Glamorous Business

It is quite common for different social aspects like culture and communication to follow the nature of the economy, and in terms of globalization this is very much the case.  The amount of international trade has nearly quadrupled from 1993 to 2009 due to various factors of globalization including increased flexibility in international capital flows, liberalization of trade, transportation advances, technological developments, and communications integration.  This means that some traditional economic behaviour is becoming extinct while new opportunities arise.  William Polushin, the founding director of the Program for International Competitiveness at McGill University, argues that Canada has typically enjoyed a very favourable situation, being blessed with an abundance of natural resources while being situated directly above the world’s largest consumer in the United States.  Now that labour is internationally available and large businesses are becoming globally integrated, this situation is no longer quite so permanent or lucrative.  In fact, it could end up being harmful because Canadian businesses may have gotten lazy from enjoying decades of such a desirable situation.  The big challenge in the coming years is for Canada to seize new opportunities and move away from things that no longer work.

Fine, Sean. “Can Canada Handle Global Commerce?” The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/can-canada-handle-global-commerc/article1787677/

I have always been interested in business and economics, but another one of my passions is hockey.  I like the sport but I also like the business of hockey, both in terms of the salary cap (and team building) and in terms of making it work as a profitable business.  The NHL is an odd league in that some of the teams absolutely gush cash while others lose staggering amounts every year.  Teams like the Nashville Predators and the Phoenix Coyotes struggle to sell tickets, and it is not uncommon for a struggling team to lose between 10 and 20 million dollars USD in a single year.  That is why I was interested to read that the Minnesota Wild, a team that has sold-out their home games a staggering 409 times in a row, actually lost approximately $2 million USD last year.  Another interested dimension to this story is that Minnesota had a hockey team before, the Minnesota North Stars, but the team was sold to a new owner who moved the team to Dallas.  Hockey is very popular Minnesota, and there is a lot of interest at both the college and professional level.  As much as I love hockey and the NHL, it really does seem as though it is a very hard business to make money in unless you are in a large Canadian market like Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto, or a large American market like New York or Boston.  It is strange to think that the owners in Minnesota can sell out every game for years, and actually lose money.  It makes you wonder how exactly teams are making the majority of their money, and where the profits for the average team end up.

Referrence Link:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/hockey/other_nhl/view.bg?articleid=1283348&srvc=rss

With alarming frequency, the interests of the environment are quickly subjugated to the interests of profit and the economy in modern nations. In Canada, everything is viewed through an economic prism. If the nation is hit by a sudden crisis, the dominant concern is always about how it influences the economy. Environmentalism is seen as an economic opportunity or burden, carbon taxes are spurned because they throttle economic output, and economic elites get scared at the thought of a world without constant GDP increases. It is in this context that Canadian political authorities have remained conveniently uninterested in the troubling environmental data surrounding Canada’s economic golden goose, the Oil Sands. Alarming pollution information has been coming out for years but it is only recently that the Albertan provincial government has taken steps to address it (although in typical fashion, the Premier has decided to appoint a committee). I am sceptical of this plan because if the province cared that much about pollution in the first place, they would have made more of an effort to get companies working in the Oil Sands to follow stricter environmental regulations. Furthermore, Stephen Harper’s government has changed legislation so that new industrial projects no longer have to go through the same process of environmental testing before launching new projects. It is nice to read that the government in Alberta is finally taking the data seriously, but in Canada the mighty dollar is king.

Here is the link for my article:

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100924/edm_report_100924/20100924/?hub=CalgaryHome

As a student who is interested in both economic and sociological aspects of globalization, some of the most interesting things to watch in international relations have been the wars going on between different nations and trading blocks regarding free trade and increasingly open markets.  One of the most attractive elements of globalization is that it allows large multinational companies to increase their profits by moving around the world, taking advantage of other countries’ abundance of resources, labour, manufacturing, and so on.  Agreements like NAFTA quickly lead to certain kinds of jobs leaving the country for places where the same work can be done for cheaper, and developing countries like Vietnam and Colombia often become dependent on a small number of resources for export.  A growing conflict has been brewing between China and the United States because the Americans feel that China is using state control to artificially lower their currency, thus making their exports particularly cheap for consumers around the world, and making it harder for American industries to compete.  The United States Congress just approved a bill approving the use of import duties on countries with “fundamentally undervalued currencies”, a clear reference to China.  It is an interesting move, in part because the Americans have been accused several times of adopting their own protectionist measures, particularly in their lumber and steel industries.  Another reason it is an interesting subject is that it highlights the contrasting interests of nations and multinational corporations.

The article from : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/us-panel-backs-china-currency-bill/article1723260/

It is common to think of business as a purely financial world that is somewhat detached from everyday life.  This is partly because the biggest, most successful companies in the average neighbourhood tend to be international corporations with locations all around the world, or at the very least, all around the country.  Despite this feeling, the truth is that we can often get a good sense for a how a large business is doing by simply paying attention to how things are changing in a particular industry, and how our behaviours are changing regarding their products.  Anyone who was perceptive enough to notice that everyone at their university suddenly had white headphones could have been several months ahead of the Apple quarterly report that saw their profits skyrocket from iPod sales.  Likewise, anyone paying attention to the movie rental industry in the past year or so will not be surprised at all to learn that Blockbuster is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with almost $1 billion in debt.  Costumers are increasingly confused to see that they can purchase a used movie for $10, or rent the same movie for a few days for $6.  This is particularly confusing when one considers that movies can be rented through vending machines at grocery stores for $2 a night, or even downloaded straight to the home through Xbox Live, Netflix, and cable services.  Blockbuster’s bankruptcy is a perfect example of how our everyday perceptions can be very relevant in the world of international business.

The links for above article :http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/blockbuster-bankruptcy-filing-imminent-source/article1719005/

This article talked about an ineluctable and pervasive business ethical problem which is the bribe to the officials. French engineering firm Technip S.A. was bribe into the Nigerian government officials to build a liquefied natural gas facilities on Bonny Island in Nigeria. The total revenue of this agreement is more than $6 million dollars. The huge profits impel the Technip S.A. to violate the business ethics. However, the U.S. Justice Department was through indicted it, which the count of conspiracy and the count of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, to exert pressure it. Ultimately, the U.S. Justice Department just want the Technip S.A. Firm could accepts the deferred agreement, but the Technip should pay $240 million to resolve these kind of criminal charges, and they will give up another $98 million in profits to settle civil charges. The Technip violates the principle of business ethics. It also reveals the situation of “under the table” during the trading. Business ethics is a quite complecated topic that always leading the cases into sophisticated dilemmas.

The article follow from: http://business-ethics.com/2010/06/28/1505-french-firm-to-pay-338-million-to-settle-u-s-charges/

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