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In news article in BBC, Timothey Mitchell is interviewed and asked questions about the struggles of turning his technological idea into a business. This article basically ravels all of the problems I, myself, have with starting up a business.

The part of the article I thought was most intriguing was the “Believe” portion. I have had ideas about starting a business, but I always end up thinking to myself that I don’t have the resources and that I will fail. For starters, I’m young and I don’t have any starting capital so starting any business is virtually impossible. Next, I don’t have enough expertise at my current state to manage a business properly. The problems I face persist and I always wish I had the answer. Timothey suggests to assess your current state. He says what would you lose if you were to take the chance. For him it was losing his job at Microsoft to pursue his dream. Now that I look at it this way I feel confident. If I start a small business by myself and I fail I’ll still be in school and probably have to work minimum wage. Not much to lose.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22610889

Universities provide an environment for learning and inspirations ideas. Joy Laskar, an electrical engineering professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, lost his job three years ago due to being accused of using University resources and students for his own personal benefit. Joy Laskar has created a wireless chip that has spiked the interest of companies such as Samsung and Qualcomm. Certainly I have to agree that the main purpose of resources at a university should be used to educate and to help assist students.

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Looking at this case strictly from the Universities perspective, professor Laskar was wrong for using up precious resources that are dedicated for students. However, I believe that having a professor who is making a difference in his society and being entrepreneurial is a motivational factor for students. I am sure that the students that assisted him in his achievement of the wireless chip also learned a lot. From an accounting perspective, the professor was costing the university money for using precious resources allocated to students. However, in a marketing perspective, having a professor who is capable of breaking new ground is his field actually attracts students to want to learn from them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/technology/reaching-for-silicon-valley.html?ref=business&_r=0

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In a recent article in New York Times on “the Challenge of Creating a Unified Organizational Strategy,” it talks about the difficulties of large organizations in unifying the entire business and having no boundaries.

In class we talked about flat and tall business organizations. The advantage of a tall business structure is that you have a high amount of specialization and expertise in each branch, but the flaw with all these branches is that, as described in the article, they form tribes and workers connect with their immediate colleagues. This reduces communication between different sectors of the corporation and can be costly for a business. Accounting not communicating with marketing and so forth. I believe that it is important for companies to have a unified organization. It helps build a strong and valuable corporate culture in which everyone is working with everyone. In class we talked about Zappos and how every worker, regardless of expertise, had to go through a training course. Furthermore, workers work in the same office space and the CEO works in a cornerr desk unit. This new approach to the vertical structure is a great one which breaks down tribes and units all workers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/business/the-challenge-of-creating-a-unified-organizational-strategy.html?_r=0

In a blog by fellow classmate Eric Cho, I have found that I have a much different take on the success of Urthecast. Urthecast is one of the only companies out there that allow viewers, like us, to view the earth from outer space. Outside of private government agencies, the average man doesn’t have access to such technology.

In terms of business, many people are skeptical about how the company will make money by being free. In class the founder of Urthecast mentioned how they could give exclusive rights to cable news companies. I feel that this is an ingenious way to make money. Reflecting upon my own experience of seeing natural disasters on the news, I feel that we only get to see very small glimpses of a natural disaster in news reports. For example in the recent disaster in the Philippines, all the news reports have only shown videos of particular villages and towns. I have always wanted to see the natural disaster as a whole and I believe that Urthecast can cater to my need. This is a point of difference that no news channels has and Urthercast can provide this.

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classmate blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/ericcho/2013/10/27/urthecast-not-many-people-want-to-see-thecast/

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In the blog “Drew’s Marketing Minute”, blogger Drew McLellan discusses the marketing power of direct mail. He argues that many people believed that direct mail would become extinct due to the email, however most of the junk mail that people use to receive in direct mail has transferred over to email.

I have to agree with McLellan that email has significantly replaced direct mail. Sending an email is free and sending a letter requires costly stamps. Also, I agree with McLellan on the notion that if direct mail is executed effectively, it will have positive results. Sending mail to your clients and potential clients offers a more personal approach to advertising. Furthermore, sending direct mail would be a point of difference for your business because many companies are just spamming customers day-after-day with promotions. With this in mind, it should be noted that marketing with direct mail is quite expensive. For small businesses, direct mail would be a costly expense and would only go to their most loyal customers. In terms of marketing this idea is great, but in terms of accounting the budget of the business must be assessed.

http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/

An article in the Vancouver Sun discusses the disapproval of Surrey citizen’s to build a new coal terminal in Surrey. It was mentioned how the coal terminal passed an environmental test, but some experts found it failed to pass basic health tests.

The primary goal for a business is to make profit. At times businesses must ignore certain variables, in this case the health of Surrey citizens and the environment, to gain profit. Having a coal terminal in Surrey will provide more jobs and boost the overall economy in Surrey, but at what cost? Is it worth the health risks to gain money? This would qualify for the environmental and political aspect of the PEST analysis. In terms of environmental, the company faces external pressure to do what is environmentally correct, but if they don’t build a coal terminal they won’t be profiting. The political aspect is legalities with building a coal terminal which include permits and provincial regulations on environmental protection. This is a classic case of corporate responsibility and how, even though they know what they are doing might be wrong, they must make money.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Surrey+coal+terminal+passes+environment+test/9182064/story.html

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I can closely relate to this topic as I have chosen Wind Mobile because they offer unlimited everything at half the cost of Fido. However, a “point of parity” that Fido has is that their reception strength is strong and a “point of differentiation” is free Canada-wide texting.

In response to the co-funder of the Telecom and Technology Consulting Group, Brahm Eiley, who remarked that “If their prices don’t come up, then they’re dead,” I have to disagree. Foreign wireless companies, such as Wind, have increased their original unlimited data plan from $30 to $40. A possible explanation for such low prices is to get phone users to convert. This decision may be a part of a strategy implemented by the “operations” department of a company. I, along with many of my classmates who have switched to Wind, believe that the small inconvenience of not being able to call on the skytrain and in concrete surrounded areas, is an opportunity cost that we don’t mind to endure. I can foresee that once users have converted, increasing plan prices will be the next step in gaining even more profit and market share.

Since a normal phone contract by any major phone company is usually 3 years, foreign wireless companies may have a greater impact on the market in the long term, but as of now, I have to agree that leading phone companies still have significantly greater “supplier power”and companies like Wind Mobile are not a major “threat of substitute.”

Response to Annabelle Chen’s Blog @ https://blogs.ubc.ca/annabellechen/

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Blackberry is suing Kik Interactive, an instant-messaging application which was started by Ted Livingston-a former co-0p student of Blackberry. The reason for this lawsuit is because Mr.Livingston’s Kik app soon surpassed Blackberry’s BBM.

In my opinion, I believe that Blackberry is suing Kik Interactive because they are jealous of their success and are greatly regretting their decision. However, I understand that Blackberry wanted to keep BBM to only blackberry phones because of two reasons. Reason number one is because users who want to use BBM would be forced to buy from Blackberry. Reason number two is because BBM is one of Blackberry’s major “point of differentiation.” Blackberry loses greatly to other companies, such as Samsung and Apple, when it comes to similar points of parity such as; apps, system software and system specifications. In terms of Porter’s Five force analysis, we can see that Blackberry is exercising their “supplier power” by suing Kik and is creating a greater “barrier of entry” for Kik Interactive. Kik Interactive is a major “threat of substitute” because consumers no longer need to buy from Blackberry to have the BBM experience, they can just buy any Android or Apple product.

After this discussion, I feel that Blackberry has three options. One to win the lawsuit with Kik Interactive(unlikely), or, two, to establish a new point of differentiation of their blackberry products(time consuming), and, three, to launch their BBM on all platforms and juice as much out of the market for instant messaging as possible(most likely).

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/mobile/blackberry-kik-interactive-settle-lawsuit-over-instant-messaging-app/article14738696/

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Nowadays, choosing what car to buy may be difficult. Some of us want to save on gas so we go towards fuel efficient cars such as electric vehicles. However, fuel efficiency comes as a cost of performance. Speed fanatics want a bit more horsepower so when they put the pedal to the medal, they get that extra bit of adrenaline pumping through their veins. So, up comes the best of both worlds, a two engine car, also known as a hybrid.

In an article from the New York Times, the new 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid has been receiving complaints from drivers on how the car isn’t meeting its advertised fuel efficiency. The C-Max is expected to achieve 43 miles per gallon in the city and 47 miles per gallon on the highway. To recover a loss in reputation, Ford has sent out $550 dollar cheques to C-Max Hybrid owners. I believe that this payment to owners is a form of crisis management, as the last thing Ford wants is car owners to turn to substitute products from other companies. From this article, I can see potential controversy between the Marketing and Accounting side of Ford. The cheque would help restore Ford’s image which is good for marketing, but is a costly safety procedure from the perspective of Accounting.

In my opinion, I think that it is great that businesses are offering cars that satisfy each unique driver. With the continuously rising gas prices, I believe that Hybrids and even electric vehicles will become more and more popular as time goes by.

source/article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/business/ford-c-max-hybrid-owners-get-rebate-for-disappointing-mileage.html?ref=business&_r=0

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For many lower income families in the United States, sending their children to college is a large investment. Nowadays, many graduates face the problem of paying off their student loans. The solution to this is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. This program is dedicated to paying off student loans for individuals who still have have substantial sums of student loans.

In terms of ethics, I feel that it is too expensive for students to pursue a higher education. Many less-fortunate people are demotivated to pursue a higher education because of the costs that are involved with going to college. If one were to do a cost-benefit analysis, comparing the cost and benefits of going to college and getting a job,  some students would choose a job straight out of high school as being more beneficial. This sacrifice of education, ultimately leads to an uneducated population. This is unethical because everyone should be able to pursue an education. The benefits of this program is that it provides the opportunity for everyone to be educated and have a stable pay working in the public service field. At the end of the day, the government assisted them with student loans and now they are going to give back to the community. It is a win-win situation.

New York Times Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/your-money/relief-from-student-loan-debt-for-public-service-workers.html?ref=your-money