Business Risks

What are the factors for a business risks?

Positioning Errors to Avoid

You have been asked to give a brief lecture on "Positioning Errors to Avoid" for a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Provide a brief summary of your lecture. In your lecture be sure to give specific examples, other than those indicated in the textbook, of known service companies avoiding or falling prey to "positioning errors". Ricketts Heating and Air installs natural gas-fired central heating systems with timers. In the wintertime, if the owner of a system wants to have the house cooler when no one is there, but have it heated back up before anyone arrives home, he or she can use this timing system. How could Ricketts use service to differentiate its heating systems? Please respond... click for more

Marketing Spotlight - Microsoft

Microsoft was founded in 1975, when Bill Gates left Harvard at age 19 to work with high school friend Paul Allen on a version of the BASIC programming language. After moving the company from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Seattle in 1979, Gates and Allen began writing operating system software. What happened to the company since its founding is a well-known and often-told story. Here are highlighted a few of the key strategies that enabled Microsoft to achieve such remarkable growth in the competition-laden computer industry: Product Innovation: Microsoft achieved early success because of a single product innovation. In 1980, IBM contracted Microsoft to write the operating systems for it... click for more

Online market for travel services

The online market for travel services will reach $63 billion within a few years, and Priceline.com aims to capture a significant share; already, it is high on the top-ten list of travel Web sites. After a brief period of diversification into name-your-price sales of groceries and gasoline, the company has refocused on its core travel and financial services offerings, including airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and mortgage loans. The company guarantees that a Priceline.com mortgage is the "lowest-cost loan on the market" and backs this up by paying $300 to any customer who finds a better price. Visit the Cybrary and other Internet sources, to see how the Priceline system works. A... click for more

Is the right price a fair price?

You are an executive for a large multinational corporation and are meeting with other managers (your classmates) to discuss the following topic: Is the right price a fair price? Prices are often set to satisfy demand or to reflect the premium that consumers are willing to pay for a product or service. Some critics shudder, however, at the thought of $2 bottles of water, $150 running shoes, and $500 concert tickets. Take a position: Prices should reflect the value that consumers are willing to pay. vs. Prices should primarily just reflect the cost involved in making a product or service. Explain your position