A tale of two bakers

Tom White’s excellent piece on the rapid growth and success of Greggs could be used to compare and contrast with a piece of bad news for those of us here in Yorkshire used to getting our lunchtime nibbles from Ainsley’s…

Rated: (5/5), based on 2 reviews

Emerging markets drive demand for oil

A neat graphic on The Economist website this week helps illustrate the rapid economic growth of emerging markets such as India & China.  It breaks down the historical demand for oil from the key economies, highlighting the changes between 1980 and the latest forecasts for 2030 by the International Energy Agency.  The oil market is a good example to use when illustrating the dynamics of changing supply and demand on market prices.  And there is a good discussion to have with students about why an emerging economy such as China, Malaysia or India would experience such a significant increase in demand for oil (rapid industrialisation; wider car ownership etc)

Cash flow Clue-doh! The Mystery is Revealed…

Over 1,500 colleagues have now downloaded our cash-flow murder mystery activity - Cash Flow Clue-doh! And we’re getting an increasing number of enquiries asking what the solution is!

Rated: (5/5), based on 2 reviews

Santa goes back to basics in attempt to reduce the cost of Christmas

A big hat tip to Sam Lavery on the EconomicsTeacher Twitter Group for spotting a useful topical piece in the Telegraph. The Toy Industry Association’s annual list of the top Christmas sellers (based on what they know toy shops to have ordered from suppliers) shows the average price of the toys in the basket has almost halved for Chirstmas 2009.  Electronic gizmos are out (along with their high selling prices); traditional favourites are back in.  However, there is still plenty of evidence of innovation - particularly amongst long-standing brands like Monopoly and Lego. 

Q&A - How are businesses affected by unemployment?

Businesses are affected in a variety of ways depending on whether unemployment is high or low, and rising or falling.

What business students can learn from how businesses have handled the recession

The actions taken by successful businesses during the UK recession provide a rich source of guidance for students wishing to improve their analysis and evaluation skills. 

Pricing strategies and tactics under investigation

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to undertake a detailed investigation into methods of advertising and pricing goods and services online.  This should prove to be a really interesting report when it is published in the summer of 2010, making it essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the variety of advertising pricing tactics and strategies being developed online.

Rated: (2/5), based on 1 review

Dyson launches a new premium product

James Dyson is at it again - launching a desktop fan at a price that is almost ten times the average price of a standard blade-based fan…

Ukraine 1 England 0 - A match to remember?

Whilst it might not have been the result we wanted, England’s match against the Ukraine on Saturday may become memorable for business reasons.

Whatever your view on whether England football matches should only be available to watch live on the internet, there is little doubt that there is plenty of scope for the topic to be used constructively in the business studies classroom.

Topics could include…

Napster - Trying to compete, or getting desperate?

It was the music download site that first caused major headaches for record company bosses when it was first launched as an illegal download site.  Ten years on, Napster is now a legitimate music site (and has been since 2002), but is facing a battle of it’s own.