Monthly Archives: October 2014

While the large part of Chilcotin area that the B.C. First Nation is trying to claim as a tribal park is outside of their entitled region, it is not preventing the First Nations from claiming their hunting, fishing, and trapping rights in the region. Even if the First Nations are trying to prevent Taseko Mines Ltd. from constructing a mine that is on land entitled to them from the provincial government, the mine may not be built anyway. This is because the Federal government has denied the company the right to a mine because of contamination of the water and ecosystem. It was Taseko’s original plan to destroy the lake all together.

Taseko should be following closely the environmental section in the PESTLE Analysis. They should be using eco-friendly practices and following pollution laws. It is and should be the government’s first responsibility to protect the environment in Canada, and if a company like Taseko is not willing to respect the environment, they should not be able to build in this region. This brings up ethical issues within the company. It appears that they are willing to sacrifice the environment for profits, which in the 21st century, should no longer be occurring to this extent. Taseko does not need this mine. They have other projects in places like Arizona, for example, and therefore building in B.C. is not a necessity. Unless they can develop a way to mine in the region without disrupting the ecosystem or polluting the environment (which is nearly impossible), then the company should think about the long term effects that their company will have on the region and realize that this is not good business—even though profits can be made.

Read more about the conflict here, on Vancouver Sun’s website.

Image taken from the article above.

Unfortunately the title is slightly misleading. With the release of the Passport, a phone that is clearly focused on business professionals, Blackberry could very well be on the rise to capture themselves a small market share in the smartphones business. However, gone are the days of Research in Motions prime, where it seemed as if everybody on the street had a Curve or Bold. The new Passport is tapping into a market that they “virtually invented in 1998 with the first BlackBerry.” 

Blackberry does not have any resources to actually discredit the smartphone giants like Apple and Samsung (although it seems like Apple is doing a fantastic job of this all by themselves), so they smartly opted to appeal to the business world and establish a niche market who prefer a physical keyboard over a touchscreen keyboard.

While Blackberry has become nearly irrelevant in the past years, their phones still bring major value to the smartphone market. Blackberry phones have always been the most secure on the market, from BBM to acquiring their own email servers to keep people protected. This is one area where Apple is losing customers at the moment, with the leaks of iCloud pictures from celebrities. In addition, many people have switched from Blackberry to Apple in the past and as of late, consumers are not impressed with Apple’s “Bendgate” and software issues. In fact, it could be argued that ever since the passing of Steve Jobs, the company has been declining in the quality and innovation that Apple customers have grown to love.

Blackberry released the Passport at the right time. It has the opportunity to reach out to business professionals and companies that want their information secured, while also developing a niche market out of people transitioning away from other smartphones, like the iPhone for example.

The article referenced in this blog post can be found here.

Image can be found here.

CEO and founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, recently tweeted that Tesla is “unveiling the D and something else.” This tweet and release that has only been speculated about at this point, has brought a substantial amount of publicity to Tesla. It appears to be a step forward in many peoples’ minds, however, this could be a stall by the company in the case that the Model X is behind schedule. While the “something else” is still a complete mystery, the “D” could quite possibly mean a new drivetrain is coming to a new version of a Model S.

If Tesla releases a Model S with all wheel drive (AWD), then the car will become more appealing in colder climates. For example, a Model S with AWD could potentially help the company expand into the rest of Canada with more ease, or even the northern United States. Regardless of what Musk is unveiling, it is certainly good for the business. Since the announcement, Tesla shares have risen approximately 5%.

The way Musk and Tesla has decided to release the news is uncannily similar to the unveiling of Apple products. Usually there is an enormous uproar when Apple is about to announce the release of its latest iPhone, and with excitement comes much speculation and hype towards the company. This is exactly the type of publicity that Tesla needs since they have fallen quiet for quite some time with no new releases since the Model S. Marketing has been a weak point for Tesla previously, however, they could use the momentum they have gained in the past week to launch a marketing campaign that could boost sales as well.

Sources from Forbes, and Will Oremus’ blog (Slate’s senior technology writer)