photo credit: pinimg.com

For the most part, the United Nations is known for improving human rights, developing economical and social programs, and peacekeeping. But even if it were fully funded, programs like the Arc and social enterprises will always be needed. 

The United Nations can be seen helping countries recover from natural disasters, but afterwards in order for countries (especially third-world countries) to sustain themselves, this is where social enterprises are needed and step in.

Social enterprises pave the way for people to solve issues as a community in order to create social, economic, or environmental change while seeing a generation of income. In other words, social enterprises provide education where there is little, and the ideas generated are what create sustainable change.

Educating others creates economic opportunities, and because of this, they can build a better future.

References

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/united-nations-un.asp

http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/

http://news.ubc.ca/2014/06/30/upward-arc/

Photo Reference

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/20/17/7c/20177cc6fda22d25398af79fd23e2d4e.jpg

Image Source: Forbes

Last year, I had a teacher who I fondly remember as someone who firmly believed these days, people are being overworked and that it is harming individuals’ identities and happiness. Now what in the world is my point?

Well, one thing I’ll never forget him saying is what if one day everyone just decided to not show up to work on a Monday? What would the government do about that?

This was the first time I had thought about the idea of three-day weekends.

Danielle van Jaarsveld’s visit to class really evoked a belief in me. I might not believe that three-day weekends are viable in the society we currently live, but I believe a lot can be done to alter how workers are currently being treated.

What does every business want? A productive workforce, both in efficiency and innovation. But hearing “TGIF” every week at my part-time job in an office setting is the perfect example of why the nine to five schedule is not the way to maintain a productive workforce.

Back when I wrote about Virgin Mobile’s transformation of becoming a company where employees can take unlimited vacation time, I was still a little hesitant about such an unorthodox idea. But now I believe more than ever more companies need to focus on their employees just as much as their customers. I see one of my future goals a lot clearer now: I want to work on my own schedule, whether that be for someone else or for myself.

After all, people are organizations.

Photo Reference:

http://blogs-images.forbes.com/jacobmorgan/files/2014/09/The_evolution_of_the_employee.jpg

Photo: SoundbeatMedia

In Cassandra’s blog post regarding online shopping becoming a threat to retail stores, she highlights the problem malls are facing and what they should do to compete with online shopping. Although the growth in popularity of online shopping is prevalent, I believe the reinvention to maintain consistent retail sales lies in the hands of retailers, not malls. Cassandra suggests malls should focus on the overall shopping experience for a customer by providing more venues for movies and dining, and although this does create a more friendly and sociable environment for us, most malls already do offer these features.

Online shopping has become a norm, and I notice myself also shopping through the click of a few buttons from time to time. But my main reason is not due to how comfortable it is to stay at home. It’s because I end up ordering products online due to the lack of, or different inventory offered in stores. When I visit a store hoping to buy something I saw on its website, I’m often disappointed by the fact that this item can’t even be found. Companies are seeing a decline in sales in retail stores because more and more of them do not keep their in-store inventory up to date with their online catalog. 

Expanding store inventory to precisely match online catalogs would most definitely hike up a company’s costs to maintain its retail stores, but I can understand why many retailers are concerned. If its online sales do not make up or surpass the success of its retail stores, then it might be wise for companies to take a look into their operations, and see whether the wide variety of items offered online are helping or hurting their success.

Image Source: sethgodin.typepad.com

After scanning several business blogs these past few days, I stumbled across one by entrepreneur and marketer Seth Godin. His short yet insightful daily posts, a vast majority of which are on ideas worth spreading in the digital age drew me in right away (I’ll be honest, he does also look a little like Paul Cubbon, doesn’t he?).

Unlike other bloggers, Seth understands the Information Age. You can tell through his ideas he sees the changes it has brought upon the idea of marketing, and how marketing strategies cannot remain the same as the days of television popularity. Along with helpful content, many of Seth’s blogs are also very motivating. Whether that be him highlighting the tiny cost of failure we may face from the cost of not trying, or our stubbornness to sometimes change, the few posts I’ve read have all left me a little more inspired to always let my ideas grow.

Many other blogs I have recently looked up all highlight the same ideas we’ve covered in class. But what’s different about Seth Godin’s blog is that he often covers concepts we have yet to reach in class- a step deeper into many I do have knowledge of.

If you’re looking to dive a little deeper into concepts of marketing in today’s age or just for some quirky and motivational content, Seth’s blog is definitely one worth checking out.

You can find his blog here.

A few of my favourites:

1. Decoding Apple as a luxury tools company

2. The sophistication of truth