This blog post was written in response to a blog post from the Maclean’s Business Blog. In one of the first comm 101 classes we spoke about managerial accounting, and we used WestJet as an example of a company that has a clear management accounting strategy. Their entire fleet consists of one type of plane (Boeing 737), and they fly the majority of their routes within Canada. However, the Calgary based airline recently made public their plan to start flying to Europe, starting with flights between St. John’s and Dublin. They also stated that they’re planning on having more routes in the future between Toronto and other major European cities so they can be more competitive with Air Canada. 

To me this seems like a bad idea because it’s completely separate from their current value proposition of offering good service flights within Canada*. It also means they would have to add larger planes to their fleet if they want to fly longer distances into Europe. Adding another model to their fleet would add heavy costs for training and spare parts. I’m cheering for them, but I doubt they’ll be able to successfully move away from their original low-cost formula.

*They also have routes from Vancouver to Hawaii/Los Angeles.

Sources:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/15/westjet-bound-for-europe/

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/15/westjet-airlines-ltd-announces-first-solo-flights-to-europe/

This is a response to Braeden’s blog post about a new option for affordable housing in Vancouver. Braeden wrote about micro homes being a possible cheaper living in option if bylaws were changed to allow them. The micro homes reminded me of laneway homes: both are smaller homes that are a cheaper alternative.

However, laneway homes are limited to rentals and have some key disadvantages that make me question whether they are a good solution to Vancouver’s housing problem. Since it is up to owners of homes to build and rent out a laneway home, the majority of owners that can afford to are wealthy, and consequently live in more expensive neighbourhoods. Most laneway houses for rent in Vancouver are in the more expensive neighbourhoods so they are creating a cheaper option in an expensive area rather than a cheaper option in a cheaper area. Micro homes could be a better option for Vancouver because people could build them in cheaper areas and they would be more widely available because its up to the buyer to build it so there’s more incentive to build in the cheaper neighbourhoods.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/09/laneway-homes-vancouver-housing-photos_n_2839679.html#slide=2200236

FlyKly, a firm based in New York has come up with a potentially revolutionary innovation for bike commuters called the Smart Wheel. It’s a detachable electric wheel that can be purchased separately from a bike and attached onto almost any bike. The rider sets his or her desired max speed on a smartphone, and attaches in to a holder on the bike’s handle bars. The Smart Wheel has an edge over other electric bikes because it is much cheaper than an electric bike which can range from $1200 to $2000, and also much lighter.A big disadvantage of normal electric bikes is that they are much more difficult than regular bikes to ride manually, the Smart Wheel barely adds any weight to the bike and creates more of a hybrid than anything.  But despite its apparent greatness, I can think of a couple flaws that will hurt its image as a commuter tool.  The first problem is that it requires a smart phone to be on the handlebars while riding, this may not be a problem for sunny days. But it means that it’s unrideable when it rains, contrary to the point of the invention to encourage commuters to ride more frequently and to have less excuses not to. Another problem with the Smart Wheel is that it’s owners may not be willing to leave a relatively expensive piece of technology in public, even with the GPS tracking system. This two flaws lead me to believe that the Smart Wheel might have the opposite of the intended effect, discouraging commuting all season/all location commuting.

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/smart-wheel-flykly_n_4247102.html?utm_hp_ref=small-business&ir=Small+Business

Recently, there has been growing conversation about unpaid internships, and the lack of protection given to the young interns. There is estimated to be between 100 000 and 300 000 unpaid internship positions available in Canada, and because they are all covered under provincial work laws it is very difficult to moderate their rights. However, I think that abusive internship conditions and unpaid internships are completely different issues.

Many companies take on interns even if they ultimately slow things down at times because of the inevitable learning process; internships provide great benefits for the interns, and if they didn’t there would be no unpaid interns. Abusive working conditions for interns is a completely separate issue and should not be related to any talks regarding unpaid interns. Abuse in any working environment, whether paid or unpaid, is bad and needs to be dealt with.  Trying to strengthen the argument that interns are taken advantage of by adding that they are unpaid sends the wrong message, adding pay to an abusive job doesn’t justify the abuse. If interns want to successfully improve their working conditions, they must separate the two arguments.

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/12/unpaid-internships-canada_n_4258865.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business#slide=30414

Creating shared value means creating value for the business while simultaneously improving the community. Lululemon has always presented itself as am advocate of shared value, emphasizing good health and an active lifestyle.  However, recently I’ve been having doubts about what Lululemon’s, specifically Chip Wilson’s, priorities really are.

After coming under fire about their yoga pants being too sheer, Wilson responded by blaming the bodies of the women wearing them.  Lululemon has also been accused of not having any of their larger sizes on display, forcing larger customers to rummage through the back stock to find what they want. It seems to me like Lululemon is confused between appearing active and having the shared value of building an active community. Chip Wilson has a lot of backtracking to do if Lululemon wants to retain its healthy image. I also can’t help but question their claim to sustainability after witnessing the multi-year construction of his 37 million dollar mansion.  The section of their site called “our footprint” feels more ironic than anything knowing that Wilson has the most expensive house in Vancouver.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/06/lululemon-chip-wilson-womens-bodies_n_4228113.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/lululemon-billionaire-ready-to-chip-in-for-vancouver/article4462704/

http://sustainability.lululemon.com/our-footprint/

A sport becomes popular because it is accessible; hockey has always been Canada’s game because primarily because of its cold climate and our wealth of rinks. However, recently hockey has been becoming more and more of an exclusive sport for the rich. According to a confidential survey commissioned by Hockey Canada last year and obtained by The Globe and Mail, “the 1,300 parents surveyed had an average household

Companies like Tim Hortons have programs to support families unable to afford hockey for their kids.

income roughly 15 per cent higher than the national median. The majority listed their occupation as a professional, owner, executive or manager,” a reflection of hockey’s new white-collar base. As fewer kids are able to play hockey, the sample pool for the NHL and Team Canada will get smaller, and the overall quality of play will decrease. If only the rich play, and our national team is no longer as strong as it used to be, hockey’s popularity will decrease substantially.  If the NHL and Hockey Canada want hockey to continue being Canada’s sport, they will have to stop the sport’s shift to exclusiveness. It can’t only be left to programs like Timbits Hockey to make it accessible,  an investment into providing opportunities for kids that normally wouldn’t be able to afford it might be the only way to save hockey’s future in Canada.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/the-great-offside-how-canadian-hockey-is-becoming-a-game-strictly-for-the-rich/article15349723/

You know that feeling after an argument when you  realize what would have been a good response only after it’s too late? Well, here I am.  On October 16th, our comm 101 class had a debate about possible strategies for Netflix to use moving forward. The four options for Netflix were: to continue on buying content, to focus more on their own content, to partner with NBC/ABC, or to partner with YouTube/Google. I joined the team arguing that they should continue to buy content, but I was open to hear the other sides of the argument.  One argument that was brought up incessantly was that Netflix can’t continue to purchase content because it takes too long for them to get movies and the selection is too small. If I could go back in time, I would point out that they were all arguing from personal experience with Canadian Netflix, rather than from knowledge regarding Netflix as a whole. American Netflix serves a much bigger market, and has more than double the titles that Canadian Netflix has. Another argument that was brought up by the team supporting a partnership with YouTube/Google was that YouTube is proven to be successful, and therefore a partnership with them would be low risk. However, Youtube is used by mostly non-paying users. So, what’s the incentive for people to subscribe to Netflix for YouTube when they can already access it for free? Those are just a couple of things I wish I had said in class.

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/06/netflix-canada-best-movies-tv-shows_n_3882581.html

This is a response to Jasper’s blog post about what it takes for a sports franchise to sell.

In his blog post, Jasper concluded that it is essential for sports franchises to win games to be financially successful. I have one thing to say to that: The Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh, and another: The Houston Astros. The Maple Leafs are the most profitable team in the National Hockey League, yet they’ve consistently struggled to make the playoffs for the past decade. They are financially successful because of a number of different other factors such the population size of GTA, the history of the sport in Toronto, and the high income level of the city. The Houston Astros are financially successful for completely different reasons relating more to management. Despite finishing with the 2nd worst record of all time in Major League Baseball, they brought in the highest revenue. A large portion of their revenue comes from a local TV rights deal they signed with Comcast, but they are also economically successful by maintaining the lowest payroll in the league. Although success on the field is helpful for increasing revenue, it is not required for a franchise to be successful off the field.

References:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/forbes-nhl/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2013/09/30/profitable-houston-astros-are-second-worst-team-of-all-time/

Everyone hears about how file sharing is killing entertainment industries, and it makes sense: If there’s an option to simply download an album for free as suppose to purchasing it, or course that’s going to hurt the artist. However, a new British study suggests otherwise. Researchers from the London School of Economics found that file sharing might actually help boost revenues. For about the first ten years after file sharing became widespread, entertainment industries tried to fight it, but it was a losing battle and they lost a lot of revenue.  Now, artists are beginning to embrace media piracy as a form of advertisement, many artists even stream their music for free on sites like Bandcamp and SoundCloud.  Artists’ mentality towards file sharing is shifting from piracy to free advertisement; British communications regulator OfCom found that people who download music illegally also purchased more than people who don’t pirate at all. If this is the case, then perhaps less effort should be put into copyright enforcement regimes by the governments because they may be harming the people they are trying to protect.

As an avid digital pirate for the past 8 years, I completely agree with the researchers that it’s an effective form of advertisement. I’ve been introduced to countless bands that I normally wouldn’t have been introduced to, and consequently, I’ve purchased tickets for concerts and albums to support the band. I’ve also introduced friends to music that I discovered online, and they in turn either downloaded it or purchased it.  As time goes on, this chain continues and the industry makes greater profits than it would have without pirating.

References:

http://www.businessinsider.com/time-warner-ceo-people-pirating-game-of-thrones-is-better-than-an-emmy-for-hbo-2013-8

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/04/digital-piracy-effects-study_n_4039954.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business

Many people have been struggling with the ethical question of how to acquire their music since the creation of Napster, the first music-sharing site, in 1999.  Should one illegally download music online for free, or purchase it outright?

A third option, one rapidly gaining popularity, is to subscribe to satellite and Internet radio services such as Sirius XM and Pandora. These services allow consumers to listen to their music legally without having to spend as much money as they would buying albums on iTunes. However, in light of a recent lawsuit against Sirius XM Radio, satellite and Internet radio services are just as ethically at fault as consumers who download their music through music-sharing sites. Sony, Universal, and Warner sued Sirius XM Radio, saying that the satellite service has been using recordings from before 1972 without permission. This is the third major complaint filed against Sirius XM radio in the past five weeks.

“It is disgraceful, unfair, and probably criminal that Sirius XM is stealing monies due to me and other performing artists,” the singer Judy Collins said in a statement. “Performers should be paid their fair share of the royalties from their songs. ”

The suits against Sirius could have an effect on other radio services including Pandora. Sirius is the largest satellite radio service in North America with over 27 million subscribes who pay $14.49 or more a month. In 2012 the company had $3.4 billion in revenue, only of which about 8 percent goes to royalties for the artists.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/business/media/big-record-labels-file-copyright-suit-against-sirius-xm.html?ref=media&_r=0