Child Labor and education

A recent study looked into education and studying among child laborers in Colombia.  The results of the study were overwhelmingly negative, of the 27% of workers that are child laborers, nearly none of them attend school or even had time to study.  These findings were somewhat surprising due to the fact that Colombia has child labor laws preventing children from working until the age of 16 and even then only with parent permission, they also only allow children to work 6 hour days until they are 18. Another finding from the same study found that the average child laborer in Colombia was only nine years old.

A child working in a Bolivian mine
What will Colombia due to fix this? should they require children to stay in school? How can Colombia preven Children as young as nine and younger from working in such hazardous conditions?

Interesting Site

This site shows the salaries for every player in the NBA and gives an amount to how much each team spends this year and even a few years in the future. Overall a good site to see how much money there is in the NBA.

Site:http://hoopshype.com/players.htm

NFLPA

The NFLPA or NFL Players Association is a union for professional football players in the NFL. The NFLPA makes sure that the NFL doesn't take advantage of the players. They also fight for benefits for players. Most recently the NFL lockout took place, in which the NFLPA was fighting to keep a 16 game regular season as opposed to the owners suggested 18 game season, but also they fought over whether or not the owners should be able to take a bigger percentage of the teams' income. The NFLPA plays a huge part in keeping players safe from being taken advantage of.










http://www.nflplayers.com  


Why are so many former athletes going broke?

What Drives up Revenue

There are two main sources of revenue that drive college athletics: TV rights and ticket sales. Broadcasters such as ESPN and FOX pay hundreds of millions of dollars to have the rights to broadcast those games. They majority are football game, but a decent amount of basketball, too.

• Broadcasters make their money by charging subscribers (big ten network, NCAA Basketball Network) and advertising
• Schools always renovating their stadium, putting sky boxes in. Ticket sales huge for universities
• Driven by Alumni and crazy fans
• As long as alumni support schools, these prices will continue to grow

This information was found through an Email I had with Jackie Woodward. Jackie Woodward is an advertising agent that is involved in the sports world.

What if?

Source:wellsphere.com

        
       As the NHL lockout drags on, many don't see an end. But with a recent addition added recently to the NHL's class action lawsuit against the players, the end may be closer than we think. The suit states that if no agreement is reached, all contracts between players and teams would be deemed void and enforceable. If that were to happen, many players salaries would decrease due to the salary cap and because the teams would be signing top players to huge contracts. The landscape of the NHL would change dramatically. Time will tell what this part of the lawsuit will do towards ending the lockout.

Article: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1446959-nhl-lockout-every-nhl-player-a-free-agent-nhl-could-void-all-contracts

Outline

Jack McGann

Period 2

Why is the Average Professional Athlete Paid So Much?

1. Value of Entertainment 

     A.  Americans value entertainment so much that leagues are able to set the prices high and fans still cooperate.

     B.   It is believed that we actually value entertainment that safety, education, and health.
              i.  Focus more on sporting events than health, education, etc.

     C.   With all the revenue the leagues are creating, they are able to pay the athletes large sums of money they demand.
              i.  Athletes will disagree with salary causing lockouts
              ii.  Commissioners and team owners decide salaries

2.  Popularity of Sport Played world-wide

     A.  Expense of recreational sport for youth and adults 

              i.  Cost of equipment

              ii.  Location of sport played

     B.  Number of players on a team
              i.  More players= lower salary, and vice versa

     C.  Number of games per season/ Money the team makes
              i.  More televised games
              ii.  Number of tickets sold

3.  Endorsements

     A.  Affinity
              i.  Affiliation with superstar athlete
              ii.  Feel more "part of team" or involved with league

     B.  Awareness
              i.  City with many fans
              ii.  Official products of leagues
     C.  Ability to sell more products
              i.  More advertisements seen by people
              ii.  Athletes representing products

4.  History
     A.  First players endorsed
     B.  Cause of endorsements
     C.  Tactics used by businesses through sports

"Starstruck" by the Industry

In my research, I found myself wondering how I could write so much about celebrities without actually talking to one, so I did just that. Today I interviewed a movie star in our own school, Danielle Campbell. Danielle is a senior here at Central, and she's been acting now for years. Her claim to fame is the Disney Channel original movie, Starstruck, but she was also cast in the big screen Disney flick, Prom, as well as other productions such as Madea's Witness Protection Program and a reoccurring role on "Prison Break." Here are some bits from our interview...

Q: How is Disney in terms of commitment compared to other companies?

Danielle explained to me that it really depends on which part of the company you're involved in. When she signed on with Disney for the TV section she had to sign a two-year contract where the producers could pull you in for other TV productions or have you pilot for new TV shows, but when she signed on for Disney on the big screen, those contracts didn't apply. Now, though, since she has accumulated enough experience with Disney, she doesn't have to enter a 2 year contract to do a movie for Disney. Also, she told me about how easy it was for to be on "Prison Break" because the writers were really lenient- "if they wanted to bring your character back, they would contact you, but if you couldn't do it, they were really good with writing you out."

Q: What do you receive in terms of royalties for your work?

Danielle: "For movies, everything is paid to you upfront before production. For TV, you do get paid each time they rerun your movie or episode, but by the time the money gets distributed to your agents, managers, etc., you're not left with that much."

Q: There's this stigma with Disney stars that they can't just be actors- they have to sing and model and have other talents. What's it really like?

Danielle: "It's good to be versatile because Disney is such different acting than other acting because it's very over the top dramatic. The people at Disney are always going to push you to try the singing thing and the modeling thing, but if it's not for you, then they get that, and you don't have to do that."

Danielle was such a pleasure to interview. She gave me a lot of good, honest information, and was really nice with taking out time from her double life to meet with me. Thanks to Danielle Campbell!

Images: auditions-for-all.blogspot.com; justjaredjr.com; enjoythepics.com

Strong Athletics= More Money

Here's an article that deals with College Athletics and their marriage with TV rights. Nowadays, teams are changing conferences every other year. They are joining conferences all around the nation that do not fit their criteria and they are ending long time rivalries. This is not about kids or even the schools. It is about money. This is about the marriage between big time universities and TV rights that contain a net worth of 25.5 billion dollars.

• Growth rate on par to increase another 12 billion by the next decade
• Of the 120 athletic departments in division 1 only 19% reported to make a profit in 2011
•  Per student funding has dropped from 79% to 56%
• Media rights has tripled with the latest round of deals from 326 million to 1.25 billion 
• Annual salaries for top coaches average above 5 million  

Why do you think teams such as Rutgers and Maryland joined the big 10? What is so appealing about them?



This article was written by Rachel Bachman and Matthew Futterman. Two people who have looked in depth into the business of college athletics.

What Will You Get Paid When You Die?

          Imagine a salary that extends past your death and is delivered to members of your family in order for them to stay afloat. This seems unreal, right? Well this is just one of the many benefits one would acquire by working at Google.

          According to Career Bliss, Google employees have reported a 37 % increase in happiness because of the recently changed policies at their company. Though Google has previously been known as the job playground, it is emphasized now more than ever.

Some changed policies are:

• Death Policy - Google will pay the deceased's spouse or domestic partner 50% of the employees salary for ten years. The surviving spouse will also get stock benefits, and the children will get $1,000 a month until the age of 19.
• On-site hospital at the Googleplex
• Exercise facilities; including endless lap pools
• Free food and haircuts
• Maternity Perks - New parents get to spend longer periods with their children and are given a little extra spending money for it.
• Paid to Learn - Google employees are reimbursed for any extra education that may help them with   what they do.
• And many more

It seems that Google hasn't left anything out. 

*SOURCE: Huffington Post - Ramona Emerson - Ramona has been writing for the Huffington Post for many years. She is the Associate Tech Editor and has had her work published in many different medias (Oprah, Time, etc.)

Companies profit

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11718458/1/heres-how-much-apple-makes-per-iphone-5.html

Here's How Much Apple Makes Per iPhone 5

Chris Ciaccia 

Have you ever wondered how much your iPhone is worth? well if you are an owner of a new Apple iPhone guess how much profit apple made of your phone? 

these are the questions were answered in the article "Here's How Much Apple Makes Per iPhone 5"  in the short time apple released their new version of the iphone 5 they have sold over 26 million copies, overall the profitable line was at 442 dollars per device. this is why apple is one of the most profitable and successful companies in the world because they have such a high rate of 68% of profits in their products. and that's only one product. Imagine how much they could be making out of all of their products.  

 one of my questions is how do you create such a device or product that can give you so much profit and people keep buying them. how can you get people to fall for your products. and i think this is one of the key parts on what separates the best companies from the others. the amount of profit is quite high for the apple company. 

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02338/iphone5_2338246b.jpg

Games/Season= How Much $?

     There are many factors, I've discovered, that cause professional athletes to make lare amounts of money, but another question I have is "What aspects of certain sports play into the difference of average players' salaries in different leagues?"  I've looked into this before and found out that the number of teams and the amount of players on each team have to do with it, but what about the number of games being played per season? Is there a direct correlation between the amount of games being played and the popularity of the sport or how much money the average athlete receives?

     After reading articles and other blogs, I came to conclusion that the amount of games played per season doesn't equate to the average athlete's salary for a specific sport. There are a total of 1,230 games played each season in the NHL if you look at the entire league. The grand total of NFL games played are 332.  There are almost 1,000 fewer games played, total, yet the NFL still makes more money than the NHL.  Total NBA season games add up to as much as 1,455.  The NBA is, in fact, the richest league, but looking at other professional leagues, this isn't the only reason why. The MLB will play about 200 games total.  This is evidence that I used to conclude that the amount of games per season isn't a large factor playing into the average athlete's salary of a specific sport.

NFL 2012 season schedule

Causation of LOCKOUTS

     There is currently a lockout in the NHL due to a disagreement between the league and the players.  I already know that NHL players receive the least money on average out of any other men's professional sports.  I'm curious about what else plays into the lockout, which is consequently upsetting many NHL fans because of season ticket holders and whatnot.

     One reason for the lockout is believed to be precedent.  In 2004 and 2005, there was a disagreement about the revenue the league was receiving and how the money was being split between team owners, coaches, and players.  As a result, the players were "locked out" for the entire season.  Eventually, the players had a decrease of about 24% of their salaries.  This cutback in salaries recently ended and the league is at it again.  This worked for the owners 8 years ago, so the NHL is using this strategy again.  Once again, the owners have offered the players another 24% rollback in their salaries.  The revenue made by the NHL has increased from $2.1 billion to $3.3 billion, and the players aren't accepting another reduction of their pay.

     These labor turmoils have happened somewhat recently in other leagues as well.  Back in '94, there ended up being a cancellation in the MLB world series due to a 7-1/2 month strike from the players.  The NBA has also had in total 4 lockouts; the NFL 4 strikes and 1 lockout in the past.

NFL player benefits

The NFL does provide many programs for retired players with programs such as the Joint Replacement Program, Neurological care program, spine treatment program, and many others. But one plan caught my attention it is called the 88 Plan. The 88 Plan is named after Hall of Famer and NFL legend John Mackey. This plan provides former players with up to $100,000 a year for medical care resulting from dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, and/or Parkinson's disease. This plan was started in 2007 and since then it has distributed over $16 million to players and their families. This plan is a great way to make sure that players that are suffering from terrible brain injuries do get the proper care they need after they are done playing football.

      https://www.nflplayercare.com/Default.aspx
John Mackey

Luxury "Yankee" Tax

With the New York Yankees paying over 91% of the luxury tax in the past 7 years should the name just be changed to the Yankees tax?

The Yankees have always been one of the highest paid teams in the MLB. With George Steinbrenner at the helm it was no problem to spend $29 million dollars for an aging third basemen in Alex Rodriguez. That was just his attitude towards owning the Yankees. They could buy their way to championships. With the passing of George Steinbrenner how will the Yankees attitude change toward big time spending? Could this have an affect on the parity of the league? Will other teams now have a chance to get big time players instead of the Yankees buying them?

Redoing products

 Here's Apple's Next Hit Product 

by : Chris Ciaccia 

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11730193/1/heres-apples-next-hit-product.html

this are the questions one ask about a company that is successful, and one way of becoming successful is by choosing to sell or make a product that can be better every year. 

One thing that companies do to bring the customers back to buy their products is by redoing by making their products smaller, lighter, and faster. for example we have Apple's new release and biggest hit in the moment : the Ipad Mini. 

The iPad mini is a new version of Apple's Product the iPad that was released  April 3, 2010. within 3 years Apple has come out with a version every year saying that graphics are better, faster, and easier to use. and people believe this a go buy the up to date version. this is a great way of bringing back customers by just changing minor things to the products. in the article it talks about the product and it talks about how apple will control most of the tablet market the release of the iPad mini. right now they have 68% of the shares and people believe that it will go up. One of my questions is how people go every year to get the latest product if they got the previous one that came out not even a year ago? 




what drives people to the store? what makes people wait in line for days during a product release? 

http://images.apple.com/ipad/home/images/promo_split_hero.jpg

"Friends" STILL With Money

I've already talked about the huge success of the 90's sitcom, Friends, but I didn't mention the success they had continuing into the 2000's. Beginning from season 5, the Friends stars began receiving royalties for reruns. That means that the cast was receiving money every time a different network like NBC or WGN played old episodes of the series. For those last 5 seasons, they weren't just making the $100,000 to $1 million per episode, but they were also making money from reruns on top of that. The amount of money they receive in royalties is disclosed, but we can assume that by the high price of their salaries, the stars were more than well off with these additions. Friends was such a success that the show is still playing on stations like TBS and Nickelodeon.

WILL THE FRIENDS EVER STOP GETTING MONEY?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends
This source can be trusted because Wikipedia is a widely known source for all information. Also, the source is known for editing frequently, so you can trust that the information is up to date and current.

Length of schedule

Although the NFL is hands down the most popular between the big 4 (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) it does have the least amount of games scheduled. This affects how much money the players take in. Based on per game statistics NFL players make a significantly larger amount. Physically football players cannot play 162 or 82 games in a season because each game requires so much preparation and rest. But this does not change the fact that NFL players are being put at high risk everytime they play. Also, the NFL has by far the most athletes in the sport with close to 1,700. The NBA consists of 450 players, the MLB has 750, and the NHL has 690. This greatly affects the amount of money each player is earning. If the money has to be split between more people then each person will end up getting less money.

Do NFL players recieve any benefits after they retire from football?

         http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-10423863

Salary Cap Failure

Does the salary cap work?

The numbers show it does not. The MLB without a true salary cap has had 9 different World Series champions in the past 11 years. While in the NBA in the past 14 years 3 teams have combined for 11 of the championships. The salary cap was implemented to help create parity among teams. In fact it seems that the exact opposite has happened. Why some people might ask? I believe its because since all the teams are paying equal amounts for players they care less about the money and more about being on a good team. Look at the Heat they have Lebron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. That is an all-star line-up, how did they get such a good line-up? They had more to offer in talent and promises of championships than all the other teams. Not necessarily the most money to pay all of the players.

Should all the Leagues end the salary cap and follow baseball with a luxury tax?


Source: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8390834/mlb-2012-season-proves-salary-caps-not-necessary-espn-magazine

No Fishing

As insane as this may sound, boating and fishing on certain waters have been illegal in America since 2006. It was established by Judge Robert G. James, in the case of Normal Parm v. Sheriff Mark Shumate, after a few Louisiana anglers were caught fishing on flooded private property.

Today, any body of water beyond its ordinary high-water mark is considered off-limits to the public, being as it’s a criminal offense (under federal law no less) to fish or boat in such areas without the riparian owner’s permission. Taking into account that our rivers and lakes constantly change their water levels, this means that many shallows in the US right now are not suitable for public usage like skinny dipping.

Going to College With Your Siblings

Is there a relation to your older siblings and how much you will pay for college?  When I first thought of this, I didn't see how there could really be any correlation.

But, surprisingly, they do relate.

It is usually hard for parents or students to pay for college tuition for even one student, and when there are multiple siblings in one family who are attending college it is a very difficult to keep up with the tuition.

But don't fret, there may be some leeway for younger siblings who attend the same college as their older siblings. "What parents may not know is that a variety of colleges offer sibling discounts that cut costs for simultaneously enrolled children."  Some colleges will discount
annual tuition for each sibling that attends the school at the same time, like Johnson and Wales University who takes $2,000 off tuition a year for siblings who attend their school.  Some colleges even offer "Family Grants" to siblings.  For example, at George Washington University, they offer Family Grants that cut tuition in half for siblings who attend the school after a sibling does.

Unfortunately one of the reasons this discount may not be available to families would be if the second or third child does not want to attend the same college as their older sibling, which is understandable and likely.

Sibling discounts specific to each school are in most cases posted on the college's website, so check them out if you are a prospective student at your older brother or sister's college!

Database: US News (found from google news)
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/12/11/some-colleges-discount-tuition-for-siblings

How much do you really know?

It is very important for musicians to know exactly what it is they are talking about. It can be very easy for record labels to take advantage of recording artists if they don't. With all the confusing legal talk, musicians can sign over all the rights to their songs without even realizing it.

source:http://www.artbywicks.com/contemporary%20art%20figures.htm

Two Sides to Every Coin

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1089195-two-sides-to-every-coin-are-professional-athletes-overpaid

In this article, the author compares both sides to the argument of whether athletes are paid too much or not.
In the case of athletes getting overpaid, the author uses a way of thinking that I haven't used yet. That compared to normal, middle-classed Americans, Payton Manning made more last year than someone in the middle class will make in their entire life-time. Are they really worth that much? And yet, we see the players and coaches going on strike to demand more money, claiming they need more money, though they're making tens of thousands of dollars every game. The article also showed this comparison of average, maximum, and minimum pay for the Bears, Bulls, Cubs and Blackhawks.

• The highest paid Bears player made over 13 million dollars in 2011
• The highest paid Cubs player will make 19 million dollars in 2012
• The highest paid Bulls player will make 13.5 million dollars in 2012
• The highest paid Blackhawks player will make 6.3 million dollars in 2012
• The lowest paid Bears player made $330,000 in 2011
• The lowest paid Cubs player will make $417,000 in 2012
• The lowest paid Bulls player will make about $850,000 in 2012
• The lowest paid Blackhawks player will make $512,000 in 2012
• The average Bears player made about 2 million dollars in 2011
• The average Cubs player will make over 6 million dollars in 2012
• The average Bulls player will make just under 5 million dollars in 2012
• The average Blackhawks player will make just over 2.7 million dollars in 2012

The article also has arguments of why the athletes get paid what they deserve. It is really us, the fans, that are making them so much money by willing to pay $75 to go to a game. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of  people and you get a LOT of money. We also buy memorabilia and jerseys that have our favorite players names on the back. So it is really us fans that get the money to the player's hands.

Also because the athletes have such a short career, it seems almost necessary for them to have a higher salary. Where the average American will retire from the ages of 65 to 75, professional athletes will retire when they no longer have the ability to play a sport, which can end in their mid-30s.

There is also the problem of injuries. Since the athletes get injured so often, health insurance agencies will often turn down athletes to get health insurance, so they'll have to pay medical bills in full.

LOCKOUT

The NFL in 2011 was in a lockout. They had to suspend preseason games causing a lose in revenue for the league and a lose in pay for the players. The lockout was due to the NFL and the NFLPA (player's Association)  not agreeing on the Collective bargaining agreement. A main reason for the disagreement between the two sides had to do with the salary cap and what the salary cap would be set at. The NFL wanted a lower salary cap in order to keep teams competitive and so that the league would be more competitive allowing them to earn more revenue.The players wanted a high salary cap so they could earn more individually.

What are the benefits to a high salary cap vs. a low salary cap?

Charting Google's Success

This chart demonstrates the volume of ads on Google sites versus that of ads on sites that are not supported by Google search. From 2001 to 2009, they had managed to generate billions of dollars of revenue from ad services provided. This chart visually represents the extremes of how successful Google has become in the search and internet industry.

*Courtesy of CBS*

Shopping in your bed

UO has become popular to a realm of different people because of their easy to use website. This video displays how their innovation and quickly changing inventory helps circulate large revenue for the company. It also explains how with their partnership with baynote they have created a more easy to use website the suggests items for costumers that they wouldn't already think of buying, therefore circulating more revenue. The video is informative (but the voice over is a little peppy brace yourself).

Social Media is helping you

Social Networking is key in any business. Though this method has just became popular, it's cheap easy and businesses are thriving because of it. Twitter is free, and perfect to reach an age demgraphic from young teen to tech savvy middle age adults. Youtube is also free! Posting creative content about your business is an easy way to gain a following.

Blogs, and websites such as this are also easy ways to lure in a company's expecting customers, and have them easily share it on their facebook wall, or twitter feed. Fan groups on facebook, pictures constantly posted on instagram, it's creating a name and face for a bussiness. Really it's just all about presenting their product in a good light through social media, and if a business accomplishes that gives them a leg up on the competition with spending little to no money on marketing! And yes blogs, and websites can be more expensive but with premade code websites like tumblr no need for you to hire someone to write out your website code for you. The internet is full of non costing-advertisement opportunities, companies just have to aware enough to find them, use them, and become intovative. Social media, and the internet in general is how businesses, especially clothing companies stay alive in any economic market. With out social media companys like Urban Outfitters might become irrelevant and non-existent.

The Game of Luck

I've done countless research on how businesses become sucessful, and they all use charts and scales, and of course large economic terms on why out of some mathmatical equation a business was launched. Websites and creditable sources have pretty much told me that businesses meticulously plan how they start a business like they are plotting a huge scheme to make the public crave their products. I have a different theory. Maybe part of the game is just luck. That these companys are just enetering the market at the right time. Yes, some companys do have marketing teams to carfully plan their arrival in our competitive and aggressive consumer market, but other times it's a small business that finds a little luck on their side.

The Urban Outfitter frandchise consists of mutiple components- Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie. And yes they are very sucessful businesses now. I think starting out the owners just had a stream of luck in their hands, that young consumers had money at the time, and the business was good so they were starting to gain a following. It all relates to if something catches on as a trend, whatever it might be- a store, a movement, some sort of good deed that the public classifies as important, it's all the same. The ecological movement helped produce a whole realm of new products to be made. Companies that were already making green products found themselves in a luck stricken daze. The Urban Outfitters Franchise was produced right around the existence of the hipster movement- a subculture of young people who want to be independent in the way they dress, their music taste, political stance, and everything of the sort. Because of this, UO Franchised thrived, and as the trend showed up to the general public the "Hipster Trend" became extremely popular and regular consumers wanted to dress this way, to stay looking trending and individualized.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that companys can say they can foresee the future, the stock market, and incoming trends, but it's really just a guessing game. Rather than maticulously prepare for your infant company's arrival into this world maybe just say hey, why don't I have some faith?

The Fiscal Cliff

The fiscal cliff has been in the news for quite some time now, so I have decided to gain a better understanding of what it is.

By the end of this year, the Bush tax laws will expire, causing an increase in taxes for Americans.

The government has a few choices when dealing with this issue- it can either let the new laws for 2013 go into action, take measures towards preventing these new laws from going into action, or take an approach that combines the two.

Due to Congress's inability to work together, this situation will most likely be resolved at the last second.

With 2013 weeks away, the government needs to act fast if it wishes to avoid another economic disaster.

                                          cbsnews.com

Source:
http://bonds.about.com/od/Issues-in-the-News/a/What-Is-The-Fiscal-Cliff.htm

This is a reputable source because About.com is owned by the New York Times. 

What You Didn't Know About The Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve, which is in charge of our nation's money, is not owned by the government. It is a privately owned organization that works with the government; many times this relationship leads to disaster.

Whenever the government needs money, they issue bonds to the Federal Reserve, which in turn gives them Federal Reserve notes - money. This transaction creates more debt for our government, due to the fact that the money is in the hands of this private organization - our government is essentially "buying" it from the Fed.

The Federal Reserve can also set interest rates, which tamper with economic cycles.

Because the Fed kept interest rates low before the onset of the recent recession, it helped create the housing bubble, because people were more eager to take out mortgages, which were cheaper. As we know, this bubble eventually burst because of the abundance of subprime mortgages, leaving many Americans in trouble.

The Fed supports an economic system in which money is constantly being created and where inflation is always prevalent. Changes need to be made.

                                          themoneymasters.com
Source:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-09/wall_street/31040431_1_interest-rates-big-banks-member-banks/3

This is a reputable source because Business Insider is a well-known magazine. 

The Brutal Truths About Coca-Cola

As I continue to read Jim Collins book Good to Great the fourth chapter is about facing brutal truths in order to succeed and at first I couldnt think of any brutal truths about Coca-Cola. That is because Im looking at it through my perspective a white 18 year old American male. Increasingly you have gain a worldly perspective so instead of a  white 18 year old American male I may have to look at the problems of coke from the perspective of a person in India or China.

The first problem is Coca-Cola isnt the major soft drink in India. That position is held by their bitter rival, PepsiCo. This is what CMO Joe Tripodi was talking about when he was talking about the Journey to Shared Values speech. 

Two emerging soft drinks means less of a strong hold on China. Currently Coke is the number one soft drink in China but Ting Hsin and Pepsi Co. are quickly closing the gap On Coke.

The question is how Coke responds to these issues. 

Sources:

http://www.euromonitor.com/soft-drinks-in-china/report 

- Used to determine the major soft drinks in China

http://www.euromonitor.com/soft-drinks-in-india/report

-Used to determine the major soft drinks in India.

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/the-journey-to-shared-value

- Speech performed by CMO Joe Tripodi 

Good to Great - Jim Collins


Source (Pic):
http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/print/2011/12/coca_cola_china_3.jpg

The Tyranny of Common Sense

When should we go to college? Should we even go at all?

"The tyranny of common sense," Sir Ken Robinson uses this phrase in his TED Talks video when talking about education.  He is saying that people tend to conform to certain sets of ideas that have been used within society for a long period of time, and even if they don't make sense to us personally, we still partake in them for whatever reason.

He mentions the idea of linearity: "It starts here and you go through a track and if you do everything right you end up set for the rest of your life."  Robinson is referring the the education "track" that most of us cling to rather than doing what we may personally benefit from.  Preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and then college and maybe graduate school; it's a repetition millions of people go through without veering away from the distinct set up.




But Robinson does not believe that life should be "linear" like that.  He uses the word "organic" to describe how he thinks life should be; life should be natural rather than every step planned out by society throughout time and then by people following that specific path, thinking that's the only way they can be successful.  Robinson, along with other experts who speak with TED Talks, believe that we should create our life in accordance to our talents and in relation to the circumstances we are faced with.

"I think we are obsessed with getting people to college."
Robinson feels as if not everyone needs to go to college now.  In other words, people shouldn't necessarily go to college right after high school just because everyone else is doing it.

"Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability."
If everyone went to college to get an education that make people able to get certain professional jobs, then our world wouldn't work.  Our society depends on an endless variety of jobs, in which a large sum of don't require a college level education.

Overall, Robinson concludes that we should not be following the standards that our society has set for us.  We need to base our life off our of personal talents and our aspirations or dreams/wants.  It is not necessary for all of us to go to college or even to aim to go to college, unless the job we for sure want requires a specific form of education only available in college.


Database: http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

Muhtar Kent: Level 5 Leader?

Muhtar Kent is the current CEO of the Coca Cola Company. In the book Good to Great Jim Collins talks about great leaders, level 5 leaders. This blog post will be my evaluation based on speeches given by Mr. Kent as well as a few biographies I have found online.

One of the more heavily noted points in the chapter is that level 5 leaders are selfless, not looking for personal glory, and wants the company to do well at all costs.

So under this stipulation I would say Mr. Kent is a level 5 leader. He has been with the company for 20+ years and has built a career there. Promoting from with in is a sign of a great company.

The fact I didnt know who the CEO of Coca- Cola is also a good sign for Mr. Kent.  A level 5 leader isn't the superstar leader i.e. Ceaser they are a shy leader i.e. Lincoln.

Charisma is a gift and a liability, a concept proposed in a later chapter by Mr. Collins. I have never meet Mr. Kent so I cant personally speak to his charisma but multiple biographies describe him as charismatic. The reason charisma is a curse as well is a gift is you may not get the actual information if you are to charismatic but instead the fantasized version of an issue.

Source:

 http://www.coca-colacompany.com/media-center/company-articles/muhtar-kent-delivers-keynote-remarks-at-the-world-affairs-council-at-commerce-club
- Speech by Muhtar Kent

Good to Great - Jim Collins
Author of numerous books about companies success.

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/board-of-directors-muhtar-kent

-Biography provided by the Coca-Cola Company


Source (pic) : http://www.google.com/imgres?q=is+muhtar+kent+charismatic&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=en&biw=1093&bih=620&tbm=isch&tbnid=qgom28Ihp0_ovM:&imgrefurl=http://hbr.org/2011/10/shaking-things-up-at-coca-cola/ar/1&docid=Rr8i1abHOiD5jM&imgurl=http://hbr.org/hbrg-main/resources/images/article_assets/hbr/1110/R1110F_KENT.jpg&w=360&h=368&ei=8RjIUOiVDoOgywGnvYH4Bg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=485&sig=107308380805452866479&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=146&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:125&tx=74&ty=50

How Car Racing Can Save the Environment

    The article that I referenced in this blog post can be found here.  It was written this year, and was featured in a well-known racing magazine.
    Car Racing has contributed greatly to many green technologies. The current system on which most electric or hybrid vehicles operate was first researched for racing cars. A few years ago, KERS systems were implemented in formula one, after years and millions of dollars in testing were completed. KERS stands for kinetic energy recovery system. Formula one cars can reach speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour on the straight parts of a track. A momentous amount of energy is taken away by friction in the braking system. The KERS system uses some of the heat the brakes produce to produce electricity, which powers an electric motor, along with the gas or diesel motor the car already has. If all of that research was not done by sponsor-funded racing teams, we may have never seen it on the street. Another area that racing has helped with is aerodynamics. Many modern cars save fuel by using aerodynamic designs, first pioneered by racing teams searching for speed.

Why is Your Car Different Because of Racing?

    Information is from this article. The source being timely does not really matter, because racing cars have been contributing to technology for over 100 years, and the source does not have to be the best, as it just contains some general information.
   For the next two blog posts I will focus on the impact racing cars have on the cars that you and I drive every day on the street. Racing teams spend millions of dollars every year to make their cars faster. To do this, they try to maximize power, handling, braking, fuel efficiency, and every other aspect there is of a car. One thing that racing teams contribute to the most is safety. A car on the street is much safer if it can stop quickly, handle well, and perform well in a crash. Braking power and handling also have a large effect on how fast a car is on the track, and crash safety ensures the well-being of race car drivers. Tire companies are always competing to produce the most grip while still lasting a longer period of time. Even though these tires are very different from the tires on a street car, this technology can then be used on street tires. The car manufacturers also spend time developing brakes that perform well, and do not overheat, even in the most extreme situations.  These features help a car on track, but they also make a street car that you would want to buy. Another area that racing has helped develop is materials. Carbon fiber, and other super light, but strong materials, were first used on race cars to save weight, but are now seeing use in street cars to improve structural integrity. Weight savings on the street also effect another issue that has become important, fuel efficiency and the environment.

Where did these guys come from?!

Most of the greatest bands of rock and roll history appeared out of thin air. My favorite of these great bands, and arguably the best of all time, is the Beatles. They were four young school boys from Liverpool. Three were average teenagers when they formed the band. In just ten short years they changed the way music sounded forever.

Source:http://www.thebeatles.com/#/history

Source:http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-beatles

Interview With Author Jessica Park

Jessica Park is the NY Times Bestselling Author of one of my favorite books (and her most popular), Flat Out Love. Although she is currently finishing work on her latest book, Jessica was kind enough to allow me to interview her over the phone, and shared her thoughts on several topics-
*Note: this is not the entire conversation, just the more significant clips

A: What was your experience when you first released Flat Out Love? Obviously, you had already published several other books, but how was this one different? Did you have any idea of how successful it would eventually be?
J: Response

A: I feel that most people would assume that if you wanted to be successful, if you wanted your book to have readers, you needed to get a really big firm to back you, for that sense of prestige. Obviously that wasn't the case with you, as you did so well self-publishing. Do you think you're kind of the exception to self-publishing, or, like you said, you paved the way for other indie authors?
J: Response

A: FOL has mostly been characterized as "New Adult"- the gap between Young Adult and Adult. Do you think there was something about that genre that specifically appealed to you, or that you thought could appeal to others?
J: Response

A: A lot of times, a books success has to do with their genre. What genres do you think tend to attract the most people, or tend to do the best? And how did you choose your genre?
J:Response

A: {on writing style/prose and how that affects a book's success}
J:Response

A: {on controlling the market}
J: Response

Why Athletes are Paid the Big Bucks

Why Athletes are Paid the Big Bucks

     Do professional athletes deserve to be paid more than the working class of America, consisting of people who keep our country and society functioning normally?  To the majority of the citizens of America, the answer would be yes because of our craving for entertainment. Personally, I believe doctors, teachers, police officers, and firemen deserve a much higher salary than men who play a sport that most of us have played in our adolescence.

     -Americans' value in entertainment overwhelms our care for teachers' salary.

Teaching, medicine, and law can all be taught over a period of time. This is different for sports though, since there is a very few amount of people who are naturally gifted with amazing athleticism. The amount of teachers, doctors, and cops in America overwhelms the population of athletes.  Most of us would agree that those other jobs are much more important, but we love watching the few extremely athletic humans compete against each other.

More On Endorsements...

     To learn more about endorsements, I contacted Ms. Jackie Woodward, a sports marketing professional. I asked her how much do endorsements really help companies getting their name out there, since the endorsements play a big role in determining the superstar athletes' salaries.  To make it easier for me to understand, Ms. Woodward told me companies use endorsements for 3 reasons: Awareness, Brand Affinity, and Ability to sell more products.
 
     Whenever you watch a sports program, the league or association will most likely have an official sponsor.  Companies pay enormous amounts of money to become the official sponsor of something.  Just look at "the official gas company of the NHL", or "the official shaving cream of the NFL". The more your product is displayed, the higher amount of  consumers you'll have who are aware of your product.

     Because of Americans' craving for sports entertainment, what better way is there than to display a product that a professional athlete uses him or herself?  This is how companies get consumers to have an affinity for something. For example, I'm a Chicago Bulls fan. If I see Derrick Rose say how much he likes wearing nike footwear, not to mention he has his own shoe named after him, I'm going to have a more natural liking for that company's shoes since I am a fan of the Bull's best player.

     Lastly the ability to sell more product will sky rocket with the combination of awareness and affinity. Imagine from a Steeler fan's judgement of Heinz ketchup.  Not only is the stadium named "Heinz Field" but one of there favorite players, big Ben Rothlisberger, says he uses Heinz ketchup whenever he has a hot dog. Plus, "if a professional athletes like Rothlisberger is eating this stuff, it has got to be healthy!", is something you'll find a lot of people thinking.

 

So, to sum it up, companies are willing to pay the big bucks to individual athletes and entire sports programs because of the fame they will get from it.  This technique goes back to when Babe Ruth played ball, and is still used today because of how well it works. To answer my original question of "how effective are endorsements for companies?", I would say EXTREMELY.

Interview With Author Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is the author of NY Times Bestsellers Slammed and Point of Retreat. The third book in the series is set to be released in 2013, while she has a new standalone novel, Hopeless, coming out December 31. After sending her an email, I got the opportunity to ask Colleen a few questions about her books and the success she has accomplished thus far-

Q: What did you expect when you first released Slammed? Were you confident enough in your writing to know it would become as successful as it did, or were you uncertain about the outcome?

A: "I expected absolutely NOTHING.  I wrote the book for fun and only put it on Amazon because my friends wanted a way to read it.  I was poor and didn't want to print a ton of books out, so I put it on Amazon and made it free for the five days they allow, so everyone could get it and not have to pay for it.  I was STUNNED when it was downloaded 4,000 times over the 5 day period.  After that, the book just started selling through word of mouth. 

And no.  I had absolutely zero confidence in my writing.  Like I said, to me it was just a story that I wrote for fun.  I never even tried to get it published."

Q: At what point after the release of your two books did you realize you had "made it"?

A: "I don't know that I'm even at that point yet.  When I hit the New York Time's Bestsellers list for six weeks straight, I was scared to answer my phone because I knew they were calling to tell me they had made a mistake. lol.  I'm still in shock that it's been received so well. "

Q: Do you believe a good story is all that's needed for a book to become successful, or does writing, genre, etc. play into that as well? How did you choose which genre you wanted to write in?

A: "I didn't have a clue about genre's.  I had no idea that publishers were at a point that they were refusing to accept anything with characters ages 18-22 and anything with poetry.  If I would have researched this before writing the book, I'm afraid it may have influenced what I wrote.  So honestly, I think a book needs heart.  It needs to be written by someone who isn't writing it just because they want it to be a financial success.  It needs to be written because the author has love for the characters and wants to share that with readers, whether or not it becomes a success.  I think readers also look for different things in a book. Some look for easy reads, some look for quality writing, some look for simply a great story.  That's what's so amazing about writing.  Not everyone will love what you do, but someone will."

Q: I heard that Slammed and Point of Retreat got optioned for films (so exciting!). Do you think upcoming films increase a book's success significantly, and what are you expecting, if anything, if they do become films?

A: "They did get optioned!  I was so shocked when my agent called with the news.  We had received offers in the past, but none of them seemed legit, so I wasn't getting my hopes up.  I think if they do become films, it does increase the success and exposure of the book.  So while there are still a lot of hoops we have to jump through to actually see them get to that point, it will be surreal if it happens."

Q: In regards to your latest book soon coming out, Hopeless, do you think the success you achieved from Slammed and Point of Retreat played into your decision to write this book, because you knew you would probably already have an audience?

A: "No.  The fact that I have an audience now scares me more than it motivates me.  When I wrote the first two, I had zero expectations, and no one had expectations from me.  Now that people are expecting another book that can grip them on the same level the others did, I'm definitely feeling the pressure.  But I'm in love with Hopeless and the characters and went into with the same expectations that I went into writing the others. I kept my focus on the fact that I loved the story, loved the characters, and if people love the book I'll be happy.  But if they don't, I will still love that book and won't regret writing it.  It's what I love to do and whether I have readers or not, I'll keep on doing it!  Of course, I am HOPING beyond all hope that people love it.  ;)"