Alan Lee's Blog

Motorola is a telecommunication company that has brought about great change into the world through its innovation. Motorola, if some people do not know, was actually the very first company to create a wireless telecommunication device called the Motorola DynaTac. These bulky hunks of machinery are the predecessors of the current slim cell phones, blackberries, and iPhones.

Martin Cooper, the creator of the DynaTac, had solved a problem within society and the issue was that people should be given the freedom to talk to each other whenever and wherever they may be and not be tied down by cords.  This was a new development into the world and with it brought this huge demand for cordless phones because of the convenience it created. This developed a whole new market and has enable society as a whole to advance.

Motorola saw a problem and took a risk as it developed a means to go about creating the first cordless phone. Motorola and Martin Cooper are true entrepreneurs who have innovated the world by developing a unique good.

http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/martin_cooper.htm

Martin Cooper with his invention, the Motorola Dyna Tac

Cebu Pacific has recently sparked my interest. Known as the airline that hosts games and karaoke on its domestic and Asian flights, the new addition to the services include a dance that features airline safety.  Typical airlines just have a boring info session where the flight attendants perform their jobs in unmotivated manner. But Cebu Pacific brings out a more interesting approach by using dance and song, an innovative idea that follows with Cebu Pacific’s style in regards to service. And this event has been captured and uploaded to Youtube.

Cebu Pacific has effectively used the social media.  The company, at least to my knowledge, is the only airline that is appealing to the social media through this manner. This company is being unique and is spreading this word out to the rest of the world by effectively using Youtube as a medium. Their video view count has reached over 6.5 million. If Cebu Pacific was a brand, this would be a good brand positioning move as they are demonstrating to the world how fun and enjoyable their flights can be as they make a clear and distinctive stand in the consumers mind.

The next time I’m thinking about traveling overseas, I plan on looking up Cebu Pacific. I’d rather have a fun time then being bored for countless hours on a flight.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6937562-cebu-pacific-airlines-dancing-flight-attendants-you-tube-hit

As we have discussed in one of our earlier classes, a price war is where companies compete by changing their price in order to obtain customers. Using Lieber Light case as an example, since Vancouver Light is selling their products at a low price, one option of Lieber Light is to endure a price reduction and allow their revenue and profit to drop in order continue to compete in the skylight market.

What are the benefits of a price war?  Continuing on with the Lieber case, there is no benefit for Lieber Light Company. But Vancouver Light is able to bankrupt competitors or sufficiently reduce their competition’s capabilities. The price war here benefits one group while hurting the other group.  However there is a time when everyone can benefit from a price war. The factors that influence it are market and product type.

Business in China is influenced by its culture, norm, traditions, and pride, which are also all factors that have helped lead to their many reverse price wars.  The Liebar Light vs Vancouver Light would be a regular price war, but in China, when someone wants to pull out ahead, all they need to do is increase their price and make it seem that their products are social status boosters. In a country where price and brand represents quality and status, the more expensive a similar good seems, the more beneficial it becomes.

Why is it that when you put a brand on a $20 purse, it can jump up to $2000? Are there humans so tempted to gain status that they try to achieve these means through any cost? It is because of these factors that a reverse price war can exist.

Everyone can win in a reverse price war. This is probably the only time a price war can be beneficial to everyone. The reason is, when one person manages to increase the price for their products, other companies are also allowed to follow suit, as long as the quality of the good is similar and the status boosting ability is the same. Everyone can gain an increase in profit and revenue.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/chinas_reverse_price_wars.html

WestJet Airlines Ltd is looking to expand itself by following through with a new strategy of aligning itself with other airlines through the process called code-sharing. Code-sharing is where an airline sells the seats of another airline under the first airline’s name. By doing this, WestJet can expand into the overseas traveling market. Their first pact is with Cathay Pacific Airlines, but it does not stop there, as WestJet plans to negotiate business with other companies in the up and coming years.  This strategy will help the North American based WestJet to reach out to new target markets, who are seeking to travel to other places besides North America. WestJet is attempting to team up with well known airlines, whose name will help draw in consumer’s interest into using this code-sharing option.

This kind of idea would probably have helped RyanAir.  Instead of making customers pay to go to the washroom, or to get other privileges, RyanAir could have also created code-sharing with other airlines and thus opening up to new markets and being able to charge more on certain flights but still remain relatively cheap in comparison to other airlines.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101004-710637.html

Ever since war came about in history, there has always been scavengers who sought out the spoils of a battle to help benefit themselves. In recent times, merchants of Pakistan are stealing from the American army. Items such as a soldier’s name tag, some oversea mementos, and sets of military gear and medical kits, which were suppose to be sent to the American army, are being looted from convoys and battlefields and sold in the markets of Pakistan. The merchants are making a large profit off of this. They are obtaining highly sought out American goods, which have a relative superior quality, for free. A merchant’s need to provide a living helps to reinforce their minds to forget about morals, in regards to respecting the dead, and to attempt theft. But during these times of war, it is only normal for people to do this.

Humans go through great lengths to survive onto the next day.  What the Pakistan merchants are doing may seem to be wrong, but if we bring down everything to the same level, whenever someone does something, they steal the opportunity away from someone else. An example is that if a person becomes promoted, he/she has stolen that chance from the other co-workers.  Even the American army, who is imposing itself in parts of Pakistan, is taking away the lifestyle of the people of Pakistan. So is stealing, under certain circumstances, more acceptable then normal?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101006/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_nato_loot

Sony’s PS3 will soon release their new creation into the North American Markets,the PS3 Move. But according to this article there are very mixed feelings, http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9I8QD0O0. Similar to the Nintendo’s Wii’s interaction with players, the Move follows upon the Wii’s concept and builds upon Sony’s very own PS2’s Eyetoy. The motion controls are vastly superior to the Wii’s, but it is not perfect, nor are the games up to par with PS3’s capabilities.

My question is, should Sony have taken somebody’ else’s idea in hopes of gaining more profits or stick to what it has been doing?

In my opinion, I believe that Sony should continue on with this project. There is nothing wrong with improving onto current ideas. There have been many cases  in other industries that has done this.

This is a good strategic move for Sony, as it is able to attract other customers. Nintendo currently dominates the motion control market because it is the only one based on this. But as Sony launches the Move, the PS3 can take part  in this market. Considering the superior capabilities of the PS3, Sony will  be able to produce higher quality games and satisfy gamers further.

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