BlackBerry called off the sale with Fairfax Financial and has to afford a 16% loss on the share price.  In its latest quarter BlackBerry lost $965m. This once great phone company has really goes “from bad to worse”.

The result is not totally out of expectation. A numbers of issues have contributed to this falling. First, it is really bad at timing. New products are very important for a company, especially for a phone company which operates in a highly competitive market. BlackBerry kept delaying the release of new product and lost the opportunity to build a consistent and loyal customer base. Second, confronting the challenge from iOS and Android, BlackBerry didn’t adapt the main trend system in time and lost the competitive advantages. Furthermore, more and more powerful competitors have arisen and have been controlling a large share of smartphone market. Those competitors include Apple, Samson and HTC et al.

Even though its apps download hit a new record which is even higher than Apple’s downloads, it is still hard to change the whole situation. Moreover, what should BlackBerry focus on in the future, the quality of phones or apps? Overall, BlackBerry needs an effective long-term strategy to change the present situation.

Resources:http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/23/blackbery-buries-good-news/

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21589445-fallen-star-smartphone-industry-things-go-bad-worse-only-thorns

https://www.google.ca/search?um=1&biw=1366&bih=577&hl=zh-CN&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=blackberry+lost&oq=blackberry+lost&gs_l=img.3..0i24l2.14921.16184.0.16444.5.5.0.0.0.0.46.203.5.5.0….0…1c.1.31.img..0.5.202.L2sJfPhIPCs#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=mHQysrUu3HXCnM%3A%3Bta9LBAmLP07JbM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcdn.techinasia.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F11%252FAndroid-OS-Blackberry-OS-315×236.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.techinasia.com%252Fblackberry-popularity-waning-indonesia-geeks-android%252F%3B315%3B236

Microfinance: Matthias Adler at TEDxRheinMainChange

Microfinance is a type of banking service that is provided to people living in poor area or people who cannot get access to normal financial services. This ensures that poor people can make a small loan which is usually a few hundred dollars to operate their own businesses and pay for their daily budget, healthcare and education with the profit they make.

This idea is especial popular in regions like Africa. The small amount of loans enables women in those poor areas to do their own small business and live a better life. A few hundred dollars loan is already enough for those 40% people who live in poor to make a big change. If they are financially independent, they could teach other people the skills they learned through operating their businesses and make loans to other people. As Matthias Adler says, microfinance is not only a business, but also a business operated with ethics. However, with the development of microfinance industry, there is potential risk that they will target on more reliable customers. Actually, the default rate in microfinance is really low. Therefore, it is important for microfinance to get mature and at the same time still help those who really need financial support.

Resources:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCBzEn6dq10

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/microfinance.asp

http://www.opportunity.org/what-is-microfinance/#.UonT4bKt9hk

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/provide-1000-microloans-for-rural-women-in-east-africa/

https://www.google.ca/search?q=microfinance&bav=on.2,or.&bvm=bv.56643336,d.cGE,pv.xjs.s.en_US.QSuMw9GwAyY.O&biw=1366&bih=577&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=zh-CN&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=4tOJUp7UG6PjiAKF_oGoDA#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=cBDJCiQDKEi0UM%3A%3BcQpjoxeBnpuasM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.globalpovertyproject.com%252Fapp%252Fwebroot%252Fimages%252Fimg_microfinance_diagram.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.globalpovertyproject.com%252Fblog%252Fview%252F472%3B732%3B270

Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, has kept the position of the wealthiest person in the world for years. Starting with an interest in computer, Gates recognized opportunities, raised financial support and build his computer empire step by step.

First, his idea to set up a company started with a desire to explore computer technology. He was addicted to computers when he has the chance to use them at Lakeside school. The first program he wrote in BASIC computer language is tic-tac-toe which allows users to play games against the computer. That happened when he was 13 at Lakeside school. Later, he went into business with his friend Paul Allen and kept his dream of establishing a company till he went to university.

When he was in HarvardUniversity, he found an opportunity and started his real career. He learned about Altair 8800 mini-computer kit from Allen and reckoned that this computer showed a possibility to develop PC (personal computer). Then he dropped from the most famous university and started to work in MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), which invented Altair computer. Later, based on the opportunity they found, Gates and Allen established the initial Micro-soft.

After the partnership was set up, to raise financial support is Gates’ next step to make Micro-soft take off. He made an announcement to computer hobbyists that program writers should be paid for their work. In this way, he had made $2.5 million by 1978 through writing and selling programs. He also made profit by gaining a share from IBC which is a company sold personal computers inserted with his MS-DOS (a computer system he purchased from another company).

The last step is to enlarge his business and explode in the whole world.   In the year of 1985, Micro-soft launched Windows in which users use a mouse to operate the computer through images on screen. After that, Micro-soft has been making a rewarding profit from its Windows series. Over time, the company’s stack keeps increasing in value.

Overall, with his insight, competitive spirit and innovation ability Bill Gates has established his own computer empire after generating and executing the idea, gathering financial support and expanding the business.

Bill Gates Biography – Documentary

Resources:

https://www.google.ca/search?um=1&biw=1366&bih=577&hl=zh-CN&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=bill+gates&oq=bill+&gs_l=img.1.0.0i12j0l3j0i12l2j0l4.2254.3074.0.4687.5.5.0.0.0.0.63.238.5.5.0….0…1c.1.31.img..0.5.238.m5zwaJBDef8#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=iIMP36FN7XfKZM%3A%3Bkfdq7gcCJTfYLM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.popsci.com%252Fsites%252Fpopsci.com%252Ffiles%252Fimages%252F2010%252F01%252FBill%252520Gates.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.popsci.com%252Fcategory%252Ftags%252Fbill-gates%3B2048%3B1664

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIZGDT7ZqdM

http://www.biography.com/people/bill-gates-9307520

What can you tell from Mark Zuckerberg? Of course you can tell things like he is young, he is wealthy or he is smart. But today I want to say about him is that he is a successful entrepreneur.

What is an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is usually regarded as a person who takes risks to organize and start new businesses. It is never easy to become a successful entrepreneur. There are at least a few steps and important issues you have to know before opening a business.

On one hand, there are some common characteristics entrepreneurs usually share. Creativity is one of the most important characteristics. They may also be independent, skillful in problem solving or energetic. On the other hand, they usually have to follow a certain steps to start a business. First, they have to see the opportunity in the market and generate some ideas. Then they have to selecting feasible ideas. Good ideas usually create new values for customers, hold competitive advantages over competitors, and have low exit costs. They also have to consider other factors like culture, government policy, taxes and tariffs, economic growth and economic freedom.

Obviously, it is not easy to start a business. However, entrepreneurs play a very critical role in the society. So educations about entrepreneurship for children are important. BizWorld Foundation is a non-profit organization that teaches children about entrepreneurship. 50,000 children learn about basic business knowledge, critical thinking and other skills in BizWorld.

Resources:http://mashable.com/2013/11/12/bizworld/

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Entrepreneurship.html

https://www.google.ca/search?q=entrepreneurship&biw=1366&bih=577&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AcOJUpDaOoqwiQKs0oGwDw&ved=0CGUQsAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=xymkyp6oRGi4IM%3A%3BoIpVpwxMeDOAUM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.citadel.edu%252Froot%252Fimages%252FBusiness_Administration%252Fentrepreneurship.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.citadel.edu%252Froot%252Fcsb-undergraduate%252Facademic-focus-areas%252Fentrepreneurship%3B900%3B643

“The fundamental goal of performance management is to promote and improve employee effectiveness. It is a continuous process where managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives or goals and his or her overall contribution to the organization.”

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.yourmomhatesthis.com/images/001a3-Performance-Management1.png&imgrefurl=http://www.yourmomhatesthis.com/performance-management/001a3-performance-management/&h=631&w=904&sz=61&tbnid=XCKC2Iv5evMu8M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=129&zoom=1&usg=__zo_HqJLqCf8FVRQS13D7UWo32-U=&docid=i5jULOESb3HQ1M&sa=X&ei=RLqJUqjtFqKNigKplYAo&ved=0CEwQ9QEwAw

A good performance management system should have clear job instruction, well-organized management, effective employee training and good working environment. In order to establish a good performance management system, we have to continuously go through a three stages cycle in which there are plan, monitor and review and evaluate.

In the plan stage, employer and employees have to work together to clarify what the work is, what the employees’ responsibility, what the career development is as well as time frame, production quantity and quality et al. The second stage is more like testing. Employers have to find the obstacles in the work and share feedbacks with employees. Then they have to decide what to do next. In the end, employers and employees have to review the accomplishments that have been done and overlooked issues. Executives have to keep documents for all performance management reports.

Resource: http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/keeping-people-performance-management.cfm

Partnership between business and charity is an important strategy for most of companies.  This is collaborate partnership intend to seek a common value and interest of both the businesses and NGOs while each of the component is looking for its own good. Companies build good image by supporting charities, which strengthen its public influence. Companies also get an easier way to commute with customers since charities are more attractive to the public. On the other hand, charities receive financial support from businesses and would be able to influence behaviors of the companies’ employees and customers, which helps to achieve the purpose of attaining general rights. However, there are also problems with this partnership. Businesses may get “bubble reputation” by donating to charities but receive little financial benefit from it. Charities may confront dilemma situations when they deal with issues involved with their supporting companies. Even though it is hard to achieve an ideal partnership, this is still important and seems necessary for both businesses and NGOs.

Link: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21588853-charities-are-irritating-often-help-companies-do-right-thing-butterfly-effect