aileen

Recently, I have found an interesting blog titled “living as greenies” written by Akina who attempts to enhance readers’ awareness of environmental protection. His blog makes me recall the concept of sustainability which is talked about in COMM101.

Writing in the “Coca-cola is going green?”, Akina shows that Coca-cola is trying to be a leader in sustainability. This goal can be accomplished by improving water efficiency and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, according to Akina. Doing so ensures both quality and “eco friendly products”. As the firm’s image is linked to sustainability, marketing becomes  word-of mouth, which in return enhances brand recognition. Like Akina says, the purpose of following the trend is to heighten the company’s visibility and thus drive sale.

The behavior of keeping sustainable also fits the definition of business ethics.  When the Coca-cola produces eco product, the firm’s interest as well as the society’s goes to the same direction. Not only does Coca-cola catches more customers’ attention, but the public benefits from the environmental friendly community. Therefore, everyone ends up with a better life.

Writing in the blog, Vanessa Wan claims that blackberry will not be easily borne down because of  the network failure occurred not long ago. She believes that blackberry users still have a faith in RIM. But is this really possible? When looking back the pile of condemnations vented on Twitter by blackberry users, I doubt the firm’s capability to survive in this fierce Smartphone war. Actually, Rim’s technical issues cast a pall on the firm’s image. With negative opinions and harsh criticisms widely spreading, blackberry is bearing excessive pressures with a tendency to lose market share as well as the status to fight against its strong rivals.

Blackberry is doomed to be defeated by its powerful competitors since the company even fails to supervise the producing procedures, and thus results in numerous unqualified products. Furthermore, Rim is steamrolled by Apple on the one side and by Android on the other side, at the same time that blackberry without innovation and plan ahead lacks the ability to  develop a next generation to catch up                                                                

So, I see little hope for the blackberry to keep living in the upcoming future.

 One of my classmate Jeffrey’s blog posts about Canada new polymer banknotes strikes my eyes. Basically, he holds positive attitude towards the release of the new $100 bill in a sense that this new bill is secure, durable, innovative and environmentally friendly. Although I agree with him up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that the new bill should be adopted. Firstly, this high-tech bills cost more to produce. The popularity of the new banknotes cannot be guaranteed after its issue as well because plastic bill is neither easy to fold nor count by hand.

          Jeffrey also claims that polymer banknote is cleaner than paper bill since the new one can be recycled. I concede that the new bill contributes to environment to some extent, but the extremely expensive facilities are needed during the recycling process. If Canada fails to develop such high-skilled infrastructure, the plastic bills finally will be burned, which in return pollute the air.

      Therefore, when considering this is a high-cost structure, I think the adoption of the new polymer banknotes is not a wise choice for the whole country.

       When mentioning Finland, we always think of Nokia. Pekka said nobody could find any other developed industrial economy where one company has played a bigger role than Nokia. Indeed, Nokia, as a backbone, is extremely important to Finland.

         On October 26^th, Nokia launched its long-awaited Windows phone in London, which again  creates a large amount of profits for Nokia and which revises its current sluggish situation . The real reason that supports the company to develop new products to catch up with its competitors should be boiled down to Nokia’s most striking strategy –innovation. Nokia has a positive attitude in regards to situation involving technological development and focuses on the investment in research to grow sustainable business. So when considering its innovation, I think Nokia should be viewed as entrepreneurship even though the company face harship in the short run.

        Why is innovation strong enough to eave Nokia’s situation? Basically, innovation always means new product, new methods, new organization and finally new market.  Developing the new world-class generation based on innovative manner generates more value to the customers, which in return lead to profit. As a result, innovation is equivalent to wealth creation. 

      Finland relies on Nokia because it is the backbone in Finnish economy. Nokia relies on innovation because it brings new hopes to the company.

Resource: Globe and mail

          In contemporary society, more and more companies adopt psychological testing to find out if the employees are suitable for the job . Human resource departments regard this kind of testing as an important recruiting process because through the test, recruitment is highly enhanced and errors in hiring employees are reduced to the minimum.

       Psychological testing fits the definition of positive organizational culture. Like pieces of puzzles shown in the picture, organizational culture consists of every member’s values, beliefs and behaviours. A positive organizational culture also means employees work efficiently and thus provide better products or services. The man who bears a receptive mind when ordered to perform a task which he is interested in may fulfill his job brilliantly. But the malcontent who takes your order in disgust may cause big trouble to the company.  Therefore, a pleasure working environment not only makes employees satisfied with the job but also keeps off mistakes made by the company.  

Resources: globe and mail

    Have you ever tried to turn brownfields to goldfields? Have you ever felt a sense of mission to keep things sustainable? Have you ever redeveloped derelict sites to create more valuable uses?  As a businessman, you should fully aware of the significance of corporate social responsibility and attempt to make brownfield where the soil and water are contaminated by former industrial  turn into a win-win-win situation.  

In the Globe and Mail, Harper is insisting that brownfield redevelopment is a triple win because it not only generates revenue for the company as well as the government(from property taxes), but enhances intangible value for the society. For example, Lana grasp the opportunities to redeveloped a Tannery District with soil contaminated and heavy metals before and finally the refurbished derelict site is occupied by an eclectic group of tenants who are paying premium rents. So, it is clearly seen that Lana as well as the whole society benefit from the redevelopment. 

     Someone with exceptional caution may refute my views since they are not sure if the sustainable action will cost substantially.  I am willing to admit that cleaning up environment mess means unpredictable risks, but most of firms fulfill their missions well with unprecedented revenue. Why is that? The main reason is eco advantage ranges from lowering environmental burden to building trust with consumers, from driving revenue growth to enhancing brand value.  Therefore, brownfield is always a good choice for an investor to build a goldfield.

Resource: Globe and Mail 

          As a tremendous change in economic taken place in China within the past few decades, Chinese solar industry is transformed into the main producer of electricity, possessing the most shares in the international market. With the pressure continuously exerted by Chinese solar industry, American solar power companies are forced to field for bankruptcies. Why would Chinese economy rise rapidly?  Its success can be ascribed to its low-cost structure: low-rates loans , cheap and free land, and extensive tax breaks.

           As we learned in microeconomic course, lower input costs lead to higher supplies. As the supply increases while demand remains constant, solar panel price has plunged sharply. This theory can be applied into this case in a sense that chinese manufactures operating with a low cost  increase the supply and pull down the world-price dramatically. As a result, U.S. solar industry which holds a high producing cost cannot accept this low price and thus fades out gradually. Meanwhile, Chinese solar companies who take advantage of  this low-cost structure still stay in the market. There is no doubt that the endless power of cost advantage is a deadly weapon in the crucial battle.

Reference: New York Times

         Recently, there are no enough people doing both technology and business well enough to match the needs of today’s market. This serious IT situation leads to a great tragedy that a large number of vacant IT positions are vacant while numerous outdated professionals who lack contemporary skills remain unemployed.

            According to the recent research, there is only one Canadian university, Ryerson providing BTM undergraduate degree. Obviously, it is still an age when people ignore the significant effect brought by Business technology management, which connects business and technology at every level in a company. Thus, as the nature of demand for ICT-related skills is changing, thousands of tech geeks are fading and leaving a miserable void in IT area.

           Actually, I think more and more Canadian universities need to offer BTM program to meet the demand of the digital market. Serving as the renaissance of business, BTM sets off a revolution in innovation with the usage of effective information architectures to process management appropriately.

Reference: The Globe And Mail

         Still remembering July 23^rd in 2010, numerous apple loyalists were waiting on a long line outside the apple store for the newest generation iPhone 4. At that time, I was so impressed by the crowded scenery that have never happened before in Canada. One year later, apple attempts to capture customers’ attention again by developing a next generation, iPhone4s, and its release date becomes the hottest topic among Canadian. Why are so many people on the waiting list to scramble for the next generation? That’s because of apple’s successful positioning in the mind of customers. Writing in the book Positioning: The battle for your mind, Ries and Trout emphasize that the easiest way of getting into someone’s mind is to be first. By capturing the “first mover” positioning, iPhone will not worry about being surpassed by the other smart phone.

         When mentioning iPhone, everyone agrees that it is an advanced technology with superior operating system that no phone can triumph over it. There is no doubt that iphone has already been positioned as the most powerful cell phone in this competitive market. First mover with high quality succeeds in controlling customers’ mind to focus on the next generation of iPhone.

Can: “hey bro, how long should you take to deal with your recession?”

Ame: “Why, does it matter to you?”

Can: “Of course, your recession badly restrains my growth. I cannot escape from  your nightmare.”

Ame: “How can I limit your growth? I did not even touch you.”

Can: “I don’t want to admit it, but that’s the fact.”

             The conversation above reveals the relationship between Can and Ame: one’s trouble is strong enough to destroy the its neighbor. Actually, Can represents Canada, whose economic growth is slowly and Ame is the United States, who is experiencing a “downdraft”. Due to their close relationships in international business, Canada’s fate is tied to that of the United States. In other words, the weaken US market adversely affects Canada’s economic growth. As America constantly post threats to Canada, Canada’s consumption, which drives the economy before, remains weak and depressive.

           From the event above, it is clearly that international business drives all members’ interests to the same direction. When one member falls down, the global economy will be forced to is in danger. When the whole environment is at risk, all members have to share the loss. Ultimately, nobody is capable of running away from the dilemma. Therefore, the fates of all members are closely bound up.

Resouece: The Vancouver Sun