William Liaw’s blog post about Snapchat’s turndown to a $3 billion offer from Facebook got me wondering about the root of Snapchat’s decision, what plans they have to further expand their app, and how they hope to enlarge their customer base.

Snapchat is easily becoming one of Facebook’s greatest competitors because it has an extremely important point of difference that no other social network has. Everything shared self-destructs within 10 seconds so nothing’s left behind. Within two years, more than 350 million images were being shared through Snapchat every day. Surprisingly, Snapchat has not established any means of revenue streams yet. Founders of Snapchat have only begun now to consider charging users for added services and in-app transactions in the future. Whatever their plans are, Snapchat could be taking a huge risk. Social networks, app markets, and the like are rapidly changing and the market for Snapchat could be easily taken away. Not to mention, the idea behind the app could be easily replicated by competitors and on top of that, Snapchat has faced plenty controversies, including its encouraging means for young people to sext and its inability to prevent hackers, makes the foundation of the company’s services rather unstable.

Article: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/the-23yearold-snapchat-cofounder-and-ceo-who-said-no-to-a-3bn-offer-from-facebook-8940433.html

IKEA has long been a leader of socially responsible corporations, turning waste into resources and protecting natural resources. Now they are taking on their next challenge to become a global leader in solar and wind development by planning to become energy independent by 2020. IKEA recently purchased a 20-turbine wind farm in Alberta, which produces more than double the company’s current electricity consumption in Canada, and it has installed 3790 solar panels on three stores’ rooftops in Ontario, allowing the company to produce more renewable energy than they consume. IKEA’s business strategy aims to reduce its carbon footprint and cut costs, improve its logistics, and to provide consumers with low-cost furnishings which save energy, water, and household waste. In addition, IKEA’s building sustainable stores that are 40% more energy and resource efficient, and is working with suppliers of wood and cotton to improve sustainable forestry and agricultural practices.

Having a positive impact on the environment has become increasingly valued. Companies are looking for ways to profit from confronting these environmental challenges. As governments sort out effects of climate change and implement emissions regulations, early investors like IKEA will find long-term revenue streams in these solid financial investments.

Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/ikea-eyes-low-carbon-future-with-alberta-wind-energy-project/article15436596/

IKEA’s Plan: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/about-the-ikea-group/people-and-planet/energy-and-resources/#windfarm

Michael Porter and Mark Kramer’s principle of creating shared value is about making economic value for the benefit of shareholders all while solving social issues. H.J. Heinz makes a great example of shared value in action. Corporate social responsibility is the basis of this company and they’re committed to bringing sustainability to people, the planet, and its company. Since 2001, Heinz’s Micronutrient Campaign have been combatting iron deficiency among infants and children in the developing world by providing vitamin and mineral powders to 15 developing countries as a cost effective treatment for iron deficiency. One child’s micronutrient needs for an entire year can be provided for $1.50. This Heinz initiative combines shared value with incredible social return on investment.

Article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2011/06/14/three-great-examples-of-shared-value-in-action/

Heinz Report:http://www.heinz.com/sustainability/heinz-micronutrient-campaign.aspxv

Big data is becoming a key method to gain value in competitive markets. With the rise of multimedia, social media, and the Internet, the volume and detail of information available to enterprises is exploding. Companies in a variety of sectors including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and advertisement are able to conduct controlled experiments to improve management decisions, forecast sales patterns and likelihood success of new products and promotions. The ability to commercialize users’ information for targeted ads has been crucial for the success of companies like Facebook and Google.

Next to get into the game is Bell Canada who has lately announced its plan to begin gathering customer usage data to sell for ads. This will consist of monitoring Internet activity including the websites and searches customers look into, use of apps, the TV programs they watch, and their calling patterns. There are several issues concerning privacy in the big data world but this is where companies need to find fitting talent and technology to optimize the use of this information. Big data will bring new levels of innovation, competition, and productivity.

Articles: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/28/crystal-ball-of-data-may-soon-help-companies-better-tailor-pricing-policies-and-launches-to-future-events/

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/big_data_the_next_frontier_for_innovation

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bell-data-collection-part-of-disturbing-trend-1.2223949

Summer Liu wrote an interesting snippet about Motorola’s new project that is aiming to produce a phone that will last forever. The concept is to make all parts of the phone interchangeable, allowing customers to customize to their liking and replace individual pieces whenever any component breaks down. With this new product, Motorola could be able to reduce a great deal of waste and the company could become extremely socially responsible.

But there are a lot of disruptive impacts on the company associated with customizable products. For one, this new modular phone concept is a huge investment and Motorola’s variable costs will increase due to added time and technology. This could lead to a very expensive final product and customers may not be willing to pay for these extra costs. Secondly, the complexities may threaten the product’s quality. Thirdly, given that this is a brand new idea that will compete in a broad industry, it’s difficult to forecast the size of its market demand. Computers are easily customizable but very few consumers barely add ram, hard drive space, or upgrade graphics cards. It seems like a neat idea but it may only end up appealing to a small niche group.