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Most recently published stories in Journal.
'Boiler Room' Still Makes Traders Sweat
Revisiting Boiler Room after watching The Wolf of Wall Street is like being lied to after a horrific accident. Both movies are based on Jordan Belfort’s misadventures at the Long Island penny stock scam factor Stratton Oakmont but that’s about where the similarities end. Boiler Room is the movie for those outraged at Wolf’s lack of redemption. It’s the happy ending version of a tale that really has no happy ending. But it still is not too bad, even if their version of Belfort, named Michael Brantley, is played by a mealy-mouthed Tom Everett Scott. He shows up every half hour or so before skulking back to his office. Not a very bad boy compared to Leonardo DiCaprio’s whoring, coke-snorting Belfort. Instead, the focus is on a conscience-stricken junior broker, played by Giovanni Ribisi, who acts as a sort of audience surrogate. In this sense, Boiler Room is rather traditional. No morality here. The really bad guys get punished, and the audience is left feeling righteous.
By Frank White9 years ago in Journal
History of the Michelin Man
The tire industry achieves an average of $32.1 billion in sales annually. Michelin accounts for 12 percent of these sales. Michelin is one of the three largest tire manufacturers in the world, comparable only to Bridgestone and Goodyear. Michelin manufactures tires for space shuttles, aircraft, automobiles, heavy equipment, motorcycles, and bicycles. Their original product was bicycle tires, and the evolution of the company is mirrored within the evolution of its recognizable mascot, the Michelin Man.
By Chelsea Pullano9 years ago in Journal
Why Acquiring 'Star Wars' Was One Of Disney’s Greatest Purchases
From Pixar to Marvel to Star Wars; Disney has acquired some of the biggest businesses in entertainment. Over the last few years, Disney has worked hard to expand its horizon to encompass many different business aspects. By absorbing the companies, as well as their followings, Disney is becoming the pinnacle of many different fan bases in various genres of media and entertainment. The history and success of Disney coupled with the legacy of Lucasfilm set the Star Wars franchise up for the 2012 rebirth while still keeping to the importance of the series. George Lucas gave the world a whole new standard of filmmaking and viewing, and Disney is going to keep those expectations high with The Force Awakens,Rogue One, and more for years to come.
By Isaac Shapiro9 years ago in Journal
How Revlon's Charles Revson Pioneered the Cosmetics Industry
Charles Haskell Revson was an American businessman and philanthropist who is best known as the pioneering cosmetics industry executive who created and managed Revlon through five decades. When Elka, the cosmetics company he worked for, did not promote him to the position of national distributor, Revson decided to go into business for himself.
By Chelsea Pullano9 years ago in Journal
Why Does 'Sex Sell,' and Should It?
It’s no shock that corporate, advertising culture and sex go hand in hand. As the old adage goes, “sex sells,” and it has been doing so for centuries. The Mad Men-esque sex appeal in advertising has been around since the beginning of the field. From billboards to woodcuts, illustrations, posters, signs, and television ads, sex has ingrained itself into our culture. At the beginning, it was typically portrayed in ads for saloons and tobacco, with attractive women naked from the waist up.
By George Gott9 years ago in Journal
'Good to Great' by James C. Collins Book Review
When it comes to running a successful business, particularly a great one, there are more key elements to consider than one would assume. Actually, there are seven, which have been expertly discussed in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. Written by James C. Collins III, a business consultant and lecturer on company sustainability and growth, the book describes how companies can easily make the transition to become better companies. It was written in 2001 and is a compilation of 6,000 articles with more than 2,000 pages of interview scripts collected over a five-year project period. The research was administered by Collins’ team at the management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado that he founded in 1995.
By Frank White9 years ago in Journal
Art + Science = Kaleigh Marielle
Most models love the glamour, travel, and thrill of seeing their pictures everywhere. For Kaleigh Marielle, posing on a beach in a bikini takes her away from what she truly loves – putting on her lab coat and examining viruses. To help pay her exorbitant medical school bills, Kaleigh works in a superficial industry so that she can one day contribute in one of the most meaningful fields possible.
By Natasha Sydor9 years ago in Journal
Is America Great?
Great, the word that describes everything from pyramids to walls. The same word, in fact, that is constantly used to praise our self-proclaimed perfect country. But what truly makes America great? According to the dictionary, the vague word describes something considerably above average. To Donald Trump, it explains what our country used to be and where he plans to bring it. To the rest of us, it’s simply a four-letter adjective that we throw in front of words that need a little extra oomph. Although Jeff Daniels ripped apart our so-called greatest country in the world in the first scene of Aaron Sorkin’s Newsroom, there’s more to being great than a couple statistics. Following the general criteria that is commonly used to rank the countries of the world in terms of “greatness”, let’s find the answer to the insanely complicated question: Is America great?
By Jake Aronskind9 years ago in Journal
Business Documentaries to Watch on Netflix
Epic tales of the rise and fall of our world’s most interesting companies and leaders are told in the best business documentaries to watch on Netflix. The easy and fun streaming service offers anyone with a subscription a huge array of business and tech movies. Films on Steve Jobs, Enron, and Gucci are entertaining and insightful lessons on what it takes to make or break a world-renowned company.
By Emily McCay9 years ago in Journal
The Sega-Nintendo War
Console wars can be an amazing phenomenon for gamers to witness. When two consoles are struggling for dominance of the video game market, both manufacturers will compete to create some of the best system features and highest quality video games ever made. Console wars can also get nasty, as they involve fans who are ultra-passionate about their favorite console and they’ll argue to defend the choice they’ve been spending their money on. That’s exactly what happened in the 1990s when Sega and Nintendo went into a console war. This is the story of the Sega-Nintendo War, one of the greatest business wars of all time.
By Zach Foster9 years ago in Journal
