Arjun Kochhar's blog

The United Nations believes that if the developing countries need to advance there is a need for social and economic expansion. In my opinion even if the United Nations was fully funded it would be difficult for this organisation to meet needs of all the people around the world, thus the need for social enterprises would exist. Social entrepreneurs are certain individuals who seek to improve the conditions of the society without asking anything in return. If the UN is fully funded, it should pass on some of the funds to such entrepreneurs as I believe they have a better understanding of the society and how it can be improved. In such a way they will be able to work in a larger scale.          

We need programs in different countries to develop the visions of the UN. These programs have the ability to develop what has been started by the UN through educating the public and helping the citizens of their countries. We can see this in the case of the Arc Initiative program launched by the University of British Columbia. The Arc Initiative helps in guiding the social entrepreneurs in less developed countries with strong business advice. It is evident that such smaller programs play a crucial role in terms of development of the society and the country.

References-

“Sauder School of Business.” The Arc Initiative. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative>.

“What Is Social Entrepreneurship?” Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/>.

BC hydro and first nations in the province of British Columbia are having a conflict about the Site C project. The Site C or site C clean energy project will provide the residents of British Columbia with clean and low cost electricity. BC hydro is planning to build the dam at Peace River in northeast British Columbia. Peace River valley is the territory of the first nations and they have complete control over it. Chief Roland Wilson said that BC hydro has to choose between Site C and development of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). He clearly mentioned that they can’t have both. He made it clear that if Site C dam is built the first nations would not support any LNG pipelines.

The chief believes that the construction of the dam would affect the interest of the First Nations. It might lead to flooding as well. I believe that BC hydro should take the first nations ultimatum into consideration and come up with a plan or strategy which will be beneficial to both BC hydro and the First Nations. This is just like another business transaction in which both parties need to cooperate with each other!

Reference-

Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.vancouversun.com/health/First Nations ultimatum Site both/10232794/story.html>.

Moore, Dene. “Site C or LNG: Pick One, Say B.C. First Nations – British Columbia – CBC News.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/site-c-or-lng-pick-one-say-b-c-first-nations-1.2776481>.

Anyone who has been following the news for the last several years knows that there has been an increase in the cost of health care and an increase in the trend of companies providing employees with several benefits such as free health care, food, housing and so on and so forth. We can see this in the case of big tech companies, who provide their employees with free food, on site gyms, free health care etc. The reason being that these companies want to retain the employees in the company by providing them with such benefits.

Walmart used to provide its employees with free health care. But due to rising cost Walmart cut health benefits for workers who work less than 30 hours. I agree with Peter Cappelli that this scheme was facilitated due to the launch of the Affordable Care Act, which helps in getting health insurance easily and cheaply. Walmart in this way will save a lot of labour cost but can also lose a lot of employees by not providing them with benefits.  However I personally believe that Walmart should provide for at least 30% of the health insurance for part time employees, as it will help in reducing the burden of high health cost from employees.

References-

“Google Adds Benefits, Walmart Cuts Them; Oddly, the Logic Is the Same.” Harvard Business Review. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <https://hbr.org/2014/11/google-adds-benefits-walmart-cuts-them-oddly-the-logic-is-the-same>.

The Cut Applies to Part-timers Who Work Fewer than 30 Hours a Week — about 2% of the Company’s U.S. Workforce. “Wal-Mart Cuts Health Benefits for 30,000 Part-timers.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/07/news/economy/walmart-health-benefits/>.

With the launch of the new blackberry smartphone the “Passport” it is clear that Blackberry is trying to regain large market shares. Blackberry enjoyed a good reputation in the market and it had large market shares at one point of time.  But due to increased competition there was a fall in demand and people stopped buying blackberry products. Market shares dropped considerably and blackberry is trying to recover from the fall in market shares ever since.         

My fellow classmate, Richard Wong, believes that Blackberry should resolve the faults that the previous phones had rather than focusing on designing new features and coming up with new models. I am afraid I do not agree with him. Blackberry had to come up with a new model and features in order to compete with other rival firms. The key features of the phone is the wide screen (4.5 inch square screen), keyboard and its focus towards security.

The new blackberry passport has a narrow market segment and it targets business men and women in general. Blackberry is only focusing on 30% of smartphone users. I believe that Blackberry Passport is not competing with Apple or Samsung as it targets a different market segment. The blackberry passport can help Blackberry in bouncing back and regaining its reputation in the market!

References-

Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/24/blackberry-launches-passport-smartphone>.

“BlackBerry’s John Chen on New Passport: Big Screen, Lower Cost than IPhone.” The Globe and Mail. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/blackberrys-chen-on-new-passport-big-screen-lower-cost-than-iphone/article20718050/>.

“Richard Wong’s Blog.” Richard Wongs Blog. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/richardwoong/2014/10/05/45/>.

Today I read a post by my classmate Danny about “Apple Pay”. Apple pay is the newest feature launched by Apple Inc. Apple pay allows the customer to make debit and credit purchases using their IPhone’s and IPad’s.

I totally agree with my fellow classmate that it was a great decision by the company to start with mobile phone transactions. Apple looks to digitize the world through apple pay and replace the credit and debit transactions at ATM’S or credit card terminals. Big retail outlets like Nike, Aeropostale etc. and food joints like Subway, McDonalds have said that they will adopt usage of Apple Pay.

This would help the customers as now they would not have to carry their debit or credit cards everywhere with them. They can make payments easily through their IPhone. Apple pay requires the fingerprint of the owner of the device before making any transaction. This shows that Apple pay is a safe and secure way of making transactions. I personally believe that apple pay is great innovative feature launched by apple and this would change the way transactions take place in the modern world.

References-

“Danny Jung’s Blog.” Danny Jungs Blog. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/djung/2014/10/05/apple-pay/>.

The spread of Ebola disease has not stopped people from flying in the US. People are still travelling in a large scale. Due to the spread of Ebola there has been a decrease in the prices of crude oil. The domestic airlines in US have taken advantage of this situation by increasing their fare. The airline stocks plummeted in the days when the Liberian was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas, with American Airlines share falling nearly 20 percent. Now, with the increase in ticket sales and decrease in price of oil the stocks have rebounded and American airlines is up more than 13 percent. Thus it is clearly visible that the airlines are making huge amount of profits at this time of the year.

However, according to me, at this time the airlines should be more focused on the safety of their passengers and themselves. Airlines act like a carrier for such viruses to different cities and countries.  Airlines can play a role in reducing the spread of Ebola by reducing flights to countries in western Africa and by taking necessary steps to ensure that people are not travelling with Ebola. The airlines should come up with safety schemes as health is more important than money!

References-

Bachman, Justin. “Ebola Fears Haven’t Hampered U.S. Airlines Yet.” Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.

Bachman, Justin. “U.S. Airlines Are Packing Planes and Rolling in Record Profits.” Bloomberg Business 

India has done the impossible by sending a satellite into the orbit around mars in its first attempt. India is the first country, not only in Asia, but the entire world to reach mars at once without failing. India now along with the Soviet Union, USA join the elite club of nations who have successfully carried out space missions to different planets. There have been 51 attempts to reach mars out of which more than half have failed.

According to me the most astonishing feature of this mission to mars was the cost of the mission.  It took India only $74 million to reach mars ($0.11 per kilometre) and it took $100 million to produce the 2013 blockbuster ‘Gravity 3-D’. It is even cheaper than riding an auto rickshaw in India (per km). The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, also praised the scientists and said that they have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and innovation. Thus, we can see that with new and innovative technology there is a decrease in the cost.

References-

1 .Harris, Gardiner. “On a Shoestring, India Sends Orbiter to Mars on Its First Try.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/world/asia/on-a-shoestring-india-sends-orbiter-to-mars.html>.

1. “Mission to mars.” Budget mission. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/24/india-mars-satellite-successfully-enters-orbit>.

Maple leaf sports and entertainment is Canadian company that owns teams like Toronto Maple leafs, Toronto Raptors etc. It also owns Air Canada centre and three digital channels. After Rona withdrew as the official sponsor of MLSE, several other retailers wanted to take its place. But finally, the CEO of MLSE, chose Canadian tire to be the new sponsor of MLSE.

The partnership includes all companies owned within the Canadian tire family of Companies like Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark’s, Partsource, and National Sports etc. I personally believe that this is a great deal because Canadian tire has been an offence in sports over the last couple of years. Canadian Tire also added great new stores to the family like Sport Chek and Pro Hockey life. They also added partners like the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees.

The partnership includes plans for MLSE apparel stores in select Canadian tire stores. For the 2014-15 season Marks will become the official uniform provider MLSE event staff at Air Canada Centre. The partnership will also benefit both charities as they will work together to help more families to get involved in organised sports. Mr. Lewis, the CEO, thinks that he has installed a new level of confidence and urgency in the company.

References:

1. MLSE Announces Partnership With Canadian Tire.” MLSE Announces Partnership With Canadian Tire. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://www.mlse.com/news/mlse_canadiantire_090913.aspx>.

I strongly believe that one should learn to be ethical both in life and in business. If a company practices ethical standards it would enjoy a good reputation in the market. However if a company does not follow ethical standards or fulfil social responsibility, it would tarnish the image of the company in the market.

I would like to cite the example of Nestle Waters Canada. Nestle is a swiss company with its operation in Canada in the state of British Columbia. Nestle got around 265 litres of fresh water from Hope without paying any money. Nestle has its operation in Western Canada where it sells the fresh water from Hope to the residents at $1.19. Thus, the residents have to pay an amount for water, which should actually be free.

I feel that the government of British Columbia should impose taxes and laws for withdrawing water free of cost from their own property and Nestle should also work towards social responsibility and practicing ethical standards.

I would like to conclude by saying that every company should work hard in maintaining a safe and healthy environment by working towards social responsibility and practicing ethical standards.