Business Strategy

Renault-Nissan join the race to produce a $2500 car

Five years ago it might have seemed crazy.  Electric cars? Low emission ‘hybrid’ engines?  Mass production of $2500 cars?  You must be joking!  The automotive giants seemed set on producing bigger and sexier sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and battling it out in the congested car markets of the US, Japan and Europe.

How times change.  After five years of high oil prices, new eco fashions and the continuing explosive growth of the economies of the developing world, the strategic direction of the volume car manufacturers has shifted radically.  It doesn’t come as a surprise to hear that Renault-Nissan has announced a joint venture with Indian firm Bajaj to produce a $2,500 car.

Can Willie Walsh save his job?

According to Jeff Randall, the Telegraph’s influential business columnist, the CEO of British Airways has just a week or two to sort out the Terminal 5 mess, or he will be looking for his next job.  Randall has just conducted a fantastic interview with Willie Walsh on Sky News that challenges the CEO on his performance.

The Business Studies Lessons from Terminal 5

Rarely can there have been a business news story that provides such a rich source of business studies content.

Farm diversification into ice-cream is not plain, vanilla process

Researching some materials for our revision toolkit for the OCR Applied Business Unit 3, I came across a really useful case study on farm diversification into ice-cream.

New owners for Pontins try to defy the product life cycle

Pontins, the UK holiday park business which was born in post-war Britain and thrived during the 1950’s and 1960’s, has just been bought for £46m by new investors.  Can they turn reverse the decline in the traditional holiday park market?

More evidence of rising raw materials costs affecting profit margins

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A recurring theme of business news stories from the UK and abroad is the impact of rising raw material costs on the profitability of manufacturers.  There was another good example today when food supplier Uniq announced its latest results

Consolidation speculation in the budget hotel market

The budget hotel market in the UK has enjoyed stronger than average growth in the last decade. A small number of operators have steadily built their market share, and now there is media speculation that the two largest competitors will soon merge.

Capacity utilisation in focus as the credit crunch tightens

Every day brings bad economic and business news from the US economy as the implications of the credit crunch take effect.  Here is an example of a major manufacturing business taking pre-emptive action to reduce capacity in the face of falling sales.

Fudges finds its niche

Here is a great example of a food manufacturing business that has reinvented itself to successfully exploit a niche for luxury food products. The video link would make a great lesson starter resource and there is lots of business studies content that can be drawn out through discussion and further research.

British Airways warning is a wonderful strategy case for students

An amazing headline in the Independent this morning.  “BA fears oil price rise may destroy its profit margins”.  The piece that follows makes for really useful reading for A2 business strategy students.

Times up for Asda’s 4 year George Trial

How long should it take for a major retailer to decide whether a new format has what is takes to be a winner.  In the case of Asda, it has taken over four years to determine the fate of standalone fashion brand “George”.

Can you guess - what is Britain’s fastest-growing sport?

Friday evening is approaching yet again.  And it turns out that by participating in my regular Friday exercise I’m taking part in Britain’s fastest-growing sport.  A sport that also claims to be “recession-proof”.

Pest controller sees profits tumble

Two contrasting stories in the news today highlight how the value of a business can fluctuate widely.

The Social Network that Friends Forgot

Browsing Facebook the other night I saw a passing reference to one of the earliest social networking sites - Friends Reunited.  I remember using that site a few years ago, before it was bought by ITV for £120m and wondered what had happened to it since?

Commuter coaches take on the crowded railways

A fascinating news article in the The Times today on a new product from National Express, the UK’s largest coach operator.