Mr Alexander's Business Studies Blog

Income inequality

2011-09-12T11:38:00.001+01:00

I am just covering this topic with my Higher class and found this interesting video. Although American, it poses a lot of the same issues we have here in the UK.

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Would this cartoon be the same in every country?

2011-08-28T18:09:00.001+01:00

Maximise your chances of getting into Uni...

2011-08-16T14:08:00.003+01:00

I have been doing a bit of research into Universities offering Accounts, Economics and Business Studies for my new role as a Sixth Year Tutor this afternoon. Having made a note of all the expected entry requirements, I came across this information on the Kings College London website which will make very interesting reading for all pupils thinking of applying this year...and something to work towards during the next academic year to maximise their chances of getting in.

"We look for applicants with an enthusiasm for scholastic activities in general such as reading, debating, theological interests etc. Participation will be valued but achievement in these areas of interest will also be recognised."

We look for applicants who have participated as fully as possible in school, college or community life, making the most of the opportunities available to them and also those who have demonstrated some experience of society beyond their immediate environment.

We look for applicants who have varied extra-curricular interests and enjoy active participation in areas such as sport, music and the arts in general. Participation will be valued but any achievement in extra-curricular activities will also be recognised.

Although we do not require applicants to have been in paid or voluntary employment, we welcome applications from those with any experience of work within a business setting.

What is considered at interview? Communication skills particularly in analysis and debate.

Made In Britain

2011-06-20T22:15:00.002+01:00

Just finished watching the first part of what looks like an excellent three part series on manufacturing in Britain. In the first episode, Evan Davis looks at why moving a lot of manufacture to China has not necessarily been a bad thing. I would highly recommend this for both my Economics and Business Management classes. The link to the BBC iPlayer programme is below:

Made In Britain

The Circular Flow of Income....and David Cameron??

2011-06-11T22:13:00.002+01:00

My S3 Economics class were given the task of creating a poster to show The Circular Flow of Income - here is the result. Not sure what the David Cameron creation is but if it helps them to remember the diagram, I am happy.

IMF supports UK economic policies

2011-06-08T12:41:00.002+01:00

Video from the BBC Economics Editor, Stephanie Flanders, on the IMF's support for the coalition government's economic policy.

Stephanie Flanders Video

Discussion on Chinese economy and culture....over dinner!

2011-06-07T23:12:00.003+01:00

I was fortunate to be invited out to dinner by a friend and her Chinese colleague who are currently doing a lot of work in promoting Chinese in the Scottish education system. As an Economics and Business teacher it was a great opportunity to ask a lot of questions on the rise of China and hear a different perspective than the scaremongering one often reported in the media. And to top it off, what a dinner! This was my first experience of a Chinese Hotpot and it is one aspect of Chinese culture I will be glad to embrace.

The economic cuts aren't working, are they?

2011-06-05T20:54:00.003+01:00

A really interesting article published in today's Observer on the effects of the economic cuts imposed by the Coalition government. Well worth a read as it looks at the effects of the cuts in government spending on unemployment, etc. and brings together a lot of the things we look at in Higher and Intermediate 2 Economics.

George Osborne's plan isn't working

School leavers lack basic skills

2011-05-09T15:04:00.000+01:00

Article

UK let down by poor language skills

2011-05-09T12:04:00.003+01:00

The UK is under-represented in EU institutions due to poor foreign language skills an official has reported. Despite the government trying to reverse a decline in language study in schools, it seems this is one supply-side policy that needs special attention.

Read the article

Greece to exit the Euro....

2011-05-06T22:57:00.003+01:00

A report suggesting that Greece has raised the possibility of leaving the Euro has led to a fall in the single currency.

Read the article

World Bank in warning on food prices

2011-04-14T23:15:00.003+01:00

The World Bank have warned that rising food prices (up 36% on last year), driven partly by rising fuel costs, are pushing millions of people into food poverty (44 million people since last June). Read the full article here

Scotland's economic recovery threatened by rising costs

2011-04-14T13:03:00.003+01:00

Interesting article about how the rising costs of materials and transport are undermining Scotland's economic recovery. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce found that the rising costs are likely to be passed on to consumers. Rising costs threaten Scottish economic recovery

BRICS seeking more world influence

2011-04-14T12:29:00.004+01:00

Very interesting development occuring at the moment in China where the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are gathering to discuss increasing their influence in the world economy.

One of the items on the agenda is Russia's entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as changes to the global financial system. They argue that the current financial crisis illustrates the weakness of the current monetary system with the dollar used as the world's most used currency.

The five countries represent 40% of the world's population and almost a fifth of world growth.

Well worth a read!

BRICS countries meet in China

Anyone....anyone....anyone....! Surely Economics is more fun than this!

2011-04-11T22:10:00.001+01:00

Economics Weekly Quiz

2011-03-11T08:30:00.002Z

Economics Weekly Quiz

2011-03-03T10:57:00.000Z

Economics Weekly Quiz w/c 25 February

Economics Quiz of the Week w/c 13 February 2011

2011-02-14T20:45:00.002Z

Click here for 10 questions on Economics in the news!

Real Madrid richest club in the world

2011-02-10T10:26:00.002Z

Real Madrid have topped the league table of the world's 20 richest football clubs for the sixth straight year. Manchester United lost second spot to Barcelona and their arch rivals, Manchester City, were the big movers, up from 20th to 11th. All the teams in the top 20 came from the "big five" European Leagues - England (7), Germany (4), Italy (4), Spain (3) and France (2).

Deloitte Football Money League

1. Real Madrid: 438.6m euros
2. Barcelona: 398.1m euros
3. Man Utd: 349.8m euros
4. Bayern Munich: 323m euros
5. Arsenal: 274.1m euros
6. Chelsea: 255.9m euros
7. AC Milan: 235.8.m euros
8. Liverpool: 225.3m euros
9. Inter Milan 224.8m euros
10. Juventus: 205m euros

Source: Deloitte: 2009/10

S3 Economics Oil Project

2011-02-09T12:29:00.002Z

My S3 Economics class have been conducting a research project into the oil market in preparation for the next topic, Costs of Production. They had 3 periods to research the topic, prepare a presentation and report and deliver their findings in a 10-minute presentation to the rest of the class. Here is a sample of their work:

The Divers

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Graduate unemployment at highest for over a decade

2011-01-26T22:27:00.005Z

Figures released by The Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that ONE in FIVE university leavers who entered the labour market failed to find a job last year. Graduate unemployment is now at its highest level since 1995. While unemployment in the UK has risen from 5.2% to 7.9%, graduate unemployment - graduates available and looking for work but who can't get a job - has risen from 10.6% to 20%.

Full story

UK economy suffers shock contraction

2011-01-25T14:29:00.002Z

The UK economy suffered a shock 0.5% contraction in the final quarter of 2010. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported that although the bad weather had had an effect, growth would still have been flat if its effect had been excluded.

Full story

Economics

2011-01-18T21:10:00.003Z

Pressure mounted on the Bank of England to raise interest rates as inflation in December jumped from 3.3% to 3.7%, fuelled by an increase in the cost of air travel, fuel, utility bills and food costs.

The recent VAT increase from 17.5% to 20% raises the prospect of a further rise.

For further information on economics stories, click on either the Higher Economics or Interemediate Economics pages of the blog.

The winners and losers on the High Street this Christmas

2011-01-05T16:57:00.003Z

With the twin problems of terrible weather and the coalition's austerity cuts starting to bite, it has been a tough festive period for High Street retailers. Below is a link to a really cool interactive Monopoly board which shows the winners and losers as their Christmas results are announced this month.

Interactive Winners & Losers

Guardian Business Quiz

2010-12-16T20:42:00.002Z

2010 Business Quiz

2010-12-01T22:13:00.000Z

Genuine complaint call...

2010-10-12T19:07:00.002+01:00

OK, it's doubtful whether it's genuine or not but this is still a hilarious call.

Economic news

2010-09-15T19:57:00.003+01:00

Unemployment

In the 3 months to July 2010, unemployment fell by 8,000 to 2.47 million. The overall UK unemployment rate remains at 7.8%. The worry amongst economists is that the unemployment rates will rise again later in the year as the effects of the government cuts begin to take effect.

Regional unemployment

Wales - fall from 8.4% to 8.3%
England - fall from 7.9% to 7.7%
Northern Ireland - fall from 7.1% to 6.8%
Scotland - rise from 8.9% to 9.1%

Inflation

The CPI inflation rate remained at 3.1% in August, still well above the Bank of England 2% target and signalled the end of 3 consecutive months of falling inflation. The high rate was boosted by strong rises in air fares, clothing and food although fuel prices fell. RPI fell from 4.8% to 4.7%.

Points of note

CPI is used for the Bank of England's target
RPI, which includes housing costs, is important for wage negotiations and certain benefit negotiations.
A combination of record low interest rates and high rates of inflation mean the real value of savings is being weakened.

Climate change activitists invade book festival event!

2010-08-23T20:31:00.004+01:00

At the Joseph Stiglitz event on Sunday - yes, I know I also attended it on Saturday but blame Edinburgh Book Festival for not making it clear that it was the same event! - his address was interrupted by four young climate change protesters who invaded the tent. As three of them started dropping newspapers entitled "Never Mind The Bankers", the young female spokesperson demanded two minutes to speak out against the sponsor of the event, the RBS. Needless to say, the audience were not entirely sympathetic to their viewpoint and booed and jeered the proetesters as they were escorted from the premises by Book Festival staff.

With the protests against RBS escalating in recent days, perhaps it was just as well that the protest was peaceful and they left with minimum fuss. There didn't appear to be adequate security to deal with the problem and the onus fell on the young, mainly female, staff to deal with a situation surely outwith their remit. There was also a sense of irony that the protesters should invade an event in which the speaker was berating the banks, including the RBS, for their role in the economic downturn and the need to change the way the finance sector works.

Thankfully, it made my second viewing of the event quite interesting!

Economics at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

2010-08-21T23:52:00.003+01:00

This evening I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Joseph Stiglitz, an American economist and professor at Columbia University, at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He was the Chief Economist at the World Bank and won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. Mr Stiglitz was at the festival to promote his new book Freefall – Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy. During the hour, he talked about why the global economy is in the mess it is in, what the underlying causes are, who is to blame and why the current action by both the American and UK governments may not be the correct solution. He also took questions about the increasing financial power of China, the lack of competition in the banking sector and the lack of progress in developing an environmentally friendly economy. An hour well spent!

Farewell.......

2010-08-21T23:37:00.001+01:00

After two excellent years at St Ninian’s High School, I am leaving for a new role as a Teacher of Economics and Business Management at Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh. During my time at St Ninian’s, I have worked with some wonderful people who have supported me, offered me invaluable advice and helped develop me further as a teacher. I have also had the pleasure of teaching some fantastic pupils and I wish all of them all the best for their future education – I know you are in safe hands! Both teachers and pupils alike will be greatly missed.

Are Facebook friends really friends?

2010-08-18T19:31:00.005+01:00

On Sunday, I attended "Are Friends Electric", an event at the Edinburgh Book Festival which looked at the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter etc. The speakers were Jason Bradbury from Channel 5's "The Gadget Show" and Dr Mariann Hardey, a social media researcher who writes a blog on social networking etiquette.

The event raised some really interesting questions about the rise of social networking sites in general and I was very interested in the impact they have on young people. Both speakers were understandably enthusiastic about the potential of a much more connected world but what is the greater impact? Eric Schmidt, the boss of Google, today warned that young people lack an understanding of the consequences of posting so much personal information online and may have to change their names to escape their online history in the future.

Scaremongering? Possibly. Cynical? Maybe.

But real issues remain.....

Stories already exist of employees being caught for insulting employees, benefit cheats defrauding the system, people being sacked for using social networking sites while off sick and even one girl who was sacked for branding work "boring" on her first day at work - forgetting that she had added her new boss as a friend!

Rumours abound of employers using social networking sites as part of their recruitment process - could an inappropriate picture of you posted on a site affect your employment opportunities in the years to come?

You may be careful about what you publish - but what about what others put on about you?

What about the concerns regarding cyber bullying?

If the information is in the public domain, is it fair game for large businesses to use it to market products and services to you?

As a Business Studies teacher, I need to look at the rise of social networking sites from two sides - the costs and benefits from a business perspective as it changes the way businesses operate, and the impact it has on the young people I teach. With no sign of a downturn in their popularity, their impact on both in the future will be very interesting to monitor.

And for me, one of the main questions is: is an electric friend truly a real friend? If I have 500 friends on Facebook, do I truly have 500 friends?

I would be interested to hear any views from my readers.

Fall in rise of inflation - but still well above MPC target!

2010-08-18T11:37:00.011+01:00

The rate of inflation in the UK dropped slightly from 3.2% to 3.1% in July but still remains well above the Bank of England's 2% target.

Mervyn King, the governer of the Bank of England, said that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) believed the recent strength of inflation was down to "temporary" factors including the recent increase in the rate of VAT to 17.5%, past oil price rises and more expensive imports due to depreciation in the pound since 2007. The Bank expect inflation to fall below the 2% target in 2012.

The slight fall in the rise of inflation was due to a fall in transport costs (price of second hand cars and fuel) as well as a fall in the price of clothing and footwear, which managed to offset rises in food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) - Measure of changes in the purchasing-power of a currency and the rate of inflation. CPI expresses the current prices of a 'basket' of goods and services in terms of the prices during the same period in a previous year, to show effect of inflation on purchasing power.

£650m bar of chocolate

2010-07-20T22:05:00.002+01:00

A hedge fund manager has bought 240,000 tonnes of cocoa beans in a £650m investment which would enable him to make more than 5 billion small chocolate bars. The hedge fund, Armajaro, has taken the unusual step of taking delivery of the cocoa beans and will store them in warehouses in England and the Netherlands.

Why?

The price of cocoa has risen sharply in recent years due to increased demand - a 16% increase in the last year alone due to decreased production of cocoa beans in Africa.
By having a degree of control over the supply, you can squeeze the market and push the price up. When you feel the price has gone up sufficiently, release the supply and make a massive profit.

This type of market speculation is common in food markets, coffee and wheat where speculators push up prices. Farmers, seeing the increased prices, could end up growing the wrong crops only to make a loss when withheld supplies are released and prices start to fall.

S@S Kilmarnock Questionnaires

2010-07-19T14:08:00.005+01:00

This years Business Challenge at the S@S Summer Academy involves the young people rebranding Kilmarnock. As part of the project, they need your help to answer a short questionnaire , the results of which they will use in their 10 minute presentation to a panel of business people on Friday.

Please click on the links below and complete the simple questionnaires. Your help is greatly appreciated!

S@S Kilmarnock Questionnnaire

2010-07-19T14:07:00.000+01:00

Marketing research figures don't add up.....

2010-06-24T22:31:00.002+01:00

While watching the TV tonight, an advert came on for Gillette or L'Oreal men with the claim that it was the best product a man could get. At the end of the advert, the words "85% of 68 men agree" appeared to back up the adverts bold claim. Two things struck me.....

Firstly, it seems a very small sample of men to use on which to claim that the product is the best a man could get and.....

Secondly, when I worked out 85% of 68, the answer was 57.8!! Does this mean that 57 full men and 4/5 of a further man agreed?

If anyone can explain this strange mathematical equation, I would be keen to hear from you.

Posterous in the classroom!

2010-06-17T21:53:00.002+01:00

During this year and following the departure of another teacher, myself and a colleague, Kenny O'Donnell, were given an S1 ICT class to share between us. Since joining St Ninian's High School, Kenny has been an inspirational exponent of the use of technology in the classroom and a great source of support and advice to me. At times, when I questioned the purpose or the value of technology in teaching and learning, Kenny often gave me examples of other ways to use it and opened up new, innovative opportunities for me and my classes.

A prime example of this was in the use of Posterous as a method of pupils creating a portfolio or record of work which they could then share with their friends and family outside the classroom. Kenny has written a fantastic review of our experiences on his blog and if the use of technology in the classroom is something of interest to you, I recommend you read it.

Posterous Review

Please feel free to post any comments.

VAT explained.....

2010-06-17T13:36:00.005+01:00

VAT (Value Added Tax) is the tax you pay on goods and services that you buy. Some items do not include VAT - food, childrens clothing, newspapers and magazines. Some things only include VAT of 5% - domestic gas, domestic electricity and wind turbines. The coalition government are believed to be looking at raising VAT as a way of raising extra cash - raising it from the current rate of 17.5% to 18.5% would raise about £4.65 billion. As VAT is not generally charged on necessities, the government would be able to argue that a rise wouldn't affect the more vulnerable people in society although with the government finances in such a terrible state, it is something that could be considered. The current rate of 17.5% is one of the lowest rates in Europe with Denmark, Hungary and Sweden charging 25%.

The effect of a VAT increase on the customer

Cuddly Toy

17.5% - £9.99

18.5% - £10.07

20% - £10.20

Flat Screen Television

17.5% - £500.00

18.5% - £504.25

20% - £510.64

New Car

17.5% - £15,000.00

18.5% - £15,127.66

20% - £15,319.15

The effect of a VAT increase on government finances

£700 million for every 1% increase if it decides to charge VAT on food.

£1 billion if it decided to charge the current rate of 17.5% on clothes and small shoes for children.

£1.3 billion if it chose to charge the full 17.5% on newspapers, books and magazines.

Intermediate Admin - Commnd Word Help

2010-06-11T13:34:00.001+01:00

For those doing the Intermediate Admin Theory S3 Exam on Monday, I have posted examples of command word answers on the Intermediate Admin page of the blog. Hopefully these will help you with the structure expected in the exam.

If you have any questions, please post a comment and I will get back to you.

Mr Alexander

Tesco chief executive to retire in March 2011

2010-06-09T11:50:00.003+01:00

Tesco shares dropped by 2.3% on the stock market when it was announced that Sir Terry Leahy is to retire early next year. He has been in charge of the supermarket for the last 13 years and will be replaced by the current international and IT director Philip Clarke.

When he took over, Tesco was roughly the same size as Sainsbury with just over 20% of the market share - it now has over 30%, making it easily the UK's biggest supermarket chain.

Some interesting facts and figures about his time in charge:

The number of Tesco stores has risen from 568 in 1997 to 2482 in 2010
Tesco has stores in China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and the US.
Pre-tax profits have risen from £750 million in 1997 to £3176 million in 2010 - up 10% on the previous year.
Sales
It now offers a lot more than just groceries - it now offers insurance, broadband internet, credit cards and even Child Trust funds.
Tesco's employs approximately 500,000 people worldwide with about 250,000 employed in the UK alone.
Tesco now has 20 million active members of its Clubcard customer loyalty scheme.

However, Tesco has come under fire from campaign groups who have become increasingly concerned about its dominant position in the UK marketplace. It has been investigated by the Office of Fair Trading on accusations of squeezing suppliers and buying up land to stop rivals building on it. These have on occasions been referred to the Competition Commission. Concern has also been raised about the growth in "Tesco Towns" where in relatively small cities, Tesco has a huge percentage of the market.

Big business news.......

2010-06-01T21:10:00.004+01:00

The Prudential has failed in an attempt to but AIA, the Asian insurance business of US group AIG, after shareholders opposed the agreed $24.6 billion price. Although a deal had been agreed last week, a number of shareholders said it was paying too much and vowed to vote against the deal if the price couldn't be lowered. The attempted takeover could cost the Prudential around £150 million in compensation fees to AIG as well as money to banks, lawyers, public-relations firms and advice. It is also expected that the Prudential's chief executive Tidjane Thiam may have to resign following the collapse of the takeover.

Prudential fail in takeover of AIA

BP's continuing failure to stop the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to cost them - their share price today closed down 13%, wiping £12 billion off its stock market value. . The total clean-up costs so far stand at £684m and there are worries that the leak could continue for another 2 months. The BBC's Business Editor said that the cost of the clean up "could wipe out at least an entire year's profit".

BP Share Price Tuesday 1 June 2010

Source: BBC Business

And some positive business news.............

Ryanair is back in profit after suffering its first annual loss this time last year. The budget airline announced pre-tax profits of £289 million for the year to March, benefitting from lower oil prices with fuel 29% lower than last year. It also plans to raise baggage fees from £15 to £20 a bag in July and August.

Ryanair back in profit

2010-06-01T21:02:00.003+01:00

Travelling up and down to Kilmarnock every day, it is usual to see important messages about the dangers of drink driving, driving while tired or simply a warning about roadworks. However, I didn't think I would ever see this message on my daily commute!

Flexible working practices for all?

2010-05-25T22:08:00.002+01:00

The new coalition government today announced plans to allow all employees the right to request flexible working hours. At the moment, parents of children up to 16 (or 18 if they are disabled) and carers for disabled adults are allowed to request flexible working patterns. Employers must give serious consideration to any requests but can turn them down for sound business reasons.

Ultimately, following consultation with business, the government would like to extend the right to all workers. The plans, unlikely to come into law during this parliament, have been met with a mixed response - negatively from the British Chambers of Commerce and positively from the TUC.

Best of luck S4 Business Management!

2010-05-13T14:35:00.002+01:00

Best of luck to my S4 Business Management class who are sitting their Intermediate exams tomorrow. You have been a pleasure to teach over the last two years and have worked really hard for these exams. Make sure you go in and do yourself proud!

Couple of last minute tips!

Read the question carefully!
Remember the command words
Make your writing readable
And remember to bring a couple of pens!!!

US Airlines & Continental Airlines merge

2010-05-03T21:08:00.002+01:00

United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed a merger which will create the world's biggest airline. It will be called United Airlines but the new branding will be a combination of both airline's current colours.

Both companies are currently making losses but expect to make savings of more than $1 billion a year following the $3.2 billion deal. The merger has been described as a "merger of equals" although United Airlines will be seen as the dominant partner. Between them, they fly to 370 destinations and fly 144 million passengers a year. They currently employ a total of 86,000 people and experts believe redundancies will be inevitable as the new company aim to cut costs. Shared IT and maximising the use of the fleet are also expected to deliver cost-savings.

The merger has to be agreed by shareholders and competition regulators and unions will also need to agree to the deal.

How are taxes raised and spent?

2010-04-27T22:08:00.002+01:00

One of the main policy differences between the three big parties in this years election is that of taxation and cuts. All parties agree that cuts need to be made and the chances are that taxes will rise in the coming years.

So how are taxes raised and spent?

In this years Budget, the current Labour Government said that would spend £704 billion during the year up to the end of March 2011.

The Government expect to raise £541 billion through taxation, with most coming from Income Tax (£146 billion), National Insurance (£97 billion) and VAT (£78 billion).

They would need to borrow £163 billion to make up the difference between taxes and spending.

Most money raised will be spent on health (£122 billion), education (£89 billion) and social protection e.g. benefits (£196 billion).

Other key spending includes Public Order (£36 billion), International Development (£6 billion) and defence, social services, housing, transport, industry etc. (£210 billion).

Interest on the debts the government has built up will come to £43 billion.

Brilliant advert for Seriously Strong cheese.

2010-04-25T18:05:00.000+01:00

Tesco announce huge pre-tax profits!

2010-04-20T22:18:00.003+01:00

Tesco continue to to flourish despite the global economic crisis as they announced pre-tax profits of £3.176bn for 2009, up 10% on the previous year. Some interesting information from the news:

International sales account fro £17.5bn of its £56.9bn annual revenue.
It plans to create 16,000 jobs this year, 9,000 in the UK.
It expects non-food and international sales to grow fastest in the recovery.
Toy sales were up 25% - helped by the clothes like Woolworths closing down.
Sales of clothes reached £1bn for the first time.
Tesco finance profits were up 13% at £250m

It also said it had been getting round the disruption caused by flights being grounded by getting their Kenyan suppliers to fly fruit and flowers to Spain and picking them up by truck to transport to the UK.

Eyjafjallajökull - Who wins and who loses?

2010-04-19T21:05:00.003+01:00

Airlines - LOSERS!

Obviously the main casualty is the airline industry. The industry is estimated to be losing £130 million a day and could hardly come at a worse time, considering it is already expected to lose £1.4 billion this year. Travel companies are also being hit hard - TUI who own First Choice & Thomson claim they are losing between £5m and £6m a day.

Other Transport - WINNERS!

Eurostar, P&O ferries and train services across Europe and the UK have recorded huge surges in passenger numbers as people find alternative methods to get home.

Tourism - MMMMM?

The effect will be small if the disruption doesn't last too long, particularly as this is not the main peak time for tourism in Europe. Customers stranded and spending more will make up for the expected loss from those unable to make the trip. However, if the disruption continues, it would have a much greater impact if it lasts into the busy summer months.

Imports & Exports - DEPENDS

The disruption has businesses who deal in perishable goods generally transported by air - e.g. food and flowers. Africa and South America, producers of much fresh food transported to Europe are experiencing serious losses. However, most international trade uses road, rail and sea freight - only 1% of UK's trade is carried by air.

Other Business Costs - LOSERS!

Staff being stranded, air mail being delayed and meetings being cancelled are likely to result in lost money for businesses and productivity is expected to suffer as staff can't get back to work.

Economic Growth - MMMMMMM?

If it is short-term, the economic impact is expected to be minimal - however, an extended period without air transport could be very damaging, particularly as the economy is just recovering from recession. A possible drop of 1% and 2% for some European countries could result in no growth for this year.

How have supermarkets continued to make profit in the recession?

2010-04-02T17:00:00.001+01:00

I watched a really interesting programme by the ITV Tonight team on how supermarkets have continued to make huge profits despite the worst financial crisis in over 60 years. Well worth half an hour of your time!

Supermarkets

Teaching S3 Business Management using homemade tomato ketchup!

2010-03-29T22:16:00.008+01:00

In a previous life before I became a teacher, I used to work as a commis chef in various restaurants. I was actually going to train to be a chef before I decided to head off to University to do my Business degree. However, every now and again I still think I have the knack and so it was on Sunday afternoon, that with the sun shining, I opened the windows to let in the first fresh air of spring and set about making my own tomato ketchup courtesy of one of Jamie Oliver's recipes. This followed on from a successful attempt at making chilli-pepper chutney the previous week.

I headed off to Tescos and came back with the following:

1 large red onion
1/2 bulb of fennel
1 stick of celery
Ginger
1/2 fresh red chilli
Fresh basil
1kg of red tomatoes
Red wine vinegar

I already had the olive oil, garlic, salt, cloves, black pepper and brown sugar that was needed to complete the masterpiece. 3 hours of cooking later and the picture at the top is what I had to show for my efforts. Approximately 350ml of homemade tomato ketchup!

And why do I tell you this.....

Today with my S3 Business Management, I was discussing different methods of production - Job, Batch and Flow. My attempt at homemade tomato ketchup was an obvious example of job production. The raw materials were good quality but expensive, I had to do all the tasks myself which took time and effort but the final product met with my exact requirements. Unfortunately, I don't have my receipt handy but the tomatoes themselves were £2.24. I imagine, everything included (minus my labour costs), the tomato ketchup probably cost me close to £4 to make. Products created by job production are expensive due to the labour intensive, unique aspects of them.

We discussed how much I would need to sell this individual bottle at to make a profit. £5, £6, £7 was shouted out. When asked who would pay that, no one offered and it was pointed out that a bottle of 350g Heinz Tomato Ketchup costs £1 to buy in Tesco.

So, if I decided to use the wonder of the internet and start selling my homemade tomato ketchup or chilli-pepper chutney online, how would I get my costs down to a level which would enable me to sell it at a reasonable price and start to make a profit. My brilliant S3 Business Management class immediately identified the need to make it in enough quantity to be able to buy my raw materials in bulk and thus bring the cost of them down by negotiating a discount with the suppliers.

Top Trivia from Heinz Ketchup website

Did you know that we use enough tomatoes to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool – EVERY day – to make enough tomato ketchup for all our fans?

So we started to look at Batch production - making batches of tomato ketchup using batches of red tomatoes or yellow tomatoes, chilli-pepper chutney using red chillis, green chillis, orange chillis etc.

We then looked at how we could manufacture the tomato ketchup using Flow production with everyone having a specific job, utilising technology to do much of the work e.g. blenders, and how this would enable us to drive down the costs of each individual jar of chilli-pepper chutney or tomato ketchup until we could make a decent profit.

We then used this to discuss the disadvantages of each of these methods - the obvious cost element of the Job Production but also the high initial costs of the machinery for Flow Production and the monotonous jobs of both Batch and Flow Production.

And that is how my Sunday afternoon making home made tomato-ketchup impacted on my S3 Business Management lesson the next day.

S2 Business Management Dragon's Den Final

2010-03-25T21:41:00.004Z

Congratulations to Anita Kaur, Eve McGlynn and Ellis Macaulay a.k.a. The Pet People who represented my class at this years S2 Business Management Dragon's Den Final. Despite an excellent presentation for their product, Communikanine, which received rave reviews from the four Dragon's, the team were pipped into first place by Chandles, who had the excellent idea of chocolate candles which, when lit, would coat a cake with melting chocolate.

Communikanine Presentation

View more presentations or Upload your own.

The Dragon's Den project is one of the highlights of the S2 Business Management course at St Ninian's High School. Starting in November, the pupils work in groups to come up with a product or service idea which they then have to market research, cost and promote. As well as this, they also have to look at any competition, consider what sources of finance to use and decide on the type of business organisation they want to be and why e.g. partnership, private limited company etc.

This year, we invited four "Dragons" from the local business community who had to make the final decision on who triumphed. They were all very impressed with the level of effort and commitment the three finalists had put into the project.

Congratulations to all pupils involved in the project and here is to an even more successful Dragon's Den in 2010-2011.

Who is right and who is wrong in the BA strike?

2010-03-21T18:27:00.002Z

As the first strike by British Airways cabin crew comes to an end with a second planned from 27 March, relations between British Airways and Unite, the trade union representing the cabin crew, show no sign of improving.

At the centre of the dispute is BA's decision to reduce the number of cabin crew on long haul flights from 15 to 14 and a 2 year pay freeze from 2010. New contracts have also been proposed for new people joining and newly promoted staff which would see them paid significantly less than current staff. Unite have put forward their own proposals but BA have rejected them as the £63m savings through pay cuts and part time working would not save as much money as the union claim.

BA claim they need to restructure to permanently reduce costs. The company made losses of £342 million in the nine months leading up to the end of December 2009 and say the will make 4,900 redundancies globally by the end of the year. In recent years, BA have lost many air travellers to low-cost airline, many of whom are business travellers, BA's core customers. This could be fatal to BA in the future. Coupled with an economic slowdown, BA would be unable to continue in its current structure and cost levels unless the profitable business passengers come back and pay the prices they were before. BA are experimenting with not serving food on some flights and charging for second bags.

Some staff have decided to break the strike, with one saying 'he and other colleagues were thinking about the long term effects the strike would have on the company".

And therein lies the issue. Some reports have claimed that British Airways staff are paid nearly double that of rival airlines. With British Airways making losses and facing a troubling future, should staff accept that sacrifices have to be made in the current climate? Or should British Airways accept that it's staff are highly professional, experienced cabin crew and pay them accordingly? And what of the role of the Union? Is industrial action and the knock on effect of the strikes to the general public? Is this the best way to conduct negotiations in the current economic situation?

It's a tough situation and very difficult to see how a satisfactory outcome can be decided upon.

Glasgow 2014 Games logo unveiled

2010-03-10T18:56:00.008Z

The Glasgow 2014 Games logo was revealed on Monday at a cost of £95,000. Glasgow design agency Marque came up with the brand after a worldwide search, beating 66 entries, and the logo is based on three principles of sport - time, data and measurement. Any companies sponsoring the games will be offered the logo for use. For the first time, the Commonwealth Games Federation approved the use of an alternative Gaelic form of the design.

Do you like the Glasgow 2014 Games logo?polls

Business in Sport - Football in the Red debate

2010-03-02T09:57:00.003Z

Following the news that Real Madrid have topped the league table of the world's richest clubs for a fifth successive season, the BBC are holding a Football in the Red debate tonight on BBC Radio 5 Live. It will look at the financial problems affecting football clubs. It will start at 8pm and finishes at 9.30pm. Should be an interesting debate.

Real Madrid top football rich list

Business in sport

2010-03-01T22:51:00.002Z

One area of business which intrigues me is that of business in sport, particularly football. I listened to a podcast recently in which a financial expert said that if football clubs were run as normal businesses, most would have collapsed. With Manchester United, Liverpool, Rangers etc. creaking under huge debt burdens and Portsmouth last week becoming the first Premiership team to go into administration, the full impact of the current economic climate is there for all sports fans to see.

If you are a student of Business Management, knowing about business in sport can be a great help. Much of the terminology is the same and being able to put something into a context you understand can make things so much easier to learn.

The BBC have a page called Business in Sport and I have attached a link to the menu bar on the right under Interesting Websites. I don't expect you to read every single business article on the internet or newspaper, but it would greatly help your own learning if you have a look at any stories on this page which interest you. You never know when the information you pick up may come in handy!

What's your job title?

2010-02-26T17:13:00.002Z

For any of my classes who have studied the role of the Human Resources Department, they know the importance that the job title plays in the job description to attract possible new employees. People want and expect their job title to reflect their level of seniority or responsibility.

With the current economic doom and gloom having a negative effect on salaries, could the lure of a fancy job title be they way of keeping staff motivated? Examples from the Plain English Campaign, a campaigning group against jargon and misleading public information, include the following:

Ambient Replenishment Controller = Shelf stacker
Regional Head of Services, Infrastructure and Procurement = Caretaker
Revenue Protection Officers = Ticket inspectors
Waste Removal Engineer = Binman
Education Centre Nourishment Production Assistant = Dinner lady
Vision Clearance Engineer = Window cleaner

However, a director at thinktank Policy Exchange thinks the pressure on public finances could signal the end for bizarre job titles as people will be more focussed on what people do and their titles. Both the private and public sector will have to focus on their core business. However, it does seem that the days of the self-evident career - the butcher, baker etc. - are all but gone.

P.S. I am not a teacher anymore, I am a knowledge navigator!

Civil servants to strike over redundancy terms

2010-02-25T18:34:00.002Z

Up to 270,000 civil servants, including Jobcente staff, tax workrs and coastguards, are planning a two day strike in early March in a dispute over cuts to public sector redundancy terms. The Public and Commercial services union who represent the workers balloted the staff earlier this month and 64% voted for stoppages and 81% backing an overtime ban. The 2 day walkout could be followed by a series of rolling strikes through March and April, just weeks before the expected date of the general election.

Best of luck to my Higher Business Management class

2010-02-19T20:14:00.002Z

Yes, it is Friday night at 8.14pm and yes, I am writing on my blog. But please remember, the other option tonight is Eastenders Live!

Just wanted to say the best of luck to my Higher Business Management class for their prelim on Monday.

Thousands of prices cut - but your shopping still costs more?

2010-02-16T20:06:00.002Z

Last November, Asda and Tesco started a price war in the lead up to Christmas by announcing they were cutting millions of pounds off prices. Tesco would cut prices by £250m and Asda by £150m. In order to meet their end-of-year profit targets, supermarkets need to entice customers who are likely to spend more in the lead up to the festive period to shop in their store.

However, data provided by third party analysts and published in Saturdays Guardian newspaper has shown that as well as the thousands of cut prices the supermarkets promoted, they also showed thousands of price rises, some of them doubling the price of key purchases. Between 9 and 22 December (the period when most people would do their big festive shop), Asda increased prices on more than 2,000 lines and Tesco on over 1,500.

Whether a shopper was affected positively or negatively is difficult to quantify - it would be dependent on what the shopper bought. The averages of price increases and cuts can also be affected by changes on high value items e.g. if a supermarket cuts the price of a crate of beer in half as a loss leader offering a saving of several pounds, and cuts thousands of other products by just 1p, the number of cuts and the average saving may look attractive but give virtually nothing to those not buying beer.

Both supermarkets denied the claim that they were deliberately forcing up prices in the run up to Christmas, claiming that in the majority of cases it was due to products that had been discounted coming off promotion or by suppliers increasing wholesale prices to the retailer. However, a professor at the Office of Fair Trading suggested that the number and size of the rises showed both Tesco and Asda were using the Christmas period to get as much profit as possible out of people who were too busy to shop elsewhere. He pointed out that rises were targeted at heavy store cupboard goods and holiday essentials - Pepsi (up 56% in Asda), Duracell batteries (up 102.7% in Asda), Nurofen tablets (up 33.3% in Tesco) and Beefeater Gin (up 37.6% in Tesco).

A 5 year study of prices at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons conducted by Loughborough University has found the most common price cut among the top 4 supermarkets is just 1p. Although these low cuts might seem pointless and have little impact on the price of someone's shopping, it enables the supermarkets to claim they are cutting the cost of thousands of lines. In actual fact, over the 5 years, these cuts have helped mask large increases in a smaller number of lines which have had a much greater impact on shopping bills. Supermarket behaviour at Christmas in those 5 years has also shown that although they have heavily discounted headline, loss-leading products like alcohol and turkey, they have significantly raised the prices of other goods at the same time.

Rooney and his working class "brand"

2010-02-11T21:48:00.002Z

It has emerged during a court case that Wayne Rooney was to be "branded" as the complete opposite of David Beckham - a street striker, a product of the terraces, earthy, real, not manufactured, what you see is what you get! His working class credentials were part of the "brand values" given to the then 17 year old Rooney as his agent negotiated multi-million pound contracts to endorse products and firms such as Coca-Cola, Asda and Nike.

The details have emerged as part of a court case where Rooney, his wife and agent are being sued by his formed sports management firm for £4.3million in lost commission payments.

Advertising - London style

2010-02-08T18:15:00.002Z

I am always amazed when I am in London how many innovative ways there are to advertise and promote products - it always seems so much more creative than the usual billboard we tend to see up here.

This is an advert for Coke Zero at Old Street roundabout, a roundabout on the border of Hackney and Islington which links the City of London, West London, East London and North London - many potential customers pass by here every day. I just think it is so striking to incorporate the advert for the product it into a modern style sculpture.

An interesting fact - the roundabout is also known as the Silicon Roundabout due to the prominence of British web based companies.

Stung by computerised stock control!

2010-02-08T18:06:00.004Z

I was down in London at the weekend seeing friends and was staying in a Holiday Inn. Passing the morning away on the Saturday before I went out, I had a look at the price list for the room's mini bar. Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked at the mark-up on the different drinks and snacks and thought it would be a good idea to take some pictures to show my various Business Management classes as we work our way through the Marketing units.

So I took out some Pringles, Coca-Cola, some white wine, red wine, a small bottle of Courvioisier Cognac and proceeded to take some shots. I didn't have a clue (though the heading at the top of the price list should have given it away) that the fridge used a computerised system whereby everytime you took a product out of the fridge, it would charge it to your room bill. Even if you put it back!!

When I went to settle my bill on Sunday, it was with some embarrassment that I had to explain that I had not in fact drunk or eaten anything from the bar, but had in fact been taking photographs to show my pupils about pricing methods back in Scotland. They didn't charge me!

Good luck to my S4!

2010-02-04T22:55:00.002Z

The best of luck to my S4 Administration class who are sitting their prelim exam tomorrow (Friday 5 February) and my S4 Business Management class who are sitting theirs on Monday (8 February).

You have all worked hard and I am confident you will all do yourselves proud.

Business Dictionary

2010-02-04T20:52:00.002Z

While trawling the internet to find new and innovative things to incorporate into the blog to help my classes learning, I came across a Business Dictionary which may prove useful. It is a glossary of business terms and definitions which includes the main terminology used in business, plus many more unusual, interesting and amusing words and expressions found in business and management, and the wider world of work and modern life.

I have posted the link on the menu bar opposite - hope it is of some use to you!

How a lack of quality checks can affect a business

2010-02-03T20:52:00.001Z

Toyota have announced that a massive vehicle recall due to uncontrolled acceleration could cost them up to £1.25 billion in lost output and the check might need to spread from the US and Europe to the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. 1.8 million cars were recalled across Europe while another 2.3 million cars have been recalled in the US over the last four months. 5 millions vehicles in the US were also recalled for another similar problem. The effect of the recall on the world's largest car maker is likely to seriously affect its 2010 sales forecasts.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Toyota defends car recall delay

Pupil led Business Magazine up and running

2010-02-01T20:59:00.003Z

One of my Higher Business Management pupils told me a couple of months ago that she liked the idea of possibly editing a newspaper in the future. It just so happened that at that point I was looking at ways to start some sort of pupil-led online Business Magazine to encourage participation from pupils outside of the classroom. Talking it through with the pupil, we identified several pupils in S2 Business Management who we thought could take on the role of reporters with the senior pupil being responsible for setting deadlines, editing work and getting the project up and running.

Having been subjected first hand to a probing interview by one of the team's roving reporters and read a couple of their first articles, I am confident this is a project which will develop and provide all involved with some great skills that they can take forward in their schooling - teamworking, working to deadlines, communication skills etc. I have given full editorial responsibility to the group and act only as a contact should they wish any help or support.

The group aim to get their magazine link placed on the school website and hope to develop a strong and loyal readership. Please click on the link Pupil Business Magazine to read their first articles. Please feel free to leave some comments.

2010-01-29T09:12:00.003Z

Last night, 8 pupils from my Higher Business Management class and I attended a Business Master Class hosted by the East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce. The guest speaker was Graeme Lindsay, one of Scotland's leading marketing experts with nearly 20 years of experience. His CV contains companies liked Tennents, Scottish Courage and Glenmorangie and he led the global marketing activity for brands such as Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and Glen Moray. Recently he has been working as the Marketing Director for Whyte & Mackay.

The first part of his talk covered how he had helped relaunch Glenmorangie. This was a whisky which had no discernible difference from it's competitors and having conducted thorough research, it was decided to aim it at specifically at two target markets - the luxury end of the market and women. The idea to aim it at these markets inspired all the packaging and promotion that Glenmorangie did. Promotions moved from the traditional man in a kilt tasting whisky to talking about the taste and emotion fo whisky, utilising a female master blender. Advertising became engaging, premium, impactful and always focused on the luxury element of the product. The website was updated - it changed completely and got people talking again. Displays of the product moved from the idea of cramming as much in as possible to the complete opposite - focusing on a "less is more" idea. Displays of the product played on the idea of scarcity with individual bottles carefully displayed. Public relations events changed style as well, moving to cocktail parties of style and allure, attended by both men and women.

Obviously there was a cost to all this but with the new luxury branding, Glenmorangie could charge higher prices and increase their profit margin which increased the bottom line. High end hotels and clubs were now stocking the product and charging high amounts which further strengthened Glenmorangie's position.

Some interesting marketing points which Graeme Lindsay made about launching or relaunching a product:

A well defined positioning will lead to stronger communicaton and ideas that cut through.
Go back in time to the foundations and heritage of your business to "get" your positioning/identity.
It's better to ACT yourself into a new way of thinking (than THINK yourself into a way of acting) Court controversy in creating interesting PR angles.
Polarise opinion - don't try and and please ALL of your target consumers. Be prepared to sacrifice.
Steal ideas from other sectors.
Identify industry conventions and then challenge them.
In generating innovative ideas, be chaotic, emotional and random. Be meticulous and disciplined in execution.
Refuse to be constrained by challenges and restrictions. Tackle them head on and turn into opportunities.
It's not enough to get digital. Companies and products have to get "SOCIAL" - use all social networking opportunities available.

It was a really interesting evening and hopefully gave some of the pupils a greater insight into one of the main units we study in Higher Business Management. For some, it may even impact on future career plans!

Did you know?

2010-01-28T23:11:00.002Z

The rise of social media!

2010-01-28T23:03:00.001Z

The office of the future!

2010-01-20T21:45:00.001Z

Check out the link below to see the office of the future. Designed by students at Edinburgh's Napier University, it costs around £150,000 and features touch screen technology on desks and walls. Experts believe in 3-5 years, this could be commonplace technology.

The Office of the Future

The end of the road for Cadbury's

2010-01-19T23:15:00.003Z

An agreement has been reached between the American food company Kraft and Cadbury's, the 200 year old British confectioner, over a £11.5 billion takeover. Cadbury's started in Birmingham in 1824 when John Cadbury opened a shop selling tea, coffee and hot chocolate as an alternative to alcohol. It now employs about 45,000 people in 60 countries and it's brands include Dairy Milk, Flake, Crunchie, Chocolate Buttons and Milk Tray.

What are the details:

Cadbury's board recommended to the shareholders that it accept a bid of 840p per share, valuing the business at £11.5 billion.
Each shareholder will receive 500p per share and the remainder will be made up of shares in Kraft.
This is an increase in the previous offer by craft when the valued Cadburys at £10.5 billion.
The move could lead to possible job cuts within Cadbury's UK business as a result.

Supported Study - Intermediate Business Management

2010-01-19T11:02:00.002Z

We will be running a supported study session in preparation for the Business Management prelim on Tuesday 26 January 2010 at 3.45pm. If you are interested, please let one of the Busienss Studies teachers know you wish to attend.

If it doesn't work out as a teacher.....

2010-01-17T21:00:00.003Z

......I could always become a pizzaiolo! Taking a break from NAB marking.

Managing The Band (S2 Admin)

2010-01-15T12:16:00.002Z

Download now or preview on posterous

task 2 (4).doc (106 KB)

My S2 class have started the Managing The Band project, a 20 task integrated activity which covers a variety of skills which will help the class when they move into Intermediate Administration. The project covers areas like word processing, spreadsheets, databases, internet researching and is all based around managing a fictional band as they travel across Europe.

The first couple of tasks have been completed and this years real-life band of choice amongst S2 seems to be JLS closely followed by Pussycat Dolls. Here is a sample of the first task.

Posted via email from Mr Alexander's Posterous

First time on Posterous

2010-01-14T21:35:00.001Z

I was introduced to Posterous today by Mr O'Donnell and I am considering the possibility of using it with my S2 Business Management and S2 Administration classes. They can easily use it to post work that they have done in class and share it with their families or friends at home. This is just a little trial to see how it works! Fingers crossed!

Posted via email from Mr Alexander's Posterous

Should employees tell bosess what they think of them?

2010-01-13T21:30:00.003Z

My S4 Business Management class are currently looking at the internal organisation of a business and one of the areas we have been looking at is the relationship between managers and employees. My Higher Business Management class are about to move on to the Human Resource topic and this may also be of interest to them.

New research has suggested that firms would have a happier and healthier workforce if employees were able to tell their managers what they think of them. The relationship between line managers and employees is the most common source of stress in the workplace but many people in senior positions are unaware of how they come across and think they are doing a good job already. Stress in the workplace is a significant cause of sickness absence and can lead to people experiencing anxiety or depression.

The study showed that if employees could provide feedback to their managers, the bosses were more likely to change their management style and become more effective. This could be in coping with the employees emotions, empathising with individuals and resolving conflict. Those who don't get feedback were unlikely to change.

Milk deliveries hit by icy weather

2010-01-07T21:39:00.004Z

My Higher Business Management class were looking at external factors which can effect the distribution and delivery of goods and on the BBC website tonight, there was an article which illustrates that point.

The recent icy weather has severely affected the distribution of milk as suppliers struggled against the wintry conditions. In order to keep fresh milk in the shops, dairy farmers require collections every day or second day but drivers have struggled to negotiate country roads in eight-wheel tankers. As a result, farms have had to dump milk due because few of them have facilities capable of storing more than a day's stock. This is likely to have a serious financial impact on farmers with the average dairy farm having 120 cows producing up to 2,500 litres every day. In Somerset, one cooperative said it would have to dump more than 10,000 litres.

What does your social networking site say about you?

2010-01-05T23:35:00.003Z

I have just finished watching a really interesting documentary on the trial of Amanda Knox, one of the three people found guilty of the murder of Meridith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in 2007. The documentary was trying to establish the true identity of Amanda - was she the innocent, Seattle student her family said she was, or the hard partying girl the media portrayed.

The thing that came out was how the media had used social networking sites such as MySpace to build up a picture of Amanda Knox. By simply accessing her site, they had picked little things she had posted, little videos she had made, and put them together to form an overall image of her. It was this image they used throughout the murder trial and it became a powerful weapon in the prosecutions case.

As the trial unfolded, blogging became a powerful weapon in determining public opinion. Blogs started supporting Amanda Knox and blogs started accusing her of the murder and stating her guilt. Comments left on blogs became more and more vicious as the murder trial continued.

Amanda Know was found guilty and I am not in a position to say if this was correct or not. However, what it showed me was how careful people should be when posting comments, videos etc. on social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook & MySpace as you really don't know who will one day access them. I have already talked on my blog about potential employers using them to get a fuller picture of who someone is. The most worrying aspect is that unless you delete it yourself, the images and information stays on the web.

My advice would be to think before posting stuff - does it give a true reflection on who you are and would you want other people to read it?

Financial turmoil at Old Trafford?

2010-01-05T17:52:00.004Z

Really interesting article on Manchester United's current financial situation posted on the BBC website today by Robert Peston, the BBC's Business Editor. Well worth a look!

Can Manchester United spend?

The hidden costs of unemployment on the young

2010-01-04T12:58:00.002Z

Over the last couple of years, most of us will have been aware of the headline news screaming "Unemployment Rises", "Unemployment Hits 2 Million" etc. without really having any understanding of the effects it has on people.

The Prince's Trust have just conducted a survey of 2,000 people youngsters between 16 and 25 and it showed 1 in 10 who had been out of work had turned to drugs or alcohol. Those not in education or training were twice as likely to suffer feelings of depression or isolation. 25% felt being jobless had caused arguments with parents and 15% felt their life lacked direction! 15%!! Between 16 and 24, the world should be a young person's oyster!

Recent figures show almost a million 16-25 year olds are unemployed and the fear is that this generation becomes a "lost generation" - their skills and talents are lost to the economy as the long term emotional issues result in them failing to reenter the job market.

I remember first hand the experience of being jobless. I moved back from London in 2003 at the age of 24 and for about 3 months I couldn't get a job. Initially I was full of motivation, spending a long time on individualised CV's and letters of application. Eventually, as the rejection letters piled up I started to just "Copy and Paste" my applications which further reduced my chances of getting a job. I started to spend longer and longer just watching daytime TV and doing nothing. Thankfully, I have a very supportive family and group of friends and they kept my spirits up until I got a job in a bank. However, in that short time I could see the damaging effect that unemployment could have on someone and the effect it has on your self-esteem. It is a vicious circle - the more rejections you get, the lower your confidence goes and the higher chance you have of getting the next job.

Let's hope that we don't lose this generation of young people to this fate.

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-03T20:50:00.004Z

Ok, 2010 is now well underway and like many people, I am going to make some resolutions this year. To try and make sure I stick to them, I am going to post them here so I can be constantly reminded. I may add to these over the coming week as I think of more things I want to achieve.

Run a 10km in sub 40 minutes

I used to do a lot of running but gave up after a couple of bad experiences with half marathons so haven't been out for a while. I know sub 40 is a bit optimistic but I think I could achieve this by the end of the year.

Save a minimum of £4,000 towards a house deposit

Sick fed up of living in rented accommodation and not being able to do anything to my house in terms of improvement. Have set up an Cash ISA as the first step and managed to get £600 saved before the end of the year so on the way. Got to take advantage of these bargain basement prices.

Successfully finish PGC Leadership in Learning

My course runs until the summer and I want to make sure I successfully complete it.

Complete 50 pressups without a break

My real weak point fitness wise! Can probably do 20 at the moment so I think 50 is an achievable challenge!

If anyone else can think of anything I could add, let me know!

Business news over the festive period.......

2010-01-02T18:27:00.003Z

WIth 2 days to go until school starts again, I have to admit I have been pretty lazy in keeping up to date with what is happening in the business news. So, with nothing but Hole in the Wall to keep my occupied for half an hour, I thought I would see what has been making the news over the last couple of weeks.

Tiger Watch

AT&T have joined Gillette and Accenture in dropping Tiger Woods from their sponsorship. As well as these 3 companies, Tag Heuer and Gatorade have also reduced their use of Woods since news of his infidelity broke. A recent study by the University of California suggests the total economic damage for everyone involved could be up to $12 billion.

House prices continue to rise

House prices rose by 5.9% in 2009, making some recovery from the massive 15.9% fall of 2008. In December, the average cost of a home went up by 0.4% to £162,103, the 8th consecutive monthly rise. However, industry experts have warned that recovery in 2010 will be slow as the effect of increasing unemployment takes hold and whether cash buyers who had reentered the market when it was at a low are likely to continue to be significant in house buying market.

Christmas spending up

Nearly £500 million was spent on 23 December which enabled this years Christmas sales to outperform 2008. Overall, consumer spending was 2.4% higher this year according to Barclaycard. Even on Christmas Day, shopping continued as 700,000 transactions worth £24 million were made online. However, as in the story above, unemployment and other economic issues mean that consumer confidence is still low and it may be that the increased sales is simply people taking advantage of the 15% VAT rate before it goes back up to 17.5%.

Now, let's hope Hole in the Wall is finished......

Help needed for Dragon's Den Surveys

2009-12-21T14:01:00.008Z

The S2 Business Management classes are currently in the middle of a Dragon's Den project and are currently undertaking market research on their product or service. This is where they need your help!

Please click on one of the links below and answer the questions as truthfully as possible. It should only take you a minute or two and each one you fill out will help them gather valuable information.

Thank you in advance

Business Studies From a Pupils Perspective

2009-12-21T10:48:00.008Z

Business studies poster

This trophy is given out to the best pupil of the week

These are the jobs that we are inspired to do.

Some headlines from the newspapers that give us infomation on the business world.

WHAT KEEPS THE TEACHER AWAKE DURING THE DAY!!!

How the face of sport changed in the 'noughties'.

2009-12-20T18:49:00.002Z

Just been reading an interesting article about how the last 10 years have made sport almost unrecognisable to what it was at the turn of the century in where it is played and how it is watched. Recently, Brazil have played a friendly against England in Doha, Australia and New Zealand contested the rugby Bledisloe Cup in Hong Kong and NFL have started recent regular-season games at Wembley. And people who once could only watch on TV if they couldn't attend games can now watch via High Definition, the Internet or on their phone. A survey by Motorola in America two years ago found 45% of people would rather watch an NFL game on HD than actually bother going to the game!

Here are some interesting figures from the article:

25 - times more income from the World Cup TV rights in 2010 ($2.3bn) than 1990 (£92m) - coinciding with growth of pay-TV.

58% - the increase in sports sponsorship in Asia over the last four years - roughly double the growth rate in Europe and the United States

6 - of the top 10 sponsorship deals worldwide in 2008 were by Nike or Adidas.

62% - of football fans in the UK use all the following media to keep in touch: TV, newspapers, magazines, internet, radio and mobile phone

The rate of technological change seems to be having a huge impact on the rate of sporting change.

How British Airways staff reacted to strike action

2009-12-16T17:16:00.003Z

The video below which has been posted on Youtube shows the joy which met British Airways staff decision to to go on strike. 92% voted in favour of strike action. One worker asked the question if they could be sacked and a lawyer responded by saying the staff had protection for 12 weeks - if they were sacked during this time, they would have an immediate "unfair dismissal" claim which would be very expensive for British Airways.

Following on from my post about referees yesterday and their influence over an organisation, this is British Airways employees using the withdrawl of their labour as a way of influencing the business.

The issue for the employees is how the public react. Passengers affected by a 12-day strike over Christmas are not likely to be overly sympathetic to their decision.

Referees threaten 24 hour strike

2009-12-14T20:14:00.004Z

Recently, I have been covering stakeholders of an organisation and their aims and influences. A stakeholder is someone with an interest in the success or failure of an organisation and can be internal (e.g. employee, owner etc.) or external (e.g. bank, customer, government etc.).

I was interested today to read that one of Scottish footballs main stakeholders are ready to wield their influence by threatening to go one a 24-strike. Their aim is to stop recent attacks on their professionalism and integrity and their influence is that they can withdraw their labour as referees therefore meaning games can't be played.

A nice example of stakeholder aims and influences.......

Gillette "distance" themselves from Woods

2009-12-13T19:32:00.002Z

Following Tiger Woods announcement that he was taking an indefinite break from golf, Gilette have become the first major sponsor to distance themselves from him. They claim the move was out of respect for his privacy and will involve phasing him out of their television and print advertising as well as public appearances. The saga rumbles on....

Follow up to Tiger Woods story......

2009-12-09T21:57:00.002Z

PepsiCo, owners of Gatorade, have decided to drop a Tiger Woods-endorsed product. However, they have said that the decision was taken a few months ago and has nothing to do with the allegations surrounding the golfer. Reports of the drink being dropped were first reported two days before Woods crashed his car in an industry magazine but the timing is bound to raise suspicion.

In other news, the last prime-time advert featuring Tiger Woods was a 30-second Gillette advert on 29 November, 10 days ago.

Do you think bankers deserve big bonuses?

2009-12-06T21:10:00.003Z

Despite the US economy experiencing its worst year in 30 years, Goldman Sachs are likely to announce pay and bonuses for its bankers of $19 billion (£11.4 billion). In Britain, 5000 bankers are in line to collect more than £1m each despite millions of people being out of work as a result of the recession.

Goldman Sachs have enjoyed a fantastic year and their three leading executives will receive multi-million dollar payouts after not taking bonuses last year due to the business making a loss between October and December of that year.

The bonus culture has been attacked in both the USA and UK as a reason for the near collapse of the financial system as bankers took reckless risks. Bonuses are particularly sensitive for banks who took government money to bail them out during the worst of the crisis, Goldman Sachs being one of them.

An arguement continues in London as to whether staff in the invest part of RBS should receive bonuses worth £1.5 billion, when the RBS is 70% owned by the state after a taxpayer bailout.

Do you think bankers should receive bonuses this year?(polls)

Do Tesco name badges develop brand loyalty?

2009-12-03T21:50:00.002Z

I have recently been working with my Higher Business Management class on Marketing and one of the areas we have been looking at is brand loyalty. A few months ago, I noticed that the staff in Tescos have started to wear badges which not only included their name, but also a phrase "I like...." followed by something like socialising, football, dancing etc. as well as a picture and when they joined the team.

On the way home tonight, I stopped at Tescos and on the way through the checkout, I couldn't help ask the assistant what the purpose of the badge was. She seemed somewhat shocked that I asked which was ironic considering the purpose is to give the customer some information with which to engage the assistant in conversation. She told me that during her induction training, she was asked to name something she liked doing and a picture which represented her. She went for "I like socialising" and a picture of a musical note as she likes music.

Does it make me more loyal to the Tesco brand? Probably not but it was nice to have some sort of human interaction during the shopping experience rather than the faceless nature of using the self-service machines which seem to be cropping up in all supermarkets.

Would knowing a person's name and interests encourage you to use the same supermarket?

How will sponsors react to Tarnished Tiger?

2009-12-02T21:19:00.003Z

Tiger Woods is the wealthiest sportsman in the world, not simply because of his golfing talent but because of the big businesses that pay him to advertise their products. With sponsors such as Nike (they signed their first contract with him in 1996), Gatorade and Gillette, Woods has made more money off the green than on it. Last year he earned $23 million from golf tournaments - he made $100 million sponsorship deals.

However, allegations surrounding his private life since he crashed his car last week have tarnished his previously perfect image and his future earnings will depend on how the sponsors react. Nike and Gatorade seem to have offered Woods their full support but Gillette have not committed themselves to what they may do in future. Other major sponsors such as Tag Heuer, although continuing to use Woods in advertising campaigns, have been "unavailable for comment" when asked to discuss the situation.

Woods has become the first athlete in history to earn $1 billion in a sporting career and his success (and attraction to sponsors) in being a black player in a black player in a traditionally white sport has raised the profile of golf greatly.

Borders bookshop goes into administration

2009-11-26T21:43:00.002Z

The well known bookshop chain Borders has gone into administration and a buyer will now try to be found for the all or some of the 45 stores. The chain has suffered from increased competition from online retailers and supermarkets and recently, the business had experienced severe cash flow problems and several suppliers had stopped or reduced its credit levels. The chain employs 1,150.

25 years since British Telecom was privatised

2009-11-22T21:47:00.002Z

British Telecom's roots go all the way back to 1848 when it became the worlds first telecommunications company. However, by the 1980s, a decision was taken to privatise it and increase innovation within the new company to benefit customers as well as raising money for the government (£3.9billion).

The launch of BT shares on the London Stock Exchange was a big event and initially, the shares were priced at 130p each. The launch was aimed at small investors and was the first to be targeted by a widespread marketing campaign. By the end of their first day, the price had reached 170p.

Over the years, the now privatised BT has had to defend itself against allegations of preventing competition from it's very dominant position and Oftel (now Ofcom) was created to ensure it didn't abuse it's position.

With privatisation came the need to maximise profits and job numbers have been cut. In 1984, BT had a staff of 241,000 - it now employs 107,000. Revenue has grown from £6.8billion 25 years ago to £21.4billion. However, a pretax profit of £990 million in 1984 became a £134 million loss in 2008. The share price 25 years on sits at around 145p, roughly the same as when it launched.

British Telecom - 25 years on since privatisation

Even niche marketing can't protect businesses in this recession

2009-11-22T21:32:00.003Z

The owner of a famous niche store in London's Covent Garden, specialising in American men's clothes which had been open for 29 years and survived 2 recessions, has decided to close his business in February 2010 and will sell everything, even the fittings, when a closing down sale starts in December. The owner decided that the business was not financially viable to continue.

Some interesting issues in this story which relate to what we study in Business Management:

The reluctance of banks to lend to businesses is one reason given for the business closing down - without finance, supplies can't be purchased or orders met. Staff may not get paid and general expenses may become difficult to pay e.g. electricity, etc.
This business operated in a niche market - it had little competition as it sold brand name goods not found elsewhere in the UK. Customers were loyal to the exclusive clothes.

No growth in Scottish economy in 2010

2009-11-17T22:14:00.002Z

Gloomy news from a recent analysis by Strathclyde University which said that Scotland would recover more from recession more weakly than the rest of the UK, with almost no growth during 2010. Unemployment could peak next year at 234,000.

Reasons for the slow return to growth include:

Scotland's reliance on a large public sector in comparison to the rest of the UK. This means there is a smaller private sector base from which to grow as well as the impending squeeze on public spending.
The service sector - financial services, property and business services - had also performed poorly in recent months.
Lack of size and capability in the manufacturing sector to take advantage of low exchange rate and increasing global demand.
Scots being more likely to save than others in Britain, which would slow growth.

The poor figures has increased the possibility that the recession in Scotland will last longer than it does across the rest of the UK.

Business Management Revision Material

2009-11-13T18:06:00.003Z

I have been creating lots of revision material for the Intermediate Business Management pupils using ClassTools, a teaching website. It is support for their upcoming BICs Nab. However, it may be useful for pupils at all levels of Business Management and in particular, for those who find it difficult to just sit and read notes. You can find it by clicking on the Intermediate Business Management page of the blog.

If there are any other things you think that would be useful to help people study, let me know and I will see if we can create them. Any feedback appreciated!

First virus hits Apple iPhone

2009-11-09T17:45:00.002Z

My S4 Administration class have been learning about ICT related legislation and we have had a lot of discussion about the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and how it was aimed at hackers and one of its main offences was the release of viruses.

Now it seems that the Apple iPhone has its first "worm" which causes the phone's wallpaper to change to a picture of 1980's singer Rick Astley, with the message "ikee is never going to give you up". At present it only affects phones where the user has removed Apple's protection mechanisms so they can run any software. Although not harmful at the moment, there is concern that more malicious versions may follow which would do worse things than simply change your wallpaper.

The hacker, a 21 year old Australian called Ashley Towns, told Australia's ABC News Online that he only created the virus to raise the issue of security.