Innovation & Protecting a Business Idea - Classroom Video

A huge hat tip to Angela Aldridge for suggesting this terrific short video clip on the process of invention and innovation at Dyson.  This has to be one of the most useful videos you’ll ever have as a lesson starter on product innovation....

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4 minutes with Stelios - insights into entrepreneurship

A lovely four minute interview by the excellent Working Lunch team with Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou provides loads of useful insights for business students. This would make an ideal lesson starter for any lesson on risk-taking and the factors that drive entrepreneurs to act the way they do.

Revision Presentation - Managing Risk

This streamed revision presentation considers the issue of risk and what businesses can do to manage it

A dramatic fall in business investment

A significant piece of economic data yesterday that business students might consider as they develop their understanding of the business response to an economic slowdown…

U2 on Tour - Investment appraisal and capacity utilisation rolled into one!

A fantastic example of investment appraisal and capacity utilisation in this article in the Guardian, which describes the risks and returns of the new U2 tour.

Q&A - Outline the main costs and benefits of inflation

Inflation has many important costs and consequences for both society and business. However a stable and low level of inflation also provides some upsides for business.

Porter’s Five Forces hits the fish counter

Sustainability, ethics and corporate social responsibility all feature heavily in the news about bluefin tuna this week, as does the theory of Porter’s Five Forces in shaping business strategy. The bluefin is the victim of consumer trends – the explosion in the demand for sushi and for fresh tuna steaks to barbecue, as well as successful campaigns to persuade us to eat a more omega 3-rich diet to protect us from heart disease (and even to prevent eye disease, according to this report on Monday). But it is being over-fished to a critical point at which stocks are becoming completely unsustainable. A film which premiered in the UK on Monday makes the point very clearly - The End of the Line, a documentary based on a book by journalist Charles Clover, examines the mismanagement of bluefin fisheries as a microcosm of how we are hoovering the seas of their fish to the point at which species cannot be sustained and risk dying out altogether. It is generating much publicity for the issue, such as this article from the Times, in order to give it a higher profile.

Thinking Outside The Smaller Box

It can be a challenge to think of examples for the topic of “Thinking in Opposites”, or “What if...?” once the obvious ones of Marmite, Muller and Yorkie have been used.

However, Kleenex’s decision to rebrand it’s “Kleenex For Men” to “Kleenex Mansize” was coupled with a decision to change the size of the box.  What motivated this move?

Apprentice Stars Lack Entrepreneurial Spirit

Sir Alan Sugar may be about to choose his next apprentice - but he is unlikely to be impressed with the owners of the Bridge Cafe.  It is the cafe used by the losing team to lick their wounds before doing battle in the board room, but according to…

Do The Dragons Get It Right?

You don’t need me to tell you that Dragon’s Den is a great teaching resource for the new specifications.  It covers risk, potential rewards, potential failure,aspects of finance, marketing and any number of other topics.  Have you ever wondered where you can find out more about some of the products that have been featured?