BUSS4 Research Theme - Merger and Takeover Egg Heads
I often find that one of the key challenges with the research theme is finding ways to engage the students with the material in lessons and keeping them motivated and interested in the theme until the Summer.
With this in mind, I will be blogging about some strategies that I have successfully used in the past to engage the students and applying them to the new theme, Mergers and Takeovers.
read more...»Video resource: Do bonuses work as an incentive for better performance?
A timely short video here from the BBC looks at the way that a simple activity-related bonus improves productivity in a small drilling business. Employees and management seem happy at D-Drill. But, can the use of much larger-scale bonuses in financial services be justified in the same way? A great starting point for discussion with students…
read more...»The history of Apple’s product innovation - in 30 seconds
Short and sweet - this 30 second video that showcases the progression of Apple’s product portfolio. A journey that takes us from the very first Apple prototype computer through to the iPad. Great for illustrating the process of product innovation. You can always pause the video (if you’re quick) to look at the individual products.
read more...»Starter activity - Contingency Planning (Japanese Style)
When it comes to contingency planning, no-one does it better than Japan. And here are two humorous videos that demonstrate the extents to which you can go to prepare for risky events…
read more...»The Biz Quiz - 9 February 2012
The 9 February 2012 edition of The Biz Quiz is now available. Good luck everyone!
Launch the Biz Quiz - 9 February 2012
Download printable version (pdf)
BTEC First in Business - New 2012 Specification CPD Course
A diary date here for all colleagues teaching the new BTEC First in Business specification - Friday 15 June 2012. tutor2u is running a special CPD course at the amazing Drayton Manor Theme Park focused on the new requirements for the 2012 specification (for first teaching from September 2012). We’ll look at the new methods of assessment and provide guidance on resourcing and organising the other new units too. We’ll also have some guest speakers from Drayton Manor - a great case study to use for BTEC First.
Places are strictly limited. Please complete this provisional booking form to grab some places before they all go…
HOD Opportunity - Business Studies & Economics at City of London Freemen’s (Surrey)
Superb HOD opportunities like this don;t come around very often. Good luck to everyone who applies for this role to join the lovely team at COLF.
read more...»Cadbury’s Law - Should UK Firms be Protected from Takeover?
Back in 2010, the effect of the Kraft takeover of Cadbury’s brought business into the realms of politics as the unhappiness felt by some stakeholders spilled directly into the UK’s General Election.
One proposed response from the Labour Party was the so-called Cadbury’s Law, whereby new legislation would attempt to protect UK firms from takeover by foreign companies. Was this a good idea?
read more...»The Biz Quiz - 2 February 2012
Another 10 questions on the business news here…quite easy this week; your quizmaster expects you to get at least 7 out of ten 
Launch The Biz Quiz - 2 February 2012
Leadership - Howard Schultz on the importance of leading an innovative culture
I’m a big fan of Starbucks as a case study for business students which provides some great examples of linkages between the different aspects of business strategy. In this clip from a recent business conference (London 2011), Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz discusses the importance of innovation in a competitive environment where businesses that stand still face defeat.
read more...»Leadership - what is the best leadership style? It depends on the “situation”!
A somewhat different and more formal feel to this video, but it makes an effective classroom resource nonetheless. It introduces an important concept relating to leadership - that of “situational leadership”.
read more...»Leadership - Tough decisions to turn Starbucks around
Here is a gem of an interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. In this short (3 minute) clip he discusses the difficult decisions he had to make about the business when he returned as CEO, including closing stores and making staff redundant. One of the success stories of the 1990s, Starbucks had grown too big and lacked clear focus. Excellent material to generate discussion on leadership, management, motivation, marketing, strategy, retrenchment and more.
read more...»Manufacturing strategy: Is China losing its competitiveness?
Is China still a competitive location for overseas manufacturing? Certainly the nature of manufacturing in China is chaining rapidly, as this 4 minute video from the Financial Times explains. It features European firms that moved their production to China several years ago. However, as wages in China have risen rapidly in recent years, it becomes less cost-effective to make low value-added products in China.
read more...»Technology in action: inside the transparent factory
What a stunning video that is likely to become a permanent fixture on the schemes of work for many colleagues. This 6 minute video gives you a guided tour of VW’s “transparent factory”. Wow!
read more...»The Biz Quiz - 26 January 2012
The latest edition of the Biz Quiz is here:
Launch The Biz Quiz - Interactive version
Our Enterprise Challenge (with some exam skills for good measure!)
This week, Graham Prior (AKA ”Lord Sutch”) and I are putting the finishing touches to the Priestley College Business Challenge Event 2012. It is the fourth year we have been invited to Priestley College to deliver a fun but challenging event to their AS students, who have just sat their F291 unit exam.
read more...»The Biz Quiz - 20 January 2012
The latest edition of the Biz Quiz is here! A little easier this week - so no excuses if you get 6 or less out of ten Let us know how you get on by reporting your score on Twitter!
Launch the Biz Quiz 20 January 2012
Starter Activity: The Budget Basket
A while ago, I blogged about a really good activity for helping to teach budgets. It was called the wedding planner and can be found here. However, this is another similiar activity that can also be used to help teach the concept of budgets.
read more...»The Biz Quiz - 15 January 2012
The Biz Quiz returns from its festive and exam break with the first edition of 2012:
Launch the Biz Quiz - 15 January 2012
Download printable version (pdf)
Making Finance Fun 2012 - CPD Course (London)
First details here of a new CPD course from the tutor2u team, which we’re running for the first time on 20 June 2012 in central London.
read more...»AQA & Edexcel GCSE Business Controlled Assessment 2012 - CPD Support Course
A date for your diaries in April 2012 if you teach AQA or Edexcel GCSE Business Studies. We are running CPD days in Manchester (19 April 2012) and London (20 April 2012) to support teachers preparing and supervising their GCSE Business students as they tackle the 2012 controlled assessment tasks. A separate course is being run for both the 2012 AQA and Edexcel controlled assessments. Each course will run from 10.30 a.m. until 2.30 p.m. including lunch.
Places on the courses will be limited, so please make a provisional booking as soon as possible. Places can be booked online here:
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/gcse-business-controlled-assessment-support-cpd/
Dragons Den - the board game
How many Business teachers and students received this as a Christmas present?
Certainly one student in my family did, and having tested it out the other evening, we found it quick to get into, good fun and quite competitive. Players take the role of Dragons, with a pile of cash to invest and several hundred cards with (rather brief) outlines of business ideas being pitched for investment. All the business ideas are, apparently, genuine; some you will recognise as having become big successes, some you may remember from the TV programme, some are very obscure. You have the chance to bet on the outcome of each, and the winner is simply the Dragon with the most money left at the end. After a couple of rounds we got into some wild all-or-nothing investments - some of which actually paid off!
My next investment plan is to buy this for the classroom; it only needs half an hour or so to play it, and will be worth having for those lessons which need some light relief!
Buy the Dragons Den board game from Amazon
Mini whiteboards lead to more motivating Critical Path Analysis
CPA is probably my favourite topic to teach. I love it. This idea is not a magic bullet, but is a way to make it slightly easier. Who came up with this idea? One of my students….
read more...»BTNC & ETNC 2012 - Join us for a Celebration of Economics and Business Education!
At the start of a new year, here are some essential details for your new diaries - the dates and the initial speaker bookings for our flagship CPD conferences in 2012 - the Economics Teacher National Conference (ETNC 2012) and the Business Teacher National Conference (BTNC 2012). Both events will be held at the British Library Conference Auditorium at St Pancras, on the following dates:
ETNC 2012 - Wednesday 27 June 2012
BTNC 2012 - Thursday 28 June 2012
These events take place on what will be a special anniversary for tutor2u. Geoff and I set tutor2u up on 2 July 2002, so we’ll be celebrating 10 years of being part of the Economics & Business teaching community. Our intention is to make both conferences as good as ever - we’re starting the process now of inviting a fantastic line-up of speakers and sessions which we hope will provide a wonderful end to the next academic year.
Bookings can now be placed for both conferences. In response to requests from colleagues, we’ve tweaked the conference pricing to make it even better value for two or more colleagues to attend. The single delegate rate is £175; the departmental deal now applies to any group of two or more colleagues, each of whom may attend of just £125. As you may be aware, the “early-bird” rate for a competitor event is £239, so we’re delighted to once again offer a much better programme at a substantially lower price!
There is a limit of 200 places at each conference, so please make your departmental booking as early as possible (on a provisional basis) to ensure that you are able to join us. Links to the online booking forms are below:
http://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/business-teacher-national-conf-2012-booking-form/
http://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/economics-teacher-national-conf-2012-booking-form/
A printable booking form can be downloaded from here
read more...»Business People in the News Quiz - 2011 Edition
Here is a ten question picture quiz on some of the personalities who have made the business news headline during 2011. How many can you get first time? When you get the questions right - how fast can you speed down the powerboat river?
read more...»BUSS1 Key Revision Terms Quiz
Here is a fifteen question revision quiz covering some key terms for the BUSS1 exam. For each question type in the correct answer - each question shows the number of letters required in the correct term! Good luck!
read more...»BUSS3 Quiz on Human Resource Strategies
Here is a ten question revision multiple choice quiz on some key terms in BUSS3 Human Resource Strategies created using Zondle
read more...»Investment in People - Google and Human Capital
Here is a link to a recent article on Google’s approach to investment in people. Written from a Google perspective inevitably there are none of the criticisms that others have made of human resource management in the Googleplexes around the world.
However, the article is useful in explaining the huge emphasis that Google places on being transparent with their workforce and in giving employees freedom, autonomy and purposes in their jobs. I am sure A2 students will be able to draw some useful insights from reading through it.
read more...»BUSS3 Quiz on Financial Strategies and Accounts
Here is a ten question “type the answer” quiz covering ten key concepts in BUSS3 financial strategies and accounts created using Zondle.
read more...»Business Cafe - Christmas 2011
The Christmas 2011 edition of Business Cafe - our digital learning resource for all Level 2 and Level 3 business courses, is now available to subscribing schools and colleges. Details of the new articles and case studies in this edition are summarised below.
read more...»
