Blogonomics

Using Yahoo Finance, look up Apple’s and Ford’s annual financial statements. Compare and contrast their use of debt and/or equity to finance their operations, their gross profit, interest and tax payments, and Net Income. In addition, compute and explain the current ratio and Earnings-per-Share for both companies for the last 3 years of earnings reported. Feel free to point out how these companies have changed over time. In your opinion, which of these two companies is more successful and why? And what would you recommend they do to increase earnings per share?

After watching the motivation videos in class today, think about what motivates you.

In two to three paragraphs, explain your reasons for pursuing a college education and what motivates you to come to school every day (or every day you have class). Tell us about what you hope to accomplish by attending school and how it fits into your overall life goals.

If you don’t feel motivated, tell us what you think would motivate you, how and why!

With official unemployment stuck at nearly 10%, and expected to remain high for an extended period of time, this may be the right time for many want-to-be entrepreneurs to start their own business. For many of the unemployed, this may be the time to turn adversity into opportunity.

If you do a little research, you will find than many of them most successful companies and/or products were launched during difficult economic times. However, the success of the venture depends on the product or service, good marketing, excellent customer service and of course, the entrepreneur.

Can you think of a good business idea that may work given the current economic environment? Imagine than you would have to start from scratch. You will need to find financing, determine a type of business ownership, and execute the marketing strategy. What business would you start and how would you turn the idea into profits?

GDP “… does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our courage, nor our wisdom, nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”
- Senator Robert Kennedy, 1968

Because GDP is a critical measure of economic growth in the United States, I like to start every term discussing GDP with my students. Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, has many limitations. It doesn’t tell us about unemployment or productivity, or whether economic growth will be sustainable over time. In addition, it doesn’t tell us how wealth is distributed among citizens. However, it tells us about consumer spending, private business investment, government spending, and net trade.

GDP is a measure of all final goods and services produced within a country. However, goods and services produced and consumed at home as well as illegal goods and services are not included in GDP. Can you think of how this might cause GDP numbers to be misleading in comparing living standards around the world?

Make sure to explain your answer. You will have to include GDP statistics from at least one other country. Feel free to discuss your assignment with a research librarian. They will be able to help you find GDP and other economic data needed to support your claims.

Once again, we have come to the end of another term and the closing of an educational chapter for many of our students. Congratulations to those of you who will be graduating this May, I will be there to cheer for you. I am so proud!

It was with great difficulty that I and my helpers selected the 10 blog comments that you will get to vote on. We tried to reward hard work, research, creativity, enthusiasm and academic integrity throughout the term. In the end, we had to make a choice and picked what we felt were the top 10 comments. Congratulations to all of you for your hard work and many thanks for making Blogonomics a respectful and fun learning environment were students are free to express their views in an approachable manner.

Congratulations to the 7 finalists who wrote the 10 comments selected. Their blog names in random order: JPlourd, gcardenas90, Bowtech1, MGMBoston, sweetheart, DriftingAE86 and g_kings.

Click here to elect the Last Blogger Standing for the Winter/Spring 2010 term

What makes EBay special?

Being a pioneer in an industry flooded with fraud and short term survival rates can have its advantages. For EBay, it proved to be critical. I give you a hint; it’s all about its customers.

Review EBay’s business model and perform a SWOT analysis by identifying the company’s STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES and THREATS. Remember, the first two are internal factors affecting the organization while the last two are external factors affecting the company’s business environment. Feel free to point out errors in someone else’s comment if you feel the author has identified external factors as internal or vice-versa.

As a company that began during the internet bubble and saw most of its peers disappear in an industry based on future profits and unsound business models; Amazon is much more than a survivor, it’s an industry leader that has refuted analysts’ expectations. A bit of luck and destiny coupled with a great business model led to survival, leadership and eventually, profits!

If you are in my Marketing class, research Amazon’s promotion in terms of sales promotion and advertising. Make sure to point out the elements and how effective you think they are and why.

If you are in my Intro to Business class, find or compute Amazon’s EPS for the last 3 years. Compare these ratios to at least one of Amazon’s competitor’s EPS and determine whether Amazon has performed better or worst than its competitor(s).

Have fun!

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed your break.

This week, we begin looking into individual companies to understand some of the marketing and financial variables that contribute to a company’s economic success. Our first pick, Apple Inc.

Over the last decade, Apple has provided investors/owners with over a 700% return on their original investment. During the same time period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reported 0% growth. (The Dow is an average used to measure the performance of 30 large US companies representing industries that determine economic performance in the United States). However, you needed to wait until 2005 to see the stock outperform the Dow and explode into a high growth stock. An amazing story and a great investment!

Let’s look into some of the factors that have contributed to Apple’s stock recent success. If you are in my Marketing class, find Apple’s target market and the bases and descriptors used to segment its market(s). Remember that it is possible for a company to market the same or different products to multiple segments.

If you are in my Intro to Business class, look into Apple’s Income Statement. Look for revenue and profit growth over the last ten years. Can you find any trends? Look into Apple’s Owner’s Equity account, how is the company financed? (Hint: Debt vs. Equity). Note: we will be covering “Understanding Financial Information and Accounting” in class over the next two weeks; therefore, don’t attempt to answer this blog post until March 30th.

Don’t forget to do research and cite your sources. Good luck!