|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
| Note: The FORTUNE Preview Guide is created in HTML. If you are unable to properly view the cover image, Course Connector, or hyperlinks, please view the online version at http://www.fortuneeducation.com/preview_guides/index.html. |
| COURSE CONNECTOR |
| ARTICLE SUMMARIES AND QUESTIONS |
| "America's
Hippest CEO," pp. 110-122: What corporate CEO can prompt
a deafening roar of adulation from 50,000 hip-hop fans at Giants
Stadium? It's Shawn Carter — better known as Jay-Z — the
latest hip-hop artist to leave behind the microphone for a chair
in the executive suite. As the top man at Def Jam Recordings since
early this year, Carter has immersed himself in planning, budgets,
and promotional deals, all the while maintaining the glamorous
lifestyle of a music superstar. Industry critics have questioned
whether Carter has the experience, temperament, or talent to run
Def Jam's
business, but he certainly has the street cred — 13 top-selling
albums, more than 33 million records sold worldwide, co-founder
of an independent record label and clothing company, namesake for
the fastest-selling sneaker in Reebok's history, and part-owner
of the NBA's New Jersey
Nets. Not bad for a former small-time drug dealer from one of the
worst housing projects in Brooklyn. What remains to be seen is
whether Jay-Z needs to return to the recording studio to give Shawn
Carter the business success he seeks. Students will take a look at how one young entrepreneur aims to lead the hip-hop culture as both an artist and an executive. Discussion Questions:
"The Man with the Golden Gut," pp. 156-172: Could the world's next "Sin City" be a picturesque former Portuguese colony south of Hong Kong? If it's up to Sheldon Adelson, it will be. The shrewd chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a dream of turning Macau — the only place in the Chinese-speaking world where betting is legal — into the biggest, glitziest gambling mecca the world has ever seen. His first order of business was to cut a deal with the Chinese government to erect his so-called "temporary casino," the $265 million Sands, in May 2004. Adelson's already recouped his initial investment from that venture. Next up is his $2 billion Venetian Macau, now under construction. It will boast the world's biggest casino (some 600,000 square feet of gambling space), 3,000 hotel rooms, acres of pools, 850,000 square feet of shopping, a 15,000-seat showroom, and a 1.2-million-square-foot convention center. According to Adelson, it's the best bet he's ever made in his long, illustrious — but largely unheralded — business career. If whatever happens in Macau stays in Macau, he stands to not only make a fortune but also get the industry recognition he craves. This article shows how the same vision that turned a lonely desert town into glitzy Las Vegas could turn Macau into an even bigger gambling capital. Discussion Questions:
"Conquer and Divide," pp. 175-186: Cousins Tom and Nick Pritzker are on a mission — to grow their family business on a tight deadline. As shepherds of the Pritzker family's $15 billion hotel, industrial, finance, and real estate empire, they have their work cut out for them. Four years ago, the 11 Pritzker heirs, torn by internal strains, committed to a ten-year breakup plan that calls for distributing the assets it took four generations of the family more than a century to amass. With what time remains, the Pritzkers are bent on maximizing the family fortune for when the day of reckoning comes. And so, the Pritzkers are focusing their efforts on the crown jewel of the family's holdings, Hyatt. Hyatt has some catching up to do in the lodging market — during the past decade, as the industry consolidated and expanded, Hyatt largely sat on the sidelines. That has begun to change. Hyatt not only has 29 new hotels under development around the world but also has acquired AmeriSuites, a 146-hotel chain now renamed Hyatt Place. The Pritzkers have also undertaken to bring coherence to the four distinct Hyatt brands — Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, and Hyatt Place. While most of their kin are expected to cash out in 2011, Tom and Nick say they're in the hotel business for keeps, as a matter of both family identity and personal passion. Students will learn about a respected but outmoded hotel chain's strategy for becoming a major industry player again — and its prime motivation for doing so. Discussion Questions:
"Buy Florida Land Cheap!" pp. 222-225: St. Joe Co. may have dropped the ball 40 years ago when it rejected a land deal with Walt Disney, but it might be poised to make amends for that blunder — and then some. As owner of more than 800,000 acres of "spectacular" real estate on the Florida Panhandle, St. Joe is capitalizing on the booming Florida real estate market by developing posh beachfront, lakefront, and riverfront communities for retiring baby-boomers. Helming the company is CEO Peter Rummel, former real estate developer for none other than Disney, who brings his experience in creating Disney's planned community, Celebration, Fla., to St. Joe. For the moment, the most immediate obstacle to St. Joe's plans is Mother Nature. The active and destructive 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons have put a dent in demand for gulf-front and near-gulf-front property, and have raised the prospect that flood insurance will become much more expensive and harder to find. But Rummel is banking on homebuyers' short memories and seemingly boundless desire to live by the water to make his new communities lucrative for St. Joe. In this article, students will analyze how companies can shift goals to respond to changing market conditions. Discussion Questions:
|
|
|
The FORTUNE Preview Guide
is a biweekly publication of the FORTUNE Education Program, and
is designed to provide professors with the necessary
resources to use FORTUNE Magazine in the classroom. The FORTUNE Education
Program also invites professors and students to subscribe to FORTUNE
Magazine at more than 85% off the cover price. Visit our Website
at http://www.fortuneeducation.com.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE GUIDE
CHANGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
OPTIONS WHAT DO YOU THINK?
CONTACT US
|
|
© 2005, FORTUNE Education Program Read our Privacy Policy www.fortuneeducation.com |
