Should you buy Facebook shares?
Most of you will be familiar with the crucial concept of appraising business investments. This means taking a cold, hard look at a business proposal (in this case buying Facebook shares) and seeing what kind of return you are likely to get on that investment.
With Facebook shares only days away from public sale, analysts are busy trying to piece together the information that’s necessary to advise people one way or another. This seems like a great opportunity to get you thinking. What do you need to know before deciding whether to invest? Here are a few links to get you started…
The Irresistible (?) Rise of the Super Rich
I wasn’t surprised to pick up on the news that the world’s wealthiest people are now richer than before the credit crunch. A striking feature of the last thirty years has been the emergence of a tiny group of people capturing a relatively enormous slice of national income. You may be astonished to learn that in the UK, the wealthiest 1000 people have assets worth more than £330 billion (that figure alone represents a sum equivalent to almost 40% of the entire debts of the UK government).
This raises a number of issues in Business. Firstly, you might focus on the marketing opportunities this offers to some firms. Equally, you might reflect on the CSR and ethical implications of this state of affairs. And finally: will it last? Might the tide be turning, with the next thirty years seeing attitudes change and tolerance for this situation coming under attack from electorates and their governments?
read more...»Pay-as-you-go holiday spending money
As sterling is so much weaker than it was a year ago, anyone travelling abroad for their summer holidays is going to find that their spending money buys far less. One result of this is that fewer of us are travelling abroad – see Innes Robinson’s piece ‘Recession hits Tenerife beaches’ on the GCSE blog, with its link to a video report on the BBC website showing glorious empty beaches, and the business closures, cancelled flights and growing unemployment in Tenerife as a result. Another result is that holiday makers will feel that their spending budgets are under pressure, and finding the best exchange rate could make a big difference. The BBC found that the cost of buying 500 euros varied hugely, from £423 to £463, which really makes shopping around worthwhile.
Video case study - the boom in renting
A classic method of for a business to conserve cash is to rent assets rather than buy them. Consumers in the UK seem to be picking up on this tactic - the market for product rentals is booming. The growing demand for rented products could see a return to the high street of rental businesses similar to Rediffusion. A great video case study to illustrate how demand can shift from one market to another:
Download student worksheet (including video link)
Private shareholders suffer big losses from quoted company investments
With all the focus of the new AS Business specifications on business start-ups and small businesses, it easy to forget the importance of larger quoted companies. Private shareholders who have invested some of their personal wealth in the stock market have had a tough time according to some new research…
read more...»Credit Crunch Sparks Tie Revivial
It appears that the much derided Tie is back.
Whether you are smartening up to avoid the credit crunch axe, or you are preparing for unplanned job interviews, it seems that sales are up, with Tie Rack and John Lewis reporting quarterly sales growth of 10% and 18% respectively. Source: Daily Telegraph
Do you enjoy wearing a tie - or is it a mere milestone around your neck?
In a recent unscientific classroom poll (sparked by the GCSE Spec A Kelloggs Case Study), it seemed that the divergence between teacher and student opinion was less than perhaps one would imagine.
Moreover, Ofsted reported last week that the introduction of uniform into schools had a “disproportionately positive impact” upon academic. Whether the tie is a great extrinsic motivator, or is perhaps a reflection of our internal locus of control remains open to debate.
