United Nations Headquarters. Source: CNN

“If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?”

The United Nations was formed in 1945 to refrain countries to break out into World War II. Many years later, it now stands as a peacekeeping organization,  holds standards in which countries are to keep. Despite being fully funded, the United Nations will still need social entrepreneurship to invent new ways to solve problems that may not exist yet. With social entrepreneurship, they can still look for more efficient ways to operate, or having new technologies developed to create a better quality of service.

The Arc initiative is still beneficial and needed, as companies with newfound business tools and knowledge may help solve problems before they arise. If companies across Africa learn about such tools, they can solve problems within their own communities, and then go on and teach the knowledge they learned from Sauder to kids in school. Like they say, “knowledge is power” and by having such knowledge, the United Nations will benefit in the long run when there are problem solvers in Africa working with them, as simply aiding them will help, but provides no permanent solution.

“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”

Source: http://blogs.concernusa.org

Leonardo Di Caprio in The Wolf of Wall Street. Source: www.wolfofwallstreet.com

“With great power, comes great responsibility”

This quote defines what a great and inspiring leader in today’s corporate dogma, in which according to a Harvard Business Review article, “Power is the Great Motivator“. In the article, David McClelland and David Burnham explains the differences between the aspirations of managers, and is divided into three distinct categories: 1. getting things done, 2. goal achievement, 3. attaining power. The authors explains that the most effective managers in the work place are ones who put attaining power above the rest. They state that those people who sees attaining power responsibly are the most important, are also more team-oriented, and are great motivators to their respective teams, as they know that they can only maintain power through the companies’ successes. These are the people that know who can get the job done, as they know they are not the most capable person to accomplish each task.

Become influencial in the workplace. Source: www.higheredmorning.com

After reading this article, it makes me re-evaluate my motives as a leader in my own community. It changed my perspective on my mentality after learning about the ones of what makes great leaders effective. I agree with this article, as attaining power will allow you to be in a position of to motivate others, and to become the best leader that I can be, as I am thriving to become a positive influence in the future. One can do a lot with power.

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2003/01/power-is-the-great-motivator/ar/1

Marketing through Twitter. Source: www.smackdesign.com

New business start-ups are quite inflexible in terms of financial freedom, as they lack capital as their business is in the maturation process. Marketing for new businesses are tricky, as they cannot afford to pay high prices to promote themselves on high consumer based media outlets. The solution? Twitter. Twitter currently owns the 3rd highest market share for social media, and is a great way to create buzz and keeps possible customers interested in your product or service. Best of all IT IS FREE. Following the simple yet effective flowchart shown above, marketing on Twitter is a low-risk, high reward marketing strategy that can only generate more revenue for your business. Numerous large firms also use Twitter to market, showing the flexibility Twitter has in marketing.

Thinking about becoming a future entrepreneur myself, learning about effective efficient ways to market a growing company will be immensely beneficial to my start up company.  Learning from Jennifer Lonoff Schiff’s blog, “14 Ways to Use Twitter to Market Your Business“, the tips will teach myself and companies to maximize Twitter as a tool for marketing their firm. Having a new-aged marketing strategy is not only refreshing, but it attracts a younger demographic to your good.

Book from Mark W. Schaefer, The Tao of Twitter. Source: www.socialmediaexaminer.com

Sources :

http://www.cio.com/article/2380667/twitter/14-ways-to-use-twitter-to-market-your-business.html

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/twitter-marketing-with-mark-schaefer/

Jordan Belfort from “The Wolf of Wall Street” motivating his workforce. Source: Business Insider

After reading Nathaniel Koloc’s blog, “Let Employees Choose When, Where, and How to Work” from Harvard Business Review, I immediately related the topic of human resource management and work culture discussed back in class. In Koloc’s blog, he discussed the correlation between a workforce with more freedoms to increasing a workforce’s productivity. There was research done by the Wall Street Journal that indicates that firms that allowed employees to work remotely at least three times a month, saw revenue growth of 10% or more. This shows that having a flexible work culture, and knowing how to treat your employees will in fact, generate more revenue for your firm.

The concept of creating a positive work culture relates back to the firm discussed in class – Zappos. Watching the video displaying the work environment in Zappos reminds me of the scene in the movie, “The Wolf of Wall Street” where Jordan Belfort was rallying his workforce and motivating them in an aggressive manner, and showing his employee’s freedoms. With numbers conclusively showing that having the correct work culture for your firm, and knowing how to manage your employees’ freedoms will lead to revenue growth, I am inspired to learn ways to become a better motivator myself, and to learn different techniques to manage a team. This also shows the effectiveness of Zappos’ business model of working as a team, and like they always say: “teamwork makes the dreamwork”.

Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh’s and his theories. Source: University of Houston

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2014/11/let-employees-choose-when-where-and-how-to-work

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/14/happy-feet

Famous sign marking East Van Source: Vancouver Sun

Downtown Eastside Vancouver is a place of poverty and addiction. Being a resident of the East Vancouver myself, I have had a first-hand experience in witnessing the struggles of poverty, alcoholism, addiction, and violence. There are too many people stuck in the poverty cycle down in the Eastside, and there seems like their lives are ruined with no hope, due to poor choices they have made in their lives.

As if there seems like nothing can be done for these people, I read a recent blog post by fellow classmate Bowie Ko, named “Old Skool Cafe“, which talks about a restaurant that specifically employs people who are struggling with addictions and poverty. After learning about these restaurants which provide opportunity and hope towards people in need such as Old Skool Cafe and Save On Meats, I have the utmost respect for establishments witch are trying to provide a positive change in their communities through creating social enterprise with their business models.

Save On Meats has inspired myself to become a social entrepreneur and start an organization starting in my own community to help those in need and to create a business which provides jobs to those on the streets while remaining profitable. I realize the importance of the growth of distraught communities, and it is important to give back to the community which helped raise you.

Save On Meats. Source: Kai Jacobson, The Ubyssey

Sources:

http://ubyssey.ca/culture/dtes-eats-975/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/bowieko/2014/11/04/old-skool-cafe/

Camoson College. Source: www.camosun.ca

Universities and post-secondary institutions around the world are now focusing towards sustainability in their campuses. Camosun College is involved with social entrepreneurship, creating a sustainability plan which features new solar-power charging stations, a solar-powered Environmental Technology field project, rainwater harvesting, and a compost program initiative. This plan will reduce the amount of waste produced on campus and reduce carbon emission levels. Camosun is not yet listed on the STARS rating system (a rating system which measures the sustainability of institutions), however, they are certainly on the right track to receive a respectable rating.

Solar panels implemented at Camosun. Source: www.nexusnewspaper.com

Camosun also understands the business aspect of becoming a sustainable institution. In the article, they stated that having an “environmentally focused business strategy is not only good for the environment, but also good for business”, which integrates into the CSR & Sustainability concepts learned in class. Camosun is creating shared value for their business, by implementing new technologies to create a more energy efficient campus which should reduce electricity costs, and also addresses and meets the needs of economical, social, and environmental factors. Their recent actions shows that they care about humanity, and are looking to continue to innovate for a more sustainable future.

Sources: http://www.nexusnewspaper.com/2014/10/29/environmental-explorations-taking-a-look-at-camosun-colleges-sustainability-initiatives/

The Northern Gateway Project by Enbridge is a controversial project as it affects the First Nations’ lands and riles up environmental concerns. The article “There will be no pipeline” brings up the issue of the pipeline being built by Enbridge, and how it will force the people of the Yinka Dene Alliance to move. The pipeline is scheduled to go through the Nak’azdli lands, which is a sacred and historic piece of land to the First Nations people. The First Nations people are now in control of this project as they state how their aboriginal rights are being violated in this article. This external factor will affect Enbridge’s business model as their business model may need to compromise to the needs of the First Nations and environmentalists.

Enbridge’s project is to create a cost efficient pipeline stretched from Alberta to northern British Columbia. Because of the barriers of entry put up by the First Nations, this will likely force Enbridge to switch costs, perhaps being forced to build around the land of the First Nations, which will not be cost effective. Government regulations put in place to help protect the First Nations’ land will thwart a direct entry through the Nak’azdli lands to the marine terminal in Kitimat, in northern British Columbia. The First Nations and environmentalists’ fight will affect the political and economical factors to their business model.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/first-nations-hold-the-key-to-the-northern-gateway-pipeline/article19213035/

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

In the competitive fast food industry, companies are always looking to maintain an edge. Breakfast has become the highest grossing and fastest growing meal for quick service restaurants, with coffee being the most popular item. McDonalds Canada is announcing their McCafe as a brand of ground coffee beans, which are hitting the shelves of retailers across Canada.

At an attempt to increase market share, McDonalds teamed up with Kraft Foods Group, which is one of the largest packaged food and beverage distributors, to distribute the McCafe brand. The coffee will be accessible in a bag or the ever increasing popular K-Cup form. The expansion into Canada’s coffee industry by McDonalds is a smart choice, as it is a $1.9 billion industry, and its retail is growing 21% in 2013 a year, with the country ranking in one of the top of the world in consumption of coffee.

However, Mcdonalds’ attempt to penetrate into the coffee industry will face a stiff test, with 95% of the market currently being dominated by top brands such as Starbucks and Tim Hortons. McCafe will need to give coffee-lovers a strong reason to switch to the Golden Arches’ brand.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/10/03/mcdonalds-mccafe-to-face-stiff-competition-in-canada/

Elon Musk has always been admired for his ambition, and decision making capabilities. As the current CEO of Tesla Motors and CTO of SpaceX, he envisions a new possibility for mankind: to colonize Mars. No. This is not a mistake. The 43 year old CTO, says that missions to Mars may begin in the mid 2020s with hopes of developing a base beginning with tens of thousands of humans as the first settlers. This idea seems farfetched in numerous ways, as it took SpaceX a decade to even establish a space station of their own. However, this does not falter the ambition of Musk. According to his math, the colonization of Mars with about 1 million people is achievable within a decade.

His vision does not just stops at Mars. Musk, envisions for humans to be in a multi-planet ecosystem, and it all begins with the new economy from Earth to Mars. The first humans to Mars will consist of about 100,000 trips from a giant spaceship from Earth, must pay about $500,000 each to contribute to this project. If SpaceX continues to grow at a linear rate, this could be the start of a new world as we know it.

Sources:

http://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musks-mars-vision-is-bigger-than-you-thought/

In a recent media article concerning about the business ethics regarding food safety, blog posts by fellow classmates Niki Non, and Lingjie Zhou touches on the epidemic of businesses using unethical business models and shortcuts, which endangers public safety to just to increase profits . Are businesses so concerned about saving a few dollars over the fact that people, in particular babies, may die?

This issue is a difficult one to digest as it makes one wonder, what drives businesses to the point where money is valued more than the well-being of a human, or even a human life? The thought of companies making unethical decisions such as using expired meat or using poisonous chemicals in their food disgusts me as mentioned in Niki’s and Lingjie’s blog post disgusts me.

The most recent article that I have linked above discusses the promotion of food safety in the U.S. Although the article focuses on mishandled food in restaurants, I feel that they should also bring to the attention of corporations who uses non-FDA approved chemicals, foods that contain GMO’s and expired foods. The world needs to come to a realization and to take a stand that our safety must be the absolute top priority.

Sources:

Gold Digger

https://blogs.ubc.ca/moirazhou/

http://www.digitaljournal.com/life/health/usa-national-food-safety-month/article/404635