Kodak declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 19, 2012. It has until February 15, 2013 to present its reorganization plan. Blaming its financial insolvency on the economic recession of 2008, the company needs to find a viable business model. Begun in 1988, as the answer to photography for the masses, its early cameras included the…
Social enterprise owners believe that both social good and for-profit motivation can co-exist in the same organization. Needing an appropriate legal structure to support this dual vision of sustainability, the proponents launched the movement to legalize benefit corporations. Reiser, a Brooklyn Law School professor specialized in nonprofit organization law and a respected expert in the…
Carbendazim, a fungicide used to overcome blossom blight and the black spot mold commonly found on orange trees, must not exceed 10 parts per billion if used in food products, according to the US Food and Drug Administration legislation. Over the past year, the FDA tested 59 samples of juice, juice concentrate and juice powder…
A successful business model, according to Christensen, has three components: a customer value proposition, a profit formula, and identified key resources and processes. A model needs changing when: the customer problem being addressed no longer makes the firm money; tough competitors enter the marketplace; the model no longer changes the industry or market. Christensen…
The structure-conduct-performance (SCP) framework model is used to explain the effect of industry structure on marketplace conduct and firm performance. In this interactive video timeline, the McKinsey director emeritus, John Stuckey, demonstrates the McKinsey adaptation of the framework. The concept of external shocks is introduced into the framework, as well as an explanation for…
Johnson & Johnson recently agreed to pay $21.4 million to the US Department of Justice and $7.9 million to the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office for making improper payments and receiving illegal gains from its subsidiaries’ business practices in Greece, Poland and Iraq. Accused of violating anti-bribery laws, J & J was said to have…
Out of 178 countries responding to the annual corruption index published by Transparency International, business leaders ranked the oil, gas and mining industries as the most corrupt. The perceived level of corruption in the US increased between 2009 and 2010. The oil, gas and mining industries contained the most bribery and were shown to be…
The State of Arizona has passed controversial state immigration law that would place limits on the Federal government’s responsibility to determine immigration and foreign policy. Several parts of the Arizona law were blocked by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. These included the following obligations of state and local law enforcement officials:…
Begun in 2008, a year after SunRun, Sungevity uses a proprietary iQuote system to evaluate the appropriate system configuration, without having to make house visits. The system accesses satellite imagery as well as utility information directly and then prepares the offer. The financing arrangements are similar to those of SunRun. Their network of independent installers…
Founded in the Bay Area of California in 2006, SolarCity now covers 11 states with solar solutions for residential and industrial applications. They offer many of the same financing arrangements as their competitors; however, they have an extensive in-house staff of Engineers and installers who provide customized design and installation services. They are able to…