May The Money Be With You

With the upcoming theatrical release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, along with the game Star Wars Battlefront and an entire toy line, Disney is poised to make a massive profit off of the love for Star Wars. It is clear that Disney is due for a big pay day, but just how big will it be with only the influence of the Star Wars brand? Shelling out $4 billion for a property means that Disney will need a big hit, but industry analysts believe that the marketing campaign that has been brewing lately will drive up big sales for Disney.

The recent “Force Friday” event, when new toys from Episode VII became available for purchase, sent Disney stocks soaring. According to Hazel Sheffield of the Independent, “The selling frenzy could earn Disney up to $3 billion by the end of the year (Gensler para 2).” Then there is the highly anticipated video game Star Wars: Battlefront, which is being developed by Veteran Developer DICE and is being published by Electronic Arts. DICE has a history of developing critically acclaimed shooters such as their flagship Battlefield franchise, and a recent public BETA test proved that the new game is coming along very well. A recent post from publisher EA says that pre-orders are “Extremely strong” and the company is expecting to sell around 13 million copies of the game. Then there is the film itself, which sold out opening night tickets in thousands of locations the minute tickets became available. The buzz around the movie is crazy, with each trailer online racking up over 50 million views each.

It is no surprise that Star Wars is about to make a ton of money for Disney, and it will be interesting to see how much cash it brings in, and if the movie lives up to the hype.    

By: Vincent Kania

"Box Office History for Star Wars Movies." Star Wars Franchise Box Office History. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Gensler, Lauren. "The Force Is With Them: Three Companies That Will Make Big Money From Star Wars." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 3 Sept. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Behind the Business: DesignCrowd

These days, crowd funding or crowd sourcing is becoming increasingly popular.  DesignCrowd is an up and coming business where users or businesses can essentially crowdsource website, logo, and graphic designs to use and implement for themselves.  Adam Uzialko got the chance to interview and learn from DesignCrowd's CEO, Alec Lynch, and he was able to discover some fascinating pieces of information about the business.

One of the thing's that Alec started off with is essentially what purpose his business serves.  What DesignCrowd does is provide a place where businesses can submit logo or website plans, and designers worldwide can submit their creations for clients, providing a safe and convenient way for these two entities to communicate and do business.  Alec started his business in 2008, and he could see that many businesses in a variety of industries struggled with the whole design process, which is when he realized the potential for DesignCrowd.  To start up his business he poured a lot of his own funds with help from friends and family, and received his real boost from 4 angel investors.  Throughout the entire process he was able to build up 12 million all from Australian investors.  DesignCrowd's solid team and revolutionary idea has built them up to make around 20 million in revenue a year, and Alec is only looking to increase these numbers and expand the business.  His advice for entrepreneurs is to start now, theres no reason for hesitation, you may never know what potential or possibility your idea could have.

By: Cole Dolan

Uzialko, Adam C. "Behind the Business Plan: DesignCrowd." Business News Daily. N.p., 06 Nov. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. 

Prompt 10: Code of Ethics in The Business world

       

        Starting and maintaining a business is a hard task, there are many people that are involved in a company. Each company creates a code of ethics that their employees have to follow. 

According to Chron “A code of ethics, also called a code of conduct or ethical code, sets out the company's values, ethics, objective and responsibilities. A well-written code of ethics should also give guidance to employees on how to deal with certain ethical situations. Every code of ethics is different and should reflect the company's ethos, values and business style. Some codes are short, setting out only general guidelines, and others are large manuals, encompassing a huge variety of situations.”

Even though each company creates a different set of rules, most of them have the same premise. Employees must be respectful, have integrity, work hard and be accountable for their actions. The core values that companies enforce on their employees are also recognizable to other people outside of the business field. Growing up schools and parents tried to enforce the same values.

Even though each company has a code of ethics people are suppose to follow, sometimes people forget or ignore those values, there are multiple reasons why people would do that, for example people can become too greedy. Things like false advertising falsifying records, and selling insider information are all examples that would be going against code of ethics.

For the most part companies do follow certain values, but there have been cases where a company tried to work around them, Hyundai and Kia were caught misrepresenting the gas milage of a few different models of their cars. Even though there are many companies that follow the code of ethics there are some that because they do not it can put distrust in the mind on the consumers. Which can cause a generalization of business people that make them seem so greedy for wealth and success that they will go to any length to acquire that.

By: Jordan Liddle

"Examples of a Code of Ethics for Business." Small Business. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

Aruna Viswanatha, Julia Edwards, and Ben Klayman. "Hyundai And Kia Have To Pay $100 Million To The Government For Misrepresenting Gas Mileage." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 3 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

Chipotle Scandal

P.S.A to all those Chipotle lovers/ stock owners! In case you haven't heard yet, since the middle of October a substantial amount of Chipotle chains have been forced to shut down in the states of Washington and Oregon. It all started on October, 14th when people throughout the Clackamas counties of Washington and Oregon began feeling sick. As the sickness began to spread throughout the neighboring areas local health experts began to raise questions. The Oregon Health Authority spokesman, Jonathon Modie was the main contributor to the national public radios article on the topic. The experts working with Modie have identified this sickness as E-coli. The outbreak later being linked to The Chipotle's nearest these areas have now caused 43 Chipotle's to close. So whether you are financially or emotionally invested in this restaurant keep your eyes open for the latest in this evolving story.

Paralta, Ayder. "Amid E. Coli Outbreak, Chipotle Closes 43 Restaurants In Washington, Oregon." NPR. NPR, 2 Nov. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.

By Hunter Griffiths

Uber Surge Pricing

Most college kids are familiar with Uber.  It's convenience and dependability leads lots of people our age to turn towards their services.  One of the big problems with Uber is it's high pricing, and according to an article from Time Business, it certainly doesn't look like they are going down any time soon.  This price hike phenomenon is becoming better known to Uber users, and it's called surge pricing.

Uber has increased prices to better motivate drivers to go out and pick people up in crowded cities.  The goal for them to increase the amount of drivers that go to busy cities, where the demand for Uber is going to be the highest.  Contrary to what Uber thought was going to happen, surge pricing is hurting them a lot more than helping.  Demand for Uber is decreasing drastically, customers just aren't willing to pay as much as they're charging.  Drivers are actually staying away from areas with surge pricing due to the decrease in demand.  As popular as Uber has become, their business is dropping quickly, "surge pricing" is only hindering them.


By: Cole Dolan

Osborn, Katy. "Uber's Surge Pricing Doesn't Work The Way It's Supposed To, Says Report." Time Magazine. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Walmart Pulls Controversial Costumes

By: Vincent Kania

While there have been no shortage of controversial Halloween costumes before, Walmart may have stepped the line and gone too far this time. They released a line of costumes that had features very similar to the uniforms worn by modern Israeli Defense Forces soldiers. Walmart was immediately criticized by many different groups, citing that the costume was extremely racist and that Walmart was "promoting occupation and killing of innocent teens this Halloween season" (Bayly para. 4). Walmart quickly removed the item from store shelves, but it seems the damage has already been done.

In today's world, it is very important to take into account other people's beliefs and standards. It is important for not only everyday people, but big name companies such as Walmart to realize the effect they have on other people. Walmart has put itself in a position where many people may think they are racist and will never shop there again. There is more damage being done to the rest of the world, however, than just to Walmart's sales. Allowing ideas like this to actually come to fruition show that racism is alive and well today, and it shows that we need to do a better job as human beings to identify when we are being offensive to someone else, and when to shut these situations down before they happen. Walmart is now under intense scrutiny from the public eye, and rightfully so. It may be a while before they recover from this, but that is ultimately what needs to happen in order for people to understand that things like this are not OK.

Bayly, Lucy. Israeli Soldier Kids Costume. Digital image. NBC News. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Bayly, Lucy. "Wal-Mart Pulls Israeli Soldier Costume, Fake 'Sheik' Nose Off Shelves." NBC News. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.

The Benefits of Studying Abroad

        Studying abroad can be a vital way for business majors to get ahead in the working world. This opportunity can help you gain experience, leadership skills and it broadens your world views. At Michigan State University they offer a wide selection of places you are able to go, there are 275 programs and over 60 different countries to choose from.

         When applying to a job people who have had more experiences and internships, especially in another country are more likely to get chosen for a position. Also studying how other countries run businesses can help with finding different ways to run and market a business.

       Also Michigan State offers opportunities like financial aid. There are many ways you can pay for this expense and in the long run it would pay off. Not only do you get to travel and experience a new view and culture. This can help with future opportunities in the work world. 

By: Jordan Liddle

"Office of Study Abroad | Michigan State University." Office of Study Abroad | Michigan State University. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.