Founded by brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger in 2008, the social enterprise, Me to We was established to improve communities and benefit the people around them. Me to We sells socially conscious and environmentally friendly clothes, books and music. As well, providing inspirational speakers, leadership training and transformative travel experiences. The success of Me to We is measured by the number of lives it has impacted rather than how much profit it has made. Additionally, half of its profits is donated to Free The Children.

As learned in Class 20, both Marc and Craig Kielburger are social entrepreneurs. They recognized the variety of social problems society faces and established Me to We, partnering with Free The Children to free children from poverty and exploitation. In the past two years, Me to We has donated over $2 million to Free the Children. Besides supporting a specific target, Me to We also aids in global causes. For instance, Me to We has planted 98,000 trees to offset carbon emissions that are released into the atmosphere. Products wise, Me to We has conserved 11,000 kilograms carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere by constructing its CD cases out of 100% recycled cardboard and vegetable-based dye. As a whole, Me to We demonstrates social entrepreneurship, consisting of two social entrepreneurs with a social mission to impact the lives of differing communities through its abilities to serve a social purpose while encompassing financial stability.

A company I consider to be entrepreneurial is Apple Inc. Based on the reading in preparation for Class 19, Apple Inc. encompasses many of the characteristics entrepreneurial ventures should exhibit.

To begin with, Apple Inc. generates a substantial amount of wealth with profits reaching US$25.922 billion. In such a competitive market, Apple Inc. faces inevitable risks particularly from its greatest competitor, Microsoft. Both multinational corporations compete to provide computer operating systems. Because of such tight competition, Apple runs the risk of making a mistake which could cause the company’s downfall. Apple is also involved in substantial innovations that gives a competitive advantage that results in wealth creation. Besides providing computer operating systems, Apple has developed numerous consumer electronics, including the iPod, iPhone and iPad, which have all been successful in the market. Additionally, Apple consistently improves and updates its electronics software. For example, the iPhone has evolved from it’s first generation to the iPhone 4s, which has received much positive feedback and popularity. As a result, Apple Inc. illustrates a prosperous entrepreneurial company.

Google is not a multinational franchise for no reason. According to Google’s co-founder Larry Paige, Google does not just want the employees to have a great job. The company wants them to have a great life. Therefore, Google provides employees with everything they need to be productive and happy on and off the clock. From observable artifacts to espoused values and enacted values, Google fully satisfies its employees.

Based on my knowledge acquired from Class 16, Google’s success is credited to the company’s organizational  culture. As TeamTopHat illustrates in their blog, the variety of Google offices worldwide are named and decorated with what country they represent. By doing so, Google includes its employees in its organizational culture and reduces absenteeism and employee turnover. Furthermore, TeamTopHat discusses Google’s accommodations to its employees – providing bikes and scooters for easy travel between offices, internet accessibility around campus, multiple cafes providing meals and free access to recreational facilities. With such an organizational culture, Google flourishes as a prosperous company, being one of the most popular search engines on the internet. In my opinion, not only are Google employees passionate about their job, but customers are also contented with the results. Google employees’ satisfaction translates into Google customers’ satisfaction.

In hopes of preserving the Arctic habitat for the many wildlife, particularly polar bears, Coca-Cola has invested in a new multimillion-dollar project promoting awareness about climate change. Coca-Cola proposes to redesign their brand colour from red to white and intend on donating $2 million to World Wildlife Fund over five years as part of the partnership as well as matching as much as $1 million in donations from the public. Furthermore, Coca-Cola will be cooperating with WWF to reduce water use and lower carbon dioxide emissions to green the company and minimize the company’s effects on global warming.

I believe Coca-Cola’s recent proposal is beneficial to not only the environment, but also to the overall company. With green goals in mind, Coca-Cola will flourish as an environmentally friendly company. Thus, environmentally conscious consumers will be more inclined to purchase their products, generating more profit for Coca-Cola. Furthermore, since Coca-Cola is a well-known brand which is recognized worldwide, consumers may also be influenced by the company’s green intentions and follow suit. Referring to Class 14, Coca-Cola achieves sustainability environmentally, socially, an economically. Environmentally, Coca-Cola reduces their carbon footprint, while socially the company opens a market for consumers who are environmentally conscious and together the company achieves economic growth. Coca-Cola enters a green market and has the opportunity to grow and prosper further.

Ecstatic with Blackberry’s exclusive BBM feature? Initially, the idea was appealing. However, recently on Twitter angry users reported renewed issues with their handsets and an inability to send messages and email, which affected Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. RIM, the company in which assembles Blackberrys, claims the problem is due to core and back-up switch failures. Despite apologizing for the inconvenience, users continue to be frustrated as RIM states that they are working to resolve an issue currently impacting some BlackBerry subscribers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and that they are investigating, but without an estimated time frame of when the operating system will be resolved.

Blackberry’s unique feature of BBM indeed attracts many users, but the recent scandal undoubtedly affected the market for current and potential customers. Furthermore, although the Blackberry is considerably favored, the handset faces unyielding competition from the iPhone and Android phones. Without the distinct feature of BBM in Blackberrys, I believe the Blackberry will lose popularity as both the other two operating systems offer more updated apps. Moreover, iPhones running on the iOS 5 system are offered iMessage, which is comparable to BBM on Blackberrys.

Who needs privacy when travelers can avoid the hassle of waiting in line to board the aircraft? James Yue discusses in his blog Obama’s Administration implementation of the “Pre-Check” program which is designed to accommodate American passengers and ease their travels. Long lines are inevitable at airport security checks; however, the American willing to sacrifice their privacy and provide insight into their personal lives to the government will be exempted from the process.

At the Aviation Security World Conference in Amsterdam, a mock-up ‘checkpoint of the future’ has gone on display that simulates the vision of advanced airport security. Passengers are categorized based on the information they provide the government. Although this advancement reduces wait times, there are disadvantages associated with this innovation. Travelers who avoid long security queue board the flight quicker, but have to wait longer on the aircraft for the other passengers to board. Therefore, despite shorter queues, wait times will be equivalent as not all passengers will be comfortable to simply give out their personal data.

Who knew a coffee stain could cease as a T-shirt design? Starbucks takes the initiative and uses the pattern in its latest apparel, bringing fashion on a whole new level. For US$85, consumers may purchase Starbucks’ 40th anniversary T-shirt. It’s been suggested by some that you could just spill coffee on yourself and keep the change.

However, the market is competitive, and as a result retailers are taking risks to get attention. Although Starbucks is well known worldwide, substitutes for Starbucks’ products are inevitable. For instance, consumers may buy coffee at Waves Coffee House or Tim Hortons. Moreover, both these places market similar merchandises, from different size coffees with varying taste to baked goods and breakfast sandwiches. Additionally, Tim Hortons has its own line of accessories and garments comparable to Starbucks’ own production line. In my opinion, Starbucks introduces its coffee stained T-shirt to differentiate its coffee house from the others. Likewise how Starbucks incorporates language in its organizational culture by using Italian labels for various drink sizes – “grande” and “venti” instead of small, medium, and large, the introduction of its coffee-stained T-shirt further distinguishes Starbucks’ brand image and aids Starbucks to hold a distinct place in the market.

Need energy to cram for an exam the night before? The answer is simple: drink Red Bull. Two 355 ml cans of Red Bull Energy Drink contain about the same amount of caffeine as two to three cups of coffee. Thus, it would seem the perfect solution to a sleepless night.

What many students lack to know though is that too much intake of Red Bull could in fact cause an opposite effect. On several occasions, consuming two cans of Red Bull in half an hour on an empty stomach led to two seizures of  an 18-year-old student. Besides the Red Bull, the hospital did not detect any other drug in his system.  He was rather a health teenager as he did not have a record of seizures or head injuries in the past.

In addition to this case, research presented at the American Academy of Neurology reported that four patients between the ages of 19 to 28 suffered seizures after heavy consumption of the drinks. Although Red Bull has its pros to keep students energized and awake, I believe the cons outweigh the benefits. The opportunity cost of consuming Red Bull is the unnecessary health risk. Apart from Red Bull, there are other substitutes for a student to study such as coffee or simply avoid procrastinating.

When I see the numerous GAP stores at various shopping malls in Canada and the United States, I think of a clothes paradise for infants, toddlers and children of all ages. Their window advertisements portray each child’s happiness and blissfulness in their freshly new, clean attire.

However, is this a genuine representation? With reference to Gabriela De Sousa’s blog, after searching the streets of New Delhi, undercover investigators found nothing except sweatshops producing clothing for Gap. If every consumer were to understand and experience the hardship and suffering of the exploited children, I believe consumers would encourage government intervention and aim to minimize their purchases from GAP and invest in a substitute good.

GAP’s decision to enforce child labour in their production of clothes causes the corporation to be susceptible to a range of criticisms that risk their brand image in the market place. Although GAP has the potential to mass produce their products at a low cost, there is, without a doubt, consequences GAP must address. GAP’s continuous use of sweatshops forces them to compromise their brand image as their product line is tainted with children’s misery and their search for better working conditions.

Has the widely known Taiwanese delight encountered the unexpected? For approximately thirty years, DEHP was undetected in Taiwan’s food market because the toxin was not required for testing. However, in late May 2011, Taiwanese health authorities appealed for 168 food processors to recall more than 1 million tainted items, including the country’s renowned bubble tea drink. Recently, manufacturers have been exposed using a plasticizer labelled DEHP, which was commonly found in bubble tea drinks, to enhance pigment in their products. Furthermore, DEHP was used in place of more expensive ingredients.

Despite all the possible health threats Taiwan posed to its nation and neighbouring business partners of oversea countries, manufacturers persistently continued developing products contaminated with DEHP which resulted in the downfall of the economy’s market. In hopes of earning a greater profit, Taiwan’s manufacturers sacrificed their business ethics to release unreliable products to the public. Moreover, because bubble tea drinks are savored worldwide Taiwan’s market is inevitably affected. Nonetheless, the Taiwanese manufacturers’ practices in business ethics are questionable.