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| 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 |
| "MySpace
Cowboys," pp. 66-74: The intrepid founders of the wildly
successful social-networking site MySpace want you to know that
they are not sell-outs. Sure, they may have sold their company — albeit
reluctantly — to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in July 2005
for a reported $580 million, but that doesn't mean Tom Anderson
and Chris DeWolfe, who have remained with MySpace as president
and CEO, respectively, are ready to retire MySpace's anti-authority
rep. Actually, they're too busy running the world's fastest-growing
website, and that's a lot easier to do with a billionaire sugar
daddy like Murdoch. MySpace's 100 million+ members will soon be
treated to new features such as VoIP capabilities, expanded photo-
and video-storage capacity, e-commerce opportunities, and more "sites
within a site" focusing on news, sports, and fashion. For his part,
Murdoch vows "not to tell [Anderson and DeWolfe] how to run the
site," but that didn't stop him from moving MySpace's headquarters — over
Anderson and DeWolfe's passionate objections — from laid-back
Santa Monica to corporate Beverly Hills. He also plans to use MySpace
as a distribution arm, selling Fox TV shows and movies on the site
and considering content deals with other networks. While there
are some lines the guys swear they will never cross, like doing
pop-up ads or charging bands to promote their music on MySpace,
for now they are making nice with the powers that be. Whether the
marriage endures beyond October 2007, when Anderson and DeWolfe's
contracts expire, remains to be seen. Students take a closer look at the relationship between MySpace entrepreneurs Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe and their corporate parent, News Corp. Discussion Questions:
"The Battle Over Your Aching Back," pp. 101-108: If your back doesn't hurt, consider yourself lucky — at least for now. More than 70 percent of adults will have back pain at some point in their lives. The problem is so pervasive that the World Health Organization declared lower back pain an official epidemic in 2001. With such a huge population to treat, it comes as no surprise that medical technology offers several paths to relief. What is surprising is the complete lack of consensus — and the level of bitterness and resentment — within the medical community as to which path is the best. On one end of the spectrum is conventional surgery, which though still widely performed, has fallen out of favor because of its frequent failure to produce results. On the other end lies an array of controversial pain management techniques involving needles, hypnotherapy, and other alternative treatments that many patients swear by, much to the chagrin of the medical establishment. Somewhere in the middle are chiropractic and other forms of physical therapy, which have finally gained a modicum of respect among M.D.s. Hoping to sort it all out, both for patients and doctors, is Dr. James Weinstein, chairman of the department of Orthopedic Surgery at Dartmouth's Medical Center. His massive six-year, $13.5 million study, dubbed SPORT (Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial), due out in September, is expected to provide some answers — and to have a lasting impact on the vast and complex back-care industry. In this article, students evaluate the pros and cons of treatments designed to treat one of the most ubiquitous human ailments — chronic back pain. Discussion Questions:
"Texas Instruments' Lunatic Fringe," pp. 120-128: Richard Rowland's famed expression about lunatics taking charge of the asylum may just as easily have been coined by a careful observer of Texas Instruments. The folks at TI wouldn't take offense; they call themselves Lunatics with pride. In fact, the mantra of the TI Lunatic Fringe — look everywhere for good ideas first, worry about turning them into products later — has suffused the company for years, and is a big part of its success, past, and present. Senior Lunatic Gene Frantz, also known as TI's principal fellow and business development manager, digital signal processing, spends much of his time trying to identify the "next big thing," which takes him from weekly meetings with TI engineers to one-on-ones with academics, inventors and employees of small tech companies all over the world. Of course, TI has to balance its interest in little-guys-with-big-ideas with the needs of its already big customers. After all, TI chips can be found in Apple iPods, Nokia cellphones, Dell laptops, and Samsung HDTVs, and without that cash flow, Frantz wouldn't get to take nearly as many technology hunting trips. But in a world of rapidly developing, lucrative technologies, TI likely won't lose touch with the Way of the Lunatic anytime soon. As TI's analog chip VP Art George says, "Those four customers in the garage might be the next Apple or Sony or Dell." Students analyze how Texas Instruments' "freewheeling, do-it-yourself ethos" has allowed the company to thrive in the semiconductor business. Discussion Questions:
"Risky Business," pp. 130-138: If the past two hurricane seasons weren't enough to scare homeowners away from the Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard, a new threat may make them wish they lived somewhere else. From Maine to Florida and west to Texas, most major home and commercial insurers, including giants like Allstate, Nationwide and State Farm, are variously increasing premiums, ratcheting up deductibles, narrowing terms of coverage, and turning away new customers. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the 43 percent of the U.S. population who live and do business in these 18 states can expect their insurance rates to rise between 20 to 100 percent over the next year, as compared to 4 percent in the rest of the country. Why the huge increases? Insurers point to migratory patterns and climate change. Americans are increasingly settling in warm coastal areas — precisely the places that get hit with hurricanes from year to year. The hurricanes themselves have changed, too. They're bigger, more destructive and more frequent than in years past, forcing insurers to reconfigure the actuarial formulas they've relied on for so long. Critics claim the industry's new risk models are just an excuse to raise premiums. No matter who you believe, there is little doubt that a large chunk of the country will see its spending power, already eroded by high energy prices, further drained by escalating insurance costs. This article reveals how the powerful insurance industry is changing the rules of engagement with its customers in the wake of two disastrous hurricane seasons. Discussion Questions:
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