Great time to set up a new business.....

I heard Richard Branson talking on the radio on Friday as I was driving home from school. They were interviewing him to get his thoughts on the current economic climate and he was saying that this is the perfect time to set up a new business. He explained that at this point, the cost of materials, property etc. is really low and so your initial start up costs are kept to a minimum. This increases the potential success of any new business. I thought this was an interesting, and positive, view of the current economic problems and shows it isn't all doom and gloom!

Higher Business Management - NAB Resit Supported Study

A reminder to anyone having to resit the Marketing & Operations NAB that I will be running a supported study session on Wednesday 28 January 2009 from 2.40pm to approximately 3.30pm. I would strongly recommend you attending if you need to resit the NAB.

Please see me if you have any questions or issues.

S4 Administration - Command Words

As promised, I have posted a slideshow with all the command words you will need for your theory answers in both the Intermediate 2 and Intermediate 1 Administration exam. 

Click on the Study Skills link on the menu on the right to access the slide show. Please speak to me if you have any questions.

Best job in the world....

I haven't been considering any sort of career change but I must admit I was attracted to this job in last weeks Guardian newspaper. I am not sure what the exchange rate is but I am sure $150,000 Australian dollars for a 6 month contract is good pay for cleaning a pool, feeding fish and collecting the mail! Surely the best job in the world indeed! 

S3 Administration Class - Voicethread Experiments!

My S3 Administration class have just finished doing the Working Practices part of the course. To finish the unit, I decided to experiment with Voicethread, a multimedia slide show which allows people to leave comments. The pupils created their own Powerpoint presentation as a class to summarise the unit and then provided the voice overs for the slides.

Voicethread was recommended to me by Mr O'Donnell and we are currently looking at the benefits this has on learning and teaching. I particularly like the interactive nature of it and feel that we can really utilise it as an extra learning tool in class.

To see what the S3 Admin class created, click on the Intermediate Administration link on the menu bar. Let me know what you think about the slides so I can pass it on to the pupils.

Higher Business Management revision questions

I have posted a set of Marketing & Operations revision questions on the Higher Business Management page of the blog. All the questions are taken from the work we have done in class and use the recognised command words. I strongly recommend you use these for any revision work. Please feel free to print them off at home. I will try and get ones made up for the BIC's unit and for any remaining units we have.

Do the best you can.....your job might depend on it!

As a Business Studies teacher, it is with mixed feelings that I read the daily news about the economy. On one side, it is great as it brings the world of business onto the front page and a year ago, some of the discussions we have in the classroom wouldn't be possible. On the other side, it is a shame that everything we talk about seems to be negative - people losing their jobs and businesses going bust. 

However, a story that appeared on the front of the Guardian yesterday really brought things home to me as a teacher of young people. The Government are so worried about 2009 university graduates getting a job that they are considering offering short internship schemes to give them experience on a reduced wage. Barclays and Microsoft have reportedly agreed to take part in what has been called the National Internship Scheme. The goal is that the scheme will give graduates a chance to develop their skills and show employers what they can do. The government are concerned about the effects the recession will have on the 18-24 year old age group and are desperate to prevent young people experiencing long periods of unemployment.

Evidence of the effect of the downturn on graduate recruitment includes:

• Major companies have narrowed their search for graduates to five elite universities as they cut recruitment numbers.
  
• The organisers of the annual graduate recruitment "milk round" say jobs in finance and retail are drying up.
  
• The management consultancy KPMG, seen as a recruitment barometer, says its 600 graduate entry jobs are nearly all taken months ahead of schedule as students scramble for the top jobs
  
• Careers service managers have been inundated with desperate students who don't know what to do when they graduate because their plans are in tatters.
  

A further worry is that the slump in graduate jobs threatens unemployment for people with lower or no qualifications as graduates turn their sights on non-graduate vacancies. 

Anyone paying any attention to the worsening financial situation needs to understand that the days of easy employment could be over for a few years. The importance of gaining qualifications and developing yourself as a person is vital to give yourself the best possible opportunity of getting a job.  

Football affected by economic downturn

I was listening to the Real Radio football phone in while making my dinner tonight and every call seemed to be about Kris Boyd's possible departure to Birmingham City for about £3.5 million. Every caller was arguing that Rangers are mad to sell Boyd and that it shows a lack of ambition at Ibrox. I don't know if the decision to sell Boyd is based on his ability or his attitude but the one thing that is certain is that Rangers are not in a position to turn down the money. 

This brings me to my point - football is a business and like every business, the economic downturn is going to have an affect. For a long time, players have been earning a lot of money which has been paid for mainly by television money, sponsorship and season ticket sales. The problem is that these sources of money are drying up and football is having to face the same decisions as that faced by everyone else - cost cutting! 

I heard on the radio that the problems are likely to get worse as the economic problems increase. Much of the money in football at the moment has been paid in advance. The television contracts will run out in the next couple of years and it is unlikely TV companies will be willing to pay the same amount. Businesses are likely to cut back on their sponsorship money and supporters will think long and hard before renewing season tickets for next year. Few teams will be immune to the economic problems - even Chelsea players now need to pay for their own lunches! - and will have to think twice before offering expensive weekly contracts or whether they can reject an offer for their star player. 

Football in recent years has enjoyed the lucrative rewards available to business but now will have to face up to the fact that it will have to suffer just like everyone else!

Festive period Credit Crunch victims....

The continuing economic crisis claimed more well known victims over Christmas & New Year:

Adams Childrenswear

Waterford Wedgewood

Morgan

Zavvi

Other names which are being watch closely by business analysts include JJB Sports, Jessops and Clinton Cards. Expect more High Street victims before the end of this crisis. 

The cost of making someone redundant

The average cost of making someone redundant is £16,875 per employee to an employer before they make any savings. This is the figure quoted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development who say that redundancies should be a "last resort".

Many businesses will look at saving money by laying people off but the CIPD have identified that redundancy contains a number of direct, indirect or hidden costs. They recommend that employers should "hold their nerve" and retain and invest in the skills of their talented staff.

Read the article for more information. 

Careers with a Business Studies qualification

I was looking at PlanIT Plus last night, a website targetted at young people which gives information on careers, qualifications etc. I found some really interesting information on careers where a Business Studies qualification would help you. It's not all about office jobs! Click on the Careers page link on the right and click on any of the jobs I have listed for details on the job, conditions, pay, training etc.

Make Your Mark Challenge Scottish Finals - Report

At 7.45am on Tuesday 25 November, six enthusiastic S3 Business Management pupils (David Ormiston, Graeme Cullen, Martin Coughlin, Ryan Doherty, Chris Brown & Darren Flynn) and myself set off eastwards on a mission to win the Make Your Mark Challenge Scottish Finals 2008 at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. At stake was the possibility of winning through to the UK Finals in London on December 9. 

Despite heavy traffic, we managed to make it to Murrayfield by just after 9.30am so had a chance to get registered, have a drink and finalise a few last minute points on the presentation - did the boys know the exact running order, who would wear the ponchos, where they would stand, in which order etc.

The event started just after 10am and was hosted by Des Clarke, a Glaswegian comedian and TV personality. The winner and runner up would be chosen by a three person judging panel - Neil Hunter (Business Consultant), Sam Miller (Head of Client Services) and Claire Fraser (Project Co-ordinator, Social Enterprise Academy). Competition would be fierce with 20 schools from across Scotland represented - from Annan Academy to Peebles High School, Montrose Academy to North Berwick High School. 

From the very first presentation - St George's School for Girls' Banana Boat Ride - to the last - Montrose Academy's collectable Olympic figures - the quality of the work produced was excellent. The ideas were wide ranging, including energy drinks, maps, job training, green energy production, books & websites, and the different methods of delivery was testament to the work the pupils had put in - raps, music, videos, models, clothing, etc. There was a real mixture of male and female pupils, and what seemed to be good representation of all ages from 14-16. 

St Ninian's team did themselves proud with their presentation. It was easily the best I had seen them present over the last couple of days. Everyone played their part and they really got across the concept of Ponch-o-lympics. From my vantage point in the audience, I could see the judges smiling and nodding in appreciation as the boys explained how their idea could meet the values associated with the Olympic and Paralympic games within their business plan. The fact that 75% of the profit was going to a sporting charity demonstrated that the boys were not just focused on making money but on giving something back.

After all the teams had finished their presentations, the judges deliberated for 15 minutes and then it was decision time. The runners up prize of £100 went to Hermitage Academy from Helensburgh for their Personal Encouragement Device, an iPod style product which played encouraging quotes from sportspeople to help young people when training. The winning team was from Caldervale High School in North Lanarkshire who came up with the idea of an educational rap CD to bring together learning and young peoples enthusiasm for music. They won £100 and the coveted place in the London final. 

Overall, the event was very worthwhile and it was great to see St Ninian's High School represented in the Scottish final. Darren, Graeme, Martin, David, Chris and Ryan had the opportunity to learn vital life skills which they can take forward not just at school but beyond - team-work, problem-solving, public speaking, creative and innovative thinking. It was a real honour to help and support the team in the final. All the Business Studies staff have worked really hard over the last couple of weeks to ensure all the pupils in the department had a chance to participate in the event at some level and I believe this is an event which we should strive to do well in each year.