You may but don’t need to choose a topic from the list. It will at least serve as a starting point. There are lots of topics that use an individual company as a “foil” for developing an analytic issue. I find articles in Bloomberg BusinessWeek and the Economist helpful; see also the blogs listed on the right, and recent news stories via Del.icio.us
- diamonds: as durable goods: are they forever?
- diamonds and Mothers Day: advertising and the creation of “new traditions”
- iPhone vs Apple: one-product company?
- Superbowl ads and beer: Prisoners Dilemma: Play or lose, yet play and don’t gain
- franchising: how franchisers can abuse
- franchising: how franchisees can abuse
- Microsoft: Office vs Windows: bundling
- Platform models: Betamax
- Platform models: Microsoft vs Apple
- Platform models: gaming systems
- product differentiation: Wendys vs Burger King vs Hardees vs Cookout vs …
- product differential: fashion cycles
- product differentiation: automotive model changes
- durable goods: can there be a monopoly when goods last a long time?
- concerts: how do bands make their money?
- movie theaters: how do they make their money? what does that imply about movie distributor contracts with theaters?
- used cars vs new
- IT and car dealership profits
- business models in “craft” brewing: brewpubs vs microbreweries
- renewable power: cf. Feb 25 Economist: does success kill the industry?
- learning curve and semiconductor “fabs” (manufacturing)
- productivity and jobs: oil drilling
- luxury goods: many and varied topics
- branding and pot