Silicon Valley - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Google Agrees to Meet Key Demand of Walkout Protesters

November 13, 2018

A couple of weeks ago, more than 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout to protest the search giant’s handling of sexual harassment claims. Along with demands to improve the process for reporting harassment, the protesters also called for Google to end forced employee arbitration. This controversial tactic requires staffers to settle any legal disputes out of court, usually through an independent arbitrator rather than a judge and jury.

Critics of the policy say that this system protects serial harassers by Continue reading →

Management, Ethics, Legal, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Silicon Valley, Google

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

Google Employees Stage Massive Walkout

November 2, 2018

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Yesterday, we took a look at the thousands of Marriott employees who are currently striking against the hotel chain for improved wages and better working conditions. Shortly after we published that post, though, another major labor action began to take place at one of the world’s largest companies. Starting early Thursday morning, thousands of Google employees in offices across the globe walked off their jobs to protest the search giant’s handling of sexual assault claims.

A week before the walk Continue reading →

Strikes, Ethics, Labor Relations, Silicon Valley, Google, Company Culture

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

Study Shows that Google Could Be Constantly Tracking Your Data

August 24, 2018

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By now it’s no secret that big tech companies routinely collect tons of data about their users’ online habits. And as Facebook’s recent scandal with Cambridge Analytica showed, sometimes they sell that information to outside parties without first telling users about it. As a result, people must always be careful about sharing too much information online. According to a new study conducted by a Vanderbilt University professor, however, even the most cautious users probably can’t escape the all-seeing power of Continue reading →

Legal, Silicon Valley, Google, Data Mining, Facebook, Global, Security, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Uncategorized

Apple’s Market Cap Climbs Above $1 Trillion

August 9, 2018

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Last year, Apple sold more than 280 million iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers to customers around the world. And judging by the tech giant’s ever climbing stock price, the sales tally for 2018 appears to be going strong as well. In fact, last week the price of an Apple share climbed above $207. Besides being good news for investors, reaching this milestone meant that Apple became the first publicly traded company to achieve a market capitalization above $1 trillion.

To Continue reading →

Product Development, Technology, Innovation, Silicon Valley, Mobile, Apple, Market Capitalization

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

San Francisco Restaurants Combine Fine Dining with Counter Service

June 29, 2018

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Along with serving as a hub for the tech industry, San Francisco is also home to some of the country’s best restaurants. Unfortunately, the city’s success has led to skyrocketing rent costs that are pricing out the low-income residents who staff these eating establishments. So with a high demand for fine dining but a small pool of potential employees, local restaurateurs have begun to search for ways to save on service without compromising quality.

The result is that more and Continue reading →

Product Development, Human Resources, Innovation, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Product Distribution, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Food

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] Apple, Google and Amazon Seem Unstoppable. Now What?

March 23, 2018

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In the aftermath of Facebook’s data sharing scandal, critics of the company are calling on lawmakers to discuss ways that the social network could be regulated. To these concerned citizens, Facebook has grown too large to be trusted with so much of the public’s information. The video below looks at how America’s tech giants became so big and the ways that regulators could possibly target these companies in the future.

Questions:

Do you think big tech companies like Facebook, Continue reading →

Innovation, Regulation, Economics, Facebook, Ethics, Amazon, Silicon Valley, Security, Google, Apple, Monopolies

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Videos

“Hyperscale” Data Centers Give New Life to Small Town

March 9, 2018

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With a userbase of more than 2 billion people, Facebook drives an astonishing amount of Internet traffic every day. So how exactly does the social network manage to succeed without collapsing under the weight of all that data? Like other tech giants, Facebook depends on enormous data centers packed with computer servers to keep the constant stream of information flowing. In fact, these “hyperscale” structures are just as important to the tech industry as factories or mines are to manufacturers. Continue reading →

Oregon, Facility Location, Operations Management, Silicon Valley, Innovation, Facebook, Apple

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

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 →

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

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

[VIDEO] How China Is Changing Your Internet

May 26, 2017

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In the early days of China’s tech industry, most companies simply took the concepts developed by successful American startups and created Chinese versions of them. For instance, rather than Google, most of the country uses the domestically owned search engine Baidu. But after years of imitation, Chinese apps like the all-encompassing WeChat could change the way that people use the Internet all over the world.

Questions:

Why haven’t American tech companies like Facebook and Google been able to succeed Continue reading →

Silicon Valley, Apps, Global, Innovation, Ethics, China, Social Media, Mobile

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, 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

Silicon Valley’s Culture Has a Big Influence on Chinese Companies

April 25, 2017

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For years tech giants like Facebook and Google have tried to set up shop in China only to see their efforts blocked by the country’s restrictive government. In place of these global brands, domestic companies like the search engine Baidu and the social network Weibo have flourished among China’s enormous Internet community. And in an ironic twist, this growing tech sector owes much of its success to the structure and culture of Silicon Valley’s biggest names.

Many Chinese companies are Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Global, Innovation, Silicon Valley, China, Google, Facebook, Company Culture

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media