You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook.

Millions of smartphone users reveal and save some of their confidential information to their apps in their phones, they share their most intimate secrets such as when they want to work on their belly fat, or the price of the house they checked out last weekend. Other popular apps that most women use know users' body weight, blood pressure, menstrual cycles, and pregnancy status. These apps are used to keep track of their personal life, but aren't as secured as users think they are.

The Wall Street Journal testing reveals how the social-media giant collects a wide range of private data from developers. It is unknown to most people that data is being shared with someone else in this case Facebook Inc. The social-media giant is somehow able to collect users' personal information from different popular smartphone apps after seconds of users entering it, even if the user has no connection to Facebook. It has been proven that many popular apps share information to Facebook such as when the users open the app or sometimes even what they do inside. The Journal tests found at least 11 apps sent Facebook potentially sensitive information about how users behaved or actual data they entered.

Facebook is currently under an inspection from Washington and European regulators for how it treats the information of users and nonusers alike. It has also been fined for allowing now defunct political-data firm Cambridge Analytica illicit access to users' data and has drawn criticism for giving companies special access to user records well after it said it had walled off that information. 

 

The Journal's testing showed that Facebook software collects data from many apps even if no Facebook account is used to log in and if the end user isn't a Facebook member.

Facebook had instructed app developers not to send "health, financial information or other categories of sensitive information" since this not only appears to violate its business terms but its users might also regard as sensitive.

Facebook tells its business partners it uses customer data collected from apps to personalize ads and content on Facebook and to conduct market research, among other things.

I chose this article because I personally use the Flo app, and other health apps so I found it very interesting that these famous apps are sharing our personal information with Facebook. I would never imagine that such popular apps would share users' most confidential information but then again this is how they target people with ads online. 

The article I chose to write about is Papa John's annual sales fall for the first time since 2009. Papa Johns has always been major player in not only the pizza market but also in advertising. Notably one of their biggest advertising platforms was involved in a deal with the Nation Football League. Unfortunately for Papa Johns they lost this deal with the NFL due to an "all out fight with founder John Schnatter"(Armental). After the loss of this deal with the NFL and the turmoil that ensued with the fight with Schnatter Papa Johns' sales fell 12%.

Papa Johns is now taking steps in order to correct the wrongs done by Schnatter and the impacts of losing their deal with the NFL and public retaliation over Schnatter's comments. Schnatter no longer appears on any of the Papa Johns commercials and the company has been making changes to its board as well. The "Starboard Value LP this month disclosed a $200 million investment that included Starboard CEO Jeffery Smith becoming board chairman and Anthony Sanfilippo, former chairman and CEO of casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., also joining Papa Johns board". A statement focused on what Papa Johns believes needs to be done was released by Chief Executive Steve Ritchie stating, "We know we must improve how we communicate with and connect with our customers," "it's not just about spending more on advertisements and promotion"(Mr. Ritchie).

What struck me so much was how much a company was affected by the incidents of one prominent member of the company. With one incident from the face the company, it lost one of, if not its most, promising advertising deals and enraged the public causing the company to take quite a financial spill. This really goes to show how much "people" and the "environment" really do affect a company and its standing. Papa Johns not only has to fix issues outside of the company but also within itself as well.

Works/Picture Cited: Armental, Maria "Papa John's Annual Sales Fall for First Time Since 2009". Business, The Wall Street Journal, Web, 27 February 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/papa-johns-annual-sales-fall-for-first-time-since-2009-11551220166?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=4

Lucas Nguyen

Title of Article: The $2,000 Bendable Phone: Hold ’Em or Fold ’Em?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/smartphone-makers-gamble-that-they-know-when-to-fold-em-11551701247?mod=foesummaries

Time published: March 4, 2019 7:07 a.m. ET

Four C’s:

1.     Company – Samsung

2.     Competitors – Apple, LG, Google, etc.

3.     Customers – anyone looking for a smartphone with multiple uses

4.     Context – Bendable phone offers various tools that can be used in everyday life

S.W.O.T Analysis:

·       Strengths

o   A phone that has a screen that is 2x the size of the regular smartphone

o   Multiple applications that can be used on a daily basis

·       Weaknesses

o   Price

o   Advertising (did not know about phone until doing this assignment)

o   Phone is a little thick

·       Opportunities

o   Expanding to new innovations in the cellular market

o   Reaching out to new customers rather than the usual customer

·       Threats

o   Apple – iPhone

o   Google – Pixel 3

o   LG – G8

Four P’s:

1.     Price – very expensive but sufficient for the type of service you receive

2.     Product – breakthrough in technological innovations

3.     Place – world-wide

4.     Promotion – could have more advertisements on television and social media to promote the product

Tesla Is Betting It Can Sell Cars Online, Without a Test Drive

For over decades, the traditional buying car process was way easier. Consumers simply go out to visit an actual store, request a test drive of their candidate vehicles before making the decision whether purchasing it or not. The progression probably takes few hour or up to a day to complete signing all the legal paperwork required by the State between the seller and buyer. Elon Musk, chief executive at Tesla, Inc. the world famous electric automotive is aiming on selling their cars over the internet without a test drive, planning to shut down the their stores to cut off price on the Model 3 sedan. His move is to take advantage of the online shopping trend to increase their revenue growth in the upcoming year with larger sales. Unlike other brands, Tesla does not sell their cars through any third-party dealers or franchises but instead at their own dealers. According to the article, AutoNation Inc, one of the largest U.S. dealership, has tested the same strategic as Elon’s ideal in the last few years but they had failed because of the complication from signing paperwork during the online purchase transaction. In contrast, Mr. Musk’s decision was based on 78% of Model 3 users that were placed online. As we all know, Tesla is a high tech car brand that would attract mostly majority users such as millennials. They are willing to do the research and comparison about the vehicle before making the purchase, this will not be a problem to worry about.

This article seems interesting because as a consumer, buying a car that worth more than 30 thousand online without observation and physically experience it. It can become a nightmare if the car does not meet our expectation, or causing a time waste going through the paperwork signing process or vehicle registration with state laws. In this article, Tesla is using the strategic of market-directed economy and Elon had studied off their customers point of view based on the majority of their customers online orders in the past year. This strategy can be beneficial to their company by cutting off cost to lower the price on Model 3 but it can also be more riskier by losing their loyal users by decreasing the value of its products.  

Cited/Source:

Higgins, Tim, and Adrienne Roberts. “Tesla Is Betting It Can Sell Cars Online, Without a Test Drive.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 3 Mar. 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-takes-new-road-in-pushing-car-sales-online-only-11551620986?mod=hp_major_pos18.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-takes-new-road-in-pushing-car-sales-online-only-11551620986?mod=hp_major_pos18

Nike Stock Falling After Zion Shoe Bust

Kennard Robinson

February 21st, 2019 @ 1:30pm

Nike stock falling after Zion Williamson’s shoe busts

This blog is about how an uprising college basketball player name Zion Williams hurt himself in a pair of nikes. In which he bust through the side of the shoe and hurt his knee. This kind of thing is going to forever haunt Nike and effect them and there business for some time. From the market fond economic and social. The people are bashing Nike after the incident and its costing Nike money. The shoe giant stock is down 1.44 percent now and keeps on going down. They dropped the price from $84.84 to $83.62 which equates up too over a billion of dollars all because Zion busted out of his shoe. The incident is going to haunt Nike forever because people are going to talk about it forever and they are going to continue to show it forever. It is already all over the internet. With that happening we have other brands trying to make a profit off of the incident and taking shots at Nike like pumas saying “ This would not have happen in pumas.” Chapel Hill Sportswear, making a t shirt with a picture of a shoe and foot saying Blow out with the score of the game on the shirt as well. And that is just the beginning of what is to come many other brands and people will soon start to take their shot at Nike for this incident and it will not stop once so ever. I think its not that big of a deal and Nike should not be the blame for that its life and the game of basketball things happen. Maybe it was just time for some new shoes maybe Zion was too heavy or strong for the shoe just think of it it could be a good thing and bad for Nike. Simply because it showed Nike they need to strengthen up there shoe material so this type of thing will not happen too often and then again it will cost Nike billions of dollars because they would have to drop the price by a little bit because of the comments and social shots fired and things going on after the incident that may haunt them forever.

I found this article interesting because it's about basketball and the market price how one shoe incident can have a major effect on a company in so many ways .

Here is the video:

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1098404362148208640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1098404362148208640&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fkentuckysportsradio.com%2Fbasketball-2%2Fnike-stock-falling-after-zion-williamsons-shoe-busts%2Fhttps://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1098404362148208640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1098404362148208640&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fkentuckysportsradio.com%2Fbasketball-2%2Fnike-stock-falling-after-zion-williamsons-shoe-busts%2F

Link to website:

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/basketball-2/nike-stock-falling-after-zion-williamsons-shoe-busts/

Macy's: Plan on More Disappointment

March 5, 2019

Macy's: Plan on More Disappointment

This WSJ article was written by Elisabeth Winkler on Macy's disappointing future outlook.

This article starts off with a graph, showing Macy's quarterly sales growth for 2017 leading into 2018. This lead into their introduction about how Macy's might seem like they are doing well but that just not the case or at least not lasting. Macy's is on the brink of a panic! Much like sears was. Could Macy's be dying out as well? They are just struggling and have been. This might be the trend for the future as well. They have tried just about everything to stay relevant and keep consumers shopping, such as pop up shops, mobile check out, and virtual reality headsets. All this to no avail. This has made them resort to shrinking some of their stores. 

It has been reported that Macy's revenue has dropped in the previous year. Their sales growth is at .7% which is less than the previous forecast. Macy's now determines their EPS to fall between $3.05 to $3.25, but analysts had told them it would be $3.29! This is what basically caused their panic, because their EPS is NOT what thy were anticipating. This has cause them to find was to boost their profit. which unfortunately means cutting cost and down sizing. As a result, the laid off 100 upper management roles. The stock is already down 18% this year, soon Macy's might find themselves in the same boat as Sears.

I found this article interesting because on the outside Macy's seems to be doing fine but just under the surface they are almost in the red. I think it's important to know certain things like this for your own future and to also take notes from others failures and successes.

Submitted by: Kari Thorn

Article link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/macys-plan-on-more-disappointment-11551196698?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2&ns=prod/accounts-wsj

Article by: Elizabeth Winkler    Feb 26, 2018 10:58 a.m.