In Thenuka Karunaratne’s blog, he mentioned that eBook sales are actually dropping.In a world surrounded by screens of all sizes and shapes, people often turn to print books as a retreat from looking screens and digital media all day.

As far as I am concerned, in the modern economic conditions, the author from income profitable purpose, most new book exists in the form of traditional books. Meanwhile, traditional books is printing production listed, general beautifully printed chart and so on, and explain, facilitating ,understanding, of course, because the computer is now widespread, many electronic text re
ading function, so ebook also has its necessity of existence, and there were many electronic magazine also do good, sound and color, and vivid animation, see this kind of books and more than reading the traditional books much a few minutes fun. When I above analysis, I think ebook won’t replace traditional books, each has his strong point, each have each market.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/thenuka/2015/10/04/print-books-the-lone-rebel-of-the-digital-era/

I’ve browsed one of the students’ blogs and one of them catches my attention. The blog is about Alibaba, which is featured by the world’s largest online commerce company and the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market by some measures.She talks about the potential and challenges of Alibaba, while I’d like to talk about Alibaba’s revenue stream.

When it comes to Alibaba’s revenue stream , advertising revenue may be one of the most important part of it’s income . Actually we know that at the first few years , Alibaba could not earn enough money , because it is free for many things . So Alibaba had to put much money in it until taobao declared that it would start it’s network advertising business . Now taobao had already launched many kinds of advertising , such as banner ads and those hit ads . This is the first profit model that taobao official declared . It is the development of it’s volumn a day and large number of users that lead to this . Taobao’s official said in this way they can focus on using their own distinct advantage to give their guests accurate and efficient services , such as help their guests to impove their brand and help them to promote their sales . At the same time , taobao also launched some value-added service plan to its advertisers . It contains brand promotion , market research , consumer research and community activities . The way it help its consumers to promote their sales it to develop the network marketing channel.

Reference:https://blogs.ubc.ca/jieyuzhu/2015/10/03/the-potential-and-challenges-of-alibaba/

I am opposed to the ‘one for one’ business model because in my opinion, it is just a kind of formalism. The model is more likely to be a publicity stunt to motivate consumers to purchase their products instead of solving the social problem.

The “One for One” model means that if you buy a shoe from Toms, they will give a shoe for charity, which is based on the consumption of buyers. If  Toms use this mentality of consumers to sell products, they are bound to not put emphasis on the quality and style of the product. It would be a vicious circle.

In the other hand, it is obvious that the donation cannot last forever.  The people from the third world will stop purchasing from the local market as soon as they begin to rely on the free donations from ” One for One” model. Their local economies will be damaged by the donations. In this way, people will not not be willing to work hard to change their life any more because of the free donations. As soon as the donation stops , people will still face the same problems (lack of clear water, daily necessities, etc) as before, or even worse. So I think “One for One” model totally makes no sense.

Nowadays,Tesla, Nissan Leaf, and Chevy Volt – these cars all seem to find a way to differentiate themselves using focus strategies and build a strong competitive advantage against others.  However, this competitive advantage will not last forever. So the question is, what does the future of our roads look like?

The autonomous cars came up with an idea during a group’s presentation.  Companies like Tesla are in a war to produce self-driving cars.   General Motors has recently announced that they are now ready to test them first cohorts of “fully autonomous fleet of Chevy Volts”. Google has already created a self-driving car prototype and said that the technology should be ready to hit the ground running by 2020.

As far as I am concerned, there is no doubt that the self driving cars will exist by 2020 , especially with the continuous development in technology.  However, my feelings and thoughts towards autonomous cars are ambivalent.  There’s excitement with the idea that it’ll revolutionize human travel and bring independent mobility for the elders and the blind.  But there are so many safety precautions and liability issues that follow.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=57975615-cc71-4085-8924-0724e47d2fcf%40sessionmgr113&crlhashurl=login.aspx%253fdirect%253dtrue%2526hid%253d4109%2526db%253dbth%2526AN%253d87715835%2526site%253dehost-live%2526scope%253dsite&hid=128&vid=0&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=87715835&db=bth

In order to revolutionize the fast food industry, McDonald’s Canada is making massive changes to re-invent its customer experience. The main transformation is the addition of the digital kiosks where customers can customize their own premium hamburgers.Besides, McDonald’s is also adding restaurant greeters and servers to enhance customer service.  The addition of the kiosks and extra staff will cost McDonald’s Canada more than 200million over the next two years.

As far as I am concerned, this is a global decision by McDonald’s Canada, which I feel will soon extend to many other countries around the world.  Although still being a fast food restaurant, McDonald’s is trying to entice customers to enjoy a nice sit-down meal with their  friends and family now, specifically focused on the personal customer experience. What’s more, by adding the digital kiosks, McDonald’s will gain more advantages by allowing customers to enjoy a personalized meal.  These new changes  will not only add significantly extra value to customers, but it will also rapidly transform their brand and public image. During the past years, restaurant renovations and the introduction of healthier menu options set McDonald’s on the right path for the future.  Now with this announcement , the company appears poised to regain a stranglehold in the fast food industry.

November 25th, Apple’s stock price reached $119.75. Meanwhile, the market value reached $702000000000, becoming the first company whose market value breaks through $700000000000. If  taking the inflation rate into account, Microsoft is the company who owns the highest market value because Microsoft’s market capitalization in 1999 reached $613000000000,which converted to the equivalent of $874000000000 in 2014. However, Apple’s Icahn Carl believes that Apple’s share price is still undervalued and its reasonable price should be $203 by 2015,which means that Apple’s market value will reach more than one billion dollars.

However, as far as I am concerned, there was none country or company in the history can get rid of the natural rules that when a thing reaches its extreme,it reverses its course.Since Jobs died 3 years ago , Apple has been speculation when will be the turning point to the boom-bust. From the perspective of the income structure of the third quarter, Apple’s dependence on the iPhone strengthens. In this way, if Apple do not no launch new and attractive iPhone product , Apple’s turning point probably not far away.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/malaysia-airlines-to-ramp-up-services-to-help-win-back-passengers-20151001-gjzcuu.html

   Malaysia Airlines will begin introducing improved services for passengers in flight and on the ground in order to rebuild confidence following the twin disasters of MH370 and MH17 that beset the carrier last year.Malaysia Airlines chief executive Christoph Mueller said he would lead team to improve all its aspects include that new seats, catering, in-flight entertainment and lounge concepts, as well as operational improvements such as better punctuality and improved connection times through Kuala Lumpur on popular routes. These changes can really help Malaysia Airlines compete with other Airlines companies.
There is no doubt that the name and new livery on the planes are a must to attract new business and bring back former passengers. However, Mr Mueller said “I would not call it a hard rebranding.It is really more a brand refresh.” I don not think so. I think a hard rebranding is absolutely as all the suggested changes will only be noticed by the passengers who are continuing to fly with them. They need also focus on safety of their planes, not only service and marketing. This is a real challenge for this company. Obviously, it is a hard way to make money like before. So the leaders of Malaysia Airlines still have a long way to go.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/london-proposes-tougher-rules-app-161042201.html

The drivers in London have argued Uber bypasses local licensing and safety laws and amounts to unfair competition.They have staged a number of high-profile protests, including go-slow demonstrations that have brought traffic in the centre of London to a standstill. So London’s transport chiefs announced plans on Wednesday to tighten control on private hire vehicles . And Uber has also provoked a backlash in cities across the globe.

However, as far as I am concerned, even if  taxi drivers protest, the customer is not backing the traditional taxi. Uber customers are tired of  self-interest groups holding the public hostage. Government and Unions both want to continue a system that does not improve services or cut costs.

On the other side, taxi drivers are mad because they rent the taxis and pay leases and almost anyone with a car can be a taxi. However, by fighting with app-based ride-hailing firms such as Uber, traditional taxi operators are running risk because the public now is aware of the increased benefits of using PHV and  force change eventually. In my opinion, the only and real solution would be to reduce local licensing and safety laws. But of course we go the other way again. There is simply no end to it.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gop-field-tax-cuts-dont-worry-consequences-072955776–election.html

Kyle Pomerleau, an economist at the Tax Foundation said that the Republican tactic was to shrug off the slam on the deficit. While, the Republican also argue that, by goosing the economy, the benefits from well-designed tax cuts would spread out more equitably through the economy.

In my opinion, a government’s second greatest economic power is the ability to levy and collect taxes. Far more powerful than that is the ability to selectively “un-tax.” As we all know, there are always some loopholes that allow you to escape taxes. These loopholes are what lobbyists sell to their donors. The government can lower tax rates substantially if they close the loopholes.

However, just tax cuts will not work. It has to be a combination of reduced spending, passing no legislation unless it is paid for, and then cutting taxes. Just cutting taxes won’t do it anymore as the rich have gotten smart and have stopped putting the money back into the economy. In addition, the current tax system is so complex that it fills volumes and no one can fully understand it. All politicians should talk about tax simplifications instead of tax cuts or tax reforms.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-09/olympus-sued-for-273-million-after-13-year-fraud

The link I post above is a business news which basically talks about that Olympus Corp, a company whose Japanese camera and endoscope makes over a 13-year accounting fraud was sued by six banks for a total of 27.9 billion yen ($273 million) in damages, which is the largest amount among civil lawsuits filed.

As far as I‘m concerned，the behavior Olympus Crop did is obviously a kind of commercial fraud, which is totally violation of business ethic. However, in my opinion, creating and sustaining an ethical corporation isn’t as difficult as you might think. It’s actually easier than some of the day-to-day business challenges you face. The keys to running an ethical company are accountability, honesty, and information transparency. It simply requires that you follow your best moral instincts, even in areas that don’t appear to involve moral issues, such as cost-benefit analyses. But while good ethics often equates to good business, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes being truly ethical means giving up something you want in exchange for doing the right thing. That’s why we worry about ethics in the first place–if it didn’t cost us anything, everyone would be ethical all the time.

So, in this way, companies should consciously follow moral principles when they conduct business, because their decisions can affect society, and they have responsibility to their customers, employees, stockholders and creditors, etc. That refers to operate in an ethical manner is essential to company success.