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Photo link to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/x-factor/6545930/Jedward-infuriating-but-irrepressible.html

Feature article on the X factor twins John and Edward – Meet Jedward, infuriating but irrespressible. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/x-factor/6545930/Jedward-infuriating-but-irrepressible.html

Some of the language and syle is probably a bit difficult for GCSE level – perhaps a bit of cutting and pasting and/or highlighting might be advised.

Interesting article which could be used to generate discussions around marketing.

• Why do they appeal?
• What type of organisations outside the music world may be interested in signing them up and why?
•  What features of their act would warrant describing them as a brand?
• What merchandising opportunities could be developed for their brand and which is a likely market segment for them to be targetted at?

Particularly useful I think is the paragraph about half way down starting “Early in the series, their mentor, Boyzone manager Louis Walsh, was ridiculed for describing Jedward …..” . Some figures in there on advertising rates. Discussions could feature around:

1. advantages of TV advertising versus other forms of advertising
2. likely reasons for price of advertising slots going up as the series progresses (potential application for supply and demand theory)
3. what are ‘late buyers’ and likely reasons why, as implied in the article, they should pay more than other buyers?
4. how could advertisers assess whether this expenditure on advertising was value for money?
5. what might be some likely objectives for advertising during the X-factor programme apart from just increasing sales?

The BBC box

The BBC News followed a shipping container for a year to tell stories of globalisation and the world economy. Excellent opportunities for discussions around  global trading, packaging, growth/decline of secondary industries, impact of the recession. Lots of video reports and maps for tracking the box.

There is even a cut-out model plan for making a container box – how about students use it for a presentation or display on some business studies aspect of the box’s adventures.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2008/the_box/default.stm

If you go to the Johnnie Walker website you have to fill in year of birth presumably because it is a drinks website and then once entering the site click on the ‘the man who walked round the world’ in the bottom right hand corner.

http://www.johnniewalker.com

It’s also on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnSIp76CvUI

Follow up – although I don’t think GCSE & A level require the construction of a balance sheet it is a good activity for A-level students, to enhance understanding of what the balance sheet is all about, to get them to list all the terms in the order they would appear on the balance sheet and explain why they are putting them there. For GCSE - explain what the terms mean and whether they would appear as assets or liabilities.

http://www.ebea.org.uk/downloads/bsanags.pdf

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8313623.stm

Royal mail has offered to approach the conciliation service Acas but only if union members call off planned strikes.

Some ideas for discussion:
1.Legislation around industrial action – strikes in particular eg

• Official and unofficial strikes
• Royal Mail is bringing in temporary staff to do some of the work, what can those people do and what can’t they do?
• Can Royal Mail give strikers the sack and then employ new people?
• Do Royal Mail have to pay people when they are on strike?

2. What might be the reasoning for some commentators to suggest this could be the death of Royal Mail?

3. (a) Who are Aas and what could be their role in this dispute?
     (b) Royal Mail has offered to approach Acas for conciliation services – what is meant by conciliation and what action, if any, are the two sides legally obliged to take on the outcome of the conciliation?

4. (a) Suggest three types of businesses which might benefit from the Royal Mail strike
(b) explain why the survival of small businesses in particular may be at risk because of the a strike by the Royal Mail.

5. Explain what Nick Clegg may have meant by ‘holding the whole country to hostage’

Lots of other ingredients for meaty discussions  eg monopolies, Christmas rush and seasonal demands, motivation factors that would cause workers to strike over reforms and change, process of hiring of temporary workers, rights of temporary workers, lobbying, trade unions, merit goods, post offices often suggested to be as much a social service as a business service.

I haven’t tried it out – would appreciate comments please from anyone who does try it. Suggest improvements, changes. I hope it doesn’t cause mayhem with everyone screaming that it isn’t fair and degenerate into the chaos that some classroom games tend to.

http://www.ebea.org.uk/downloads/FollowThat.pdf

Puzzle: http://www.ebea.org.uk/downloads/recruitment-code-game.pdf
Answers: http://www.ebea.org.uk/downloads/recruitment-code-game-answers.pdf

Use the answer list for another activity – photocopy onto card – about half a dozen sets and cut up into twenty individual cards. Then working in groups, each group has one set and has to sort them into order of the recruitment process. They should be expected to justify the order they have decided on.

N Anelka 19
C Ronaldo 18
S Gerrard 16

The number of matches they played in were  35, 33, 30 respectively.

Who had the best goal scoring ratio?

I think the answers are:
Anelka            0.54 : 1
Ronaldo         0.55 : 1
Gerrard           0.53 : 1

Makes Ronaldo the best performer – scored a ratio of 0.55 goals per match.

Comments welcome if I am wrong!

Discussions could focus on possible reasons why this may be unreliable indicator of who is best perfomer, eg quality of opposition, factors in their own team such as weaker side due to injuries, weather conditions

Draw parallels with business – what ratios have they learned and what factors might lead these to be unreliable analysis of business performance?