Regulation - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Hours-Long Outage Adds to Issues for Facebook

October 5, 2021

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, Global, Ethics, Social Media, Regulation, Facebook, Product Distribution, 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

Big Tech Case Results in Split Decision

September 15, 2021

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Over the last year, Apple has been engaged in a legal battle with Epic Games, the software developer behind the blockbuster video game Fortnite. The company sued Apple after the tech giant removed the mobile version of Fornite from its App Store, alleging that Epic encouraged customers to purchase the game on different platforms. Apple claimed that this prevented it from collecting the commission it earns on every sale through the App Store, which Epic then accused of being anti-competitive Continue reading →

Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley, Regulation, Legal, Apple, Monopolies, Antitrust

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

FTC Inquires about Broken McFlurry Machines

September 3, 2021

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It’s a scenario that plenty of fast food fans have faced before: they pull up to the drive-thru speaker at McDonald’s and ask for their favorite frozen treat, only to hear the reply, “Sorry, but the machine is broken right now.” Responsible for about 60 percent of the chain’s desserts, the McFlurry machine is a vital asset for Golden Arches franchises across the country, even though their unreliability has become something of a running joke. Along with serving as the Continue reading →

Operations Management, Ethics, Franchising, Entrepreneurship, McDonald’s, Regulation, Product Distribution, Food & Drink, Forms of Business

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Cyberattack on T-Mobile Compromises Tens of Millions of Accounts

August 20, 2021

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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

Large Companies Overtook Smaller Rivals during Pandemic

August 17, 2021

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The economic disruptions of the past year and a half caused small businesses to lose an average of 11 percent of their revenues. This was not the case for the globe’s big corporations, though. According to a McKinsey study of 5,500 “big, highly productive” U.S. and European companies, all surveyed firms reported that they experienced no declines in sales during the pandemic.

Although large companies had already been overtaking their smaller rivals before 2020, economists say that the pandemic widened Continue reading →

Global, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Product Development, Regulation, Product Distribution, Supply & Demand, Antitrust, Corporations

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

[VIDEO] Why the Western Drought Will Have Major Ripple Effects

July 21, 2021

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Over the last month, communities across the Western United States have imposed restrictions on water use as a major drought wreaks havoc on the region. This video looks at how the drop in the supply of surface water has hurt California farmers and why their pain could soon ripple out across the country.

Questions:

How has the drought in the Western U.S. affected farmers in the region?
Do you think regulators should place restrictions on the use of groundwater Continue reading →

Operations Management, Ethics, Regulation, Supply chains, Product Distribution, Agriculture, Natural Disasters, Farming, Supply & Demand, Drought

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Videos

FTC Investigation Reveals that MoviePass Deceived Thousands of Users

June 10, 2021

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In 2017, the startup Moviepass offered film buffs a deal that seemed too good to be true. For $9.95 per month, subscribers could see up to one movie per day at all major theaters located throughout the country. Moviepass hoped to offset the costs of purchasing so many tickets by brokering bulk deals with theater chains and by monetizing users’ data. None of these plans ever came to fruition, however, which left the company with more than three million subscribers Continue reading →

Marketing, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Product Development, Promotions, Entertainment, Regulation, Startups, Product Distribution, Movies

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

New Unemployment Claims Gradually Begin to Drop

May 6, 2021

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The widespread disruptions caused by the pandemic resulted in millions of Americans losing their jobs last year and subsequently applying for unemployment benefits. In one especially bleak week in spring 2020, new unemployment claims topped out at more than six million as businesses locked down to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Although the amount of new claims steadily began to decline after this historic high, hundreds of thousands of Americans have nevertheless applied for unemployment week after week since the Continue reading →

Economics, Ethics, Human Resources, Unemployment, Regulation, Hiring, Coronavirus, Stimulus, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Airlines Prepare for Travelers to Return This Summer

April 27, 2021

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Last year, the onset of the pandemic devastated air travel as lockdown orders kept planes on the ground all over the world. After numerous airlines nearly collapsed as a result, the federal government provided the industry with three bailouts amounting to tens of billions of dollars in relief. This allowed airlines to keep many of their employees on the payroll while they waited to see if travel would recover. And now with ticket sales on the rise once again, analysts Continue reading →

Global, Human Resources, Regulation, Transportation, Hiring, Travel, Layoffs, Coronavirus, Airlines

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Latest Stimulus Bill Looks to Provide Relief for American Households

March 18, 2021

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Last week, Congress passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package aimed primarily at easing the financial burdens that many Americans have felt during the pandemic. While previous stimulus bills were directed more towards businesses, this latest package provides $960 billion in aid towards individuals through $1,400 checks, unemployment coverage, and provisions for child care. The bill also includes tax credits as well as programs that seek to make rent, food, and healthcare more affordable.

According to economists, low-to-middle income Americans will Continue reading →

Economics, Ethics, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Unemployment, Regulation, Health, Crisis management, Layoffs, Coronavirus

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law