In the news case studies

In the news!

 

Links to news items will be posted to this page on a regular basis to use as a starter or a plenary, for revision or for individual study. Some questions and discussion topics are given if you need some ideas.

Links to the last three months' news articles which have been featured on this page are available from the menu on the left.


Four news stories from August which provide good start of term material both to refresh returning students' business thinking and to introduce new students to business studies and economic concepts. And for those who are still flushed with excitement from London 2012, the list of links to reports and commentaries written ahead of the Olympics is still available from the menu link on the left to previous case studies.

August 2012 - Jaguar Land Rover moves to 24 hour production.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19254259
BBC video clip of Richard Else, Director of Operations at Jaguar Land Rover, explaining the need to move to 24 hour production. This follows reports in March (linked from that page) to create 1,000 jobs to meet demand for its Range Rover Evoque and Freelander 2. Wide range of opportunities for discussion covering many aspects of business studies and economics. These could include:

  • Bucking the trend - recession, decline in manufacturing
  • Benefits to UK of global trading
  • Multiplier effect of increase in capital investment at Jaguar Land Rover and smaller businesses that will benefit
  • Economies and diseconomies of scale - Jaguar Land Rover has trebled the number of workers at Halewood in the last three years
  • Need for high level of recruitment - opportunities and threats
  • Filling an organisation's skills gaps
  • Job creation - local and national impact
  • Challenges of overseas trading
  • Industrial relations - what evidence from Mr Else's report is that Jaguar Land Rover enjoys good worker relations and why is this important? How might they have achieved this? How could the high influx of new employees affect this?

 


August 2012 – Apple wins its case against Samsung.
Samsung has been found to have violated Apple’s iPhone patents in its design of the Samsung Galaxy. This link shows images that Apple presented to the court to support its case.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8461065/Apple-vs-Samsung-lawsuit-in-pictures.html

A Google search will bring up plenty of articles around this which of course is all about Intellectual Property.

Suggestions for discussions:

  • What is Intellectual Property and why is it important for a business, or individual, to protect its Intellectual Property?
  • The value, both financial and intangible of Intellectual Property.
  • To what extent might Intellectual Property legislation enhance/stifle creativity and innovation?
  • Does Intellectual Property legislation reduce choice for the consumer?

 


August 2012 - Julian Assange granted asylum by Ecuador. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19312679 

  • 'Wikileaks' connection offering Citizenship/PSHE opportunities for discussions around freedom of speech and the extent to which there should or should not be complete freedom of speech
  • Why does a situation such as this damage international relations and how can diplomatic differences between countries escalate into problems for businesses with trading relations with those countries? 

 

August 2012 - The sad news of the loss of Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the moon, brings to mind the space programme and the everyday items that have been developed from that such as cordless tools, advances in aviation safety, smoke detectors, enriched baby food, memory foam for bed mattresses, high impact plastics, water purification process that have been used to improve kidney dialysis, fire resistant fabrics.

Similar developments can be attributed to the wheelchair technology developed for those competing in the London 2012 Paralympics. This article http://theconversation.edu.au/wheelchair-technology-in-the-paralympics-and-its-spin-offs-8924
suggests that the technology, initially developed for that level of competitor, can be applied to enhance the lives of those with other forms of disability, as well as enhancing the skills and knowledge of the technicians.

And this article http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3408800068.html links the two aspects with space technology applied to the use of lighter materials and steering mechanisms for wheelchairs.

Discussion opportunities could include

  • Costs and benefits of investment in innovative, but expensive, product design for business industry and Government
  • Should Government invest in research in and development of products for the disabled?
  • Process of identifying market opportunities
  • Advantages and disadvantages of product driven marketing versus market driven marketing