Angela Lan's Blog

“If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?”

The UN is represented by a cluster of individual leaders, all of which have their own goals and ambitions. Collectively, they represent a democratic society in which they make decisions that are supposed to benefit all those associated for the amelioration of society, but individually, they are only aiming to succeed in their personal areas of interest. Although the UN directs sustainability programs and involves itself with philanthropy projects, their underlying goal is the opposite of “generat[ing] social value – not wealth”. Naturally, the large population of members in the UN causes inefficiency to take immediate action due to the lengthy process of first generating a feasible solution to a potential problem, then proposing a bill, then voting on it, and at last, if all (or most) members are in agreement with the proposal, finally the bill is passed.

Due to this inefficiency, social enterprise must exist to effectively find the rightful approaches to solving issues in global communities. Compared to the population of the UN, social entrepreneurs only make up a fraction of that population, and with a lower number of objecting voices, it is easier for them to agree on a resolution – thus, productivity levels will increase. Social entrepreneurs are genuinely passionate about their work, and they are self-driven to give help wherever help is needed. A crucial factor to the importance of social enterprises, like The Arc Initiative, is that all the social entrepreneurs are selfless and only seek to improve the lives of other people.

Even if the UN was fully funded, I believe that many important social issues would still be overlooked unless social entrepreneurs are available to tackle those matters. Social enterprises significantly support the well-being of global communities, and their importance is recognized by the lives that they have helped change for the better.

At the University of Yale’s School of Management, researchers have found that labeling products as “green” has negatively impacted consumers’ preferences on those products. The verdict to this unpredictable behaviour is due to consumers’ belief that modifying an original product to be more “green” causes the product to suffer from its original quality.

This is an unexpected turn of events for marketers who had the intention of attracting environmentally-conscious consumers to purchase “green” label products, but instead this strategy backfired. I agree with the consumers on this point: if a product were to change its formula to adapt to become more environmentally friendly, I would also believe that the original quality of that trusted product has been tweaked and pampered with, resulting in my decision to choose the next best alternative (probably a non-green alternative). If a product was first introduced on the market as a green-label product, I think that the results would be different. If consumers are satisfied with the originally-green product, they would view that product as a better, greener option to perform the same tasks with the benefit of contributing to a greener community and a smaller ecological footprint. This article brings about the importance of how to effectively market environmentally-friendly products so that consumers will choose the greener option as opposed to the original, more harmful alternative. Further research and application of this topic could influence many new consumers to make better choices with their preference of products with environmental sensitivity in mind.

Resources:

Slapping ‘Green’ on Your Products Makes Shoppers Think It Sucks

When Going Green Backfires: How Firm Intentions Shape the Evaluation of Socially Beneficial
Product Enhancements

Starbucks Workers: a blog post by Michael Sky

Michael has addressed in his blog post a revolutionary change in employee standards in the workforce of Starbucks. In the past, Starbucks employees were obligated to follow a dress code and rules to keep body ink hidden from view when working. Recently, Starbucks has changed its policies regarding the issue of dress codes and is now encouraging employees to self-express with their fashion and/or tattoos.

I like how Michael mentioned that the standard of employees is “very important to the business world as many customers consider how the employees are treated before purchasing their products”. This is very true in many cases, because often times companies are exploited by their mistreatment of employees and are publicly shunned as irresponsible businesses. Restricting employees to dress in their preference could potentially cause controversy over working rights and freedom of expression. Due to the growing importance of social values and social rights, Starbucks has joined the movement of freedom fighters and eliminated its dress code. I feel that this is an important step to obtaining necessary freedom in the workplace because with this new change in policy, Starbucks could perhaps start a movement of eliminating unnecessary rules that restrict workers from being themselves without decreasing productivity.

Not long ago, UBC announced that starting in 2015, the newly accepted international undergraduates would be paying a 10% increase in tuition fees and a 20% increase in housing and food services. There is little evidence as to why increases in fees are necessary, but the proposed reasons are as follows:

1. University of Toronto and McGill University has increased its international tuition fees by an average of 64% and 49% respectively by degree program, and
2. To invest in residence growth and student experience.

UBC’s reasoning behind why increases in fees are deemed necessary is, in my opinion, unjustifiable. UBC refuses to release its concrete intentions of increasing tuition fees, and basically says, “since UofT and McGill are doing it, we should do it too to ‘stay competitive'”. It is extremely unfair for the international students to have to pay more on top of what they are already paying, especially without any good reasoning.

International students are already obligated to pay three-to-five times more in terms of tuition and housing fees than Canadian students, and increasing those amounts by 10% and 20% is going to make studying abroad in Vancouver a lesser option. I believe that until UBC generates a plan on what the money is going to be used for and how it will benefit students, I will not agree with the school’s unfair actions.

Resources:

BREAKING: UBC to Increase International Tuition by 10% and Residence Fees by 20%

Internet.org has taken a new interest in the population of people offline in India. With an estimated population of 1.3 billion, getting India acquainted with Internet and data usage will pose as a prosperous opportunity for many online industries. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, said during a summit in New Delhi that “connectivity is a fundamental right”.

The effect of Internet usage in North America has changed modern culture completely. Instead of reading books to find information, the Internet has become a bottomless pool of knowledge that is accessible through simple search options. It has helped productivity and enhanced the efficiency of learning, as well as providing immediate news, broadcasts, videos, and so much more through discoverable online content.

I believe that introducing the Internet to the masses of potential users in India will create a new way for them to receive and send out information. Information would be generated and shared much quickly than if the Internet were not available, and perhaps through the Internet we could learn more from the scholars and voices within India. Being in a connected environment online with countries that do have Internet, it would only be fair to include other countries who have not decided to use Internet. Internet is currently available in some areas in India, but very few wi-fi hotspots are available, connectivity and buffering rates are extremely slow, and it is very expensive to use. I am hoping that advances in technology in the near future will allow us to bring the Internet to India at a reasonable price, and that necessary infrastructures will be built to support the demand of Internet.

Resources:

India’s Population 2014

Internet.org wants to connect India’s offline millions

BitCoin: a digital currency first introduced in early 2013 by a mysterious programmer (or several programmers) by the pseudonym Satotshi Nakamoto. BitCoin successfully found feasible solutions to some of the issues that arose with previous, failed versions of digital currencies (Internetcash.com, Beenz, E-Gold) and has since then been universally recognized as a legitimate currency and can be used to purchase things from groceries to real estate. The first-ever BitCoin users were mainly composed of investors who were looking to make profit from the currency, libertarians who seeked freedom from government control, and tech geeks who were interested in the development and technology of a digital currency.

A recent news article states that researchers on BitCoin have found that the original demographic for BitCoin users have dramatically changed since its initial launch. An online survey stated that in the early years of development, 42% of 1,000 people categorized themselves as a libertarian and that their purpose of using BitCoin would be to pardon themselves from the government. Nowadays, less than 20% of people label themselves that way. Diversity in the people interested in this digital currency is growing, and with varied use comes acceptance.

With changing times and newfound technology, it is appropriate for consumers to adjust to these new methods of purchasing things. Not only are the algorithms behind BitCoin reliable and fair to the growth of the currency, but the fundamental value in using BitCoin is to have a currency that truly belongs to the people. It is accepted internationally, and the margins to the expansion of BitCoin-accepting markets is steadily growing. I believe that more people should take an interest in BitCoin, solely because 1) there’s no negative impact on the user, and 2) as a safety precaution in case international economies go into depression.

Resources:

BitCoin’s Official Website

The BitCoin Boom

The Rise and Fall of BitCoin

BitCoin: Not Just for Libertarians and Anarchists Anymore

Abercrombie & Fitch, a brand that has been making all but the right choices in recent years of business, has recently associated itself with attempts of committing religious discrimination. Abercrombie is strict when it comes to its appearance and reputation in media and has dedicated its brand to a very specific social group of young individuals. A few years ago, Abercrombie’s CEO, Mike Jeffries, stated very bluntly and indifferently in an interview that Abercrombie caters to “cool” kids, and that men and women larger in size are not the desired consumers for Abercrombie. In recent news, a Muslim woman who applied to be a sales associate was rejected by Abercrombie because she wore a hijab to her interview. This issue has been brought to the Supreme Court and a verdict is pending.

It is socially unacceptable for a company to reject a perfectly able individual because of her religious beliefs, or, rather, for wearing her necessary religious garments. If her hijab does not inhibit her ability to work compared to other employees, she is only, if more, able to carry out the same duties even if she is wearing a hijab. Although Abercrombie is known for hiring only models/employees who fit their appearance standards, hijab-wearing women should not be seen by the company as “unfashionable” or “has inadequate style”.

References:

The Supreme Court Will Decide if Abercrombie is Guilty of Religious Discrimination

Mike Jeffries

Look of a Leader: a blog post by Ayumi Imaizumi

 (image sourced from Ayumi’s blog)

Ayumi wrote about an interesting research analysis about the key features that make a leader in a particular field of business. She states in her blog that “According to research done by Malcolm Gladwell, ‘30% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are 6 feet 2 inches or taller’… [and] that CEOs with the ‘deepest voices earned $187,000 a year more than the average'”.

Since when did height and voice amplitude make or break the success of a business leader? I believe that the thought process behind how individuals instill trust in their leader is dependent on whether or not their leader provides a sense of security and responsibility. Perhaps through natural selection, taller men with deeper voices have successfully genetically convinced us that they are more capable of leadership positions and that they are qualified to do so.

I think this is an interesting article because although evidence is uncertain regarding the actual reason why the previously listed characteristics are shared by many leaders in corporate environments, it gives society and those working in businesses a wake-up call by saying, “hey, not all leaders need to meet those height and voice requirements”. These statistics demonstrate characteristics behind the success of many business leaders to society and may convince individuals to reconsider their options when electing their new CEO.

This is a photograph of the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, New York, USA.

Guy Kawasaki, an author of various books about business and marketing, writes a blog by the name of How to Change the World. When I came across this blog on Business Insider’s 24 Must-Read Blogs for Entrepreneurs, I was immediately hooked by the title. On Guy’s blog, I encountered an entry he made about the 10 Things You Can Learn From the Apple Store.

In this blog entry, Guy talks about some fundamental components that make Apple such a successful company. The most engaging point from the list of Apple’s 10 innovative attributes is how Apple’s approach to effective marketing is to “stop selling stuff”. Instead, Apple marketers are encouraged to ask the question “how do we enrich the lives of our consumers?” Guy highlights some important aspects that explains how Apple is doing business correctly to please consumers in the customer segment, and how Apple’s customers, once inside, are seldom propelled away.

Apple is a company devoted to customer loyalty and satisfaction. I must applaud Apple for being so farsighted with its company from the start, because its marketing approach has not swayed too far from the origin since its initial establishment. It takes real dedication to instill trust in a modern concept of marketing, and to believe in it. Redefining marketing strategies has proved itself to be worthwhile and flourishing, and that with new ideas, traditional ways of appealing to customers can be replaced and overwritten.

References:

How to Change the World

24 Must-Read Blogs for Entrepreneurs

10 Things You Can Learn From the Apple Store

Mobile Wallets are newly-developed methods of paying for goods and services through apps accessible by mobile devices. Individuals are now capable of saving their credit/debit card information, as well as many other methods of payment on smartphones apps that give the individual more convenient ways to purchase items. Due to fast-paced advancements in technology, many retail stores are now looking to upgrade their payment systems by supplementing the option to pay via mobile. These technology advancements are making Mobile Wallets a staple in the daily lives of consumers.

There is controversy over privacy bugs and faulty designs, as well as controversy over the safety and effectiveness of using Mobile Wallets. BusinessWeek.com states through its statistics that Apple has collected more than 800 million credit card numbers through iTunes alone! Now is time for consumers to protect themselves.

I believe that personal privacy is crucial, especially when associated with the Internet. Many platforms require you to fill in details regarding your personal information, but it is important to keep in mind that the information is easily accessible and easily infiltrated by external parties. For example, Google Wallet, one of the few Mobile Wallets available, was hacked in early 2014. Even though traditional methods of banking and making transactions may seem more lengthy and extensive, I believe that containing your personal information where you know it’s safe and only accessible to you is worth precautionary effort.

References:

How Safe Are Mobile Payments?