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According to Business Insider, the Commerce Department’s Inspector General concluded that thousands of employees in the federal Patent and Trademark Office scammed taxpayers out of at least $18.3 million, probably a lot more, by falsely claiming nearly 289,000 hours of work they never put in.

Questions:
1. What Act restricts federal officials from comparing multiple datasets to identify misconduct by employees and pursue either criminal or administrative action?
2. What percent of hours claimed by patent examiners were deemed to be fraudulent?
3. Although the article was not specific, what types of controls do you think the report might have recommended?

Source:
Pianin, E. (2016). US patent office employees scammed taxpayers for $18 million. Business insider, Sep. 1 (Retrievable online at http://www.businessinsider.com/us-patent-office-employees-scammed-taxpayers-for-18-million-2016-9)

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A slice of Americana is about to “leave the stage.” For those of you who are too young to remember, Howard Johnson is not an old movie star. It was a bustling restaurant chain across the U.S. Sadly, the last of two remaining Howard Johnson restaurants will close on Sep. 6, making it the end of an era, as well as the end of its fried clam strips, ice cream and other menu staples that nourished baby boomers.

Questions:
1. Before Howard Johnson’s fell on hard times, how many restaurants did it have?
2. How did the chain go from so many restaurants to only one? What business concepts were probably at work to make this happen?
3. Where and when did the chain start?
4. Go to the website dedicated to HoJo’s restaurant history. What was the most remarkable thing you learned about the chain?

Source:
Sharp, D. (2016). Howard Johnson’s restaurant to close, leaving only 1 more. The Washington Post, Aug. 23 (Retrievable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/howard-johnson-restaurant-to-close-leaving-only-1-more/2016/08/23/b501e33e-6962-11e6-91cb-ecb5418830e9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_ap-hojo710p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory)

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Costco started to transition from American Express to Visa as its exclusive credit card partner in June. As a result, delays and confusion have only gotten worse nearly two months later!

Questions:
1. What were some of the biggest problems they faced?
2. Who is the issue of the new Costco Anywhere Visa and what has been their role in the fiasco? Give examples.
3. For the poor transition, what is the suggestion that one Costco customer, Carol Whitaker suggests? Do you agree or disagree that Costco has not done enough to deserve the loyal customers it has kept?
4. In the first three and a half weeks after the transition, what trend in purchases did Costco see? Why is this significant and what is the overall message for the retailer?
5. Why do you think Costco went with a co-branded card rather than a proprietary card?

Source:
Taylor, K. (2016). Costco Dropped AmEx and Now Only Takes Visa. The Result Is a Gigantic Mess. Business Insider, August 24 (Retrievable online at http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2016/08/24/costco_transitioned_from_american_express_to_visa_and_it_did_not_go_smoothly.html)

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According to the Washington Post, the U.S. online retailer, Amazon, will try out teams that log 30-hour work weeks. But here is the catch: employees will receive the same benefits as those putting in 40-hour weeks, but get three-quarters of the pay.

Questions:
1. Will this change be company-wide?
2. Last year the New York times had a story about Amazon. What aspects of the workplace did it cover?
3. In your opinion, will this new program work? Discuss in terms of the advantages and disadvantages for both the company and the worker.
4. Would the plan work for you? Why or why not?

Source:
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE staff. (2016). Amazon reportedly experimenting with 30-hour work weeks for some employees. Raw Story.com, August 26 (Retrievable online at Amazon reportedly experimenting with 30-hour work weeks for some employees).

Amazon Kindle Fire

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Three decades ago, Congress listened to the plight of Americans sick with diseases so rare many people had never heard of them. They were victims of a pharmaceutical market failure — “orphans” ignored by drug companies because, the thinking went, tiny groups of patients would lead to trifling sales.

Questions:
1. What is the Orphan Drug Act and what was it meant to do?
2. How has the situation changed since the passing of this law in 1983?
3. Why do critics and healthcare professionals think that this law has backfired? What is your opinion?
4. If reality is detached from a law’s original rationale, what should be done? Is this a common course of action? Give an example.
5. What other industries other than the pharmaceutical industry would be affected and why?
6. Would you consider some companies to be price gouging as a result? Why or why not?

Source:
Johnson, C. (2016). High prices make once-neglected ‘orphan’ drugs a booming business. The Washington Post, August 4 (Retrievable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/high-prices-make-once-neglected-orphan-drugs-a-booming-business/2016/08/04/539d0968-1e10-11e6-9c81-4be1c14fb8c8_story.html?tid=a_inl)

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Aetna announced this week that it pull a majority of its participation in the insurance exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act. Critics see this as payback to the Obama administration for blocking its proposed merger with Humana. This comes after Aetna CEO, Mark Bertoilini is on record as saying that selling insurance in the exchanges is a good investment.

Questions:
1. What do you see as the most contradicting evidence regarding Aetna’s participation in the exchanges? Discuss. What is your opinion about Aetna’s decision in this story? Political or not?
2. Which U.S. Senators have been vocal about Aetna’s decision to pull out of the exchanges? Could anything have been done to the Act when passed to prevent this? Discuss.
3. Other than accept Aetna’s decision or reverse the position regarding the Humana merger, does the government have any other options? Discuss.
4. Which states will be affected?
5. Have there been any other companies pulling out of the exchanges? Discuss.

Source:
Johnson, C. (2016). Aetna warned it would drop out of Obamacare exchanges if its merger was blocked. The Washington Post, August 17 (Retrievable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/08/17/aetna-warned-it-would-drop-out-of-obamacare-exchanges-if-its-merger-was-blocked/)

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A Manhattan federal jury rejected claims by a former high-flying Wall Street executive that he was in the dark about his dad’s illegal trading of several health care mergers the banker son was privy to.

Questions:
1. What is the maximum sentence that Sean Stewart faces? What is the likely sentence?
2. What amount of money did Robert Stewart (Sean’s dad) make from the insider trades?
3. What evidence did the government counter with after Sean took the stand and told the jury that his father used him, resulting in the loss of his career and reputation?” What piece of evidence was probably most likely to have the entire jury find Sean guilty?
4. What was Robert Stewart’s (Sean’s dad) sentence? What was Robert’s role in Sean’s trial?

Source:
Whitehouse, K. (2016). Blaming dad didn’t help ex-banker accused of insider trading. The New York Post, August 17 (Retrievable online at http://nypost.com/2016/08/17/blaming-dad-didnt-help-ex-banker-accused-of-insider-trading/)
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Unilever is paying $1 billion for Dollar Shave Club, a five-year-old start-up that sells razors and other personal products for men.

Questions:
1. Why does the author of this article say that all companies should be very afraid of this deal?
2. After Michael Dubin’s YouTube ad premiered, what happened in terms of orders and financial changes for the company?
3. What types of changes in technology allowed this company’s distribution apparatus to shift to a nontraditional model and how did these work to propel the firm?

Source:
Solomon, Steven D. (2016). $1 Billion for Dollar Shave Club: Why Every Company Should Worry. The New York Times, July 26 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/business/dealbook/1-billion-for-dollar-shave-club-why-every-company-should-worry.html)

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Yahoo announced, finally, that its core internet business would be sold to Verizon for $4.83 billion in cash.

Questions:
1. What was Yahoo valued at in 2000?
2. Explain some of the forces that led to the end of Yahoo as we know it.
3. Who is the chief executive of Yahoo and how long was this person there?

Source:
Tam, Pui-Wing. (2016).What Goes Up Must Come Down: The End of Yahoo as We Know It. The New York Times, July 26 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/technology/what-goes-up-must-come-down-the-end-of-yahoo-as-we-know-it.html).

Yahoo

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Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, claims that one of his firm’s core operating principles is “radical transparency, regarding employee grievances and concerns. However, according to Stevenson and Goldstein in this New York Times article, at least one Bridgewater employee sees the firm as a “cauldron of fear and intimidation.”

Questions:
1. The employee mentioned in the article filed a complaint against Bridgewater. Who was it filed with?
2. Because secrecy at Bridgewater is so tight, what are employees in some units required to do each morning?
3. Who is James Comey and what is his connection to this story?

Source:
Stevenson, A. and M. Goldstein. At World’s Largest Hedge Fund, Sex, Fear and Video Surveillance. The New York Times, July 26, 2016 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/business/dealbook/bridgewater-associates-hedge-fund-culture-ray-dalio.html).

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