Month: September 2012

From being valued at $100 an ounze in the 70’s to becoming almost $3000 an ounze now, gold has become more valuable than money as time goes by. This is caused by consumer’s mentality that gold is one of the highest commodities and “medium of exchange” in our markets. Exchanged throughout the world, gold may seem like just a shiny yellow metal, but it is capable of creating prosperity for nations or causing great depressions for countries. In the article, ‘Gold prices‘, it demonstrates the importance of time towards the growth or fall of money. Linking to our class 6 lecture of time value of money, I was able to find immense interest in this reading due to the fact that I was able to connect the terms of present day and future day value onto the prices of gold. Presently, the buying price of gold is viewed at $1500 to around $1900. On the longer-term uptrend as early as 2014, the market may rise to ‘a stronger rally to $2050-2300 and up to $3000’ (Lynch, 2012). From these numbers and the denotation of the term time value of money, I am for certain that investing in gold will definitely pay-off in the future.

Vancouver pursues regional ban on shark fins

Diversity is something that is not lacking here in Canada. Specifically in Vancouver, there are cultures varying from the Middle-East to parts of Africa. With this immense range of culture comes a flow of inspired entrepreneurs that seek to share their diversity through the form of food. The most dominant cuisine in Vancouver are the Asian restaurants that sell the most-sought after Chinese delicacy, shark’s fin. Commonly used in soups, shark fin is an ingredient that is under a lot of dispute and scrutiny. In this article it states that this highly coveted ingredient will soon be banned for sale. This ban will hurt many Chinese restaurants economically because of the shark fin’s desirability. Aside from decreasing profits, the outlaw of the fin will harm the diverse culture that has been developed for many years. David Chung, a restaurant owner, quoted that “this ban will cause a scar to the harmony of the multiculturalism that has been built up for years” (Orton, 2012). From my prospective being a Chinese-Canadian citizen, I see that this ban will not be good for the restaurant industry and will disrupt the multiculturalism of our community.

Sources: http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://newtech.aurum3.com/im

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/local/2012/09/18/20210866.html

Foxconn’s Business Ethics for Employees

1.2 million workers employed in Foxconn, 12 hours in a typical work day, and 3000 workers Foxconn could hire overnight. These are just some numbers that represent the enormous scale of Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that manufactures over 40% of the world’s electronics.

With substantial numbers of workers, Foxconn is able to benefit by producing more units in less time and maximize on profits with the low costs of labour in China. The biggest disadvantage of this are the workers themselves. Over the past five years there has been a reported 17 deaths caused by suicide jumping. This is due to the poor working conditions and low wages offered at Foxconn.

Analyzing all the factors in this company, I noticed that the main concern of Foxconn’s business ethics are their employees. Foxconn says that they provide a healthy working and living environment, and they put their employees first. In contrast, this undercover worker reports differently, as he proves by the overtime work and still existing suicide threats. Having a reputation as one of the world’s largest companies, Foxconn should invest more money in worker’s salaries and provide a safe and friendly environment for their employees.

Sources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57510975-37/undercover-reporter-details-work-at-foxconns-iphone-plant/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19697344