Marketing vs. Advertising

By: Jake

A very common misconception in the business field is that marketing and advertising are the same thing. They are not. Here at Michigan State these are two very separate degrees. Marketing is a degree through the college of business where advertising is seen as a communications degree. Essentially the difference is as follows: 

Advertising: A paid message designed to promote products and services to potential customers.

Marketing: The planning and management of how ideas and information become products and services.  

An article that describes the difference well can be found here. One way the article from thebalance.com describes it is that advertising is a very small part of the process of marketing. Marketing encompasses so much more than just product promotion but oftentimes people view them as the same thing. Again I stress, they are not.

Sources:
Lake, Laura. "Key Differences Between Marketing and Advertising." The Balance. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Being Replaced by Robots?

-Steve

In a new report released by PwC, 38% of jobs in the United States are at high risk of being replaced by robots in the near future. However, these numbers differ in different places around the world. For example, 30% of jobs in the United Kingdom and 21% of jobs in Japan are being threatened to be replaced by robots.

There is a very large risk of jobs being replaced by robots in the finance field. In the United States 61% of jobs in the finance sector are at risk, opposed to 32% in the United Kingdom. The reason for this is because most finance jobs in the U.S. take care of simple operations, such as being a bank teller. While in the U.K., their finance sector is more focused on an international level. Such as investment banking, which takes a high level of education and lots of experience.

However, John Hawksworth, PwC's chief economist in the U.K., states "the changing workforce will create more jobs in the future, but they'll likely go to higher skilled workers." (Hawksworth para. 10)
The jobs that are at the least risk of being replaced are jobs in education, health care and social work.

Overall, workers should not freak out about a "robot takeover", but it is very possible in the near future that robots will take away many jobs. One result of this may be that the gap between social classes could grow even larger, which could bring about many issues in society.

Sources:
Petroff, Alanna. "U.S. Workers Face Higher Risk of Being Replaced by Robots. Here's Why." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 24 Mar. 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
Bluestein, Adam. "Robots: Coming to an Office near You." Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 19 June 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

The Battle with Student Debt

-Steve

In today's society one of the biggest financial issues is student debt after graduating from college. It's so large that many people are still paying off their student loans while they are retired. You might ask how do people pay off their loans while in retirement. This is where the government takes money out of your social security and pays off your debt, leaving people with very little funds to get by on.

In 2015, there were approximately 20,000 Americans over the age of 50 that had their social security checks cut below the poverty line because of their student debt (Board, para. 2). Statistics have also shown that the amount of Americans over the age of 60 that still have college debt has quadrupled to 2.8 million since 2005 (Board, para 3).

Also, people aren't just getting into debt because of their own student debt, but because they co-signed on someone else's loan. This results in people not being able to pay for daily living costs.
However, the government does offer income based repayment plans which can be very beneficial for those in very serious student debt and are struggling to stay above the poverty line.

Overall, I believe that the government should offer even better repayment plans and should also better educate the borrowers about taking out loans and the possible results and consequences.

Sources:
Board, Editorial. "Haunted by Student Debt Past Age 50." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.        
Murphy, Nikelle. "5 Reasons Why You Should Not Take Out Student Loans." The Cheat Sheet. The Cheat Sheet, 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Applying to The Business School At MSU

By Zach

If you are reading this blog I am assuming that you are interested in the field of business and you are planning on applying to the Business School at Michigan State University.  Applying to the school of business can be confusing and complicated. That is why I am going to break it down for you. I will be covering most of the qualifications to get in and how you can contact certain people to help you further educate yourself on the application process.

Requirements to apply to Broad College of Business:

Completion of:
-CSE 101
-WRA 101
-MTH 103 or MTH 124
-Completion of 28 credits

GPA Requirements
To be considered into the Broad college you must have a competitive GPA. This means that the average of all your classes needs to be over a 3.0 and the average of the 3 classes mentioned above need to be a 3.0 or above.

Sources/Links to learn more about Admission process:
https://uas.broad.msu.edu/admissions/admissions-information-sessions/

https://uas.broad.msu.edu/advising-student-services/advising/

Asking Questions and Breaking Assumptions

By: Jake
Prompt #1

Before truly researching the field of business many people, including myself, have preconceived notions about business people and the field itself. Some that I have found are:

1. Accounting is the only business major that makes good money
2. Business majors have it easier than everyone else
3. All business majors do in college is drink and party
4. Every business major is greedy
5. Business is not a degree that can be taught
6. The main goal of businesses are to make money
7. Most US workers are members of labor unions
8. Data and information are synonyms
9. Computers are smarter than most managers
10. Farming is not a business
11. There are far more large businesses than small businesses in the United States

Through the library system at Michigan State University I was able obtain "A Practical Introduction to Business" by Koontz and Fulmer. 

This textbook gives an introductory explanation of what the field of business is and addresses common misconceptions of what business is from a very technical and practical aspect. Although this book is outdated (1984), it does give us a very basic understanding of business concepts and misconceptions. 

Before reading any of the textbook, I knew that not all of these preconceptions were accurate. For instance, a simple google search would give light to misconception 1 and inform you that the average supply chain management major makes just as much, if not more than the accounting major. My previous experiences at college have also made me understand that misconceptions 2 and 3 are not completely accurate as well. It is true that business majors' courses are not as intense as those in physical sciences or engineering degrees. But that does not mean we have it "easy." Through talking to alumni and upperclassmen, I have come to understand that even the prerequisite courses for the business college at Michigan State, such as accounting 201 & 202, as well as Marketing 315, can be very challenging classes which test business majors academically. Furthermore, business majors do drink and party a lot. But from my experiences it has been no more than the average college student, including those in intensive degrees. 

Through my professional experiences I was also able to disprove the preconceptions 4 and 5. I have learned many skills through both class and real world applications within business that make me believe that business absolutely can be taught. Furthermore, after working with several State Farm agents in a field that is commonly thought of as greedy, I believe the practice can be one of the most ethical and selfless fields around. It is very true that not every business man or woman is ethical, but 100% of the business professionals have stood out to me as people I would happily do business with because of their morals and beliefs. 

Because of the date of our textbook, along with its basis around practical aspects of business, they chose different preconceptions around the business field as I had previously thought of.  Although I will not go into detail on these topics, it is very interesting to think about these misconceptions and how they are not accurate to business, both in 1984 and today. 

One very interesting part of the book is in section one where it addresses the question: "What Do College Students Want?" It was very interesting to read about how a students desire for involvement and challenge in the business field. Through my experiences at Michigan State, I believe this is very accurate. Business students have been some of the most involved and motivated students I have ever met.

Generally I did think the textbook was a good resource. It was very dated and focused mostly around the technical aspect of the business field, but I enjoyed learning about the content. I was able to find similarities between our topics and it was very interesting that I was able to draw the same conclusions as the authors did back in 1984. 

Sources:
Koontz, Harold, and Robert M. Fulmer. A practical introduction to business. Homewood (Ill.): Richard D. Irwin, 1984. Print.

Defining Supply Chain Management

By: Jake

There are many business majors at Michigan State University. One of the most prominent business major among students is Supply Chain Management. MSU even boasts the number one supply chain program in the world. But before declaring a Supply Chain Management major do you even understand exactly what it is?

Supply Chain Management is a very broad field with many definitions. North Carolina State University published a very interesting article summarizing and giving an overview of the major which can be found here. This article offers a more in-depth look into the major after reading this post. Generally, SCM (supply chain management) is seen as the management of goods and services. This includes purchasing, moving and storage of inventory from where it started until it reaches the consumer. Many people also like to think of it as the "streamlining" of a business. Essentially it is the logistics behind how a business receives, processes, and ships goods and services. 

Among business degrees, supply chain management is the most analytical. It bases heavily on problem-solving and generally requires experience to excel in. In many ways supply chain management is similar to marketing. The key difference between the two is how SCM focuses on how to get the product to consumers where marketing primarily focuses on the ideas behind the product itself and who the product will be sold to. 


Sources:
"What is Supply Chain Management? - Supply Chain Resource Cooperative" North Carolina State University. Supply Chain Resource Cooperative | Poole College of Management | NC State University, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017. 

Works Referenced
"Supply Chain Management - SCM." Investopedia. N.p., 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Good Customer Service Vs. Bad Experience I Had

By Zach

There are many things businesses need to worry about in order to be successful such as: 

accounting, management, distribution, marketing and customer service. Some businesses may overlook the importance of customer service. Customer service helps businesses gain new customers and create loyal customers. When customers are looking to buy a product from a company their first impression of that company is their customer service. Having bad customer service steers away potential customers and hurts your business.

Good customer service practices all of the following strategies:

• "Promptness: Promises for delivery of products must be on time. Delays and cancellations of products should be avoided. 
• Politeness: Politeness is almost a lost art. Saying 'hello,' 'good afternoon,' 'sir', and 'thank you very much' are a part of good customer service. For any business, using good manners is appropriate whether the customer makes a purchase or not. 
• Professionalism: All customers should be treated professionally, which means the use of competence or skill expected of the professional. Professionalism shows the customer they're cared for. 
• Personalization: Using the customer's name is very effective in producing loyalty. Customers like the idea that whom they do business with knows them on a personal level." (McKinney).

I have always appreciated buying products online from companies with good customer service. Recently, i had made a mistake and bought from an online company named Jomashop. Jomashop is a grey market dealer and in short terms this means that they buy products at very discounted prices and still sell them to customers below the market value of that item. Yes, it is legal and to some people very convenient. This also means that Jomashop works at an incredibly small operating value and doesn't invest any of their money into their customer service. I had bought a watch from Jomashop and waited for over a month to receive an e-mail that it was on the way in 3-4 weeks. 

This is a picture of the watch.

I had called them numerous times only to receive a 45 min holding call and then being greeted with a voice message saying that they are busy. After about two months of waiting for a product that i could've received on Amazon in two days, they finally told me it was out of stock and gave me a refund.

Now, from what I just experienced I will never again try buying from this company. Overall, good customer service is essential for a company to be successful.

Sources:

McKinney, Paul. “What Is Customer Service? - Definition, Types & Role in Marketing - Video & Lesson Transcript.” Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-customer-service-definition-types-role-in-marketing.html. Accessed 7 Mar. 2017.

Minimum Wage

Prompt #7

- Steve

In today's society there has been a very large discrepancy whether to raise the minimum wage or not. However, there are various arguments to both sides.

Some arguments for increasing the minimum wage are that in the US the minimum wage is 31 percent lower than the average hourly wage of a non-supervisory worker (Roos para 3). Another argument is that if you were to adjust minimum wage for inflation, the value of todays minimum wage is the lowest its been since 1952 (Roos para. 3) A third argument for increasing minimum wage is that minimum wage is not a livable wage. For example, in Washington D.C., one must earn $13.68 an hour to be able to support themselves, that's without a child, with a child that number jumps to $26.37 (Glink para 1).

On the other hand, there are various arguments on reasons to why minimum wage should stay the same. One argument is that the real reason for minimum wage is that so the worker has a set value that is set by the government. However, the workers real value should be tested by going into an open market and see the potential of what he or she is able to receive. Another argument is that increasing the minimum wage will increase inflation. If businesses have to increase how much they are paying their employees then they will bump their prices of their goods up to make up for how much more the employees are getting paid. This is called cost-push inflation (Roos para. 4). Lastly, an increase in minimum wage would also increase unemployment because small businesses would not be able to pay all their employees a higher salary. Resulting in employees getting laid off.

Overall, there are dozens of arguments for both sides. These are only a few, but whether you are against or in favor of raising the minimum wage, that is up to you to decide.

Sources
Glink, Ilyce. "A Minimum Wage, but Not Much of a Living." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 14 Nov. 2013. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-minimum-wage-but-not-much-of-a-living/. 02 Mar. 2017.
Roos, Dave. "How Minimum Wage Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 18 May 2009. http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/budgeting/minimum-wage4.htm. 02 Mar. 2017.
French, Doug. "Minimum Wage, Maximum Stupidity." International Man. N.p., 29 June 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Defining Marketing

By: Jake 

Marketing is a very broad career, and not everyone knows exactly what marketing is. Generally people associate marketing with advertising, which is not always true and does not accurately represent the field itself. 

Marketing is defined as the management concept through which goods move from ideas to customers. Based on this definition marketing is an extremely broad subject. Even images of the search "marketing" show how broad of a field it really is. A few of these are shown below.

But there are subsections of marketing that break it down to more manageable sections. These are listed and described in full here. 

Overall yes, marketing is extremely broad. But once you determine what your passion is within the field it becomes extremely manageable. 



Works Cited

"Marketing." BusinessDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.