Subway’s $5 footlong promotion has become a nationwide hit. In “The Accidental Hero,” BusinessWeek writer Matthew Boyle describes how the promotion grew from just a few franchises in Florida to become a top-10 fast-food brand this year. The story demonstrates how a small, local idea can become a nationwide success. The story also powerfully displays […]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on September 26, 2009 that “despite more than a decade of effort and millions of dollars, Georgia’s system for tracking the progress of public school students remains deeply flawed.” The article describes a very tortured and wasteful process that has yet to yield any meaningful analysis or change in Georgia’s public […]
This weekend, my alma mater, Stanford University, played football at Wake Forest. I was fortunate enough to make the trip although Stanford was not fortunate enough to win. I was also not fortunate enough to eat lunch before attending the game, paying $9.50 for the privilege of enjoying a small pepperoni pizza and an ice-loaded […]
Barbara Kahn, Dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Miami, appeared on Nightly Business Report August 25, 2009 to comment on the new book “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” by Chris Anderson. Kahn rightly points out that even when consumers seem to be getting goods and services for free, […]
The “tragedy of the commons” (Garrett Hardin, 1968) is a concept in economics that describes how a group of self-interested individuals can destroy a shared (and free) resource. Hardin’s classic is example is a group of herders who destroy a pasture as each herder maximizes his/her number of grazing cows to make the most use […]
The NYT describes the growing importance of statisticians to solving more and more of our social and business issues. The article makes clear the rapidly increasing importance of statistics, especially in making sense of the immense amounts of data we can now collect, track, and store: “The new breed of statisticians…use powerful computers and sophisticated […]
On Monday, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that the state of Georgia is considering scrapping its annual sales tax holiday due to budget issues. One legislator expressed his support for the program by claiming: “‘It’s one of those things that spurs people to spend money that they may not otherwise spend. It goes directly to citizens […]
Disney has increased prices at Walt Disney World despite experiencing a drop in revenues last quarter. In its earnings reported July 30, the company had this to say about operating income: “Lower operating income at the Walt Disney World Resort was primarily due to decreased guest spending and lower corporate alliance income recognition, partially offset […]
First Solar (FSLR) talked about its pricing challenges in last Wednesday’s conference call with analysts. The company is having trouble sorting through the various factors slowing demand for their thin film solar panels: for example, lack of credit and financing or competitor pricing. I suspect that First Solar’s sales teams need to do more aggressive […]
Bloomberg reports “Loyal ‘Simpsons’ Fans Fetch Higher Ad Rates on Web.” Premiun programming on the Web has gained pricing power due to the scarcity of popular, targeted advertising inventory. In the future, I would look for the industry to find ways of increasing ad inventory and creating more tools for mass audiences to create and […]
