Adarsh Dhatt's blog

I have chosen to discuss the current buzzing issue of whether or not the Enbridge pipeline will be built. Many first nations’ communities (particularly the Nak’azdli) have displayed their strong opposition to the pipeline project. This is in fear of potential oil spills that among other things will tarnish the health of their beloved lands, rivers and much of the wildlife in the area. Despite this external threat to their project, Enbridge has continued to ensure the construction will commence. In this case, much of the company’s benefits that it brings to the communities do not apply to the First Nations as much as it does to the general public as well the stakeholders involved in Enbridge. This external threat is essentially endangering Enbridge’s entire business and all those involved with the project to the point of possibly having to shut it down. This is why Enbridge is actively taking steps to ensure future support of the project from all oppositions. In addition to payouts, they have even taken to making these external threats a part of the company by offering shares. By turning the opposition into partners they are not only gaining the support of those who once opposed them, but are also actively involving them in the company, therefore strengthening their relationships between them. Although this offer is on the table, some groups are firm on their stand that they will not be bought off; to them the lands mean much more to them and they are not willing to put them at risk with such ease. This of course implies that Enbridge will still have a tough road ahead of them as they attempt to attain the support of all opposition.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/There+will+pipeline/10122968/story.html

http://www.enbridgeincomefund.com/Learn-about-ENF/Why-Invest/Our-Value-Proposition.aspx

A new Social media app is emerging, an app that allows instant messaging and live mass group chats, all without the use of either Wi-Fi or cellular connection. This app, Firechat, is labelled as an effective “off the grid” communication system. This messaging is achieved by sending the message, the message then travels using Bluetooth to other Firechat user’s phones and eventually finds its way to the intended user’s phone. In addition to regular chats and chat groups this app allows you to host mass chat groups of up to 10,000 users to share their opinions on topics. This app, although a promising idea, has many flaws. In the growing technological world we live in, nearly everywhere you go there is connectivity available, whether that be through cellular data or Wi-Fi, making the use of this app for the general public to be quite obsolete. The intended use for this app is for when you do not have any connectivity, such as in the wilderness, subway or crowded areas where signals are jammed. However this applies to a very limited use of the application and I do not see it growing into the staple for messaging. However, currently this product has been made useful by the protesters fighting the current issues in Hong Kong. Rumors were heard that cellular connection would be turned off, so protesters began downloading this app to continue conversation regarding the issues (100,000 downloads in 24 hours). Although it is rather successful in this circumstance, that does not give any credibility to future success hypothesis’. This is once again a very limited use of the application as it is a rare circumstance. It is an interesting concept, however, from a business standpoint, for the general public this app serves the same purpose as the countless instant messaging applications already in use.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/firechat-off-the-grid-messaging-app-what-you-need-to-know-1.2784271

Generally the topics of thermostats and their competitive markets has never been a buzzing topic, however in recent years two companies in particular have emerged to change this. They have created incredibly innovative designs and features to make consumers care which thermostat they own. Initially, in 2009, the much smaller company, ecobee created the first Wi-Fi controlled thermostat. This company’s innovation brought the emerging technological era into a product no one generally considers. This idea promoted competition and interested Tony Fadell who started a company called nest (eventually purchased by google) to rival ecobee. Now these two companies are similar to Apple and Samsung in their fight for the best thermostat. ecobee’s latest product is a thermostat with so many features and luxuries that consumers didn’t even know they needed. They have created an extremely sleek and stylish design, while incorporating many features; they have made it made it environmentally friendly, cost efficient for your energy bill, weather forecasts, auto learning and auto timing and many more. In addition they have a smart-phone controlled option to control individual rooms. All of these being specifications not expected from a thermostat; they have taken the thermostat, like Apple took the phone, added countless additional features, and are attempting to revolutionize the market and make it the staple, just as Apple did with the phone. However, with this revolution, there are rivals, Nest has also created a similar product, also with an eye appealing design and loaded with specs. These two companies have introduced a whole new market prime for development, improvement and serious competition over time. They have intelligently connected thermostats, something nearly all residents need and have, to the ever growing digital world we live in. It would not be a surprise if the future of this industry was changed due to these new and promising ideas.

https://store.nest.com/product/thermostat/

https://www.ecobee.com/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

Air France is a very well-known major airline company. Recently a strike, led by the Air France pilots, took place and continued for 14 days until it finally came to an end. Initially the dispute was the workers objection to the new business plan set to take place. The plan entailed outsourcing jobs currently held to other countries with lower taxes and labor costs. In addition, they were also unsatisfied, saying even the current contracts sought for the low-cost carrier’s operations set in France were insufficient. Although the dispute is still unresolved, the workers decided to call off the strike anyway. This strike had a significant impact on all parties involved with Air France; the company lost their revenue streams for the 2 weeks, the company image was tarnished, in addition, it inconvenienced many in France and around the globe who had already purchased their tickets. It was estimated that the walkout cost the company approximately 20 million euros each day it continued. The French state actually owns 16% of the company, so this strike caused a hit for them as well. Air France is one of Europe’s biggest carriers and will surely continue to face the repercussions of this strike even following its end.  This strike took place in an attempt to display their objection to the plan, however when Air France offered to scrap a major aspect of the plan, which entailed shifting many of its European operations to Transavia (a low price, Dutch based airline) they were still not happy. In this case, Air France was attempting to lower costs to eventually increase profits, although from a business standpoint this appears to be a sound decision, however the collateral damage was what angered the employees. At this point the strike is at an end however the issue is still unresolved as the plans to lower costs are still in effect.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/air-france-pilots-end-14-day-strike-1.2780459