3.5.

Stakeholders
The importance of people goes beyond staff and workers. In
1984, Edward Freeman outlined his theory of stakeholder
management, in which he defined stakeholders as those
groups of people who are affected by, or can affect, the
operations of a business.
Freeman made the point that managers had been focusing too
much on the interests of owners or shareholders. Of course, the
interests of owners were important, he argued, but other groups
could make a difference to the success of the business, and should
not be ignored. To support the interests of owners, managers had to
identify and manage the concerns of other stakeholder groups.
Every business, he said, had a unique set of stakeholders, and their
interests could often be in conflict with each other.
Zahra is the owner of the coffee shop, and Ameera has to take her
interests into account when she makes management decisions. But
if Ameera ignores the interests of customers, for example, it won’t
help Zahra, as the business cannot survive without customers.

A problem with our machine

Zahra: Perhaps I should have sent the old machine to be repaired.
The new machine was meant to give us more capacity, to help us
sell more coffee during busy periods. But in fact, we’re selling less.
Productivity has fallen since the new machine was installed. The old
machine, even with its problems, was quicker than the new one.

Ameera: Maybe it’s not the machine. Maybe…

Zahra: The machine is the only thing that’s different. Business was
better before it arrived. I’m not happy with it. I’m going to complain
to the company that sold it to me. I’m going to give them a piece of
my mind. They need to fix it.

Best practice in communication

Communication is an important management skill. Job
advertisements or people specifications will very often include
a requirement for ‘good communication skills’. But what are
good communication skills?

I’d like you to take a few minutes to think about what good
communication is. What are your communications do’s and don’ts?
Share your suggestions in the discussion section below and
comment on one or two of the other responses.

Having a good communication is saying things at the right time in

right time.

3.10. A letter of complaint

When you were thinking of ideas for how to communicate well,
you may have mentioned the need to be clear, and the need to
be concise. It is certainly important to communicate clearly, as
it is important that messages are understood. It is also
important to be concise, as our stakeholders’ time is valuable.

3.11. Communicating with staff

The three most important things to consider in any business
communication are:

1. Audience
2. Audience
3. Audience

This may seem like a strange suggestion, but I mean it very

seriously. If our communications are going to be effective – to
influence the behaviour of the people we’re communicating with –
we need to know who they are, what kind of language they
understand, and what’s important to them. We know these things
about ourselves, but communication involves two or more people.
We need to know these things about the other people involved, the
audience.
Of course, there are a number of different possible audiences to
consider for business communications, including customers and
workers. All stakeholder groups, in fact.

For now, I’d like to focus on staff. In the next step, we’ll consider
how communication with staff might affect motivation and
performance.

How might leadership style affect communication? Do you think a

people-focused manager will communicate differently to a task-
focused person? Think about spoken communication, but don’t
forget that people communicate non-verbally too. For example,
gestures, body language and eye contact. Share your thoughts in
the comments below.

communication with staff might affect motivation and performance.

How might leadership style affect communication? Do you think a

people-focused manager will communicate differently to a task-
focused person? Think about spoken communication, but don’t
forget that people communicate non-verbally too. For example,
gestures, body language and eye contact. Share your thoughts in
the comments below.

3.12. Communication styles

Zahra had assumed there must be something wrong with the new
coffee machine, as it was the only thing that had changed about the
business.

Ameera considered the human element. Yes, the coffee machine

had changed, but that required a change from her too. She needed
to work differently because the machine operated differently to the
old one. Neither she nor Zahra had had much training on how to use
the new machine, and Ameera was finding it difficult to use. She
hadn’t said anything to Zahra, because she had hoped she’d get
used to it quickly. She spoke up when she saw that Zahra was
going to complain to the company the machine came from.
Zahra, as we might expect from a task-focused manager, looked for
a simple reason for the drop in productivity, and a quick solution.
Ameera, as we might expect from a people-focused manager,
thought about how the new machine affected the people who had to
use it: herself and Zahra.

What we choose to communicate and how we communicate can

affect the motivation and performance of staff.

How do you think your preferred style affects how you choose to
communicate? Add your thoughts to the discussion area below.

Said LAINE
1 second
As a manager, I am a people-focused. listening and communicating with the staff is
very important to keep business running well. If their needs are satisfied, then I
become a task-focused because they must be productive and work correctly and
efficiently.

3.13. Training and change management

The new coffee machine was a small example of change within
a business, or organisational change. It is not surprising that
the business got worse in the short term, as change can often
cause problems.
Managing change is another important management skill. People,
including managers, often resist change because they are afraid of
losing their job, of losing money or missing out on opportunities. In
other words, it threatens their position, their prosperity and their
prospects. Or perhaps they are afraid of uncertainty.
Getting people involved makes them more likely to accept change,
because people find it hard to disagree with something they have
been involved in developing. Uncertainty can be reduced by
providing information about a situation. In other words, participation
is the best antidote to resistance, and information is the best
medicine for uncertainty.

The recipe for successfully managing change includes:

 Participation
 Information
 Enthusiasm

To remember this, think of PIE!

Zahra could have involved Ameera more in the decision to buy the
new coffee machine, and Ameera may have identified the need to
ensure she was fully trained in how to use it. Zahra could also have
been clearer about her expectations for the new machine. Did she
expect sales to increase immediately after it was installed, or did
she expect a ‘bedding-in’ period, while Ameera got used to the new
machine?
Why do people find change difficult? Can you think of an example of
a time when you or someone you know have found change difficult?
Add your thoughts to the discussion area below.
Said LAINE
1 second
Change is sometimes difficult because it requires flexibility and time to adapt. But it is
needed to survive. Uncertainty can be produced by providing information and
measuring risk.

3.14. Review your understanding of

change
In the previous step, I described some aspects of managing change.
This step offers a chance for you to check your understanding, by
answering the questions in the following quiz. Don’t worry if you
don’t get the right answer the first time. You can try again as many
times as you like.
 - Resistance to change is normal. it’s perfectly normal for
people to resist change. It threatens their position and
causes uncertainty.
- The recipe for successful change includes: Participation,
Information and Enthusiasm (PIE).

3.15. Recap of the first three weeks

You’ve now nearly completed the first three weeks of this
course.

We’ve looked at ways in which you might manage yourself, we’ve

considered some aspects of managing money, and we’ve looked at
some issues around managing people. In the last week of the
course, we’ll look at managing information.

Said LAINE
1 second
During this week, I have learned things about managing people and change issues.
Change may sometimes be needed, so it is crucial to deal with it by using PIE
-Participation, Information and Enthusiasm
Said LAINE
1 second
The concept of communication was the most important thing I have learned this
week. And as change is needed in business life circle, participation, information and
enthusiasm could help to deal successfully with it.

Welcome to week 4: what you'll learn

this week
Hello, and welcome to week 4, the final week of this Business Management course. This
week we’ll be looking at the importance of managing information. Information is vital to
the efficient running of even the smallest business, whether it’s details of the prices of the
products and services we sell, or details of the names and contact details of our
customers. This week we’ll be looking at the kinds of information that are important to a
business, as well as the ways in which a business can collect, store and use information.

Hello, and welcome to week 4, the final week of this Business

Management course.
This week we’ll be looking at the importance of managing
information. Information is vital to the efficient running of even the
smallest business, whether it’s details of the prices of the products
and services we sell, or details of the names and contact details of
our customers.

This week we’ll be looking at the kinds of information that are

important to a business, as well as the ways in which a business
can collect, store and use information.

What is information?
What do we mean by information in a business context? How is
business information different from information in our everyday
lives?

In the discussion section below, I’d like you to define what business
information means to you, and give some examples of the kinds of
information you think are important to a business. For example, a
business might need to know information about its customers.

Look at the responses of other students, and say which examples

they included which you hadn’t thought of.

4.3. What types of information are

important?

We might think a manager cannot have too much information

about their business.

But given that the time and effort required to process and use
information is limited, there are certain types of information which
will be more important than others:

Operational How many cups of coffee did we

 serve today? How many pounds of
coffee did we use to make them? How
long did each coffee take to make, on
average? How many of the tables in
our shop were in use during each hour
of the day?

How much did we get in sales today?

How much did we pay in rent, wages
Financial and supplies? How much does one
cup of coffee cost us, what price do
we sell it for, and what is our margin?

How many different styles of coffee do

we sell? What are the differences
Product
between them? How do they vary, by
taste, quality, origin?

Who are our customers? What are

their preferences? What do they buy,
Customer
how much, and when? Why do they
visit our coffee shop and not others?

How many customers could we

attract? How many people are there
Market within walking distance of our shop?
How many people walk past each day
and never come in?

Competitor How many other coffee shops are

 there within walking distance? What
products do they sell? Is their offering
the same as ours, or different? Do
they charge more or less? Why do
customers go there and not come to
us?

These are just some of the questions we might want answers to if

we were in Zahra or Ameera’s position.

What types of information are important in a particular business?

Said LAINE
1 second
All those information types are important to businesses no matter what their size
activities are.

4.4. What information would Zahra and

Ameera need?
In the previous step, I suggested some of the types of
information that might be important for Zahra’s coffee shop.
Now I’d like you to consider the different information needs of
Zahra and Ameera, as the owner and manager respectively.

In the discussion section below, say what types of information you

think Zahra would be most interested in, and what types Ameera
would be interested in. You might also want to say why they have
different information needs. Is it because of their different roles or
because of their different management styles?

Said LAINE
1 second
Since she is a people-focused, Ameera would be more interested in customer
information. While, Zahra -since she is a task-focused- would be interested in
financial, market and competitor information.
4.5. Information priorities
In the previous step, I asked you to consider the different
information needs of Zahra and Ameera.

I expect you noted that Zahra, as the owner of the coffee shop, will
have different priorities from Ameera. She will be more concerned
with the overall financial position and performance of the business.
She’ll want to know about costs, revenues and profits.

As the manager, working in the shop every day, Ameera may be

more concerned with operational issues. She’ll want to know about
how many customers there are at different times of day, what
products they want and how long it takes to serve them. She will be
able to make some changes to how the shop is run, depending on
the information she collects. Other changes will need Zahra’s
agreement, based on the information Ameera shares with her.

Zahra and Ameera’s management styles may also affect their

information needs. Ameera may be more interested in what affects
how people feel – staff and customers – most directly. So she may
be particularly interested in how long it takes for one customer to be
served, and how many orders she has to fulfil in an hour. Zahra may
be interested in the same information, but for different reasons – for
how it affects costs and revenues.

What do you think?

The article above has general ideas. What else do you think would
be most important for Zahra and Ameera in the coffee shop?

For example, will Zahra and Ameera be thinking about how the café
looks, how it is decorated, and how comfortable it is for customers?
Will they need this information for different reasons?

Add your ideas to the comments area below.

Said LAINE
1 second
Thinking about how café looks and is decorated and how comfortable it is for
customers seems more important for Ameera since she cares about how customers
feel regards the café and in what conditions her staff is more comfortable. But Zahra
may be interested in that if she has noticed that decoration affects the profits for
other competitors.

4.6. The effects of success

When Zahra and Ameera realised why the new coffee machine
wasn’t delivering the expected improvements, they were quickly
able to fix the problem.

Ameera: Now I’ve had more training on how to use the new
machine, I’m able to make a wider range of coffees more quickly.
And Zahra has had the same training.

Zahra: So I’m able to help out when things get busy.

Ameera: And things certainly are busier. Customers really

appreciate the wider choice and the faster service. They come more
often, and they tell their friends, so there’s been a real increase in
demand.

Zahra: The business feels like it’s taking off. It’s not just a coffee
shop; it’s a successful coffee shop! But, success brings its
challenges.

What are some of the effects of success? Can you think of positive
ones (perhaps referring back to week 1, and your responses to the
question of what business means to you)? Also, what challenges
does success bring?

4.7. Aspects of growth

Like many business owners, Zahra is happy that her business is
growing. If growth is managed successfully, it can bring financial
rewards and personal security - two things you may have identified
as important business objectives in week 1.
Growth presents challenges and opportunities in relation to
managing information. As the number of customers grows, it
becomes increasingly difficult for Ameera or Zahra to know them all
individually. As the range of products they sell increases, it’s even
difficult for them to know the price of everything, or to keep track of
stock levels.

Zahra may feel it is necessary to invest in a more

sophisticated point of sale system – this will offer different
payment options, automatically update stock control records, and
offer the possibility of tracking customer behaviour – and introduce a
customer loyalty scheme to increase the frequency and volume of
sales per customer.

What are the implications of business growth? Add your ideas to the
comments area below.

Said LAINE
1 second
Business growth is challenging. As the demand is increasing another coffee
machine, equipment and workers may be needed.

4.8. Cash flow and profits revisited

In the previous step, I asked you to consider how business success
and growth presented not just opportunities but also challenges.

Zahra’s coffee shop can’t meet growing demand without increasing

her inventory – or stock of coffee and cakes. And, the faster her
business grows, the more stock she has to buy in advance to avoid
disappointing new customers. If she buys more stock, but the cafe
gets fewer customers than expected, this will have a greater effect
on her cash flow. Growth is risky.

Can you recall why cash flow, rather than profit, is so important?
Answer the questions in the following quiz to check your
understanding. There are three questions to answer. Don’t worry if
you don’t get the right answer the first time. You can try again as
many times as you like.
Ameera pays the wholesaler for the following week’s supply of
coffee beans. This is: loss/negative cash flow. That’s right.
When supplies are paid for, it is negative cash flow. And
until the coffee beans are turned into coffee and sold,
they reduce profits.

Zahra hires a new barista, who she’ll pay at the end of the
week. Loss but There’s no cash flow until Zahra actually
pays the new staff member.

A local insurance company signs a contract for $1,000 a month

with Zahra for her shop to provide catering for its senior staff.
Zahra buys and pays for $400 of supplies for the first month of
catering. This is: profit/negative cash flow. That’s right. Zahra
has sold some services, which contributes to profit. But, the
customer hasn’t yet paid, and Zahra has paid for the
supplies needed to fulfil the contract, so cash has left the
business.

4.9. Individual focus

Zahra’s business is growing in popularity, and there are many
ways in which it could continue to grow.

She could sell a wider range of drinks and food. She could try to
increase the number of tables in the shop, or try to increase the
capacity of her take-away business by hiring more staff and
changing the ordering process. She could start a delivery service to
nearby businesses or offer corporate catering. She could consider
opening a second coffee shop in another part of the city.

Given what you know about Zahra and Ameera’s management

styles, how do you think they might each react to these
opportunities?

Share your suggestions in the discussion section below and

comment on one or two of the other responses.
Said LAINE
1 second
Opening another coffee shop in another part of the city may be more expensive than
hiring more staff. As Zahra is interested in profits, she could prefer the second option
as long as she is able to increase the number of tables. But Ameera may stop her
because that option might affect the comfort of the costumers.

4.10. it depends...
Of course, there is no way to know exactly how Zahra or
Ameera might react, just as there is no way to know which of
the growth opportunities are likely to be most successful,
without taking the risk of trying them.

In some ways, business is like a live experiment. The results cannot

be predicted in advance, because there are so many variables –
things on which success or failure depends.

Will offering a delivery service work for Zahra? It depends on

whether she can hire the right staff, on how much customers are
willing to pay for the convenience, on whether nearby shops offer
competing services, on how bad lunchtime traffic is, and countless
other factors. In business, there are rarely simple right/wrong
answers.

To almost any question in business, ’It depends’ is a good answer.

The follow-up question should always be, ‘It depends on what?’ The
business person who knows the answer to that question is more
likely to be successful.

Why are yes/no answers problematic? Add your ideas to the

comments area below.

Said LAINE
1 second
Yes/no answers are problematic because we can't predict everything. There are
many internal factors affecting the business but also externals ones. Many of those
factors may be difficult to control. That means, growth is risky.

4.11. ...on what?

In the previous step, I suggested that ‘It depends…’ is almost
always a good answer to a business question, and that the
follow up question should always be, ‘It depends on what?’

So, what’s the answer to the follow up question? On what factors

does business success typically depend?

One way to categorise important factors is to consider the internal

and external environment.

The internal environment includes all those aspects of the business

which are under its own control – the financial and physical
resources it has, the people who work there, and its existing
products and processes. We can list these as strengths and
weaknesses.

The external environment includes all those factors which are not
under the control of the business but which can affect its operations.
These might be political, economic, social or technological. We can
list these as opportunities and threats.

When we put Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

together, we have a SWOT analysis, a widely used model for
analysing the situation of a business. You can use a SWOT analysis
to summarise the important aspects of a business’s current situation
that management should focus on or be aware of. You can even do
a SWOT analysis of yourself.

What do you think are some of the strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats for Zahra’s coffee shop? Add your
thoughts in the comments area below.

Said LAINE
1 second
Strengths of Zahra coffee shop can be resumed in the fact that it gains costumers
loyalty.
As weaknesses, we can cite the lack of experience in a context where the risk is
significant.
As opportunities, Abundance of money that can be used by the business
As threats, other competitors will probably react following the success of Zahra
business.
4.12. Loyalty schemes
Here in the UK, the largest supermarket chain, Tesco, has a
well-known loyalty scheme called Clubcard. Shoppers present
their card each time they buy groceries at Tesco, and they are
given points for each £1 they spend. They can save these
points up and spend them on rewards. There are millions of
Clubcard holders.

The UK-based coffee shop chain Costa, which was recently

acquired by the Coca-Cola Company, has a loyalty scheme that
allows customers to save up points to use to get free coffee
and food.

Research suggests that simple loyalty schemes that reward ten

purchases with a free reward can increase purchase frequency.

4.13. Purpose of loyalty schemes

It can seem as though loyalty schemes are everywhere.

If I travel on an aeroplane, I collect Air Miles (a kind of service-

specific voucher), and when I have collected enough Air Miles I can
exchange them for a free flight. Every time I visit the supermarket,
the barcode on my loyalty card is scanned just as my purchases
are. Whenever I buy a book at the bookstore or coffee at the coffee
shop, the sales assistant scans my loyalty card and points are
added to my account. Each point has a monetary value, and when I
have enough points, I can use them to buy a book or a cup of
coffee.

What do you think is the purpose of loyalty schemes like the ones
I’ve described? In the discussion section below, suggest why
businesses have loyalty schemes and ask customers to join them.

Perhaps you have a loyalty card for a business where you are a
customer. What are the benefits for you and the business? Consider
the answers of other learners. Have they identified benefits that you
didn’t think of?
Said LAINE
1 second
The purpose of these loyalty schemes is to attract customers but also keep the old
ones. Customers tend to purchase more quickly to reach the X number in order to
get a present or a discount. Customers become kind of loyal to this brand because
they don't wanna lose the points they've already accumulated.

For businesses, this technique enhances their popularity and compared to the huge
profit made of all these additional (and not always useful) purchases in order to reach
X number of points, one gift or discount would produce a negative profit to the
business at the end of the month.

4.14. Information collection

We may think of loyalty schemes as ways to reward customers for
their loyalty to a brand or company. From a customer’s point of
view, this is how they may appear. Continued loyalty offers the
customer benefits and encourages them to remain loyal. From the
business’s point of view, this makes it harder for the customer to
switch to another coffee shop or supermarket.

More important than this, loyalty schemes are marketing information

collection systems. They enable businesses to collect information
about their customers. Each transaction – each cup of coffee or bag
of groceries bought – is no longer anonymous. Instead, it is
associated with a particular customer and tells the business
something about that customer’s behaviour and preferences. That
information can then be used to recommend or design products,
services and special offers that are likely to meet the needs of
customers – in groups or as individuals. For example, if Zahra
knows that many of her customers who buy an espresso are less
likely to buy a cake to accompany it than customers who buy
cappuccinos, she could introduce a ‘half-price cake with your
espresso’ offer to encourage espresso drinkers to spend more.

Answer the quiz questions below about loyalty schemes and how
they can benefit a business. Don’t worry if you don’t get the right
answer the first time. You can try again as many times as you like.
QUIZ RULES

Loyalty schemes can be marketing information systems.

That’s right. Businesses can use a loyalty scheme to collect
information about customers and their buying behaviour.
However, not all loyalty schemes work in this way. A simple
paper card, where each coffee purchase earns a stamp
may reward loyalty, but doesn’t link purchase information to
a particular customer.
Loyalty schemes encourage customers to buy more. Research
shows that customers with loyalty cards buy more than
those without.

4.15. Data protection

https://unctad.org/en/Pages/DTL/STI_and_ICTs/ICT4D-Legislation/eCom-Data-Protection-Laws.aspx

Many businesses hold information about their customers.

If the business delivers goods, then address and contact details

such as names and phone numbers are necessary. For many local
businesses, customers can be anonymous – they are not known to
the business. They enter a store, pay with cash and leave.
However, these businesses are now learning from online
businesses, and have started collecting basic information about
their customers using customer relationship management systems.

There are advantages to collecting information, both for the

business and its customers. A business that knows its customers is
better placed to meet their needs. And customers want their needs
to be met.

But customers also want – and have the right to – privacy.

Businesses have a responsibility to protect the information they hold
about customers: an ethical responsibility and a legal responsibility.
There are many examples of companies accidentally losing control
of, or deliberately sharing, customer data.

If Zahra and Ameera set up a customer loyalty scheme, they do not

want to risk a fine or damaging their reputation by putting customer
data at risk. They’ll need to familiarise themselves with local data
protection laws and ensure that their systems are fully compliant.

You can find out more about different data protection laws around
the world at the UNCTAD website.

How do you feel about businesses having information about you?

Add your thoughts to the comments area below.

Said LAINE
1 second
For me, I do not allow any business to have information about me because it is my
privacy and that must be respected.

4.16. The responsibility of success

What does business success look like to you? Do you think
that when a business becomes more successful it must
become more responsible?

This could mean being responsible for the environment, for

customers or for society.

Here is an example of responsibility for data protection: In 2018, the

founder and Chief Executive of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg had to
answer questions about how the wrongful use of Facebook users’
information may have affected elections around the world.

Somehow, less than two decades after designing a computer

program to let college students interact with their classmates,
Zuckerberg was seen by lots of people as responsible for making
sure this information wasn’t used to undermine democracy. An
extreme example, perhaps, of business success being
accompanied by responsibility.
Data protection is just one of the areas in which business success is
accompanied by responsibility. As you will remember from week 1
of this course, successful businesses generate wealth for
individuals, provide jobs and help direct resources towards meeting
the needs of people. But with success comes power. And with
power comes responsibility.

So, what does business success look like to you? Add your
thoughts in the comments area below.

Recap
334 comments

You’ve now nearly completed the fourth and final week of this
course.

We’ve looked at ways in which you might manage yourself, we’ve

considered some aspects of managing money, we’ve looked at
some issues around managing people, and we’ve explored different
aspects of managing information.

Of course, there is more to business than can be covered in four

weeks, but managing these four areas – information, people, money
and yourself – are important skills for every manager.

Before we bring the course to a close, it’s important to reflect one

last time on what you have learned this week. That’s what you’ll do
in the next step.

Said LAINE
1 second
1. The most important and significant thing that I have learned this week is how
growth can be risky. So the importance of information managing.

2. The common thing between the axes is that everything may influence the
business. The type of manager that you are influences your relationship and level
communication with stakeholders, which influences information managing which
influences decisions process and the business growth.

3. I'm still interested in having deeper knowledge about management.

Valeria Dibisceglia
Follow
5 hours
1) What was particularly interesting this week was learning about information
managing and how to manage the business growth.

2) Everything is liked. The type of manager that you are influences your relationship
and level of communication with stakeholders which influences decisions about
information managing, business growth managing, etc.

Where do you go from here?

You’ve now almost reached the end of this course. I hope you’ve
found it stimulating and informative.

As I have said previously, it’s impossible for a short course such as

this to do much more than scratch the surface of certain aspects of
business management. After all, many managers spend years
learning the theories of management at university and decades
putting them into practice in business, and still continue to learn as
the world of business continually evolves.

One of our objectives in creating this course was to help give

learners more confidence in their own ability to manage themselves
and others in whatever business situation they find themselves. I
hope we have gone some way towards achieving that, and I look
forward to reading your comments in the feedback here and in all
the earlier steps of the course. I also hope we have stimulated your
curiosity to find out more about business and management. In the
next step, I provide some links to some online resources you may
want to look at in the coming months and years as you further
develop your business management knowledge and skills.

How do you feel differently about your knowledge of business

compared to when you started the course?

Said LAINE
1 second
It was a helpful and stimulating course! I have learned some useful and interesting
skills and information.
4.20. Other resources
It won’t be a surprise to you that there are almost limitless
online resources to help the student of business. It would be
both impossible and pointless to attempt to list them all for you
here.

However, there are two kinds of resources that I think are important:
business news and business journals. It’s good to read the news,
because business is live, current and ever-changing. Journals are
useful because the research of academics can shine a light on
business activity without the distracting influence of every-day
events.

While the fundamentals of profit and loss and customer-focus may

not change, in almost every other way, business evolves every day.
So, there is no substitute for staying up to date with current
business news. Of course, there are many business news sites, and
only a few are listed below. You will have your own favourites,
depending on your own particular business interests.

Many managers complain that they do not have the time to think
strategically, beyond the end of the current day or week, because
they are too busy dealing with urgent things, and the problems and
details of the here and now. Academics have the luxury of being
able to step back and look at the bigger picture. They share their
findings in the many academic journals devoted to business and
management.

Business News:

Al Jazeera Business

BBC News

Bloomberg

CNN Business
Economist

Financial Times

Wall Street Journal

Business Journals:

Journal of Business Research

Journal of Management