Product Development - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Learning about Business by Selling Slime

July 18, 2017

Along with being a summertime staple, the neighborhood lemonade stand also represents the classic image of young entrepreneurship. In today’s interconnected world, though, ambitious kids have even more options at their disposal if they want to run a business. And while selling lemonade is certainly a refreshing way to earn a dollar, some have turned their attention to a far less appetizing but still lucrative option: slime.

This sticky substance has been fascinating young social media users for years. Unlike Continue reading →

Entrepreneurship, Social Media, Product Development, Education, YouTube, Fads

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

Smartphones Sweep the Nation of Myanmar

July 14, 2017

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This week we’ve taken a look at the effect mobile technology has had on Chinese businesses, both for better and worse. Of course, China is far from the only Asian nation to undergo drastic changes thanks to the rise of smartphones. From India to Indonesia, mobile technology has altered the ways that both consumers and businesspeople go about their lives. Still, perhaps no other place on the continent has been as fundamentally changed by smartphones as the country of Continue reading →

Economics, Global, Product Development, Pricing, Innovation, Smartphones, Mobile, Asia, Myanmar

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Big Dairy Companies Drive Down the Price of Organic Milk

July 6, 2017

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When people think of the organic food movement, their thoughts will often wander to images of upscale urban grocery stores and the fancy clientele that patronize them. But the early days of organic food production certainly wasn’t led by city slickers. In fact, more than 20 years ago a group of Amish farmers developed one of the nation’s first major organic agricultural operations. Centered around the small town of Kalona, Iowa, this collection of primarily dairy farmers has thrived on Continue reading →

Operations Management, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Food, Product Development, Sustainability, Organic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price

Looking Back on Ten Years of the iPhone

June 30, 2017

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One decade ago this month, Apple launched the iPhone and changed the business world forever. The rise of smartphones caused entire industries to collapse as new ones quickly appeared to take their place. Of course, the iPhone fundamentally changed Apple more than any other organization. Before the smartphone’s launch, the tech company earned 40 percent of its sales from iPods and had a market capitalization of $72.9 billion, less than a third of Microsoft’s valuation at the time. Today, iPhone Continue reading →

Silicon Valley, Product Development, Innovation, Startups, Mobile, iPhone, Apple

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

Grammarly Receives Millions from Investors for Spell Check App

June 21, 2017

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As anyone who’s stayed up all night painstakingly crafting an essay can tell you, writing is often a difficult and frustrating enterprise. But until something better comes along, humans are stuck with the written word and all of its exasperating aspects. Businesses especially must make sure that they communicate clearly with customers as well as employees. After all, office workers spend a significant amount of time trying to make sense of bad writing, which reduces efficiency and ultimately costs Continue reading →

Product Development, Innovation, Venture Capital, Startups, Writing, Skills, Grammarly

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 18: Financial Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Zara Soars While Other Retailers Struggle

June 15, 2017

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2017 has not been a good year so far for many retailers. Chains like J.C. Penney and Sears plan to close hundreds of locations while J. Crew has posted 11 consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales. But as these formerly powerful brands struggle, the Spanish fashion giant Zara is thriving like never before. This week its parent company Inditex announced that first quarter sales jumped 18 percent to $733.3 million. Plus, total sales for Zara topped out at $6.3 billion, Continue reading →

Operations Management, Global, Product Development, Retail, Zara, Spain, Supply chains, Product Distribution, E-commerce

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Meal-Kit Companies Face an Uncertain Future

June 8, 2017

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For those who don’t want to take a trip to the grocery store or dine out, meal-kit startups like Blue Apron and HelloFresh bring dinner right to your doorstep. These companies place all the ingredients you need into a box along with detailed instructions about how to prepare your meal. And thanks to incessant advertising through new media platforms like podcasts, meal-kit startups have seen interest from consumers increase year after year. In fact, Blue Apron has been so successful Continue reading →

Marketing, Food, Product Development, Product Distribution, E-commerce, Blue Apron, Subscription Services

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 19: Securities Markets

Fidget Spinners May Be Fun, But They Aren’t Helpful

June 6, 2017

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In the proud tradition of pet rocks and Beanie Babies, fidget spinners have recently become the hottest fad product on the market. These tiny toys feature three prongs that whirl around a ball-bearing equipped center, creating something that looks like a little ceiling fan that spins in your hand. Some even sport multi-colored lights so you can dazzle all your jealous friends. They’re available to purchase almost everywhere and have become ubiquitous in schools across the country, much to the Continue reading →

Marketing, Ethics, Product Development, Education, Fidget Spinners, Fads

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Amazon Carefully Develops Its Drone Delivery Program

May 19, 2017

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In 2013 Amazon announced a bold new venture: a drone delivery service that could bring products to customers within 30 minutes. Three years later, the e-commerce giant completed its first Amazon Prime Air delivery during a trial run in Great Britain. Of course, the company still has a long way to go before its drones are ready to take flight in great numbers. Along with figuring out many technical details, Amazon must also deal with regulations that limit where drones Continue reading →

Global, Product Development, Innovation, Regulation, Transportation, Amazon, Product Distribution, Drones

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Lyft Partners with Google’s Waymo on Self-Driving Cars

May 16, 2017

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Self-driving vehicle technology has improved so much in recent years that the concept is no longer a futuristic fantasy. As automated driving becomes more refined, companies have begun to move out of the research phase and on to developing commercial strategies. Waymo, for instance, became a company in December 2016 after eight years of autonomous vehicle research by its parent Google. During that time, Waymo says that its vehicles logged more than 3 million miles driving in the real world. Continue reading →

Google, Product Development, Innovation, Transportation, Automation, Uber, Lyft, Self-Driving Cars

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media