Buying British

Not that easy to buy British, as Dominic Pearce discovered. In an article in the Daily Express ( Wednesday 19th January 2011 ) it is noted that even Thames Water was sold off to an Australian Investment Company ( Macquarie ) in 2006.

Roberts Digital Radios make 6 of their models in South Yorkshire. The remaining 54 models are made in the Far East.

Marks & Spencer long ago stopped using the UK as a source for their clothes. Virtually every shirt, suit and jumper made abroad.

Hurrah for the Henry Vacuum Cleaner. Nu Matic the company that makes it is based in Chard, Somerset and employs 800 staff.

Dyson Vacuum Cleaners are now made in Malaysia.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the UK

From the most recent copy of Business Ethics :

Fitjar, D.H ( 2011 ) Little big firms ? Corporate social responsibility in small businesses that do not compete against big ones Business Ethics (20) 1 p.30-41

Article contains some good general definitions of CSR, and makes the point that smaller companies are just as likely to come under public scrutiny as large ones. Having a good CSR policy is thus imporatant in distinguishing one small firm from competitors.

In contrast to large companies however there may be less obligation to make CSR policies public.

Playing Games is a Serious Business

Those of you who are working on the project about the games industry should look out for Tom Chatfield's book Fun Inc which I ordered for the LRC yesterday. Thanks to Alan Wheeler for the recommendation. It should hopefully be with us soon.

Retailing in a recession...

According to an article in Harvard Business Review concentrating on loyal customers may not be the best strategy during a recession ( Favaro, 2009 ). If your loyal customers spend 25 % less in your store you will struggle. An alternative approach is to concentrate on "switchers". These are the people who divide their spending between your store and elsewhere.

Hence in Luton a new store like Family Bargains may hope to take custom from existing shops in the same market ( ie other cheap stores such as the Poundshop, and Wilko's )

Rebranding Unilever...

For those of you doing the Project on Rebranding Unilever, don't forget the Key Note Company Information which will tell you a little about the company's very varied portfolio :

Health care products, ice cream, tea, and cleaning materials !

You are never far from a Unilever brand such as Magnum, Cornetto, PG Tips, Knorr Soup ( once their best selling brand ) or Surf Washing Powder.

The Biz-Ed Database also has a good case study on Unilever.

Keynote Changes...

Lots more financial information is now available on Key Note Database in terms of company financial statistics. 7 million companies are analysed. The information is not as detailed as FAME, but could be useful for general Business students who just want to quote figures to show Tesco profits ( increasing ) or HMV ( delining ).

Want latest information about a company?

Then you should use Netvibes. This wonderful site enables you to set up links to selected sources which keep updating you about your selected company (or topic).
I made a little video recently which introduces you to how to use Netvibes.

HMV Profit warning

The internet seems to be seeing off HMV as 60 stores close and profits decline rapidly. Better get those Christmas vouchers cashed in asap