A-Level Business Management

Once the darling of market analysts, Nike appears to be loses its shine. This BBC article looks at why - highlighting some poor decisions making that's seen its share price fall by 75%. 

There are some interesting insights into the errors that the company's made, but I think the reality's more straightforward. It's an application of the product life cycle. Nike's no longer simply the upstart in the market, and is now having to fall back on other elements of the marketing mix. However, I'd suggest that it hasn't got the reputation for quality that other sportswear manufacturers, like Adidas, have.

Another example of traditional retailers having to look for new revenue streams in the light of online competition, with Primark moving into home deliveries, four years after it initiated internet shopping.

It will be interesting to see how the venture goes, but it's undeniable that Shein and Temu have considerably altered the market.  

An example of the role of stakeholders in a business, and how their interests can conflict. It's clearly the case that Volkswagen are struggling to compete with Chinese competitors in the electric vehicle market, as well as US tariffs. Both put pressure on costs and the simplest way to reduce costs is generally redundancies. 

So whilst it's easy for CEO, Oliver Blume, to ask for them to "pull together", he's unlikely to be the one losing his job. 

Can Argos get back its mojo, or has its time been and gone. 

Certainly, its recent performance has been poor and its fighting against giant retailers like Amazon. As the article notes: "It made £4.1bn of sales last year, compared with £32bn for Amazon in the UK." 

Have shopping habits altered to the extent that click-and-collect retail is no longer competitive. 

It seems as though Primark are responding to greater online competition from Shein and Temu by lowering prices, and competing more like a supermarket than a fashion retailer. 

Has Chinese competition upended the market to such a degree; the answer is probably a positive one. 

Job cuts at Microsoft  - with nearly 5,000 jobs being lost and Xbox being shrunk in the search for extra efficency. Is this an example of the product life cycle on action or just a firm keen to maintain a grip on its costs? 

This could easily be Microeconomics, and relate to changing consumer tastes and YED, but I think it also reflects the product life cycle, how businesses change over time and different business models, with British American Tobacco both shedding jobs outright but also outsourcing. Lots of things to think about. 

I'm putting this here, although it could easily be in the Economics sections of this board, because it's a potential solution to the problem of spare capacity and might also protect jobs at Nissan's Washington plant.

Nissan's losses have already seen it shut one production line but it's considering whether manufacturing for rising Chinese manufacturer Chery - who own the Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda brands - is the best way of keeping the plant viable. 

A nice example of the product life cycle, with the news that accessories chain, Claire's, is shutting all of its 154 UK and Ireland based shops. In short, it's been undercut by the online market, notably Shein and Temu, whose price competitiveness appeals to younger consumers. Factor in a cost of living crisis and it's easy to see why the business failed. 

The news that Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO of Apple to be replaced by John Ternus, has been greeted with a great deal of respect for the former's management of Apple, and offered a chance to reflect where the company's new leader might need to focus. 

This Guardian piece looks at four areas of interest: AI, diversifying away from the iPhone, which generates 50% of the company's revenue, juggling some of the demands of running a truly global supply chain and expanding its business services - in essence, a development of the second point. 

Of course, all of this is going to be challenging, not least because of the need to keep the President on board. 

The BBC reflects on the collapse of car par owner National Car Parks (NCP) and why it's gone into administration. It's an interesting tale which highlights the difficulties facing businesses in any sector that fail to adapt, albeit in NCP's case this was due to the intersection of inflexible leases, high business rates, and changing working and shopping habits meaning reduced demand for the product. It makes for an interesting read.

The return of the John Lewis partnership bonus - 2% of staff pay, equivalent to a week's earnings - allows you to think about different models of ownership structure and the rationale behind paying all employees this sort of bonus. It's all about incentives...

Bad news for the John Lewis Partnership, with losses widening to £124m in the first half of the year, from £88m prior to that. 

Digging down into the data, it seems as though Waitrose is doing well - with sales up - whereas sales at the department stores fell. You might have a think about the factors responsible for the latter and whether or not there's anything that John Lewis can do about this.

This could easily be another Microeconomic scoop, but I've put it here because it also looks at developing new distribution channels, with one dairy farm looking at selling nearly a third of its output direct to consumer via vending machines and a new company has emerged from that. 

It shows how the marketing mix can be exploited in novel ways to access new income streams and develop new relationships with consumers. 

This is an excellent clip looking at how IKEA's business model is winning even in the United States, despite only having 60 stores, and a number of elements that counter-intuitively would seem to count against it. 

Despite its Scandinavian branding, the company is increasingly run from the Netherlands and the furniture manufactured in Poland. It's now among the world's top 10 global retailers. 

There's all sort of gold in here - examination of the five features of democratic design - form, function, sustainability, quality, low price; the fact that there's one Billy bookshelf for every 60 people on the earth and so on. 

Really interesting business story here, with the dispute between Ben & Jerry's original founder, Ben Cohen, and Unilever, who bought the brand in 2000 now triggering a call for consumers to boycott the Magnum. 

The dispute is reflects a culture clash at the spun-off ice cream company, Magnum Ice Cream Company, which has seen the ethical and social values of Ben & Jerry's increasingly marginalised despite the original sale agreement guaranteeing it a degree of independence. 

It's a fantastic example of how the marriage between a multinational and a successful independent brand focused on more than the bottom line can sometimes turn sour.

This BBC article looks at the expansion of the German discount model into the US, with Aldi pledging to open 800 new stores over the next five years, adding to its current portfolio of 2,800 existing stores.

Aldi has 2.9% of the US grocery market, and is a long way behind market leader, Walmart, but this move signals an attempt to entice urban consumers to switch to Aldi. 

There are lots of ways in here - looking at barriers to entry in the sector, the size of the economies of scale open to Walmart and the different aims of different types of supermarket. You could also look at income elasticity of demand and so on. 

The end of an era for the iconic Halifax brand in the financial services market as the group's individual identity is going to be swallowed up by parent company Lloyds and thus disappear from Britain's High Streets.

I don't normally 'scoop' this sort of thing, I hate the hagiographic nature of this type of journalism in that it elevates the CEO into such a position that implies that he's largely responsible for performance of this company. 

However, it is fascinating in looking at the challenges facing an established supermarket in seeing off one of the discounters, Aldi which is now within touching distance in terms of market share. 

Leighton highlights the four 'cornerstones' of the business - the supermarkets, the George brand, fuel and convenience store - as well as the need to up its online offering. 

It's worth a read, if you can look beyond the self-promotion. 

This could easily be on the Microeconomics board but I've put it here to reflect the power of the Fiesta brand, amidst speculation suggesting that Ford are about to relaunch it but as an electric car. It's an interesting crossover - using an established brand to diversify into new markets.

This could easily be a Microeconomic 'scoop' but I've put it here because it's more about the marketing mix, the power of the brand and the degree to which price competition is important in this sector of the grocery retail market. 

In making their loyalty card less generous, Lidl are banking on making cost savings to a greater extent than they lose revenues, and I suspect that the decision is both correct and heavily data driven. However, we will see. The proof of the pudding - no longer a free bakery item - is, of course... 

A nice hands-on example of how an independent clothing retailer pivoted to hair accessories to gain business success. There's lots to consider here: costs and revenues and her decision to change tack, the nature of the supply chain and the impact of President Trump's tariffs and the difference between bricks and mortar and online retail.  

This clip looks at the recent history of Nike, noting the company has struggled against its rivals, and highlighting the fact that the company has never seen itself as a shoe or trainer manufacturer. Just like Apple, Nike's principal assets are its intellectual property, such as the Nike "Swoosh", because it has never owned a manufacturing facility. 

However, as the recent past demonstrates, it's difficult to remain a trend setter over a lengthy period of time. 

Nils Pratley looks at the latest profit figures from the John Lewis Partnership and notes that the turnaround has been achieved in the simplest possible fashion. Work out what you do best, and keep on trying to do it better.

I'm cynical by nature but I can't help thinking that you get what you pay for, and if you're going to make someone with no retail experience your CEO, you shouldn't expect anything other than poor performance. But you might go further and suggest that allied to no retail experience was a simple lack of common sense.