Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Trending Products on TikTok Lead to Massive Sales

October 19, 2021

With more than 1 billion users worldwide, TikTok has become a commercial powerhouse as companies fight for the attention of this enormous user base. Products that go viral on the short video platform are almost guaranteed to see sales skyrocket, leading some stores to create “As Seen On TikTok” sections to corral all these in-demand items together. For example, the New York-based candy store It’Sugar started stocking a brand of fruit-shaped gummies after they appeared in untold thousands of videos Continue reading →

TikTok, Marketing, Promotions, Global, Product Distribution, Social Media, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Hours-Long Outage Adds to Issues for Facebook

October 5, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

More than 3.5 billion people around the world communicate through Facebook and its collection of apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus. But for about six hours yesterday, no one was using these platforms as Facebook disappeared from the Internet. Company representatives said that this outage occurred when “backbone routers that coordinate network traffic” failed and brought services completely to a halt. The total shutdown meant that Facebook could not remotely reset its network, requiring it to send out a Continue reading →

Marketing, Operations Management, Regulation, Global, Facebook, Ethics, Product Distribution, Social Media, Antitrust

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 B: Technology and New Media

In-Office Employees Continue to Zoom All Day

September 29, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

At the beginning of the year, the widespread distribution of Covid vaccines gave many companies the confidence to start plotting their triumphant returns to office life. Then the spread of the delta variant largely thwarted these plans as firms brought back just a fraction of the staffers they had intended to. And for those few employees who returned to offices, most are still doing the same thing that they’ve done since March 2020: Zoom meetings.

For example, Nick Kneer Continue reading →

Labor Relations, Office environment, Zoom, Telecommuting, Coronavirus, Motivation, Organizational Culture, Human Resources, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, 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

Cyberattack on T-Mobile Compromises Tens of Millions of Accounts

August 20, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

This week, T-Mobile announced that hackers obtained the personal information of millions of customers in a ransomware attack. While the telecommunications giant said that 40 million users had their data compromised, the thieves themselves claimed they made off with information from more than 100 million people. This includes customers’ names, phone numbers, and addresses as well as other sensitive data such as social security numbers, drivers license information, and PIN numbers.

T-Mobile added that no passwords or account numbers were Continue reading →

Regulation, Security, Consumer Protection, Ransomware, Cyberattacks, T-Mobile, Data Breach

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

[VIDEO] How Scarlett Johansson’s Disney Lawsuit Could Change Actor Pay

August 13, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Last week, we looked at how Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging that Black Widow’s premiere on the company’s streaming platform deprived the movie star of income. The video below dives into further detail about how this upcoming legal battle could set the stage for big changes in Hollywood as on-screen talent looks to grab a piece of the increasingly important streaming market.

Questions:

How could Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney potentially transform actor compensation in Continue reading →

Entertainment, Streaming, Product Distribution, Ethics, Movies, Labor Relations, Compensation

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

Disney Faces Movie Star Lawsuits for Streaming Premieres

August 3, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

For decades, Hollywood’s top movie stars have brokered contracts that grant them a percentage of a film’s box office earnings in addition to their multi-million dollar salaries. Then the pandemic hit last year and completely upended the industry’s long-established practice of premiering movies in theaters. Instead, studios like Disney and Warner Bros. released new titles through the streaming platforms Disney+ and HBO Max as $30 single-viewing rentals.

Once theaters began to reopen in 2021, studios combined both of these Continue reading →

Entertainment, Streaming, Disney, Ethics, Product Distribution, Compensation, Movies, Marvel, Movie theaters

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

Coca-Cola Plans to Change the Flavor of Coke Zero

July 22, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

In the coming months, regular drinkers of the sugar-free soda brand Coke Zero might notice a slight change in the taste of their favorite beverage. According to company officials, the formula for Coke Zero will be altered in order to “deliver an even more iconic Coke taste.” While this might seem like a relatively harmless change, any alteration to a Coca-Cola product draws plenty of public scrutiny after the company’s disastrous launch of “New Coke” in the 1980s.

Back then, Continue reading →

Coca-Cola, Social Media, Product Distribution, Food & Drink, Product Development, Promotions, Advertising, Marketing

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

Some Smartphone Apps Access Users’ Contact Lists

July 15, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Those who have concerns about privacy on smartphones often focus on apps that track users’ internet browsing history or even their movements through GPS. But while such violations of privacy are becoming more well-known to users, many others appear to be unaware that some apps have open access to their contact lists. For instance, therapist Gabriela Buendia was shocked to discover that the payment app Venmo had shared a list of her phone contacts as well as data about everyone Continue reading →

Silicon Valley, Startups, Marketing, Security, Ethics, Privacy, Entrepreneurship, Data Collection, Social Media

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

Hackers Shut Down Operations at World’s Largest Meat Supplier

June 2, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Nearly a month after a cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline led to gasoline shortages across the nation, this week hackers targeted and shut down some operations at JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier. Like the previous incident, the perpetrators infiltrated the company’s computer systems and demanded a ransom to unlock them. Although JBS said that its systems are coming back online, it nevertheless had to halt operations at processing plants throughout the U.S. and Australia as a result of the attack. Continue reading →

Supply chains, Product Distribution, Ransomware, Food & Drink, Global, Coronavirus, Ethics, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] How Roblox Became a $45 Billion Public Video Game Company

May 13, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

As the pandemic forced millions of people to stay indoors, virtual worlds like Roblox boomed in popularity with gamers as well as investors. This video looks at how the platform appeals to more than 30 million active monthly users, including independent creators who can earn big bucks by building games within Roblox.

Questions:

Why did games like Roblox explode in popularity last year?
What sort of challenges does Roblox face as it looks to expand its user base?

Marketing, Product Distribution, Entrepreneurship, Video Games, Roblox, Product Development, Entertainment

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos