Stella wins The Apprentice

So Stella English the corporate PA finally won The Apprentice 2010.



In the end it wasn't very close as Chris did his best but he was knocked for six by Stella's one true flash of genius.



The task was to design, create and promote a new spirit. Chris went for a very startling looking bottle and called his 3 mixture Prism. So far so good except the colour was pinkish - more suitable for women.



Stella made a slight variation on bourbon and called it Urbon - which was inspired and to be honest I think that won her the task there and then.



Chris did a better job presenting than earlier in the competition as both he and Stella had been accused of being wooden.



Stella was the consumate professional in her entire performance, though she did have a go at Chris in the boardroom which Chris said he would not go down that route. He had done so at an earlier juncture against Alex and others.



Overall for once the right person won but it would have been a better contest if Liz had reached the final.



Next up is the Junior Apprentice and then the new one will start again sometime soon.



I just hope we get to see the original and best Apprentice with The Donald in the meantime.



Congratulations Stella!

Brands and Own Brands

A brand is the identity of a specific product or service. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol or slogan. It is a trademark and registered under copyright.

Nike is a brand and the famous Nike swoosh is their logo. The slogan 'just do it' is also synonomous with Nike.

Brands attempt to create a positive image in the minds of customers. Levi's jeans claim they are of higher quality than their rivals even though this is disputed. Levi sells their higher priced jeans on the image of being cool and being aspirational - their advertising has long traded on Levi being rebellious yet cool.

Brands can charge premium prices and aim for customer loyalty. If Brands provide quality products and services over time then customers will come back again and again. It aslo makes it easier for Brands to launch similar products creating a family of products.

Brands take time to create and develop, and are fragile. If bad press affects a product it can damage the whole product range and the company (in the same way one franchisee's behaviour can ruin the reputation of the entire franchise).

Own Brands are sold by retailers such as the large supermarkets Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's. Own Brands often imitate the colours and shapes of the more expensive Brand.

Dorito's Salsa dip is roughly £1.38. Whereas Tesco's own dip is 96p.

Sometimes the Brand sell their goods to the retailer who repackage the product as their own brand in order to maximise profits.

Normally customers view own brands as cheaper and of lower quality.

In the USA own brands are called Private Label Brands. The generic term is Store Brands, however in the UK we call them Own Brands.

Examples of Own Brands

Asda (Smart Price, George)

Tesco (Florence & Fred)

Morrison's (The Best, Eat Smart, Wholefoods)

Higher Business Management - Kanban Card

An often asked question is... what is Kanban?

A Kanban is a card which helps a firm monitor and gain information on the flow of materials, stock and components through their production line.

Kanban cards contain information on where the component came from (the previous stage) and where it is headed (the next stage. It may include the quantity in the order or components, and it may contain information about the final customer.

Kanban cards now use barcodes enabling customers to phone up about the status of their order and find out exactly where it is.

Kanban cards are also used to signal components are running low or being depleted and need to be re-ordered.

It is used in Just-in-time aka Lean Production.

You can find out more about JIT, Lean Production and Kanban in my slideshow about Toyota: http://www.slideshare.net/Marcus9000/toyota-supermarket-for-cars

Higher Business Management - What you should be studying

Ok so we can't be in school but thanks to the wonders of modern technology you can still revise and look at topics.

As you know our second NAB will be coming up very soon - so the final two topics for you to look at in Operations are:

• Methods of Production
• Quality

I will post some questions for you very soon for you to attempt - but also go over to my forum for more interactive questions at www.mrmcgowan.proboards.com

Remember the weather will not be taken into account when you sit your exams in May!

Weather

Made it home safely yesterday after a rather hazardous journey from the school to my home. 6 hours of gridlock, but by all accounts I was one of the lucky ones.

Some friends were stranded on the M8 for 12 hours and some unlucky colleagues spent the night in Hamilton Grammar - though I see only Hamilton College made it on national TV!

On a business note, perhaps pupils can actually problem solve and think of ways our infrastructure could cope better with such issues.

Everytime a city or a nation wins a World Cup bid or Olympic bid one of the factors mentioned is improved infrastructure. What benefits could that bring to Scotland?

A larger and more improved motorway network?

A better and more integrated public transport system for the trains, buses and subways?

It is all very interesting as my relations in Minnesota are iced up for basically 6 months of the year and yet they still get to work and go to school no problem. Mind you my cousin's husband is actually a school caretaker who is in at 5am and drives the snowplough to unblock the car park. American cars are so much hardier than ours!

Joe - I salute you!

Do we stifle creativity?

Here is an interesting video clip and article by Sir Ken Robinson who talks about how traditional forms of Education may in fact be killing creativity among our young people.

http://www.theadclass.com/education/sir-ken-robinson-do-schools-kill-creativity-ted-conference-2006

Food for thought!

World Cup Winners!

Well now we know.

2018 Fifa World Cup will be hosted by Russia, who surprised everyone by beating what was considered a superior bid by England.

2022 Fifa World Cup will go to Qatar - who beat Korea, Australia and the USA.

RUSSIA 2018

The vastness of the world's largest country could pose a few problems for travellers and fans.

Moscow 4 stadiums:

Luzhniki Stadium (Final)

Dynamo

Spartak

Stadium Moscow

Sochi (2014 Olympic Winter Games)

St Petersburg

Kazan

Kalinigrad

Nizhny Novogorod

Saransk

Krasnodar

Rostov-on-Don

Samara

Yaroslavi

Volgograd

Yekaterinburg

So a few interesting names to try and get used to before 2018.

QATAR

The success of Formula 1 may have something to do with the first hosting of the World Cup in the Middle East.

The venues we know of so far are:

Lusail

Doha (2 stadiums)

Al Khor

Ash-Shamal

Al Wakrah

Part of Qatar's bid was a brilliant plan to build and then take apart brick by brick new stadia and deliver them to other countries.

The oil-rich state will have everyone watching! It promises to be even more interesting than in Russia as temperatures can hit 50!

The Apprentice Hots Up

Last night high drama during the infamous purchasing task!

The boys team only got 7 out of the 10 difficult to find items while the girls, led by Liz, got all 10. However the girls were late back to the Boardroom but when the totals were added up they had been beaten by the boys - despite the lads' high fines.

The secret of the boys success? Negotiating.

Liz took Laura and Stella in for a catfight and in the end Laura was sent packing by Lord Sugar. However Liz really tried to bury her biggest rival Stella. She even kept it going when back at the house. Liz so far has been pretty brilliant, but perhaps her halo is slipping. I also think the accusations of Stella being 'wooden' and 'too corporate' are a bit harsh on her. I think Stella is professional and a great role model for women in business. I hope she wins.

Stuart Baggs was pretty quite this week - but next week promises a bit of hilarity and conflict.

I think this is one of the UK Apprentice's best ever seasons. But - you know what I am going to say - it is a pale imitation of the now legendary original US version starring everyone's favourite billionaire... Donald Trump.

Trump had two TV shows on in the UK this week. One was about his Aberdeen golf course and the people who are against him, and the other was a profile of the controversial tycoon. Trump is Trump: brash, loud, egotistical, but still charming and as we have seen over the years in The Apprentice, he is actually very fair. He fires people for underperforming not because of their lack of entertainment value. This is a lesson Lord Sugar should take on board. After all, he can only dream of having a net worth like The Donald!