Monthly Archives: November 2014

The United Nations is a large international organization that has many goals, which include maintaining world peace, developing friendships between nations, helping improve the lives of the impoverished in terms of hunger, illiteracy, rights and freedoms. However their overarching goal is to be a “harmonizing center” for the goals mentioned above. On the other hand, the Arc or in that case, other social enterprises aren’t normally operating at such a huge scale, with the amount of power that the United Nations holds. The smaller scale of Arc and other social enterprises gives the upper hand when coming up with specific achievable goals.

Thus, judging by the difference in size, authority and the varying goals, even if the United Nations was fully funded, we would still need the arc or social enterprises, as they will be able to put a greater emphasis on creating shared value. This is because; at a smaller scale they can arrive at the crux of the problem and find a sustainable way to resolve it. Where as, a large organization like the UN will have many more pressing issues to deal with which may satisfy their organizational goals better and hence, smaller companies going unnoticed.

UN Goals.

Works Cited

“Sauder School of Business.” The Arc Initiative. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative>.

“United Nations Millennium Development Goals.” Youthaward.org |. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.youthaward.org/united-nations-millennium-development-goals>.

“Bodies, History, Visits, Employment, Address, Members, Budget, Information.” UN News Center. UN. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/>.

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According to a recent article, music sales in the US have dropped by 5% in 2014, and instead, downloading and the streaming of music have become much more predominant.

This article highlights several issues upcoming businesses should consider. How can technology hinder and aid them in their industry? If one considers a PEST analysis in understanding a business’s external environment, it is evident that technology does in fact play a large role.

Not only does the article target technology in the external environment, it also largely relates to the “social” aspect of a PEST analysis. The society in recent years has become more “tech-savvy” and this has lead to such a decrease.

Thus, for a firm, it is important not only to consider the internal environment but it’s also critical to understand the external environment in order to ensure business survival.

Music sales decrease as downloading and streaming increase.

Works Cited

Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/3/19/1269026406827/Downloading-bar-001.jpg>.

“PEST Analysis.” PEST Analysis. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/pest/>.

Sisario, Ben. “U.S. Music Sales Drop 5%, as Habits Shift Online.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/business/media/music-sales-drop-5-as-habits-shift-online.html?ref=international>.

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Reading an external blog by Abby Perkins, it was evident that having good customer relationships can provide a huge competitive advantage for businesses.

In the post, Perkins discusses the importance of social media in satisfying customer’s needs. In fact she emphasizes that if a company initiates such customer service, such as providing platforms to customers for direct relationships, the company should pay particular attention to it. This is because she feels that “the only thing worse than not having a social media presence is having one that’s been abandoned.”

For many companies, such customer relationships can even play into the value propositions of the company. An example would be Zappo’s a company that I discussed in previous blog posts.

Other than that, Zappo’s, a company that I have interacted personally with that pays particular attention to customer service is a movie theater branch in Singapore called Golden Village (GV). It uses Facebook as a social media platform for all it’s customers. On their Facebook page one can post questions, concerns or praise that will be responded to instantly. Furthermore, they share pictures of events they have had, advertise fun competitions and their winners in addition to providing benefits for people who have liked their page.

In fact Golden Village in collaboration with Facebook at one point allowed Facebook users to create events directly linked to GV. Meaning that they could invite their friends to this event and through that event the people would be able to vote on the movie timings and days they were available. Hence such methods acting as value propositions.

In conclusion, I feel this blog is a must read for anyone considering a business which requires good customer relationships.

Golden Village celebrating their 20th anniversary.

Works Cited

“Golden Village Celebrate 20th Year Anniversary at GV VivoCity – Hpility SG | Singapore Blogger.” Golden Village Celebrate 20th Year Anniversary at GV VivoCity – Hpility SG | Singapore Blogger. Web. 6 Nov. 2014 <http://hpility.blogspot.ca/2012/05/golden-village-celebrate-20th-year.html>.

“Golden Village Mr Popcorn.” Facebook. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. <https://www.facebook.com/gvmovieclub/timeline>.

Perkins, Abby. “Why You Need Social Media for Customer Support.” Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2014/10/23/social-customer-support/>.

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