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

As an investor, you may need to look many companies’ financial statements and compare them with each other to make the best choice.  While you are going through this tedious, boring but critical procedure, you definitely want the work to be easier. But, how?  At least we can keep a standard format for all financial statement, which is GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).  GAAP is a combined standard that determine how to record and report accounting information so that companies can keep a level of consistency and accuracy in financial analyzing.  Though GAAP is a general standard, there are still other specified principles and different companies may have their own flexibilities, especially when they are making an internal used management financial statement.  FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) is another standard based on GAAP and aims to serve in the US.  Therefore, though the standard makes it easier for investors to compare different companied, they still need to scrutinize each statement since companies may use varied methods to count their assets, debt, etc.

Watch the video to know more

Link: GAAP

Resources:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fasb.asp

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gaap.asp

http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/generally-accepted-accounting-principles-gaap/

As we know that financial statement fraud is “the deliberate misrepresentation of the financial condition of an enterprise accomplished through the intentional misstatement or omission of amounts or disclosures in the financial statements in order to deceive financial statement users.”  The temptations to commit this fraud may come from “situational pressure”, “perceived opportunity” and “rationalization”.  One of the most famous fraudulent financial statements is Enron scandal.  Enron was a Houston-based energy and service corporation. In 2000, the executives Kenneth Lay, Andrew Fastow and Jeffrey Skilling made this deadly choice that hides huge debts and reports big potential profits.  This choice shortly boosted the company’s stock price before catching people’s suspicion.  In the end, the company went bankrupt. Stockholders lost about $74 billion and 90,000 employees lost their jobs.  The executives were found guilty and sentenced into prison.  What I can tell is that honesty and business ethics are very important for accountant and company executive.  It is considered irresponsible and inappropriate to pursue self-interest by sacrificing social interest.  Both awareness and management need to be promoted to reduce the chance of fraud happening.

Resources:

https://www.google.ca/search?hl=zh-CN&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=577&q=enron&oq=enron&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i24l8.1547.2920.0.4443.5.5.0.0.0.0.94.305.5.5.0….0…1ac.1.27.img..0.5.304.REF4tS_WADk#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=lrLmJ5NZa-WJKM%3A%3Bxle2AhJm0LiziM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.corpwatch.org%252Fimg%252Foriginal%252Ff-enroncartoon.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.corpwatch.org%252Farticle.php%253Fid%253D7828%3B300%3B300

http://www.accounting-degree.org/scandals/

http://www.mademan.com/mm/enron-scandal-summary.html

        A business plan aims to indicate how a business makes money by creating value for customers. It focuses on a big picture and analyzes the major income generator. A business plan, on the other hand, is a more detailed description and analysis of a business. A business plan is built upon a business model and extend the model by explain specific equipment, employees, marketing strategy and financial budget. When you write a business model, you may use a business model canvas to help to understand building blocks and evaluate the business plan. The canvas contains nine blocks which are customer segments, value proposition, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships and key partners. By analyzing these blocks, you can further build six components (executive summary, company overview, market research, products and services, marketing and sales and financial projections) of our business plan in detail. Of course, you may also want to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of your business, in which a SWOT analysis may needed. In order to successfully launch and manage a business, you have to perfect a sophisticated business plan before put it into action.

Business for Dummies – How to Write a Business Plan?

Resources:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/differences-between-business-plan-business-model-4744.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSCC8WCuaRs

         Basically, business is about making money. But should a business ignore its social responsibility and only focus on achieving its maximum profit? Economist Milton Friedman states that executives of companies are responsible for making the maximum profit while operating their business under regulations, laws and ethical custom. That is saying business ethics is essential for a business and the ethics should concern all stakeholders including employees, suppliers, customers and shareholders as well as the environment and society. As Yena Lee mentions in her Blog (link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/yenalee/) that Nike gets the blame for unethical “labor practices” on children. Such behavior reveals Nike’s irresponsibility for its suppliers and employees. Similarly, the recent Fonterra’s baby formula contamination could be grouped into unethical behavior to customers. Though it may not be Fonterra’s initial intention, the company is still accountable for its carelessness in managing the product security. Unethical business behavior draws an increasing public attention and it will definitely damage a company’s image. While I support that a company should operate under business ethics, one of my concern is to what degree a company is doing enough for it ethical behavior and will business ethics be a burden to companies with the soaring pressure from the public.

Resources:

Fonterra admits baby formula milk contaminated with toxic bacteria:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/05/fonterra-baby-formula-milk-bacteria

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics