skin bleaching in Jamaica tied to career opportunities

I found this article very interesting, people in Jamaica and other areas using lightening creams to make themselves more attractive to advance in career opportunities, opposite sex, and be accepted into the circle of society. Some go as far to use mercury in their lotion allowing the metal in the mercury to block melanin. This article stated some use dangerous creams on their babies! I thought this tied into our class regarding racial profiling and color prejudice - all to do with identity and race.

Google’s Page makes first changes to management

Google’s new CEO Larry Page announced a major reorganization of the six key product groups marketed by the Internet search colossus. This is Page’s first major move since taking control at Google earlier this week. The reorganization places the heads of the major product groups directly under Page’s control. This eliminates the previous bureaucracy that had several layers and slowed product development. The reorganization will help Google to fast track products to market, especially mobile devices and social media tools. Google has struggled with social networking and is feeling the heat from the Facebook, which now has an estimated 500 million members.

It is important for a business to identify the market trends and revise their business model to satisfy the changing needs of their customers. This is especially true with social media and Internet products. Even Google, which generated an estimated $29 billion in revenue last year, is not complacent. Regardless of the size of the business, management must be ready to change the direction of the business to fulfill the needs of their customers and keep pace with your competition. If you snooze, you lose.

Disney Plans Lavish Park in Shanghai

After two decades, Disney is finally allowed to open a theme park in Shanghai. In 2005, Disney opened a park in Hong Kong. This park has not done as well as they had planned. The problem with the first park was that they designed it based on American culture. They neglected to take into consideration the Chinese cultrual norms and what impact Disney plays in their country. The new park to be opened in Shanghai, however, will be designed with less "Disney" and more of what Chinese would want to see.

Hispanic Workforce Growing

http://www.jsonline.com/business/119034319.html I found this article interesting. I am not sure I agree to this article so much. Why do we need to do so much for the hispanics? Why don't we focus on people in general? I have a hard time with the minority issues being over stressed when most of us no matter what our race have similar opportunities depending on the choices we make. What do you all think?

5 ways GE plays the tax game

I found this article to be very interesting and yet made me question many things. General Electric is well known for their tax department inventing ways to pay Uncle Sam less, but yet everything they are doing seems to be legal. GE has been consistently at the top or near the top of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies. General Electric’s tax rate sometimes is even in the single digits when compared to the U.S. corporate rate of 35 percent. Jeff Immelt is the CEO of General Electric and on January 21st it was announced from the White House he would become the chief of the Council on Jobs and Competiveness. In Washington debates occur to make the tax system fairer and a question remains will Immelt’s new role help or hurt the tax advantages that General Electric has been taking full advantage of. The organization of General Electric is something quite interesting as they have structured much of their company it seems in order to reap better tax benefits. How convenient that GE’s tax department has almost 1,000 former government officials. Another factor that makes GE unusual is their practice of recruiting dozens of former tax officials from Washington’s official tax world. A significant tax benefit they reap the benefits of is the “active finance exemption” which allows the income of GE’s overseas lending to remain untaxed in the U.S. This tax benefit alone means hundreds of millions a year in savings and higher profits for GE, thus why they push the need for it to be renewed by Congress. Other tax benefits that GE focuses on to make their success is by moving jobs overseas, get a tax break. The organization of this company, where their business is conducted and the employees seems to be solely based on tax benefits and any breaks that could possibly benefit them. It seems as though GE has this down to a science, but what does that mean now that Jeff Immelt, CEO is chief of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness? Will his decisions and arguments be based on the thought of how it would benefit General Electric?

American Airlines Becomes First U.S. Airline to Launch Daily Nonstop Service Between Los Angeles and Shanghai

This articles about American airlines & it's regional affiliate American Eagle beefing up international flights as well as adding 10 new destinations. American will offer non-stop daily flights to Shanghai, which will mark the biggest global partnership between American and fellow oneworld® Alliance partners British Airways and Iberia Airlines. This will allow easy access for businesses that need to be face-to-face with their Chinese partners or possibly open new expansion opportunities for current U.S. companies. With most business done over the internet or video conferences the 10 new destinations will offer a chance to get back to a more hands on approach for some companies.

LAX is the main hub for the international flights, as well as the main port for flights in the U.S. The move will put American airlines firmly in the driver seat as the leader in global travel. The 20 million dollar investment could pay for itself in less then 5 years, and is unique simply for going non-stop to China. It may be the first, but definitely won't be the last.

Starbucks furthers commitment to Central America with store opening in Guatemala

This week I thought it would be interesting to find an article on Starbucks. Starbucks is well known for doing business internationally. Being an employee, I believe that their mission and cultural behaviors can be seen within their actions. This article is about the commitment that Starbucks has in helping out the communities in which they are apart of. To me this is a good example of what global businesses should be doing. What do you think?