CSR - McDonalds and the Case for the Defence
I’m indebted to Ian Pryer for sending through some suggested links to video resources which help us strike a balance when using McDonalds as part of teaching corporate social responsibility.
read more...»Stunning Video - CSR, Ethics and Milton Friedman
Jim put a Milton Friedman video on a few weeks ago. I found these two clips of Milton Friedman being questioned by a University Student on Profit and Self interest (its the same video but split into two). Its so good that I showed it to my form class.
In the first clip the student questions him on a case whereby an old man couldnt afford to pay his electric bill. Subsequently he was cut off and dies as a result. In the second clip, he discusses the Ford Pinto scandal. My form class were spellbound.
Amazing, amazing stuff.
The first clip can be found here and the second one here.
CSR - The Mega Dairy, Economies of Scale and Cornflakes
This is a terrific, topical case study that you can use with students to examine a range of important business studies topics - not the least economies of scale, CSR and market structure.
read more...»CSR - BBC One Planet on Coca-Cola & Sustainability
This podcast from a special edition of BBC World Service’s One Planet makes ideal listening for students researching corporate social responsibility. The opening 8 minutes of the programme features an interview with John Brock, Head of Coca-Cola Enterprises in Western Europe, where he talks generally about the role of CSR in Coca-Cola’s strategy. Well worth a listen…
read more...»CSR at the Movies - Thank You for Smoking
A film here which is certainly not a documentary, but still takes a hard dig at the world of business lobbying in the USA. Thank You for Smoking is a satirical comedy which follows the machinations of Big Tobacco’s chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son.
read more...»CSR at the Movies - Black Gold
For this movie-inspired resource for teaching CSR (and globalisation) we go back to 2006 - to the launch of an award-winning movie about the global coffee trade…
read more...»Niche segmentation - Britain’s Last Teddy Bear Maker
Here’s a cuddly story stuffed full with topical business studies teaching material. Of all the 30 or so teddy factories that once existed in Britain, only one still remains. Nestled in the Shropshire countryside, Merrythought Ltd has been making teddy bears since 1930. This short video takes us behind the scenes to watch the production process at Merrythought. It is almost like taking our students on a visit to a factory museum! Inside, a dozen or so ladies hand-stitch each teddy in much the same way as was done 100 years ago. The only real sign of the use of technology in the production process is a mechanised stuffing machine!
Oliver Holmes, the managing director of Merrythought, acknowledges in the video that his bears are far more expensive than others on the market. The average price of a soft toy in the UK is £7.81 and the smallest Merrythought bear retails at well over £50. Merrythought’s unit costs are over 50 times higher than their competitors in the Far East. So a key question for students is - how does Merrythough compete? And can they survive?
read more...»The Business Studies of Angry Birds
Angry Birds has been the number 1 app on nearly every mobile platform. This excellent interview is with Peter Vesterbacka - the man behind Angry Birds. Produced by gamemaker Rovio, it has been the number one app in the UK (on Android and iPhone) for the past year and leads the charts in 70 other countries. To date, the Angry Birds has been downloaded over 75 million times worldwide. At the Mobile World Congress he talks to the FT’s Mary Watkins, technology correspondent, about the gravitational shift to mobile technology and the formula for making a winning app. He also talks about the profitability of the Angry Birds app and the basic marketing mix applied to the game. Absolutely loads of great business studies material in this interview that should really resonate with students;
read more...»CSR - Project Shakti
A great (and now famous) example of CSR in action. We are looking at Unilever’s Project Shakti at our AQA BUSS4 CPD days next week. Looks of great research and analysis potential here for students.
read more...»CSR - Comic Relief, Crisps and Cause-Related Marketing
There is a telling phrase in the current series of commercials for Walkers Crisps which are being run as part of Walkers’ (Pepsico) support of Comic Relief Day 2011. In the video clip below, Gary Lineker explains that “whoever sells most, wins”...
read more...»Unit 3 Micro: Economies of Scale - the Mega Container Ship
There are currently around 9,000 container ships cruising the world’s shipping lanes, transporting goods around the globe. But the competitive structure of the shipping industry looks set to be shaken up by the arrival of 10 new mega container ships. These provide a great example of how economies of scale can lead to lower unit costs.
read more...»CSR at the Movies - The End of the Line
A haunting soundtrack and some gripping and often gruesome imagery make this another strong contender for a powerful lesson stimulus on CSR. The End of The Line is the film version of a book by journalist Charles Clover about overfishing. Clover, an environment editor of the Daily Telegraph (London), describes how modern fishing is destroying ocean ecosystems. He concludes that current worldwide fish consumption is unsustainable.
read more...»CSR at the Movies - Supersize Me in 7 Minutes
This movie clip might be a useful lesson stimulus for colleagues and students examining the issue of rising adult and childhood obesity in the context of corporate social responsibility. The movie in question is Super Size Me, a documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock’s film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003 during which he eats only McDonald’s food.
read more...»Nestle - using branding & productivity to overcome commodity price increases
A huge amount of lesson material for both business & economics lessons here. The background to the video clip is the rapid increase in the global price of commodities such as cocoa & sugar together with energy costs. However, despite the soaring costs of raw materials, Nestle has so far been able to avoid passing on the cost to its customers. Why is this? Could it be the economies of scale that Nestle enjoys from being one of the world’s biggest food producers? Might the popularity of its brands mean that customers are less likely to switch to alternatives if Nestle attempts to increase its selling prices?
CSR - What is “Creating Shared Value”?
In recent blog entries we mentioned an important new contribution to the literature on business strategy and CSR (Porter & Kramer’s Creating Shared Value). The essence of CSV is that businesses need to go beyond CSR and focus on building business models that fully embrace the link between economic value (aka profit) and social value (what business activities add to or detract from society). Nestle SA, the world’s largest food producer, has taken on the concept of CSV and embedded it into the group’s business strategy. These two videos help explain the concept in more detail:
read more...»CSR - Lesson Video: Primark on the Rack
This now infamous BBC Panorama programme from 2008 highlights the supply chain issues of fast fashion, focusing on the ethical practises of Primark. A classic clip, which is perfect stimulus material for any lesson on corporate social responsibility…
read more...»CSR - Lesson Video - Clips from Blood Sweat and T-Shirts
Many of our students will be regular shoppers at the fast fashion chains on our high streets. But what goes on behind the labels? How are UK retailers able to source such low-priced garments? How would UK consumers react if they were asked to experience what it is like to work for suppliers in low labour cost countries like Bangladesh? That was the premise behind a BBC Three series in 2008 - Blood Sweat and T-Shirts. These three clips highlight some of the ethical issues raised in the fast-fashion world.
read more...»CSR - Lesson Video: Child Labour in Bangladesh
In this poignant 7 minute clip from the 2010 BBC series Tropic of Cancer, Simon Reeve travels to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh where he meets some of the millions of child workers there. A moving and thought-provoking video for students researching the issue of child labour use by multinationals.
read more...»CSR - Salad Slaves - Supermarkets and Corporate Irresponsibility?
A terrific and detailed video resource here from the Guardian - perfectly timed for students wanting something substantial to discuss as part of their research into corporate social responsibility…
read more...»CSR - Branson, Paphitis and Meaden Turn into Eco Warriors
If Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden, Richard Branson, Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King, outgoing M&S CEO Stuart Rose and Pepsico’s CEO Indra Nooyi are prepared to appear in a video like this, then you know that the issue of CSR (and specifically sustainability) has truly risen to the top of the hierarchy of corporate objectives!
The new ‘Eco warriors or business leaders’ video is all part of Prince Charles’ Accounting for Sustainability initiative, which is ‘bringing organisations together to develop practical tools to enable environmental and social performance to be better connected with strategy and financial performance, and thereby embedded into day-to-day operations and decision making’.
Ok - so the video is a bit cheesy. But it’s a perfect stimulus video to show students as an introduction for their AQA BUSS4 research project too...
read more...»Emerging Markets Video - The perfect plenary
Here is another ‘perfect plenary’ video for the topic of emerging markets.
At under 4 minutes it provides an excellent summary and looks at how emerging markets are proving profitable for YUM brands as some of the YUM brands experience slow growth in the States.
It also covers issues such as first mover advantage and inflation in emerging markets.
Wonderful….
Industrial Action & Customer Service Case Study - FlyLo
A wildcat strike at Britain’s 8th favourite low-cost airline creates significant operational and people management issues. What do students think about the way in which FlyLo management handle the situation?
read more...»Globalisation Video - The perfect plenary
Discovered this fantastic short video on Globalisation.
Perfect for a plenary. It can be accessed here.
Adding value (or “up-selling”) - the FlyLo Way
Another terrific clip from Come Fly With Me - this time featuring low-cost airline entrepreneur Omar Baba. Omar is the owner of the nation’s “eighth favourite low-cost airline” FlyLo. He has worked hard to make his airline the great success it is and knows that the frequent news stories about poor service and dangerous conditions are down to a biased and unfair media. And now Omar has a great idea to add value by providing a new premium service for customers on FlyLo’s flights…
read more...»On-the-job-training - The Come Fly With Me approach
Come Fly With Me looks like it will soon join the likes of Little Britain and The Office as a rich source of video clips for business teachers. Take this example of on-the-job training, featuring aspiring pilot Tommy Reid.
read more...»Economies of Scale - A cool video
I found this really, really good video on Friday about economies of scale. A bitesize video so maybe most people have seen this but I hadn’t.
When I teach economies of scale, I also use a couple of products that kids can relate to in order to demonstrate bulk buying. For example, last year I brought in a can of coke and a multi-pack. Got the kids to work out the price of an individual can in the multi-pack. Perfectly illustrates bulk buying economies. I have also used a small bar of dairy milk and a giant bar. Kids can then eat the chocolate after.
Anyway, the video can be found here. You won’t be disappointed. Its amazing.
Enjoy….
Insights from an Entrepreneur - Kirsty Henshaw (Worthenshaws)
This fantastic Smarta interview features Kirsty Henshaw, one of the entrepreneurial stars of 2010, who wowed the Dragons with her frozen desert Worthenshaws Freedom. Kirsty is joining us at the Business Teacher National Conference 2011 on Thursday 30 June and it will be lovely to hear how her business has developed since this interview. Kirsty’s story is perfect as a case study for all business spec units covering the essentials of enterprise and entrepreneurship.
read more...»Innovation and ideas - what makes a successful business concept?
This excellent video interview from Smarta focuses on the key topics of innovation, creativity and developing a viable business idea.
read more...»Was this the worst mistake ever made in the Dragon’s Den
Unbelievable. The contestant surely had all the right credentials. A great reputation for innovation. A trend-setter not a follower. And a confident, assured pitch. So why didn’t the Dragon’s invest?
read more...»Video case study - Harris Tweed prospers through innovation and international expansion
A super little video here from Sky Business News which describes how luxury brand Harris Tweed has enjoyed a significant boost in revenues as a result of product innovation and focusing on growing demand for luxury items from consumers in emerging markets…
read more...»
