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...»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...»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...»Behind the scenes of a Sainsbury’s warehouse at Christmas
A neat, short video here in which we get a behind the scenes look at the way in which Sainsbury’s handles goods delivered to a main distribution warehouse in the busy build-up to Christmas. Some nice glimpses of technology in action - what is that over-sized watch that the warehouse employee is wearing? The flow of stocks is quite straightforward too. Goods come in at one end; they are automatically scanned and then sent to waiting delivery lorries at the other end. Simple - in theory!
A tour of a handmade chocolate factory
We’re diving into the world of chocolate retailing at the AQA BUSS3 revision workshops over the next three weeks and I came across this super 5 minute video as part of our research. It takes you behind the scenes of a premium chocolate producer in the US called Moonstruck Chocolate…
read more...»Brilliant Video for Just in Time and Kaizen
THis video is perfect to illustrate Just in Time and Kaizen in action.
read more...»Meet the CEO of Dropbox - the man who said no to Steve Jobs!
Meet the entrepreneur behind a fast-growing online service that in 2009 rejected advances from Apple’s Steve Jobs. Drew Houston, a brilliant software programmer, founded Dropbox.com....
read more...»Leadership video - A heartfelt apology from the boss
This video features a personal message from RIM (maker of Blackberry) Founder and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis on the BlackBerry service outage which enraged millions of Blackberry users in the UK and around the world. Why did he feel the need to publish the video? Because RIM spectacularly failed to handle the crisis that arose when the Blackberry server network collapsed, cutting off tens of millions of BlackBerry users for three and a half days. Service outage has triggered a wave of defections to rival handset makers such as Apple and Samsung - perfect timing for both as they launch new versions of their smartphones.
read more...»Lesson starter video: Technological innovation in the post-PC era
A super, data-rich video here from the Economist Magazine which is perfect for getting students to think about how consumer technology is changing in what Steve Jobs described as the post-PC era.
read more...»Can you copyright a dance move?
Is it really possibly to copyright dance moves? Well avant garde Belgian choreographer De Keermaeker believes Beyonce has ... and I have just used a couple of articles from The Guardian to create a great copyright, patent, trademark (revision) lesson today.
read more...»Management By Committee? Not At Apple
Since Steve Jobs died last week much has been written and said about his autocratic leadership style and how he built (and rebuilt) the company he co-founded, Apple, into the global brand it is today. Richard Branson wrote an excellent piece on Jobs’ leadership style and enterpreneurial spirit in which he stated that his approach to leadership differed markedly from that of Jobs. The YouTube clip below is of an interview with Jobs in which he stated that there were no committees at all within Apple.
A stroke of genius, motivating and empowering senior staff? Or because Jobs needed to maintain control over the company and oversee everything in the weekly meeting where all aspects of the company’s operations were discussed?
Virtual shopping - Tesco in South Korea
Tesco may have admitted defeat and pulled out of Japan after 8 years but they have found an innovative way to build their market share in South Korea. A fantastic example of listening to customers, ensuring they can buy what they want at a time and place convenient to them. In this case, by scanning virtual items using smartphones while using the subway.
Selling Bread - Classic Adverts
The humble loaf has long been the centre of creative adverts on television often designed to pull at the heart strings, evoke a sense of place and tradition and remind us of the humanity that goes into making every single bap, french stick or loaf of white sliced.
Warburtons has established itself as the second most highly rated grocery brand in the UK - some distance behind Coca Cola but perhaps that will never change. Their adverts are beautifully crafted and might work a treat in lessons on branding and the effectiveness of television advertising. Here is a small selection of my favourites together with a short video on the background to a Warburtons marketing campaign to launch a new product
read more...»Making Profit from Waste
This is a truly remarkable 10 minute video which is perfect for showing to business students as a way of illustrating how entrepreneurial flair (and a large dose of technological innovation) can result in a profitable product which is genuinely good for society. A big hat tip to Geoff for recommending it.
read more...»Autocratic leadership style in action - Basil v Manuel
I’m indebted to Lord Sutch for suggesting this video belter! There can be no better example of an autocratic leadership style than that displayed by the joint proprietor of Fawlty Towers, the mid-market hotel in Torquay with a variable record of customer service…
read more...»Inspiring leadership?
This year I am getting my business students to share and discuss business issues and concepts through blogging and adding comments to blogs. I set up a YouTube channel and uploaded screencasts/video tutorials showing them how easy it is to blog using my chosen platform, Posterous Spaces.
My blog post below is designed to show the students how easy it is and stimulate discussion on leadership, motivation, training and more.
read more...»Insights from an Entrepreneur - Lara Morgan (Pacific Direct)
The Virgin Media Pioneers channel looks like it will provide some excellent teaching materials as it grows, and I particularly like this interview with Lara Morgan, the hugely successful founder of Pacific Direct, a manufacturer and supplier of luxury hotel toiletries. Lots of great insights into factors that determine whether a startup will be successful in an interview conducted by the excellent David McQueen…
read more...»Adding value - turning waste into gold
Good quality potatoes make great potato chips or crisps. But what do you with the smaller or mis-shapen potatoes which fail the raw material quality test for a premium crisp brand? Simple, you use them to create a premium brand of vodka…
read more...»Tesco adapts to the South Korean market
We all know about the success and dominance of Tesco in the UK where it has a market share of around 30%. Globally it is one of the biggest retailers in the world and it now has stores in 14 countries. This clip is a great example of how Tesco have adapted to the South Korean market where it is the market’s number two, with fewer stores than the number one company.
read more...»Tim Harford on why it its good for new businesses to fail
Tim Harford, a regular presenter at tutor2u conferences, talks in this interview about several topics relevant to business students and teachers. One key question is whether governments can do more to support entrepreneurs? What do new businesses need from government support and why do so many feel that they don’t get it? Harford is somewhat sceptical that government has much of a role to play in encouraging enterprise, save for reducing “red tape” (legislation and other bureaucracy which gets in the way of running a business) and helping new businesses access fair finance.
Tim’s new book Adapt (highly recommended for summer reading) explores how the critical process of trial and error underpins almost all successful businesses and innovation. He makes a useful evaluative point which top students could bring into their exam answers - that it is good for new businesses to fail. In the US, business failure is almost a badge of honour; but in the UK it is less well received. A dynamic economic based on innovation-led growth should have a healthy flow of new businesses that tried - but failed. The interview is shown below:
read more...»Haway Pet - A belting video for niche marketing
Great video here to use when teaching niche marketing.
Pet Airways, an airline dedicated to pets where pets aren’t luggage, their ‘pawsengers’.
You can access it here.
Enjoy…
Marketing Lessons from the I Scream Men
Lord Sutch was on tremendous form at the Business Teacher National Conference 2011 and one resource he mentioned in passing was this superb episode from Barry & Paul - aka The Chuckle Brothers…
read more...»Strategy Video - Innovation through technology at Fern Howard
A fantastic video here for A level business students - packed full with relevant concepts. You’ll want to use this again and again.
read more...»More business on TV - Lord Sugar tackles football
If you can spare the time between past papers, there was another good programme last night, Lord Sugar Tackles Football. The BBC blurb about it says “Lord Sugar, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs and a football fan, investigates the business side of the beautiful game. Despite generating billions in TV and other income, the professional English game is struggling to make ends meet. Most Premier League clubs are in the red, and debt stands at 3.3 billion pounds. Lord Sugar interviews bosses, owners, agents and players and asks what has gone wrong, who is to blame and what can be done. In typically forthright fashion, he delivers his verdict and his own business blueprint designed to help the game he has followed since childhood.” I heard him being interviewed about it yesterday morning and it did sound worth setting the recorder for - repeated on BBC2 at 23.30 on Tuesday 10th.
