Business Cafe - February 2012

The latest edition of Business Cafe, our digital case study magazine for business students and teachers is now available for download. Many thanks to editor Andy Reeve and his team of contributors for another excellent selection of eight student-friendly articles. The topics covered are summarised below.

Business Cafe - February 2012

Album Sales down in UK but up in US

It is interesting to compare two reports on the music industry that news channels have written. Bloomberg reported that the sales of albums in the United States was up on 2010 figures in November 2011, whilst the BBC have reported that overall sales of a lbums in the United Kingdom are down on 2010 levels.

Will Temporary Agency Staff Become a Thing of the Past?

In a bid to increase competitiveness, many businesses have what we call flexible workforces. In other words, they may have core workers (full-time, permanent workers with specific skills) alongside peripheral workers (part-time, temporary, self-employed staff used then needed). The idea is that rather than having all staff working permanently and therefore having high overheads, by having some staff working temporarily, i.e. only employing people when the business is busy, overheads can be reduced which can help a business keep prices low and, therefore, improve competitiveness. However, recent EU legislation means that employing staff on a temporary basis may not be attractive as it was before.

Counterfeit goods

It is hardly surprising that in difficult economic times - with apparently worse to come in terms of falling incomes - consumers should seek out bargains, especially on higher priced goods. There is also, and always has been, another way to save money; buying counterfeit goods. Counterfeit goods are copies of (usually) ‘luxury’ items that people want to buy. They are also known as ‘pirated’ goods and the most common sorts of fakes are designer clothes, perfumes, CDs, DVDs and computer games.

Executive Pay

Christmas has come and gone but the season of bank bonuses is with us once again and looks certain to stir up the same strong feelings as it has done for several years. David Cameron has surprised some by announcing that shareholders could be given the legal right to block executive pay awards that they feel are excessive. There seems to be a view amongst all of the political parties that executive pay is out of control and creating a vast divide between the rich and the poor.

Holiday Prices are cut to compete with the Olympics

The economic slowdown continues to detrimentally affect the leisure and travel sectors of the economy and the Olympics of 2012 are an additional strain on the major tour operators who are battling against people staying at home to watch the games.

Christmas and New Year sales

Measuring footfall for retail outlets is a good indication of popularity and shows businesses the success of any marketing activity. The figures allow businesses to measure demand for their products and help maximise sales.

Targeting China’s Top Range Tastes

As the effects of recession continue to bite in the UK, stores selling luxury goods are increasingly looking elsewhere for customers with money to spend. A visit to Harrods and Selfridges in London or to Bicester Shopping Village will show UK shoppers how important wealthy Chinese tourists have become to these stores.

Tesco Tax – Targeting Retailers in Northern Ireland

Large retailers in Northern Ireland are being targeted by the Northern Ireland Executive in the New Year. The Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, stated that the “large-retailer” taxation will be in place by April.