Angelica Cabrera

The following entry is a response to Melissa Chau’s blog post “Toms Shoes: Is It the Right Fit?”

TOMS is probably one of the world’s most well-known social entrepreneurship, as it donates a pair of shoes to a child in a third-world country when a customer purchases one of their products. However, Melissa Chau brought up an interesting point: are the consequences of TOMS actions really benefiting these countries in the long run? Chau stated that TOMS competes with local businesses by providing shoes for the poor, negatively affecting the economies of these countries and possibly doing more harm than good.

I agree with Chau’s claim that TOMS short-term help is only creating long-term problems. If you think about it, even in developing countries shoes are available, at a much cheaper cost than what TOMS incurs to ship in their shoes to these countries. However, many people in these countries are too poor to buy them. TOMS may help their situation giving them free shoes, but this is not addressing the bigger problem of the cycle of poverty. Perhaps TOMS could better utilize the profits it makes from its business to support local businesses. This would improve the economies of the area, making the population better equipped to buy shoes from local markets, and create long-lasting change.

Source: Melissa Chau’s Blog

The following entry is a response to Benedicta Chan’s blog post “Facebook + Skype = Video Calling on Facebook Chat”.

Facebook and Skype are partnering up to provide users with free video calling on Facebook Chat. Benedicta Chan, who wrote a blog about the topic, is attracted to the concept and feels that it would be successful because of its convenience for Facebook users.

While I do agree that it does provide an easier way to video call friends without having to use another application, I am still skeptical about the success of this addition to Facebook. Facebook is a social networking utility, but it is primarily used for communicating with people through commenting and wall posts. Facebook does this well, and I consider it one of its core competencies. The other social networking features Facebook offers are not used as much. I recognize that even Facebook Chat, which has been around for a few years, is not used as a first choice for instant messaging. I myself find it unreliable and users still use instant messaging applications like MSN for a more stable service. Integrating video calling into a web browser may lead to the same effect, where it does offer little  beyond a novelty. Therefore, I don’t really know if adding video calling to Facebook will enjoy popularity as users may still be loyal to separate and dedicated applications that can perform the function better.

Source: Benedicta Chan’s Blog

The Walt Disney Company was founded by a well-known entrepreneur, Walt Disney. What makes this company especially entrepreneurial is that the world’s largest media conglomerate, which heavily influenced the field of entertainment in the 20th century, started out as a modest animation company of two brothers.

One aspect that makes this company entrepreneurial is innovation. Disney created many of the world’s most well-known animated cartoons, films, and characters which were all original to the company. Walt Disney was a pioneer in the entertainment industry, being the first to use techniques in movie-making such as creating full-color cartoons and animated films with synchronized audio.

Disney also displayed risk, as in its early years, the business also had to make it through the tough economic times of the Great Depression and World War II. Disney struggled financially during these years, and it was not certain that it would accomplish the success it enjoys today.

Source: Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network