Business news from The Times 100 | Teaching business studies by example

Developing future talent

by jnaylor on February 6, 2012 in People

Investing in employees is an important aspect of developing a business. From 6 February, car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is launching its largest recruitment of apprentices to date. The company is aiming to recruit 133 apprentices to join the business in 2012, compared with 114 last year. The apprentices will be based in various [...]

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Responding to the external environment

by jnaylor on February 6, 2012 in External environment

A business’ external environment can change rapidly: the economy, competitors or technology can all cause challenges or opportunities. Keeping aware of and being ready to respond to these changes can make the difference between turning a profit or loss. Sony is predicting its fourth year of net losses for the year to the end of [...]

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Word of mouth promotion

by jnaylor on January 30, 2012 in Marketing

Word-of-mouth promotion can bring a product or brand to the attention of a wide audience with little intervention by the company. Red Bull, the energy drink manufacturer, uses this form of ‘pull’ marketing extensively as a key part of its innovative promotional strategy using digital and social media. Twitter represents a very attractive platform for [...]

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Business strategy

by jnaylor on January 30, 2012 in Strategy

A business needs to ensure its strategies remain valid and relevant in a changing business environment. Ekta Kapoor, the creative head of Balaji Telefilms, was India’s top producer of hit TV soaps until running into difficulties three years ago. However, in 2009-10, the two channels that aired most of Balaji’s serials, took them off-air. Kapoor’s [...]

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Managing risk

by jnaylor on January 30, 2012 in Strategy

The process of Business Continuity enables organisations to plan for and identify appropriate responses to incidents or events which may prevent it from carrying out business. Ensuring continuity of operations is critical for all organisations, whether in a manufacturing or service-based industry in order to maintain production and customer satisfaction. For Eurostar, which runs the [...]

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Promotion through sponsorship

by jnaylor on January 23, 2012 in Marketing

Associating a business with high-profile activities through sponsorship is a key form of promotional activity. For example, sponsoring an event enables a company to get wider exposure for their brand, develop good PR and take on the credibility of the activity. Sponsorship may take different routes and forms. Kia Motors is relatively new to the [...]

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Business growth through product development

by jnaylor on January 23, 2012 in Marketing

Growing a business relies on keeping customers, which in turn relies on making sure products meet customer needs. Last week saw Eastman Kodak, the company that invented the hand-held camera, file for bankruptcy protection. Kodak’s name has been synonymous with photography since its foundation in the 19th century. At one stage, the company sold 90% [...]

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Positioning a brand

by jnaylor on January 23, 2012 in Marketing

The concept of re-positioning a product or brand with consumers is a challenge businesses face for different reasons: they may want to change the view consumers have of the business; take the business in a new direction; or attract new markets to generate demand. The public perception of a brand may be affected by many [...]

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Improving stakeholder relationships

by jnaylor on January 16, 2012 in Strategy

Internal stakeholders, such as employees, and external stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers or partners, may affect a business in different ways. BT believes that engaging with and motivating this key stakeholder group improves commitment to the company. Employees are one of a company’s most important assets. Their valuable creativity and problem-solving skills help the company [...]

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The business cycle

by jnaylor on January 16, 2012 in External environment

According to economic forecaster, the Item Club, the UK may have already slipped back into recession. The think tank said that gross domestic product (GDP) shrank in the final quarter of last year and would contract again in the current three-month period. The Item Club said that even if the eurozone could resolve its problems [...]

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