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Technological change - manufacturing and innovation
This is well worth watching - for business as well as economics students. An 8 minute discussion from the Economist which examines what is being called “The Third Industrial Revolution” - based around the digitisation of manufacturing processes. Concepts such as 3d printing and advanced robotics are discussed, as are concepts such as competitiveness, productivity and product personalisation. One possible consequence of these changes might be that high quality manufacturing may begin to move back from low-wage economies such as China and back to economies like the USA.
read more...»Strategy - How Nokia was overtaken by Apple and Samsung
I like this short article from Channel 4 News which examines how Nokia’s competitive position has been severely weakened by the success of firms like Apple and Nokia.
read more...»Apple under fire for e-book deals
A great example here of the role of competition legislation and regulation here - which involves everyone’s favourite A2 case study - Apple…
read more...»Takeovers and Mergers: Facebook & Instagram in News Clips
The Facebook takeover of Instagram for $1bn has generated a huge amount of media interest. The takeover is a great topical example for A2 business students looking at takeovers, and these video clips provide all they could possibly need in terms of looking at the motives for the deal and also the potential revenue synergies for Facebook.
read more...»Enterprise, Location and Culture - Inside the new Google Campus in London
Google Campus, a building designed to offer technology start-ups desk space and mentoring in east London, was opened to much fanfare by UK chancellor George Osborne. But is the government right to look to the tech sector for economic growth? In this excellent FT video Daniel Garrahan reports from inside Google Campus. Some good teaching points here, including:
- The role of government support for technology startups
- Non-financial benefits of a suitable location for startup entrepreneurs and their employees
- Use of a location to bring together entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
- The cost savings for startups of locating in a venue like Google Campus
Strategy & Technological Change - Whatever Happened to BlackBerry?
The revenues achieved in 2011 by RIM, the owner of BlackBerry, fell by 25% compared with 2010. It looks like customers have fallen out of love with BlackBerry. Apple, HTC, Samsung and other operator have grabbed a large share of BlackBerry’s customer base, so it must be that BlackBerry has seen its competitiveness deteriorate.
This excellent video from the FT examines some key strategic issues facing Rim and its BlackBerry brand. Could the business be a takeover target now that the firm is trying to achieve a turnaround? But, if so, who would want to buy it? Can new product development save BlackBerry before it loses further market share in key markets like the US? A fantastic lesson resource for A2 students…
read more...»Sony - Hirai’s Turnaround Strategy - in Video Clips
At our A2 Business revision workshops in March we predicted that Sony would quickly become an essential research case study for students in 2012 and perhaps beyond, as we anticipated the strategic review being carried out by Hirai Kazou as he took over as CEO of Sony from Sir Howard Stringer. Events over recent days have supported that view. Sony’s plight - and proposed turnaround strategy - is packed full with fantastic business strategy materials. Perfect for comparing and contrasting with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Google & HTC.
Hirai’s announcement has been well covered in all the business media, particularly the online business television channels. Here is a selection of clips which help explain the strategy and also provide some examples of experts analysing and evaluating the likely success of the turnaround:
Update: BBC news, May 2012: Sony shares tumble to 31-year low amid record losses
read more...»Instagram - the business with no revenues, worth $1bn
Simply stunning. There’s no other way to describe the takeover by Facebook of Instagram…for a cool $1bn. This takeover has really made the technology market sit up and notice.
read more...»Organisational culture, strategy and performance in fewer than 1000 words
Tuning into the news last week I was not surprised to see the Met Police once again under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17636776). Described as suffering from ‘institutional racism’ by the MacPherson Report in 1999 it appears not a lot has changed at the Met police in the almost 20 years since the racially motivated murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence. So what exactly is going on?
read more...»Revision Presentation - Business & the Technological Environment
This new revision presentation focuses on the “T” in PESTEL - technology. The role of technological change as an opportunity or threat is examined as are the drivers of innovation and the process of diffusion.
read more...»Move over Apple, Samsung, Sony & Nokia. Here Comes China’s Huawei
A great article here for students researching the competitive environment in the consumer electronics industry. Students should certainly be familiar with the strategies of Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Sony and others. But have they heard of Huawei? It looks like they might soon, if Huawei is successful in its objective of grabbing a significant share of the smartphone and tablet markets.
read more...»Google and YouTube - a backward step?
Is this a good move by Google-owned YouTube? Well it might be - particularly for school or college IT technicians who still block student and teacher access to the treasure trove of educational materials contained on YouTube. However, the school librarian might end up a little annoyed with the regularly deliveries of new YouTube DVDs that are offered as part of the new service…
read more...»Game Over?
Sometimes the decline of a business enters a spiral. Conditions in the marketplace change. New competitors emerge. Poor trading conditions lead to disappointing revenues. Cash flow dries up. Suppliers become reluctant to supply. Shareholders begin to pull out, and it gets progressively harder to raise finance to reverse the decline. That seems to be a fair summary of the current woes of Game Group, which is looking increasingly like the latest casualty on the troubled UK High Street.
read more...»Two Lesson Videos on Nokia - Will their Strategy Work?
A superb 6-minute video here from the BBC technology team which analyses and evaluates the likely success of Nokia’s product and market strategy in mobile phones. Lots of details about mobile phone segments and operating platforms / ecosytems, but explained in a way that should certainly be accessible for students. I have also added a recent video interview with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop in which he explains his strategy further.
read more...»Lesson Video on Patent Protection - the Battle for Smartphone Advantage
Don’t try this at home - but watch this expert open up his smartphone to illustrate the use of patents and patent protection…
read more...»Sony - All Change at the Top with a new CEO
After seven pretty disastrous years as CEO, Sir Howard Stringer is passing the baton of Sony’s CEO to Kazuo Hirai. Stringer will remain with Sony as Chairman. Will the new CEO achieve the turnaround in Sony’s fortunes that Stringer has been attempting in recent years? It’s a tough ask - but it will be fascinating to see how Hirai goes about things…
read more...»Apple’s new CEO and a new iPad - A Change in Leadership
For those of you who watched the recent Apple special event (7 March 2012), you were witnessing an event which involved too kinds of leadership. First, Apple was aiming to secure its leadership of the global tablet computer market with the launch of the “new iPad”. Secondly, the event was a showcase for a new kind of leadership at Apple. It provided quite a few clues to the leadership style of Tim Cook, leading the presentation for the first time since the death of Steve Jobs.
read more...»Start-ups - the Wooden Smartphone?
If smartphones have become mass-market, then is there now a gap in the market for a niche phone - perhaps one made from bamboo? This excellent video examines the innovative idea of Kieron-Scott Woodhouse, a final year Product & Design student at the Middlesex University in London. He’s just turned 24 and is already running his own company. This is his debut design - the world’s first smartphone made from wood….
read more...»MU folding electric plug
“When I’m walking down the street I see everyday objects and ask myself why that object exists. If I can find any possibility for improvement, I start to design it.” Min-Kyu Choi.
The newly launched folding MU plug uses less materials, less space yet meets current UK regulations for electric equipment, and will appeal to users of tablets, smartphones and ipods, which require a slim USB adapter.
It is a great case study for consideration of all aspects of entrepreneurship - risk taking, design, development, finance, marketing production and profits.
read more...»Google’s takeover of Motorola Mobility is given regulatory seal of approval
Google’s biggest-ever takeover has been given approval by competition regulators in both the EU and USA, paving the way for the takeover to be legally completed.
read more...»Video starter - Inside the iPad factory
The first time that any reporters have been allowed inside the iPad factory in China - and what an insight! This clip has it all for superb business studies lesson starter. Technology in production of course; but much more interesting is the issue of people management. Thought-provoking…
read more...»Vestas – has the wind gone out of their sales.
Last Wednesday, Vestas the leading supplier of wind turbines posted a substantial operating loss of €166m on its operations. This has led to the resignation of the Chief Financial Officer Henrik Norremark, and the Chairman Bent Carlsen and two other main board directors. Norremark was about to be promoted to Chief Operating Officer, in control of the firm’s manufacturing operations.
read more...»Innovation in Business - Perspectives from Stephen Elop (CEO of Nokia)
Nokia is an essential research case study for business students and teachers and I highly recommend this excellent, longer video interview with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. The discussion focuses on the role of innovation in business, but you also get a sense of the character of Elop, a key case study in leadership and business strategy. This is a wide-ranging and accessible discussion that also focuses on the effect of technological disruption in business, with a specific analysis of the effect/influence of disruption on innovation strategy.
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...»Happiness in the workplace still proving elusive
60 years ago we worked 30% longer and took half as many holidays. For most, pay was poor. Discrimination in the workplace was widespread, and permitted by law. Work was often hard, and for working class men it was often dangerous too. So it’s a sobering thought to think that several decades later, measures of anxiety in the workplace have risen, to the point that stress has replaced back pain as the most common cause of long-term sick leave, according to The Guardian. What’s going wrong?
read more...»Integration, integration, integration
HP is an example of a firm which is struggling to integrate acquisitions, and the perils of diversification.
Success for the Daily Mail’s online strategy
Last year I started my A2 students on the topic of business strategy by looking at the UK newspaper market. Analysis of their position paints a pretty bleak picture, but the industry has a successful record of innovation, so it was interesting to compare their strategies for survival. A year later, and the success of one paper’s strategy is becoming apparent.
read more...»Technological change - the “consumerisation of technology”
This is a neat two-minute video from The Economist (in October 2011) which provides an ideal introduction to a key concept - the “consumerisation of technology”. Essentially this is about the integration of consumer tech products into the world of work. The main example provided is that of the smartphone, but you can apply the same concept to other hardware products such as tablets and also to software as a service (“SaaS”) such as cloud-based storage.
read more...»Strategic choice: What should Facebook do with cash from the IPO?
The business pages are buzzing about the impending flotation of Facebook, with some analysts speculating that the implied valuation of Facebook based on the flotation share price will be up to $100billion. It is thought that Facebook will seek to raise approximately $10billion of new share capital through the IPO. But, what should Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook Board do with the cash raised?
read more...»Technological change: 3-D printing promises a new industrial revolution
I’m going to show you a technology that may simply blow you away. This isn’t a make-believe technology; it’s real and it’s here now. The possibilities are endless; the implications for the future of manufacturing, business investment and business models could be hugely significant.
read more...»Technological change - Kodak’s big strategic mistake
I highly recommend that A2 business students read Tom White’s excellent blog about the demise of Kodak. I came across a couple of useful video clips which help explain the strategic mistakes made by Kodak and also suggest that the corporate culture at Kodak was a significant part in the failure of the business to adapt and change.
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...»More perspectives on our changing shopping habits
There have been plenty of recent blogs on the problems faced by struggling firms on the UK “High Street”. You’re all encouraged to think through these problems, perhaps using a framework like PEST analysis.
This blog adds a couple more perspectives, from recent articles in The Guardian and The Economist that paint a pretty grim future for the High Street - at least in its current form. All is not well for the out-of-town grocery chains either.
read more...»Leadership and Strategy - All Change at the Top for Blackberry
A fantastic quote here from the departing co-CEOs of RIm (owner of BlackBerry) as they depart for pastures new…
read more...»The tablet takeover?
I bought twin-brother Geoff a Kindle Fire for Christmas (after he’d dropped several unsubtle hints in the festive build-up 
). It seems I wasn’t alone. Some great data in this analytical feature indicates that tablet ownership in the USA almost doubled in December 2011 - January 2012; a significant growth in the user-based of tablet-style devices.
What’s gone wrong for Kodak?
Ever heard of Coca-Cola? How about Google, Microsoft or IBM? What about McDonald’s? They sound familiar, and the amazing thing (to me) is that even in the 1990s, you would have heard Kodak mentioned in a list of the world’s five most valuable brands. Kodak was the Google of its day and by 1976 it accounted for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in America. How the mighty have fallen, with the announcement that Kodak files for bankruptcy protection.
I was reading about Kodak’s decline and here are some of the key points that made an impression:
read more...»Business size and the innovation debate
Innovation is a business topic in its own right, and it also crops up a lot when there are discussions about the benefits and drawbacks of size – or economies and diseconomies of scale, in syllabus terms. This is a rich thread for evaluation, although it’s probably fair to say that poor rates of innovation and change are often quoted as a classic ‘diseconomy of scale’. In other words, big business is supposed to be bad at it.
But more and more big firms are setting out to challenge this view and prove themselves as innovators. The Economist have also recently added to this side of the argument.
read more...»In Business - technology developments in 2012
I have a feeling that the role of technology in business strategy is going to be a key topic for many business students and teachers in 2012, so this excellent podcast from BBC R4 Peter Day is well worth listening to…
read more...»Revision Presentation - Innovation
This revision presentation focuses on the role of innovation and invention in a business as part of operational strategy.
read more...»Business Innovation - where do good ideas come from?
Innovation is the successful implementation of a new idea, process or approach. But where do these creative, innovative ideas come from and how long does it take for them to be turned into commercial successes? I love this short, animated talk from Stephen Johnson
read more...»Why is productivity rising in the US?
Productivity – usually expressed in terms of output per worker – is a really important term in business. In fact, it’s up there near the top of the list of the most important measures of business efficiency. So is it good news that productivity continues to rise (at least in the US)? And what forces are driving this improvement?
read more...»Technology and Consumer Media - A Neat Research Resource
Lots has been written already on this blog about the decline in demand for audio and visual material on physical media such as CD and DVDs. The associated decline in the financial performance of retailers such as Woolworths, HMV and publishers like EMI is also well documented.
This feature in the Independent is worth adding to students research notes, mainly because it provides some useful summary data on the absolute changes in demand for various music products and also the shift in market share enjoyed by digital media.
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!
How loyalty cards are used to gather market research data
According to The Economist you have spies in your wallet if you make use of one of the many ‘loyalty’ cards that are promoted by retailers.
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...»Strategy case study - does Microsoft have a long-term strategy?
I’m half hoping that technology will be the focus for AQA A2 business students in 2012 and, if it is, then this article would make a terrific starting point for discussion and student research.
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...»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.
