Blog and updates
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6 Aug 2015
The Cost of Poor Quality - Alton Towers Struggles to Recover
Given the horrific injuries experienced by Leah Washington, Vicky Balch and their friends, it is hard to feel much sympathy for shareholders of Merlin Entertainment.However, the business and...
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6 Aug 2015
Supply and Demand: Bad News for Chocolate Lovers
What a great example to use with students who want to explore a topical and relevant example of the forces of supply and demand!
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3 Aug 2015
Technological Change in the Automotive Sector: Software Rules - Not Hardware
A fascinating short video here from the FT Business and Automotive team which considers how modern cars have become highly sophisticated pieces of technology - and how further technological change...
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3 Aug 2015
Teenage Traders at the Teenage Market
A great story here from the Guardian explaining the rise of street-trading markets designed specifically for teenage entrepreneurs!
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3 Aug 2015
New GCSE Business - Back to Basics?
The DfE has published the draft proposed subject content for the new GCSE in Business for first teaching from September 2017.The draft teaching content is now open to consultation and responses are...
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2 Aug 2015
EasyJet and Capacity Utilisation: Too Many Passengers: Not Enough Seats
The costs of operating an airline are largely fixed. It broadly costs the same to fly whether a plane is packed with passengers or half-empty. All of which means that capacity utilisation is a key...
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2 Aug 2015
Uber and the Unions - Are Drivers Employees?
A UK trade union is taking legal action against Uber claiming that Uber's drivers in the UK are not provided with key employment protection, including the payment of minimum wages and health &...
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24 Jul 2015
Getting to grips with Marketing Strategy for the new specs
The new A level specifications have taken the opportunity to update the range of promotional activities in the marketing mix, and to highlight the use of social media, which means that the range of...
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14 Jul 2015
Starbucks Failed $100m Takeover - Was It Really a Failure?
Three years ago, back in the summer of 2012, Starbucks announced a takeover of a small bakery chain based in San Francisco - La Boulange.
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14 Jul 2015
Niche v Mass Market: UK Burger Wars
Is there a layer missing in a Big Mac? No, not another layer of cheese or salad. A layer of authenticity or customisation that helps differentiate the burger product, adding more value for the...
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12 Jul 2015
Ethics and Consumer Pricing - Households Overcharged for Energy
On average each household in the UK spends £1,200 each year on energy. For the poorest households energy costs are around 10% of total spending. So it might come as an unpleasant surprise for...
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12 Jul 2015
Financial Motivation: Tesco's Turnaround Bonus
How important are financial methods of motivation when it comes to encouraging staff to work together to achieve strategic and organisational change?Dave Lewis, the CEO of Tesco, believes that they...
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11 Jul 2015
Is Uber's Surge Pricing a Fair Way to Balance Demand and Supply?
The recent strike on the London Underground perhaps inevitably caused a spike in market demand for taxis. The tubes were closed, the busses full (including the Thames river boats too). Hundreds of...
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11 Jul 2015
Apple - Is Tim Cook's Span of Control Getting Too Wide?
How wide should a CEO's span of control be? How many senior managers should report directly to Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. This recent article suggests that Tim's span of control is growing and...
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11 Jul 2015
Tick-Tock and Capacity Management by Apple for the New iPhones
If your business plan requires operations to supply up to 100 million units for an important product launch, then effective capacity management is pretty vital.That's the case for Apple which is...
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9 Jul 2015
Microsoft and Porter's Generic Strategies: Failed Takeover Leads to Focus, Focus, Focus
What a fantastic example to help illustrate Porter's generic strategies in action. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has written to Microsoft staff to explain the strategic rationale behind a decision...
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9 Jul 2015
New Leadership Skills Required at Barclays
After three years at the helm, Antony Jenkins has been fired as CEO of Barclays. The Board have decided it's time for a change having disagreed with Jenkins' strategy, particularly the pace of...
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9 Jul 2015
Chinese firm to punish unplanned pregnancies
In most Western countries, asking a woman in a job interview if she plans to get pregnant in the near future is a big no-no with legal ramifications. Maternity leave differs from country to country...
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8 Jul 2015
Introducing students to Productivity
Tom White posted a link to a BBC video about the Productivity Puzzle last week, and here is another.
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4 Jul 2015
Drone Rangers - The Technology & Business of Drones
Amazon hit the headlines recently with this suggestion that they could use drones to deliver parcels under the Amazon Prime scheme. That might have seemed a little far-fetched (even if it was...
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