Recently I read my COMM 101 classmate, Karen Leung’s blog on entrepreneurship.  She mentioned that because there are so many social responsibilities that go with entrepreneurship, it is perhaps not cool to be one.  In fact, in my COMM 101 class, many people chose the option of working for big companies after graduation.  It is not a surprise to me as I also clicked that answer myself.  In my opinion, being an entrepreneur is not a easy task as it involves big decision making, strong leadership, and enriching background experiences.  I would love to take the challenge to be one, but I would like to build a strong foundation and gain some experiences first through working for big corporations.  By doing so, I will be able to grow as a businesswoman and establish the network required to start my own business.  Therefore, I believe I will be an entrepreneur, but maybe just not now.

(Photo credit: BusinessGross)

Resources:

Leung, Karen. “Karen Leung’s Blog.” WordPress. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/karenleung/>.

“A Definition of Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneur.” QuickMBA. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/>.

I have been playing Candy Crush Saga on my iPhone since high school.  Although I am not playing as often now, I could still remember the addiction I had toward this game.  There were times that I dreamt of myself playing Candy Crush!  Today, I finally solved the mystery of why I was so into the game by encountering an article on Times called “Candy Crush Saga: The Science Behind Our Addiction.”  In the article, there are nine reasons of why people are so addicted to the game:

1. It makes people wait
2. People fall for sweet words
3. It allows people to play with one hand
4. There’s always more levels
5. It is free, yet easy to pay for
6. It taps into people’s inner child
7. It is an escape
8. It is social
9. It grows into people’s mind

All of the factors above are related to the psychology of the consumer, but if we look from the marketing perspective, this game is literally “getting into the mind of the consumer.” (Product Positioning)  It has wisely used people’s psychological characteristics to attract customers.  Although the game itself is free, the revenue it generates from selling the add ups is around $875,382 per day.  This number shows that this game is a success as a business.

(Photo credit: TIME illustration / Hands: Getty Images)

Resources:

Dockterman, Eliana. “Candy Crush Saga: The Science Behind Our Addiction.”Times. N.p., 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. <http://business.time.com/2013/11/15/candy-crush-saga-the-science-behind-our-addiction/?iid=biz-main-belt>.

“Product Positioning.” QuickMBA. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. <http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/>.

After taking class on “People, Culture, and Teams” and learning about Zappos‘ happy organizational culture, I encountered a blog talking about things to consider when sitting up an online shop.

The blog gave some helpful advises on starting an online shop, such as creating a business plan with realistic, measurable goals, making sure the website is accessible, making payment simple, and etc.  This would be an example of creating a management information system (MIS) that provides information to be used to make decisions.

I learnt that in business, we need to think outside the boxes in various perspectives.  Zappos is a perfect example to demonstrate a strong corporate culture, but this is merely one factor that contributes to its success.  It must also have a strong technical team, marketing team, human resources team, customer service team, and many other teams that work well with each other aiming for the same goal.  After all, every part in the business is interconnected.

(Photo credit: American Live Wire)

Resources:

Jacobs, Alexandra. “Happy Feet.” The New Yorker. N.p., 14 Sept. 2009. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/14/090914fa_fact_jacobs>.

Belonwu, Valentine. “Things to Consider When Setting up an Online Shop.” Business Gross. N.p., 26 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://businessgross.com/2013/10/26/things-consider-setting-online-shop/>.

Barona, Nicolas Ayerbe. “Carson Woo — Management Information Systems and Business Technology Management.” Vimeo. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://vimeo.com/77587262>.

In today’s COMM 101 class, we discussed about what motivates employees and touched on the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.  The article “Job satisfaction beats bonuses in staff motivation stakes” shows how intrinsic motivator beats extrinsic motivators.  According to study, the emotional factors are the strongest motivators in the workplace.  In a survey answered by over 1,000 workers, 59% of the population put job enjoyment as their top motivator.

I agree with the fact that intrinsic motivators are what really satisfy the workers.  I think the pay rate, bonuses, and physical rewards of the job fulfills the basic needs of the employee.  It will not make the employees unhappy as they no longer need to worry about life essentials.  However, what truly make them happy are the emotional motivators.  This could be how well they get along with their colleagues, how well are they treated by their employers, and how much freedom and enjoyment they receive from their work.   A successful employer would be able to identify what type of emotional motivators each employee needs and act accordingly.  Once a team full of happy and satisfied employees are formed in a company, the productivity will increase dramatically, and thus will generate unimaginable profits for the company.  Therefore, employers should motivate their employees intrinsically with the correct emotional motivator.

(Photo credit: UltimosLibros)

Resource:

Churchard, Claire. “Job satisfaction beats bonuses in staff motivation stakes – People Management Magazine Online.”CIPD. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/10/21/job-satisfaction-beats-bonuses-in-staff-motivation-stakes.aspx>.

In Candace Coker’s blog “Social Entrepreneurship: A New Perspective on Business!“, she believes that business is really about impact and social entrepreneurship has successfully captured this aspect.  I agree with her thought and I think that nowadays, more entrepreneurs need to raise their awareness in making more contributions and changing the society in a positive way through their businesses.  I think making a profit and bringing positive impacts to the society does not contradict each other.

For example, TOMS Shoes is a for-profit company that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold.  This donation may decrease the profit the company earns, but it enhanced its corporate image, and more importantly, it helped to solve poverty problems.

On the contrary, some entrepreneurs would try to make profits using very dirty methods.  In China, some restaurant owners would use gutter oil that is recycled from garbage or sewage to cook food for their customers.  These oil are often bought from the black market at a very cheap price.  Although it will generate a bit more profit for the business owners by cutting back the cost, it will harm thousands and millions of people’s health.

Entrepreneurs are gifted people who are innovative, confident, and brave.  Blessed with such gifts, why can’t people just put them into good use and improve our society?

(Photo credit: Kwaku Alston/Courtesy Company; AFP / Getty Images)

Resources:

Coker, Candace. “Social Entrepreneurship: A New Perspective On Business!.” Candace Coker Blog. N.p., 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/candacecoker/2013/11/04/44/>.

“America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.” BusinessWeek. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. <http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/26.htm>.

Song, Sophie. “China’s Gutter Oil Scandal: 1/10 Of China’s Cooking Oil May Be Recycled From Garbage.”International Business Times. N.p., 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. <http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-gutter-oil-scandal-110-chinas-cooking-oil-may-be-recycled-garbage-1448384>.

Since I mentioned in the previous blog about the 3D printer, I’m going to explain what this new technology is.  This new product is brought out by a Saskatchewan inventor, Rylan Grayston.  So far, the items the printer is able to print is very simple, but it could potentially print some complex items, such as electronics and guns in the future.

According to Porter’s Generic Strategies, it can use both differentiation and focus strategy.  With the differentiation strategy, it will be able to charge a high price due to its uniqueness as the product yields from a leading scientific research.  The focus strategy will enhance its attempt to achieve cost advantage and will attract high customer loyalty.  I strongly encourage this technology to partner up with auto companies, such as Ford, and other machinery companies as it will allow the manufacturing process to be more efficient and convenient.  I look forward to seeing this new printer’s success in the market.

(Photo credit: Purdue University photo/Mark Simons)

Resources:

“Sask. inventor’s 3D printer making waves on Kickstarter.” CTV News. 2 Oct. 2013. <http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/sask-inventor-s-3d-printer-making-waves-on-kickstarter-1.1481224>

Porter, Michael E., “Porter’s Generic Strategies.” Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. QuickMBA. 2010. <http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml>

Ford is making its factories more flexible and efficient by expanding its assembly plants in emerging markets.  As we know, Ford is famous for its assembly line production as it sold only one type of car in one colour.  However, it currently declares it plans to build more plants internationally “to improve efficiency, reduce cost and respond more quickly to changing consumer tastes (Lienert).”  It shows designing the exact product the consumers want is extremely important, as we discussed in previous classes that customization enables company to sell more and charge a higher price.  Time changes, and businesses that fail to keep up with time fail to sell.  Ford is an example of a company with sharp sense to the change in market.  In fact, it will even adopt advanced techniques as 3D printing for its prototype parts.  This is probably the reason why Ford has been selling cars for 110 years since 1903, and currently selling more cars.

(Photo credit: Autoevolution)

References:

“Overview.” Fordfoundation. 2013. <http://www.fordfoundation.org/about-us/history>

Lienert, Paul. “Ford aims to make its factories more flexible, efficient.” Business News Network. 7 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/10/7/Ford-aims-to-make-its-factories-more-flexible-efficient.aspx>

Magretta, J., & Dell, M. (1998). The Power of Virtual Integration: An Interview with Dell Computer’s Michael Dell. Harvard Business Review, 76(2), 72-84. <https://ares.library.ubc.ca/aresinternal/docs/19965.pdf>

“Sask. inventor’s 3D printer making waves on Kickstarter.” CTV News. 2 Oct. 2013. <http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/sask-inventor-s-3d-printer-making-waves-on-kickstarter-1.1481224>

We have previously discussed in our COMM 101 class about the prosper of Netflix.  Its share price increased dramatically from 66.56 one year ago to 327.26 two days ago (Yahoo, 2013).  Now, Netflix is pushing the boundary by offering the streaming service directly available through cables in our homes!  It believes that by allying with cable operators, it will boost its subscriber base.  As Netflix started to offer the service in UK and Sweden recently, it is now considering allying with a U.S. cable operator.

However, I would not suggest Netflix making this move as the barriers to entry in the U.S. market is quite high (Ries and Trout).  Comcast has launched a similar service called Streampix last year.  Other cable companies are also trying to compete directly with the service instead of partnering with Netflix.

“While Netflix has almost 29 million paying subscribers in the U.S.,” but only “about 7 million total across 40 international markets,” Netflix’s first priority could be expanding and strengthening its market internationally (Luckerson).  It could pick a region with no similar service in the past, focus on building a subscriber base and reputation, and offer the service in that region.  As brand positioning is the key to success in business, this move will help it establish its leading position (Porter).

(Photo credit: via Netflix)

References:

Yahoo! CA Finance (2013). Closing Price. Retrieved Oct. 6, 2013. <http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NFLX#symbol=nflx;range=1y;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;>

Ries, Al, and Trout, Jack. “Product Positioning.” Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. QuickMBA. 2010. <http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/>

Luckerson, Victor. “Netflix Is Coming After Your Cable Box.” Time. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://business.time.com/2013/10/01/netflix-is-coming-after-your-cable-box/?iid=biz-main-belt>

Porter, Michael E.. “Porter’s Five Forces.” Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. QuickMBA. 2010. <http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml>

BlackBerry, once the black gem in its industry, announced on September 23rd, 2013 that a group of investors is willing to buy it private for $4.7 billion.  However, it will still be difficult for BlackBerry even it quits the stock market.  Its point of difference (“Three Questions” R0209F) is its convenient text functions, which is favoured by the “text-happy youths” (“Time”).  Currently, with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems, the industry becomes extremely competitive.  Its strong opponent, Apple, is dominating and expanding their customer segments (Osterwalder and Pigneur 20).  BlackBerry is gradually losing its consumers and its new phone, BlackBerry Z10, did not sell well in the market.  Moreover, it has $960 million worth of unsold phone inventory, which lead to its plan on firing 40% of its employees.

BlackBerry’s story shows that in each industry, especially the technology industry, companies need to be constantly ahead of their opponents in order to survive.  With previous examples of the rising and falling of Motorola and Nokia, the industry’s life cycle is getting shorter and shorter.  Despite the fact of BlackBerry’s poor performance, the boss of Fairfax Financial Holdings, Prem Watsa, is making a large bid for BlackBerry.  If Watsa end up owning BlackBerry, hopefully he could come up with an immediate and effective plan to rescue BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Z10

(Photo credit: AFP)

References:

Keller, Kevin Lane, Brian, Sternthal, and Tybout, Alice.  “Three Questions You Need To Ask About Your Brand.”  Harvard Business Review September 2002: R0209F. <http://fcis.vdu.lt/~n.klebanskaja@evf.vdu.lt/fov1-00098617/FOV1-0009D4C0/KEVIN-~1.PDF>

“Time for Plan Z.” The Economists. 23 Sept. 2013. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/09/blackberry>

Osterwalder, Alexander, and Pigneur, Yves.  Business Model Generation.  Self Published 2009.  <https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2FdisplayLearningUnit%3Fcourse_id%3D_25036_1%26content_id%3D_1598188_1%26framesetWrapped%3Dtrue>

Chiquita’s Ethical Banana

If you like bananas then it’s very likely that you have had a Chiquita banana.  Chiquita Brands is one of the world’s biggest banana suppliers based in America.  In the recent years, Chiquita agreed not to use fuel from Canadian tar sands to be environmental friendly.  It has also tried to promote social responsibility, business ethics, and sustainability by working with activist groups.  Moreover, Chiquita signed agreement with local and international food unions; and promoted more women and ensured their safety on the plantations.

Nonetheless, it is usually difficult to please all the stakeholders.  From the environmentalists’ point of view, Chiquita is being ethical refraining from using fuel from Canada, but this is a lose of business opportunity from the perspective of Canadian oil companies.  The SWOT analysis (class 2) shows that everything has its opportunities and threats.  Chiquita’s story demonstrates how these opportunities and threats depend on the perspective.  Therefore, in business, ethics and versatile perspectives are equally important.

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21551500