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MonthlyNewsletter

March2011

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• An Organic Milk Experiment in Maine

• Microbrews Gain in Bud’s Hometown

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*ABSTRACT INDEX

• Union Uproar in Wisconsin• Egypt and the Credibility of Social Media• Wal-Mart’s Virginia Battleground• The 21st Century CEO

• Managed to Death: Japan’s Economic Decline• The Cola Wars in India• App-Gate at the University of Missouri• Groupon’s Tight Walk Towards a Rich Future• Dark Days at USPS• A New King of Beers in St. Louis

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• Unions in Wisconsin are protesting a bill that would significantly reduce take-home pay and collective bargaining rights for public workers.

• Gov. Walker claims the cuts are necessary due to a $137 million deficit and potential $3.6 billion hole in the next two-year budget.

• Unions across the country have joined forces

against the bill, which they see as an outright attack on organized labor.

Union Uproar in Wisconsin

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• Should public employees be permitted to unionize?

What do you think?

• Why has the number of unionized workers declined significantly today?

Photo courtesy of Mark Danielson

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• Twitter provided a stream of on-site appraisals of the uprising in Egypt from dangerous locales inaccessible to traditional media.

• Though the barrage of tweets abounded with

information, it’s nearly impossible to verify if all were true.

• With no filters or fact checking, Twitter’s

massive data streams can create confusion or distribute false information on a mass scale.

Egypt and the Reliability of Social Media

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• What’s an important fact to remember about the information spread on Facebook and Twitter?

What do you think?

• Did Facebook and Twitter play some role in the Egyptian revolution?

Photo courtesy of Charlie Trotter

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• Wal-Mart came under fire from historians for its plans to build a Supercenter near a Civil War battle site.

• Preservationists argued the proposed store would sit on what was the Union’s “nerve center” during the battle.

• Faced with a lengthy lawsuit, Wal-Mart eventually dropped its plans for the new store.

Wal-Mart’s Virginia Battleground

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• Why did Wal-Mart give up the fight to build near the historic site?

What do you think?

• What type of research does Wal-Mart do before picking a site for a new store?

Photo courtesy of Mary Harrsch

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• As business starts to turn around at America’s biggest companies, many are hiring a new generation of CEOs.

• Many outgoing execs got their start in finance and manufacturing and often spent their whole careers at the same company.

• The new generation comes from a background in marketing and sales and has gathered a wealth of experience from travel abroad.

The 21st Century CEO

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• What are the key experiences new CEOs will need to succeed?

What do you think?

• Will stricter corporate governance inhibit CEOs’ ability to perform effectively?

Photo courtesy of Gideon Malias

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• Last year Japanese companies accounted for 11.2% of all revenues on Fortune’s Global 500 list, down from 35.2% in 1995.

• Unbending, homogenous leadership from the nation’s corporations failed to engage with other cultures while they expanded globally.

• Emerging economic powers like India and China are susceptible to the same backlash as they branch out across their borders.

Managed to Death:Japan’s Economic Decline

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• What did the Japanese fail to consider as they expanded globally?

What do you think?

• Have American managers adapted well when working in global markets?

Photo courtesy of Zack LeeArticle indexVideo index

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• Pepsi beat out Coke as the premier cola in India when it arrived on the scene first in 1990.

• Coke is establishing an Indian presence by acquiring non-cola brand drinks like juices and teas.

• Pepsi is countering by pushing its non-drink brands like Frito Lay snacks and Quaker Oats cereals.

The Cola Wars in India

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• Why is the battle for soft drink dominance so intense in India?

What do you think?

• What’s the major advantage of having a well-established brand name?

Photo courtesy of Meena Kadri

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• An undergraduate at the University of Missouri created a successful iPhone app that attracted thousands of downloads.

• The college then demanded a 25% ownership stake and two-thirds of all profits from the student-made app.

• The school eventually withdrew its claim and established a new policy that would keep the college’s hands off future student ventures.

App-Gate at University of Missouri

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• Are universities justified in seeking profits from student-created ventures?

What do you think?

• What do universities gain by creating environments of individual initiative?

Photo courtesy of Dylan B. Connell

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• Google recently offered to buy Groupon for $6 billion, which CEO Andrew Mason rejected.

• Though it has an established brand, competition from other discount sites doesn’t make Groupon the only game in town.

• A failed ad campaign that premiered on Super Bowl Sunday faced much criticism and was eventually pulled by Mason.

Groupon’s Tight WalkTowards a Rich Future

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• Will Groupon’s Super Bowl ad disaster cause permanent damage to the brand?

What do you think?

• What’s the major challenge for Groupon going forward?

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• USPS reported losses in 14 of the last 16 quarters and is mired in more than $12 billion of debt.

• Since the agency can’t be deeper than $15 billion in debt, it may need a government bailout by the end of the year.

• Resistance from outside sources to close stores or cut employee benefits is preventing USPS from making any real changes.

Dark Days at USPS

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• Should the federal government provide needed funds to the USPS?

What do you think?

• Can USPS become more efficient like FedEx and UPS?

Photo courtesy of Paul Lowry

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• Local loyalty to Anheuser-Busch faltered in its home city of St. Louis after In-Bev acquired the company in 2008.

• Of the 1,400 jobs InBev slashed just weeks after acquiring the company, 75 percent of those layoffs occurred in St. Louis.

• Small brewers like Schlafly Beer saw surges in sales after the takeover as St. Louis bars and consumers shed their allegiance to A-B.

A New King of Beers in St. Louis

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• What does Schafly’s success in the St. Louis market prove?

What do you think?

• Why were microbreweries able to penetrate the beer market?

Photo courtesy of Joe Holst

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