New owner for NBCUniversal

 

US cable provider Comcast is to acquire the full ownership of TV and film company NBCUniversal for $16.7bn (£10.7bn).

 

Comcast will buy the 49% stake in the joint venture that it doesn't own from US industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE).

 

It will also buy the well-known 30 Rockefeller Plaza building in New York and another property for $1.4bn. Comcast took a majority stake in NBCUniversal in 2009.

 

NBCUniversal owns the Universal Studios theme parks, TV networks like MSNBC and E! and film studios like Universal Pictures, which made movies like Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park.

 

Read the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21437191

 

Zero Hour Contracts, Work Life Balance, and the Working Week

Working 9 to 5, 5 days a week is the Western world’s model for productivity. Yes it is based on Factory hours, though my old factory used to start at 8.15 to 4.15.

 

 

However, with advances in technology, and people facing longer and more expensive commutes, is it really time for rethink our relationship with work?

 

Childcare costs are also on the rise, meaning that many parents now go part-time.

 

Then we have the issue of work-life balance. Is it too unhealthy and unproductive to work excessively long hours in order just to show off to the boss?

 

Plus technology should increase homeworking options for employees. Though homeworking does bring with it a whole host of other issues.

 

Zero hour contracts are also on the rise, which means staff are placed on call by employers and only get paid for the hours they do each week. There is no guarantee of a minimum amount of hours. Worrying for people trying to plan their future: i.e. buy a car or get a mortgage.

 

Here are a few articles on some of these issues. I have a friend who has recently become a father, and his employer has allowed him to work longer Tue-Fri in return for a Monday off, so he can look after his infant son. Not every employer would be so thoughtful! Is this the way of the future?

 

Perhaps in the future teachers will be using facetime or videoconferencing to educate pupils over vast geographical distances a bit like the Outback of Australia. That would have severe implications for the teaching profession. The one major disadvantage for pupils would be that it would remove the social aspect of school life, and isolate young people to an extent. Who would stay home to look after pupils when they “attend” virtual lessons?

 

If only we could sort out the infrastructure of our cities and our transport connections that could help people’s commute. Being tired after a long car journey before you even get to work is frustrating! HS2 hopefully is only the start of the modernisation of the UK’s road and rail.

 

Should the working week be shorter?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21242782

 

Which countries work the longest hours?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18144319

 

 

More from ACAS on Zero Hour Contracts

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3886

 

 

Business Facts

Here’s a weird one, which didn’t end well for the CEO of Red Lobster!

 

 

 

The American seafood chain, Red Lobster, ran a promotion for about a month that boasted all you can eat Alaskan snow crab legs. They didn’t expect what happened next. The chain was being eaten out of house and home. Things got so bad that the original price of $20 for the all you can eat platter was raised by up to $5 more.

 

Red Lobster weren’t happy losing money over the promotion. The CEO was fired. Officially it had nothing to do with the promotion debacle, but unofficially it looks to be the precise reason.

 

Unlucky timing plagued the promotion, too. While patrons were eating more than expected, wholesale prices on the crab legs rose, too. Patrons were eating thirds, fourths, and fifth servings. Needless to say, there won’t be any promotions that cheap on crab legs any time soon for Red Lobster.

 

Source:

http://www.omg-facts.com/Business/The-CEO-Of-Red-Lobster-Was-Fired-Over-An/55487#srFqMDbwKD8CqcAE.99

 

Inflation Calculator

This may help our Maths colleagues, but it is also pretty interesting for Business. Following on from the fuel calculator, here is an inflation calculator:

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html#axzz2Jq2xETXM

 

Dragon buys Jessops

From BBC Business News:

 

The collapsed High Street camera retailing brand Jessops has been bought by a group including entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star, Peter Jones. The company's administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced the sale on Thursday evening.

 

PwC said: "We can confirm we have sold the brand and certain other assets to a number of buyers including entrepreneur Peter Jones CBE." It is not currently thought that stores will reopen as part of the purchase.

 

The part of the deal covering "certain other assets" is understood to mean leftover stock and intellectual property.

Fuel Price Calculator

How much does it cost you to get to work by car? Click here to use the BBC’s cool fuel calculator:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21238363

 

Twitter attacked

This is the latest in a long line of cyber attacks. 250,000 Twitter users have had their accounts hacked into. Twitter's information security director Bob Lord said the users' passwords, usernames and emails had been stolen.

 

Affected users have had passwords invalidated and have been sent emails informing them.

 

Mr Lord said the attack "was not the work of amateurs".

 

He said it appeared similar to recent attacks on the New York Times and others. The US newspaper reported this week that their computer systems had been breached by China-based hackers

 

Source: BBC News

Why it takes longer in the UK than China to build High Speed Rail Projects

High Speed Rail in the UK or HS2 as it has now become known will connect London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds by 2032. This seems an awful long time, and for people living in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle, it may be even longer.

 

 

Planning permission, legal challenges, compensation, funding issues, delays, demolitions, buying people’s homes and relocating them all add up to time. Whereas in China, things are so much different.

 

The 1,318km Beijing-Shanghai high-speed route went from design to completion in only 39 months. The much longer 2,298 km Beijing to the southern city of Guangzhou line has opened on Boxing Day 2012. The Chinese trains cruise at a speed of 309 km/h… I should know, I’ve been on them. They still stop many times, but they slow down and speed up quicker, and passengers only get around 30 seconds to disembark and embark the train. They don’t mess around in China!

 

 

China have now overtook Japan as the world’s leading makers of High Speed Rail. They have built incredible bridges and tunnels to connect their huge country. They view high speed trains as a better mass transit alternative to the aeroplane. There is also a long held dream of being able to travel from London to Beijing by rail in less than 3 days. Whether or not that is possible who knows. But China is certainly doing their bit.

 

Forcing through such an ambitious project would be political suicide for a democratic Government. Prime Minister David Cameron said as much: "It's difficult to get things built in a modern industrial democracy like Britain - that's why we need to get going now."

 

And just to show how not everything goes to plan in communist China, there was this tale of a man who refused to allow his house to be knocked down when a new motorway was built through his town:

 

 

 

Honda profits up

Japanese car and bike manufacturer Honda has reported a jump in third-quarter profits as US sales recover, but cut its annual forecast as sales in China and Europe drop.

 

Honda's profits hit 77.4bn yen ($851m; £538m) in the last quarter of 2012, up from 47.6bn yen a year earlier. The firm said profits had also been boosted by a continued recovery from the floods in Thailand in 2011.

 

However, it cut its full-year profit forecast to 370bn yen, compared with its previous projection of 375bn yen.

 

Source: BBC Business News

 

Apple no longer number one in the world

iPad maker Apple has lost its crown as the world's most valuable publicly traded company after its shares continued to fall.

 

Oil giants Exxon Mobil has regained the top slot after Apple shares fell 2.4%, following a 12% drop on Thursday. Apple, which posted disappointing iPhone sales figures on Wednesday, has seen its shares fall 37% since their record high last September.

 

Exxon became number one in 2005, traded places with Apple during 2011, and had been number two since early 2012. At the close of trade, Apple had a market value of $413bn (£261bn), against Exxon's of $418bn.

 

Glasgow to become UK smart city

Looks like things are looking up for my home city – Glasgow. Glasgow means “Dear Green Place” and used to have a thriving ship building industry and indeed was the greenest city in Europe – it had more public parks than anywhere else. Glasgow also had the largest housing estate in Europe: Easterhouse.

 

Glasgow was once the Second City of the Empire, but those days are long gone. However thanks to the regeneration started by the Glasgow Garden Festival, things are getting better in a city once infamous for its “No Mean City” image – Glasgow was once the murder capital of Europe. And Glasgow, like much of Scotland, has some health issues which are hopefully going to be tackled over the next 20 years.

 

From the BBC Busines News:

 

Glasgow has won a £24m UK government grant intended to make it one of the UK's first smart cities. It will use the money on projects to demonstrate how a city of the future might work.

 

They will include better services for Glaswegians, with real-time information about traffic and apps to check that buses and trains are on time. The council will also create an app for reporting issues such as potholes and missing bin collections.

 

Other services promised by the council include linking up the CCTV cameras across the city with its traffic management unit in order to identify traffic incidents faster.

 

It will use analytical software and security cameras to help identify and prevent crime in the city and monitor energy levels to find new ways of providing gas and electricity to poorer areas where fuel poverty is a big issue.

 

This has come at a good time for Glasgow with the city hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

 

Business Quotes

“Half the world knows not how the other half lives”

 

-        Old English Proverb

Higher Business Management Revision - Quizlet

Here are Quizlet revision quizzes for Higher Business Management. I have arranged them by unit and then finally there is one massive one covering basically the whole course, with some other business general knowledge thrown in to motivate the pupils.

 

Hope you enjoy them and they are helpful in prelims and final exams.

 

Business Enterprise

http://quizlet.com/_b1tv9

 

BDA I: Marketing & Operations

http://quizlet.com/_b1tvn

 

BDA II: Finance & Human Resources

http://quizlet.com/_b1tw7

 

 

Higher Business Management: FULL COURSE!

http://quizlet.com/_b1tyu

 

 

Int 2 Admin - New Quizlet Set

I combined my own Int 2 Admin set with one from Miss Dunlop’s.

 

http://quizlet.com/_b1tlt

 

There are some doublers, which I will remove later!

 

China's new cities

An article on how China plan to build a new generation of cities in the rural West:

 

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2013-01/15/content_16120534.htm

 

Business Quotes

“To change customs is a difficult thing”

 

-        Lebanese Proverb

Business Quotes

“Who moves picks up, who stands still dries up”

 

-Italian Proverb

More woe for Dreamliner 787

The flagship Boeing aircraft, the Dreamliner 787, has been plagued by many problems of late. Now, two of their best customers have grounded all 787s.

 

A Nippon Airways plane was forced to make an emergency landing just after take off due to battery problems. In addition to the 17 787s of Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines have grounded their 7 Dreamliners.

 

 

These continuing problems will make confidence and sales in the Dreamliner suffer. Boeing already face a massive taks in order to turn around what has been a terrible few weeks for PR and the image of not only Dreamliner, but of Boeing itself.

HMV in Administration

One of Britain’s most famous music stores, HMV, is to go into administration. Over the past 10 years the High Street music and DVD store has struggled competing against e-tailers (online retailers), specifically Play.com and Amazon.

 

 

Deloitte have said they will keep HMV stores in UK and Ireland open until they see what offers or options they will get for the store. Trading in the Stock Exchange has also been suspended.

 

HMV was founded in 1921 and employs 4,350 people.

 

HMV is an iconic UK music store, famous for its dog listening to a grammar phone logo. HMV is thought to stand for “His Master’s Voice”.

 

The only surprise for me is that HMV have struggled on so long against giant Amazon and the likes of Play.com who through various benefits of being based in the Channel Islands can offer freed delivery and usually cheaper prices for products.

 

A long held criticism of HMV by shoppers was that it was always more expensive than other rivals such as Virgin and Tower.

 

 

 

Best and worst learning techniques

Apparently highlighting isn't the best learning technique.

http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/09/highlighting-is-a-waste-of-time-the-best-and-worst-learning-techniques/?iid=ent-article-mostpop2

Bolton School Giving Every Pupil an iPad

Essa Academy in Bolton has went paperless. Every pupil will receive an iPad. It is supposed to cut costs from the photocopying budget. Read more here:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20930195

 

Do we throw away food too early?

Very interesting article on expiration dates and best before:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20971347

 

Higher Business Management - Legislation - The Equality Act and the laws it has combined

It is important to note that the Equality Act (2010) now covers nine laws and some of them are in our syllabus.

 

Here they are:

 

Equal Pay Act of 1970

Sex Discrimination Act (1975)

Race Relations Act (1976)

Disability Discrimination Act (1995)

Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations (2003)

Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003)

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (2006)

Equality Act (2006)

Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations of 2007.

 

The ones in italics are the ones which are in the Human Resource Management area of the course. So now the SQA wants you to talk about The Equality Act, and within that broader law you can discuss the elements that used to make up these older acts.

 

We always need to keep up-to-date with real life in Business!

Business Facts

Famous Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell beat rival inventor Elisha Grey by a matter of hours to the US patent office when he registered the Telephone in 1876.

3D Printers used in Afghanistan by US Army

I suppose it was only a matter of time!

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/01/10/star-trek-replicators-for-army/

Managing Young People or Generation Y

We all remember theories like the Baby Boomers and Generation X or even Generation Me. The basic idea seems to be that people are influenced not only by their upbringing but by the economic and political environment of the times (PESTEC External Factors if you will) and I do not see any reason to discount this.

 

However I do sometimes think that there are sweeping generalisations among these theories.

 

In saying that I have found this interesting article on managing the Generation Y phenomenon (people born between 1980 and 1995)

 

http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/What-Every-Manager-Should-Know-About-Managing-Gen-Y.aspx?pcode=XCRP

 

Twitter for Educational Purposes

Some weblinks to articles and pages on Twitter being used for educational purposes:

 

http://suite101.com/article/using-twitter-for-educational-purposes-a287131

 

http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/teaching-with-twitter.html

 

http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/187

 

I have been a recent convert to Twitter, and I think I have found it fascinating myself, learning lots of new information and useful titbits to use in my own lessons.

Job Interview Questions to ask!

Article on interview questions that should be asked during a job interview:

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/ten-questions-to-ask-during-a-job-interview/article6600132/

 

However it is also of note that sometimes not asking too much or saying to much is the best policy as you could have done a great performance and then go and blow it by asking or doing something a bit off!

 

Dreamliner 787 review ordered by the FAA

With several faults being found in one week alone, Boeing’s flagship Dreamliner airplane seems troubled and plagued by safety issues. Boeing have recently secured several military contracts, but they always have viewed the Dreamliner as the future of passenger aviation. However US regulators the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are ordering a review into the manufacture of the plane.

 

 

The plane is made by several different sub-contractors in different countries, with them being assembled in the US. However there will be no grounding of planes and they will operate as normal as the FAA do their review. The Dreamliner is subjected to stringent tests when it is developed and I have seen the incredible test they do on the wings, which entails the bending of the wings to an incredible extent (one that winds could never exert) but it is all part of the safety test.

 

Some problems recently have included an electrical fire, cracks in the cockpit windscreen, and issues with brakes and fuel spillages.

 

With orders starting to pick up, this is the last thing Boeing need as they were about to regain number one spot from their rivals Airbus.

 

Electric Car UK Comparison

After watching a rerun of a fairly recent Top Gear episode on Dave, I was intrigued by the Electric Cars that are offered at the moment in the UK. There are obviously more models and a lot more to come and I haven’t included Hybrids either.

 

In the Top Gear episode Jeremy Clarkson and James May drove the Nissan Leaf and the Peugeot i0n respectively. The cars were fine to drive but the limited range and the long recharging times are major, major drawbacks of this technology.

They also worked out that the Electric cars (if charged during the day) cost about £8 per 100 miles, which is roughly the same as a Volkswagen Golf!

	Nissan Leaf
Range	100 miles
Charging Time	8 hours
Cost £	£26,000

 

	Ford Focus Electric
Range	100 miles
Charging Time	4 hours
Cost £	£30,000

 

	Chevrolet Volt
Range	40 miles
Charging Time	6.5 hours
Cost £	£35,000

 

	Tesla Motors Model S
Range	300 miles
Charging Time	5 hours
Cost £	????

 

	Mitsubishi iMiEV
Range	99 miles
Charging Time	7 hours
Cost £	£38,700

 

	Peugeot i0n
Range	80 miles
Charging Time	6 hours
Cost £	£28,000

 

Naturally, as technology advances the ranges will increase and the battery recharging time will decrease. One thing to worry about is the lifespan of the battery (which again will increase over time) but it is estimated at only 5-10 years. A replacement batter costs £7,000!