Need for business training to boost economy

Strathclyde University have just published a report which says that enterprise education in universities and colleges can double the rate of business start-ups.

However, only Yorkshire and Humberside did worse than Scotland in business start-ups and although many Scots think they could go into business for themselves, few actually take the risk of being an entrepreneur. One explanation put forward is that few Scots actually know anyone who has started their own business in the last 2 years (20% compared with 30% in London and 43% in similar European countries). In Europe, people are 3 times more likely to invest in a friend or family members business.

The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde found that business training was a key factor in encouraging business start-up. Professor Sara Carter, head of the Hunter Centre, said "Entrepreneurship education gives students a more competitive edge in the graduate labour market as well as presenting new venture creation as a realistic and, in some cases, essential career option".

One positive from the current economic climate is that the recession may help the start-up rate as skilled people, facing redundancy, may have to look at new options.

No longer proud to be Scottish?

A company who make Harris Tweed have denied "de-Scottishifying" to appeal to the American market who are angry at the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. The creative director of the company said it was no longer promoting itself as Scottish. The chief executive has since said that the creative director did not speak on behalf of the company and there had been no reaction from the US market

Product placement ban lifted

Independent broadcasters such as ITV and Channel 4 were given a big boost today with the announcement that the ban on product placement is likely to be lifted soon. This will allow them to take payments for displaying commercial products during shows and it is believed could bring in £100m a year. The ban would remain in place for the BBC and all children's programmes across all networks.

The lifting of the ban will bring the UK into line with the rest of Europe and will be a huge help to broadcasters who have been hit hard by the recession. Currently, any products on programmes like Coronation Street or Big Brother have to cover up labels or ensure they are carefully obscured.

Business news of the week.....

Some interesting business news from the last week:

T-Mobile (owned by Deutsche Telecom) and Orange (owned by France Telecom) are planning to merge their UK businesses which would become the UK's largest mobile phone provider, with about 37% of the market. It would push O2, owned by Telefonica, into second plance and create a firm with sales of £8.2 billion.

In the UK, Orange employes 12,500 people and T-Mobile 6,500 and there is the possibility that staff may be made redundant. It is also likely that competition authorities in the UK and EU would want to look at the deal before agreeing it can go ahead.

T-Mobile and Orange merge

Cadbury rejected a £10.2 billion takeover bid from Kraft, saying it greatly undervalued the firm.

Kraft attempt to takeover Cadbury

The new owners of Tennent's, C&G Group who own Magners cider, refused to take on Tennent's Super because they felt it didn't fit with their more sophisticated portfolio. One national newspaper said that they didn't think it's "Rab C Nesbitt" image would suit the company's bill and the main goal was to secure Tennent's Lager, which has 55% of the Scottish market and would complement the Magners range.

And finally....the fast-food giant McDonald's has lost an EIGHT YEAR legal battle to stop a Malaysian restaurant calling itself McCurry. They claimed that the "Mc" infringed on their trademark but a court in Malaysia said there was no evidence the restaurant was pretending to be any part of McDonald's.

Business Studies teacher wanted.......

My S4 Business Management class are currently working through the Human Resource Management unit and having prepared a job analysis, job description and person specification for a Business Studies teacher at St Ninian's, they then had to use MS Publisher to prepare a small job advert for the Herald or Scotsman. They used the internet, job papers, myself and the Business Studies Principal Teacher to come up with an advert that would attract the right candidate to apply for the job. I was particularly attracted to the advert which highlighted the "13 week holiday every year!".

S2 Business Management Entrepreneur Presentations

Simon Cowell

View more presentations or Upload your own.

My S2 Business Management class have just completed a short project in which they had to research the life of an entrepreneur. They then had to present their research to the rest of the class. Click on the Pupil Work link on the menu bar to see some of the best work produced in the class.

entrepreneur presentation5

View more presentations or Upload your own.

A good time to start a business?

Despite the news that we may be moving out of a recession, surely now is not the time to start a new business. But a new series starting on Radio 4 called A Small Business says this might just be the time.

The Federation of Small Businesses has produced statistics saying that 120 small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) are closing every day. But for every one that closes, 11 new ones start up. This works out at nearly 500,000 new SMEs in 2009.

The majority are one person businesses, not scared of taking a risk, taking on little debt and not employing anyone else at the start. They won't have much of an impact on reducing the unemployment numbers!

But why are people taking a risk. Well, there are several possible factors:

• Savings interest rates are so low that people are more willing to take the risk.
• People don't want to work all hours for a lavish lifestyle - a reasonable income to support themselves and time for the family.
• People are afraid that their pensions may not support them so they want to keep working.
• Good deals are available on empty premises and from suppliers.
• Some people have a dream and being made redundant may have been the push they needed.

Of the 4.7 million firms in the UK, only 6,000 are big businesses and SMEs employ nearly 60% of the workforce - shopkeepers, taxi firms, hairdressers, plumbers etc.

To listen to the radio programme, click on the link below:

Radio 4 - A Small Business

Happy 25th birthday to Powerpoint

On August 14, 1984, Powerpoint was born, the brainchild of Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin. Initially called Presentation, it was originally developed just for Apple Macintosh. It was renamed PowerPoint in 1987 due to a trademark problem and in August that year, Microsoft bought the company the two inventors worked for. It was initially aimed at managers, professionals and salespeople but it has become the standard tool for anyone to explain something using a projector. Some interesting facts:

• The first PowerPoint presentation took place in Paris on February 25, 1992, to Microsoft employees.
• By 1993, it had become a market leader in PC presentation programmes.
• It is now estimated to have 95% share of the presentation software market with 500 million users wordlwide.
• Annual sales are now estimated of over $100m.
• 30 million PowerPoint presentations are made by businesses globally on a daily basis.

However, despite this success, PowerPoint has some critics.

• Presentations can be boring and just full of bullet points
• Information can be too simplified
• It makes communication presentation-orientated, not audience orientated.

Click on the link below to read through the problems of using PowerPoint in presentations and how you can overcome them.

The Problem with PowerPoint

Trip to New York

I have just returned from a week long visit to New York and I made sure I headed down to the financial district. It was really interesting to see first hand all the sites that have dominated the news over the last year with the economic downturn. Here are a few of the photos from my trip:

America's National Debt Clock

Site of the World Trade Centre towers

Me and the Wall Street Bull

New York Stock Exchange

The famous Wall Street

Well done!

I have spent the day reading over the exam results for S4, S5 and S6 and just wanted to say well done to everyone. The results look fantastic and are real evidence that with a combination of hard work on your part and good teaching by the Business Studies Department, we can achieve the excellent results we strive for. Well done!

Business news in the papers.....

A couple of unusual business stories caught my eye in the newspapers in the last couple of weeks which make for interesting reading.

Mafia take advantage of global economic crisis.

With many businesses in Italy unable to get access to cash at the moment and the value of their businesses falling, the mafia have emerged as one organisation who could benefit from the recession. The mafia, for example Sicily's Cosa Nostra, are able to get stakes in legitimate businesses at bargain prices and use them to launder "hot" money (illegal money). The combined annual turnover of Italy's mafia was calculated at €3billion two years ago, bigger than ANY legitimate Italian corporation. They have access to a vast pool of ready cash which can be tempting to businesses in trouble.

What media do teenagers think is worthwhile?

A 15 year old Morgan Stanley intern was asked to write a report on what teenagers liked and disliked and it has caused a lot of interest amongst media executives and investors. The bank wanted to know about the benefit of taking over social networking and mesaging sites but the intern said that although teenagers were using more and more media, they weren't prepared to pay for it. He also said that teenagers don't read newspapers other than cheaper tabloids, and prefer to listen to advert-free music on websites. Most teenagers wouldn't pay for music and find pop ups and banner ads annoying. He did identify the cinema, concerts and video game consoles which can be connected to the internet as the popular things amongst young people.

The report was described as "one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen" and has generated five or six times as many responses from people as usual.

McDonalds move HQ to Switzerland

McDonald's have announced their decision to join Yahoo!, Google, Procter and Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive by moving their European headquarters to Switzerland to take advantage of their advantageous tax laws. The move will bring together all of McDonald's regional centres - London, Paris, Munich and Vienna. McDonald's have denied that it has anything to do with new UK tax rules which have recently taken effect.

CHECK OUT THE MANAGING THE BAND VIDEOS!

Click on the S2 Administration link to see the videos that my class made at the end of the Managing the Band project. Their remit was to interview each other about the various different things they did during the project. Obviously for security and safety purposes, they couldn't film themselves and publish it on the blog - click on the link to see how we got round it!

Coffee Republic goes into administration

Despite news today that the worst of the recession may be over, it was too late for coffee chain Coffee Republic, started in 1995,  who went into administration today. It has 187 outlets, 20 of which are directly owned (and therefore affected by administration) whereas the rest are franchises or concessions in cinemas or hotels. Job losses amongst it's 153 directly employed staff are likely. 

Administration is a rescue mechanism for UK companies in severe trouble and, with supervision, attempts to enable a business to try and trade its way out of difficulty. A business which is in administration cannot be wound up without permission of a court. 

The UK has the most branded coffee bars in Europe and the three biggest are Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero. 

Diageo says goodbye to Kilmarnock

The drinks giant Diageo has announced that it plans to cut 900 jobs in Scotland, 700 of which will go as a result of shutting the packaging plant in Kilmarnock. 

The decision to close the plant in Kilmarnock raises the question of what level of commitment a business should have to the community in which it is based. Diageo's decision has been taken because they feel that moving some of the jobs to alternative sites in Scotland and reducing their workforce makes the business more sustainable in a global environment. Sales were down 7% in the first three months of this year as a result of the economic downturn, particularly in Russia. However, the impact of the closure on Kilmarnock, a town which has already been badly hit in the recession, will be huge. The Johnnie Walker brand has been part of Kilmarnock since 1820, since John Walker established a shop and produced a blend which became the world's most popular whisky. 

Although the Scottish Government has become involved in an effort to save jobs in the local area, it is difficult to see how they can change the course of action Diageo are planning to take.   

A guided tour of the classroom....

As part of a unit on databases, my S2 Administration class had to create a fictional criminal and use Microsoft Word to create a story about their past.

A couple of photos showing the excellent work my classes have produced over the last year.


My S2 Administration class have been working through an intergrated project called Managing The Band which has tested their abilities on various different software packages and the use of various office equipment. Some of the best work was put on the wall display.

Pupils were encouraged to bring in newspaper headlines about business related stories and they were put up on the Business in the News wall display.

To encourage my Administration classes to solve their own practical problems, I put up a Practical Skills Help Board. This has templates of things like letters, itineraries, memos, reports etc. and as well as helping each other, pupils were encouraged to go to this for help.

My S3 Business Management class were split into 4 groups and given the task of researching, developing and delivering a Powerpoint Presentation on an aspect of the Marketing Mix - Price, Product, Promotion or Place. The slides used were printed off and put on this wall display.

During the Marketing part of the Business Management unit course, I brought in a variety of adverts which we were able to refer to when discussing methods of advertising and promotion e.g. target groups etc.

My S2 Business Management class each had to research a county in the European Union and together they created this wall display

At the end of the various units, pupils were given the task of creating glossary wall displays containing important words from the unit they had just studied.

To show that Business Studies is not just a subject that allows you to become a Business Studies teacher, I put this wall display up to show all the varied and interesting jobs available to people studying Business Management, Accounts or Administration.

Pupils let loose with a camera!

I gave 3 of my S2 Business Management pupils the opportunity to run wild with a camera in class today and take photos of the work on the walls.

I was amazed at how professional they were and how they managed to take the photos, upload them to the computer and publish them on the blog.

To see the photos, click on Pupil Blog from the menu.

Further rise in unemployment figures

The unemployment figures for the last 3 months were published today and they continue to make grim reading. Some of the main points to come out:

• The unemployment figure rose to 2.261 million, the highest since November 1996.
  
• The jobless rate is 7.2%, the highest since July 1997.
  
• In the first three months of this year, 462,000 people aged 16 or 17 were in employment, a 16.5% drop from the same period last year.
  
• In the same three months, 3.5 million 18-24 year olds were in employment, down 4.8% from the same period last year.
  
• 16.6% of 18-24 year olds are now unemployed, the highest rate since 1993.
  
• The number of people actually in work fell by 271,00 to 29.11 million, the biggest quarterly drop since records began in 1971.
  
• The number of positions available fell from 659,00 in May 2008 to 424,000 in May this year.
  

Source BBC website

The power of celebrity endorsement

Celebrity endorsement of products has been around for years. But reading the paper this morning, I was surprised to learn just how far this type of marketing has gone and the power it now has. 

It seems that Cristiano Ronaldo was frustrated that Manchester United (and Alex Ferguson in particular) would not allow him to take advantage of his commercial potential by endorsing products which one expert believes will allow him to earn over £85 million in the next decade. 

The move to Real Madrid should allow him to take advantage of his potential. A professor of sport business strategy and marketing highlighted that Ferguson drives Manchester United's on-field success first and foremost whereas there is a greater belief that Real Madrid are an entertainment brand rather than a football club. 

To pay for Kaka and Ronaldo, Real Madrid are going to aggressively market both players in developing markets, including Asia, much as David Beckham was when he signed. Shirt sales are estimated to have gone up 137% in Beckhams time in Madrid. Ronaldo and Kaka will also be encouraged to develop their individual commercial activities to expand their profiles globally, which will have a positive effect for Real Madrid.

With endorsements added to his his contract at Real, as well as good advice off-the-field, could see Ronaldo worth £175 million by the time he is 34. 

Two sides to the finances of football.....

Two stories about the finance of football caught my eye this week...for very different reasons.

The haves...

Liverpool Football Club have supported the opening of a soccer academy in India as they try to get a foothold in one of the world's largest markets. Previously clubs like Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal had tried to maximise their brands by exploring Africa, the Middle East, Canada and Australia to maximise their brands but India hadn't been touched because of the popularity of cricket. With a population of 1.5 billion people, 325 million of whom are between 20-35, and a growing interest in the Premier League, the financial opportunities for the biggest clubs are endless.

The have nots....

The possible collapse of Setanta could have a terrible effect on Scottish football. Last week the company failed to pay the SPL £3m which the SPL themselves had to find to pay the clubs. With Setanta considering going into administration, the SPL may have to find another company to broadcast matches and their desperation to do so would mean a reduced financial deal. With many reliant on the TV money to keep them afloat, the reality is that some football clubs may go bust in the near future.

The financial gulf between the rich and the poor gets bigger everyday!

And then there were 2.....

Unfortunately I missed the Wednesday night edition of The Apprentice but caught it on iPlayer last night. It was the interview episode and as expected, some candidates folded under the pressure. 

As someone who used to do interviews in a previous job, I know that The Apprentice style of interviewing is guaranteed to make good TV but it did show up some interesting and relevant points. Why did James decide to be silly and immature on his application form? Why did Yasmina not understand her own accounts or even the basic terminology used? Why did Lorraine get her dates of employment wrong by a whole year? And why did Deborah give references of people that she obviously couldn't trust to be nice about her?

It all made for great viewing - and it did help Sir Alan get a new government post as Enterprise Tsar. 

Tough job prospects for young people

The current global economic downturn is having a real effect on young people with a survey showing that nearly half of all firms will not be looking to hire graduates or school leavers in the months ahead.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found only 20% of companies were planning to hire school leavers and a third of firms had cut back on their graduate numbers in 2009.  45% said they wouldn't hire from either group!

With young people having little or no work experience, the CIPD have said that graduates and school leavers need to develop the skills and knowledge to be ahead of the competition for jobs. 

Tips For Young Jobseekers

• Take advice
  
• Broaden your horizons to related professions
  
• Consider paid or unpaid work experience
  
• Do not be too proud to use contacts to get a first break
  
• Do not be too proud to take a job that you think may be beneath you
  
• Be imaginative
  
• Consider setting up your own business.
  

Source: Higher Education Careers Services

S2 Business Management - Dragon' Den Presentations

The final of the S2 Business Management Dragon's Den project took place last Tuesday and the four teams competed for the much sought after winning "Dragon" trophy. After much deliberation, IncrEdible Cards won the award for their eco-friendly, novelty edible greetings cards. Check out the four finalist's presentations on the S2 Business Management page of the blog. 

Well done to everyone involved throughout the whole project. 

Virtual Job Interview

I found a really useful website which takes you through a virtual job interview. You are asked questions and then have 4 responses you can make. You get feedback on whether your response is good and how it can be improved. At the end, you get an overall score and told whether or not you would have got the job.

This is useful for anyone who is looking at getting a part-time job or looking for a job after leaving school. Click on the Careers page of the blog and you will find it under General Websites as Virtual Interview.

S2 Business Management newspaper interviews

My S2 Business Management class have just finished their Dragons Den projects and for the evaluation part of the project, they had to create a newspaper article and interview themselves. Click on the Pupil Work page of the blog to see a sample of the work they created. 

S2 Business Management

I have posted a fun revision game on the S2 Business Management page of the blog - see how you get on!

Congratulations to Zita Stewart and Chloe Stuart

Congratulations to Zita and Chloe for a fantastic presentation in the final of the S2 Business Management Dragon's Den competition. 

The girls put a huge amount of work into their presentation, coming up at lunchtimes and breaktimes to work on their slideshow, advertising and the delivery of the presentation. 

Today they presented in front of approximately 80 of their S2 peers in the Lecture Theatre. Despite being understandably nervous, they delivered a professional and interesting presentation about their company SPS Ltd. Their idea was a fashionable scarf for men, women and children which contained secret pockets for a mobile phone, credit card etc. After the presentation, the girls had to answer some difficult questions about their idea from the audience but responded calmly and in detail. 

The Dragons were split in their final decision but unfortunately, the girls lost out to an excellent presentation by IncrEdible Cards. Well done to the girls though and I am sure they will enjoy the projects in S3 Business Management. 

Marks and Spencers cuts dividend payments

Marks and Spencer have decided to cut their dividend payments by over 30% to shareholders after they reported a fall in annual profits from £1.1 billion to £706 million. When a company makes a profit, it can choose to either reinvest the money into the business (retained earnings) or it can pay shareholders dividends. The dividend the shareholder received would depend on the size of their shareholding in the company.

This is the first time in 9 years that Marks and Spencers have cut the dividend. By not paying out as much in dividends this year, Marks and Spencers are running the risk angering their existing shareholders who expect a decent dividend payout. 

Listen to the interview with Stuart Rose, M&S Chariman by clicking below:

Stuart Rose Interview

Best of luck for Monday.......

Best of luck to everyone sitting the Higher Business Management paper on Monday 18 May. Just remember, read the question carefully and pay close attention to the command words. You have worked hard this year and hopefully have done plenty of study at home. All you can do now is give your all! If you have any final questions, please feel free to post them here and I will get back to you this weekend. 

Will try and pop down and see you on Monday morning. 

Some facts about male and female pay....

Did you know:

• Women managers earn about £13,500 less a year than the average male manager.
  
• It will take 187 years for women to earn more at the current rate of change. 
  
• Women directors earn nearly a quarter less on average than men. 
  
• Women at director level are more likely to accept the original salary offer whereas men will negotiate. 
  
• Women managers usually get half the annual bonus that men receive - and it's true in almost every country in the world!
  

Why? Click here to read the article

It makes for interesting reading - seems that we have got a long way to go to reach genuine equality in the workplace. What do you think?

Dragons Den - The Class Results

Click on to the S2 Business Management page of the blog to get the results of our Dragon's Den presentations. 

Best of luck......

Best of luck to all S4 Administration pupils sitting their exam on Tuesday 5th May. Just remember, you have got all the skills and knowledge necessary to do well in the exam. Try and relax and don't panic about it. 

A couple of things to remind you of:

• When you are doing the theory paper, REMEMBER to check the Command Words (e.g. Identify, describe, outline etc.).
  
• Remember to also check how many marks the question is for.
  
• When you are doing the practical paper, try and time it properly. You will need most time for the spreadsheet and the least time for the word processing part. Don't get bogged down on one part or you will run out of time. 
  
• Make sure you clearly mark your name, task number and print out on every sheet e.g. John Stevens, Task 1a, Printout 1
  
• Leave yourself about 5-10 minutes at the end to get all your print-outs in order

Check out the Intermediate Administration page for any last minute study - I have slides covering theory and some layouts which may be useful for you. 

Best of luck again!! 

Letter, Memo and Itinerary templates for NQ Admin

I have posted templates of letters, memos and itineraries for you to have a look at before your exam on the Intermediate Administration page. You can print these off if you want. Please leave a message if there is anything else you need or want to ask a question. 

Economic downturn hits UK's super-rich

This year's Sunday Times Rich List, a list of the top 1,000 richest people in the UK, shows that the economic downturn has had an effect on the rich as well as the poor. Last year, this group had £413 billion which has now fallen to £285 billion. The richest man in the UK, Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, has seen his wealth fall 61% from 2008 to £10.8 billion, and the overall number of billionaires has fallen from 75 to 43. 

In the 21 years of the Rich List, this is the biggest collective fall in the wealth of the 1,000 richest people. 

The Rich List Top Ten  

1. Lakshmi Mittal and family, steel (£10.88bn)

2. Roman Abramovich, oil and industry (£7bn)

3. The Duke of Westminster, property (£6.5bn)

4. Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli, pharmaceuticals (£5bn)

5. Hans Rausing and family, packaging (£4bn)

6. Sir Philip and Lady Green, retailing (£3.83bn)

7. Charlene and Michel de Carvalho, inheritance, brewing and banking (£2.96bn)

8. Sammy and Eyal Ofer, shipping and property(£2.68bn)

9 = John Fredriksen, shipping (£2.5bn)

9 = David and Simon Reuben, property (£2.5bn)

9 = Kirsten and Jorn Rausing, inheritance and investment(£2.5bn

9 = Joe Lewis, foreign exchange and investment(£2.5bn)

(Source BBC website)

Help with public speaking.....

The BBC have been showing an interesting programme on how to improve your public speaking. In the world of business, communication is vital, whether it is communicating with colleagues, managers or customers. We try and give you taste for public speaking in both Administration and Business Management. 

I have attached a link to the website - The Speaker - under "Interesting Websites" on the right. It provides short video tips on how to improve your preparation, conviction, persuasion and motivation, as well as helping you fight the fear. It is well worth a look!

The importance of costing......

Paula became the 4th contestent 'fired' from The Apprentice this week after a massive error in costing. Despite proving to be a pretty good team leader and ensuring her team came up with well designed, well marketed and well produced products, her failure to manage the costs of the teams product proved to be her downfall. 

Having nominated Ben and Yasmina to do the costs, she got personally involved with Yasmina in choosing the scent. Both of them failed to spot the huge price difference between Sandalwood and Cedarwood and as a result, they spent £700 on fragrances instead of  the £5 they thought they had. 

After a bitter boardroom battle between Ben and Paula, Sir Alan decided she had to take ultimate responsibility. 

Not my choice.......