1950s, more than 150 television manufacturers called the U.S. home. Today, not even component parts for TVs are produced on American soil. Still, that hasn’t stopped Wal-Mart from slapping “Assembled in the USA” stickers onto many flat screen TVs stocked in its stores. That’s because the company buys the televisions from South Carolina’s Element Electronics Corporation, which imports all their items from China.

That doesn’t mean Element is simply a middleman operation though. TVs that arrive at the Continue reading →

Global, Manufacturing, Distribution, Wal-Mart, Element Electronics

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

TJ Maxx Defies the Odds with Sustained Success

September 17, 2014

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Although nothing in business is a sure thing, few industries are more volatile than apparel retail. In this unpredictable world, it can be almost impossible to guarantee success for a brand. For instance, Target and Kmart spent years dueling for dominance until the former won out with its more upscale marketing. However, long-term prosperity grants no safety net. Abercrombie & Fitch ruled the preppy clothing market for more than a decade, but now sales are falling as younger consumers view Continue reading →

Marketing, Promotions, Retail, Pricing, Distribution, TJ Maxx

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Brazilian Shop-Hopping Stalls Walmart’s Growth

September 10, 2014

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Walmart became the largest retail chain in the U.S. by offering customers the same low prices every day. As it expanded globally, however, the company found out that not every culture responds to this pricing strategy. For instance, Walmart has had a hard time winning over Brazilian consumers despite opening 550 stores in nearly 200 cities. That’s because most people in the large South American nation are happy to hunt for the best deals at a variety of stores rather Continue reading →

Wal-Mart, Global, Branding, Retail, Demographics, Brazil

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Corporations Fill Foreign Aid Void

September 2, 2014

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In the mid-20^th century, many struggling nations around the world relied heavily on outside governments for assistance. Foreign aid of this nature accounted for 71 percent of all worldwide capital flows as recently as 1960. As the years progressed, however, governments largely removed themselves from the global development game. Today, foreign aid accounts for less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget and only 9 percent of current capital flows.

To fill this void, non-governmental organizations and groups such Continue reading →

Global, Ethics, Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Foreign Aid, Coca-Cola

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Starbucks Reinvents to Stay Relevant

August 19, 2014

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When Howard Schultz first joined Starbucks as marketing director in 1982, the small Seattle company made most of its money selling coffee-making equipment. Once Schultz landed the CEO position, however, matters changed drastically. Looking to bring the European café experience to American shores, Schultz transformed the regional chain into an international behemoth within two decades.

Starbucks changed again when Schultz stepped down as CEO in 2000. After a rapid expansion saw the company grow to more than 15,000 stores Continue reading →

Marketing, Product Development, Branding, Innovation, Starbucks

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

FDA Keeps “Super Salmon” Banned

July 28, 2014

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As people become more skeptical of the ways science intrudes on the content of their food, controversial products like genetically modified crops face increasing opposition. That’s bad news for AquaBounty Technologies, a company that has been producing genetically modified salmon for more than 20 years. Called the AquAdvantage, the fish reach market size in two years rather than three. In order to engineer the salmon, scientists combine the gene of a large Chinook salmon with a gene from a fast-growing Continue reading →

Product Development, Regulation, GMOs, Fishing, Ethics, AquaBounty, Food

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

Edible Cups: An Unexpected Eco-Innovation

July 25, 2014

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For many entrepreneurs, the best ideas come around when you least expect it. That’s what happened to Chelsea Briganti and Leigh Ann Tucker after they graduated from New York’s Parsons The New School for Design in 2010. In an effort to expand their portfolios, the pair of young designers entered a number of product creation competitions. At one event centered on Jell-O, Briganti and Tucker designed an edible drinking glass using agar, a seaweed-based gelatin that is odorless and Continue reading →

Product Development, Kickstarter, Sustainability, Loliware, Entrepreneurship, Food

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

E-Cigarettes: Tobacco’s Futuristic Frontier

July 6, 2014

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Cigarettes kill more than 5.4 million people each year, a 30 percent increase over the past two decades. Although cigarette use has generally fallen in the U.S., increased use in Asia and Eastern Europe has ensured that the tobacco industry is bigger than ever. Innovation has also hit the cigarette business in the form of e-cigarettes, electronic devices that heat up liquid nicotine to a vapor that is then inhaled.

Like everything related to tobacco, e-cigarettes have been controversial since Continue reading →

Ethics, Innovation, Regulation, E-Cigarettes

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Convertibles and Golf Go out of Style

June 25, 2014

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As recently as the early 2000s, the stereotypical image of the corporate careerist typically included a flashy convertible jetting down the highway with a set of expensive golf clubs stashed in the trunk. Nowadays, though, these once weighty symbols of wealth and status have plummeted in popularity. Instead of a cherry red Corvette, modern executives and ladder climbers would prefer to cruise to their next meeting in a big SUV. And thanks to smartphones, the golf links aren’t the same Continue reading →

Golf, Sports, Branding, Consumer Research, Cars, Transportation

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

Tracking Colorado’s Legal Weed with RFID Tags

May 19, 2014

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Most state laws designate marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic that is illegal to possess, sell or consume, barring medical reasons in some states. But last year voters in Colorado and Washington elected to legalize the drug following years of lax medical cannabis legislation. While Washington lawmakers are spending a year drafting regulations for retail sale, Colorado’s legal dispensaries opened to customers aged 21 and over on January 1, 2014. Nevertheless, the Rocky Mountain State’s marijuana growers have a Continue reading →

Colorado, Ethics, Regulation, Security, Marijuana

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