Blog 23 – Strategy

Contrast corporate-level strategy with business-level strategy.

Blog 22 – Strategy

Why strategy is complicated?

Blog 21 – Organizational structure

1) What role do you think organizational structure plays in an organization’s efficiency and effectiveness? Explain.

Blog 20 – Mechanistic & Organic organizational structures

1) Would you rather work in a mechanistic or an organic organization? Why?

Blog 19 – Work specialization

1) Researchers are now saying that efforts to simplify work tasks actually have negative results for both companies and their employees. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Blog 18 – The “Bio fruit experience” failure

1) What did you learn from the bio fruit experience?
2) Why is it failed?

Blog 17 – The risk

Describe the genesis of risk (the market requires different product or inability of the factors of production) for the following businesses:
1) “How is made chocolate”
2) “How is made honey”
3) “How is made Pringles”

Blog 16 – Classifying the factors of production

Classify the factors of production on the basis of the first two points listed above (tangible and intangible, mode of participation in the productive combination), for the following businesses:
1) “How is made chocolate”
2) “How is made honey”
3) “How is made Pringles”

Blog 15 – The phases of productions

1) Describe what are the phases of production, for the following businesses:
a) “How is made chocolate”
b) “How is made honey”
c) “How is made Pringles”
Using the logic make or buy decide which phases externalize.

Blog 14 – The non-business organizations

1) Find out the What, How and Why of a non-for-profit organization (e.g. the Greenpeace association), using its mission

An easy and fast business idea

http://video.repubblica.it/divertimento/olanda-tasche-piu-grandi-per-l-iphone-6-se-lo-compri-ci-pensa-il-sarto/178858/177621?ref=HRESS-1

Blog 13 – Unsustainable firms

1) Find a company that create an unsustainable profit, saying why it is unsustainable (e.g. because of the environment or society)

Blog 12 - The objective of your private school

1) You are an entrepreneur and you want to open a private high school in your City. Write the mission statement, describing separately its What, How and Why, distinguishing two cases:
a) You are an unethical entrepreneur who wants just to maximize profit
b) You are an ethical entrepreneur who wants to have profit operating ethically

Blog 11 – The objective of the azienda

1) After watching TED video “How great leaders inspire action” (http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action), find and discuss the WHAT, HOW and WHY of a company using its mission statement

Blog 10 – Your WHY

1) Discuss shortly the WHY you chose the bachelor degree in English.

Blog 9 – The motivations under the Fundamentals of Business website

1) What could be motivations that lead a professor of a public university to build a website like that of Fundamentals of Business?
2) What do you think if the professor put advertisement in the website and in the Blog?

Blog 8 – The British Petroleum case

1) Give your opinion on the video Who’s Minding the Store? The Ethics of Corporate Governance for what concern the BP case
2) Do you think Margaret Blair is against the logic of profit?

Blog 7 – The useless "economic" entities

1) Using newspapers, Internet and other sources find a story (no more than five lines, you can also post the link) on a useless entity, answering the following questions: What is the name of the entity? Why is it useless, unproductive? Why is it still surviving?

Blog 6 – The attribute of economicity

1) After reading the article “Henry Ford and the model T” (please click here to download it), analyse the effectiveness and the efficiency of Ford Motor Company, before and after the year 1924. For instance, after 1924 was Ford Motor Company both effective and efficient? Or effective but not efficient or efficient but not effective? Why?
2) After watching the YouTube video “How it is made honey“, do you have the elements to evaluate the strategic effectiveness of the economic entity? Why?
3) After watching the YouTube video “How it is made chocolate”, do you have the elements to evaluate the strategic effectiveness of the economic entity? Why?
4) After watching the YouTube video “How it is made Pringles”, do you have the elements to evaluate the strategic effectiveness of the economic entity? Why?

Blog 5 – The productivity of the workers

1) After watching the YouTube video “How is made chocolate”, suggest how to increase the productivity of the workers or materials used to produce the chocolate
2) After watching the YouTube video “How is made honey”, suggest how to increase the productivity of the workers or materials used to produce the honey
3) After watching the YouTube video “How is made Pringles”, suggest how to increase the productivity of the workers or materials used to produce the Pringles

Blog 4 – The needs* satisfied and to be satisfied

1) Select a firm that during the last years has satisfied more your needs, indicating also what are the needs satisfied (your WHY).
2) For the firm selected identify at least three competitors (e.g. if you select Fiat, the three competitors may be Renault, Toyota, Peugeot), saying why the company indicated in the point 1) has satisfied more your needs.
3) Select three of your needs that so far no company has satisfied yet. Be specific about your need. E.g. I desire a waterproof bag because when a go to the sea I would like to feel free to… So indicate WHY you want that waterproof.

* Remember that the term “needs” is also used as synonymous of wants

Blog 3 - Factors of production

1) What are the factors of production shown in the videos “How is made chocolate?”
2) What are the factors of production shown in the videos “How is made honey?”
3) What are the factors of production shown in the videos “How is made Pringles?”