What Future BHS ?

In this week's Saturday Daily Telegraph Mary Portas looks at the fortunes of that High Street institution British Home Stores

www.telegraph.co.uk/maryportas

Owner Sir Philip Green promised a bit of a revamp to introduce some of his other mid-market brands, but this doesn't seem to have helped BHS turn the corner at present.

There are some alarming contrasts with rival Primark.

In Luton these rival stores are literally a stone's throw apart ( please don't test this out )

I'm just noting however that BHS usually seems to be more populated by older shoppers ( potentially a big market ), and housed in brutalist 60's buildings.

The picture of the Market Street, Manchester looks very similar to our Luton branch ( pictured )

The Cockroach Business Model

Is the cockroach business model (humble, basic & safe ) the secret of long term survival ?

AMP questions like really asking you to think about how complex a business model should be. Cockroach is unlikely to be one of the keywords which you would use, but the analogy to the animal may be worth considering.

Cochroaches ( despite being simple creations ) are one of the hardiest creatures in nature, and most likely to survive for example, a nuclear holocaust.

Could developing your business in the same way work in a time of recession ? Or is it really the case that more innovation ( and less simplicity ) is required ?

Look at both simple and innovative business strategies before reaching your conclusion.

CSR - a fundamental change or 'greenwash' ?

Don't ignore some of the useful information in printed journals , such as this this one.

Held in print at the Park Square library, and definitely worth a browse for some recent academic opinion....

Obtaining material from other libraries

During your AMP you may uncover articles, or books which you need, and that we do not hold in our collection. If this is so we can obtain these items for you ( usually from the British Library )

This short video explains how the system works

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libinfo/inter-lib

Paperless Office ?

After we had seen the AMP Group studying this topic, we came across quite a few articles on the ACM database ( Just do a quick search on the library catalogue )

Some people have commented that a paperless office is about as likely as a paperless toilet.

Paper has many of the following uses :

• Legal Contracts - often still found in this form
• Communication device - eg printed lists of phone numbers
• Display - posters / information
• Portability - books vs their electronic equivalent
• Status - would we really trust someone with no paper in their workplace ?

(Pictured on the left - my in-tray )

AMPeter Godwin

Thanks for your attendence at today's sessions in both J110 ( very hot ) and A004 - pictured.

We appreciate that it was a long day, but look forward to seeing you all again in your groups later in the week.

Welcome to the AMP - Contacting us this week

Welcome to the AMP.

We'll be seeing lots of you this week. The best way to ensure that we are around if you want to see us is by e-mail :

peter.godwin@beds.ac.uk

alan.bullimore@beds.ac.uk

We will get back to you as soon as possible, and arrange to see you.

Enjoy the project....

Management and Organisational Behaviour

There are currently lots of reservations on this book.
Mullins, J (2007 ) Organisational Behaviour, 8th ed

Don't forget that if you are unable to obtain a copy there will be several academic articles by the same author on this topic ( for example through Business Source Premier database )

As these kind of textbooks are republished frequently we will not buy unlimited amounts for of libraries.

Enron - Smartest guys in the room

In stock in the LRC, Luton this 2005 dvd about the 2001 Enron scandal, the largest financial scandal in American history.

If you are studying business ethics, corporate social responsibilty or financial scandals this might be a good starting point.

Corporate Social Responsibility Blog

This one is an excellent source for definitions of corporate social responsibility, case studies, and informed debate on the topic.

Follow up references from academic journals which you might find through Business Source Premier.

But this would definitely not be out of place in your bibliography.

http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/index.php

Using recent examples in your work

We've recently been having discussions in the LRC about displaying our most most glossy magazines. Academics will always want you to use peer-reviewed / scholarly material, but it would be worth browing the shelves of publications such as Admap

Recent examples will show you have tried to keep abreast of the news...here's one about branding and the South Africa World Cup...

Rule Britannica !

The online version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica links to lots of useful journal articles, for example from Marketing magazine. Usefully most of the case studies are UK based for topics such as branding.

Just use our library catalogue to find Britannica, and then keep your searches fairly broad.

The branding search unearthed lots of good materials, which might look quite impressive in your reference list.

Brands - and Telling Stories

If you are looking at brands these two books might be relevant.

Danesi, M (2006) Brands. Abingdon : Routledge

is a new addition to stock in the Park Square LRC.

Lots on what constitutes a brand and the psychology of branding.

Brand Failures is an older book, but very informative about why brands fail.

Harley Davidson for example is a well recognised brand throughout the world - their attempt to launch a perfume however was not so successful.

The image of rugged masculinity did not really work for a shampoo.

Effect of Sporting events on the economy...

Business Management students at Bedford this year did a project on the possible effects of the 2012 Olympics on the economy. There might be some lessons to draw from the effect of this summer's World Cup on the South African economy. *

The home nation hopes for plenty of money, all the stadia to be finished and to look impressive.

They hope for lots of merchandising, and a boost to tourism.

The crises faced by Greece however following the 2004 Olympics look ominous..including more corruption and some dubious accounting practices.

The South African Stadia might look impressive, but the labour used to build them has been short-term. There is little evidence of long term benefit. Most of the grounds will revert to rugby or cricket after the tournament is over...

Once it is over most South Africans may be left to wonder where the money has gone.

Watch this space after 11th July if you are doing this topic next year...

Runciman, D (2010) Football's goldmine, Guardian Review, 22nd May 2010 p.2