It has been recently reported that a European Central Bank board member has said that Greece will need international assistance beyond what was originally planned out. As opposed to their anticipated bailout in 2014, it is now predicted Greece will need help for much longer.

Vancouver Sun quotes that,

“…Athens probably won’t be able to return to finance its debt on financial markets in 2015 and 2016, thus requiring a third assistance program.”

Currently, as everyone knows, Greece has been hit extremely hard by the recession and their economy has suffered dearly. Since 2010, Greece’s financial issues have been kept afloat due to international creditors. These creditors have pledged rescue loans worth €240 billion ($306 billion) through 2014. And now, Greece is in need of more dire help because of their situation.

Why?

The European market needs growth more than ever. Yes, the financial markets have seen some stability but without growth

“…there won’t be enough tax revenue to help countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal narrow their deficits and slow the expansion of their debts. Their debt burdens as a percentage of economic output, a key measure of fiscal health, look worse by the day.”

From my view, I see the main problem coming from the underspending of the government. Raising taxes and cutting spending has proven to be an unhealthy practice for the European markets but given their situations, its the only choice.
Additionally, borrowing money from the banks is an absolute atrocity. Greece has to pay nearly twice the interest amount on loans as compared to Germany. Consequently, underfunded companies now have to cut down on employment thus explaining the immensely high unemployment rates in Greece.

A possible thought is to put more funding into education. Despite the economic situation, people have to be educated more than ever. People have to know how to make smart financial decisions. In theory, I believe this would be a great move as it could reap in long term benefits.

It is obvious that the European markets are having dark days, and in truth, there is no immediate solution. Time will recover the market, and it will be quite some time before the market of Greece trends back to normal.

Sources:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/economy/board+member+Asmussen+says+Greece+will+need+help+beyond/7566913/story.html#ixzz2CebZkCII
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/economy/Europes+government+debt+burdens+worsen+austerity+bites/7565180/story.html

Our last Comm class focused on Social Entrepreneurs at work. We focused on living examples of this meticulously beautiful style of entrepreneurship and saw the benefits received because of it.
With that said, whenever I think of Social Entrepreneurship, I immediately think of Mark Brand, owner of Save On Meats and several other restaurants.

I think of him because he is a prime example of someone using business skills to create a social benefit. Not only is Brand an national icon, but he lives local to us; a fellow resident of the DTES (Downtown Eastside).

To briefly highlight his impact, Brand does the following:

• Currently employs 65 people at Save On Meats, most of which are actually barrier residents of the DTES (people whom are unable to have a stable job due to illnesses or psychological disorders)
• Unites and promotes the DTES community
• Caters and feeds to SROs (Single-room occupancy hotels)
• Serves anyone in a friendly manner disregarding social status

More importantly, Save On Meats acts as a beacon of hope for the DTES as it remains to be token of history; an old yet thriving building filled with rich heritage. As many already perceive, DTES is known to be a ‘sketchy’ place with unfriendly people. Sure enough, it may radiate such an atmosphere but the culture and people are far more than meets the eye.

DTES is a vibrant community, a community that has limitless opportunity. From a business aspect, DTES has a bright future due to its cheap leases and the close community of people. This is why businesses like Save On Meats works.

“…entrepreneurs have flocked to [this] area [since] the turning point [of] 2009, when the Woodward’s housing development opened to breathe new life into the neighbourhood. “

As evident, indeed businesses have diversified to this section of Vancouver whether it be high end boutique shops to restaurants. For a student like myself, seeing Mark Brand use business to help save the DTES is incredibly inspiring. It is great to see Social Entrepreneurship work and thrive at such a local level to us all.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouvers-downtown-eastside-is-open-for-business/article5265614/

In short, Suzuki has not seen the light of day in quite some time. Automobile blogger Chris Nagy from Automoblog.net, says, “American Suzuki Motor Corporation [has been] fighting too much of an uphill battle inside a small congested car market.” To no surprise, Suzuki filed for bankruptcy protection in the auto-mobile industry in the U.S. as part of their plan to restructure their entire organization. In essence, Nagy states the plan as the permanent halt on the sales of Suzuki cars in America, and to put a larger focus on selling motorcycles and ATVs.

To paint a stronger image, Bloomberg states states that

American Suzuki had assets of $233 million and debt of $346 million as of Sept. 30, according to Chapter 11 documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana, California.

 

From my perspective, it seems only appropriate that Suzuki backs out of the American market. With the recent recession in 2008, the automotive industry simply fell displaying major decline in sales. Most of the automotive companies were able to restablize; however, as Nagy says best,  “the sale of Suzuki cars in the United States [was just] judged too unprofitable.” 

Despite Suzuki being a heritage brand in the American industry dating back 27 years ago, it never saw consistent sales and improvement. It only makes sense to drop out of this market or else the company will just see more problems in the future. Their image has already been tainted since the Consumer Union issued their warning of rollover awhile back.

They’ve been in a slump, and by doing dropping out, they can focus all their resources to what works: motorcycles, ATVs, and marine product businesses.

Sources:
http://www.automoblog.net/2012/11/08/suzuki-saying-sayonara-to-us-auto-market/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-06/american-suzuki-motor-files-for-bankruptcy-protection.html

Our last class revolved around the idea of entrepreneurship and what it takes out of you to be successful. Indeed, it is not an easy path and it requires the innate ability to take risks. After reading about the green market on Forbes, it become apparent how great business ventures can come from the smallest of ideas. What inspires me though is the passion that these entrepreneurs have. They defy odds because of their simple love on what they believe.

With that said, green entrepreneurship is on the rise and this sector will grow at a rapid pace due to the high demand of issues.
The ‘Green Market Oracle’ predicts that ventures regarding environmental issues

will reach $2.74 trillion by 2020.

Phil Tepher of Kenai Sports is an example of a green entrepreneur. Inspired by change, he has created a way to develop clothing using corn husks, computer keyboards, soda bottles and other pieces of trash.

Then there is Sasha Lipton, who saw the waste in thrown-away toys. By collecting and cleaning toys, she has created a business called Second Chance Toys that gives away toys to children in need. Her company

has distributed more than 110,000 toys to disadvantaged children and has kept thousands of pounds of plastic out of our landfills.
   

Asos is doing very well in the retail industry, and a big portion of their success derives from their operations.

The UK giant is a top clothing and beauty retailer that “delivers to 190 countries around the world, while [receiving] 65% of its £552.9m of sales from outside the UK.” What these sales do not show is that Asos is a purely online retailer having no high end fashion store anywhere.

“The multi award-winning company gets 18.8 million visitors to its site every month and has a total of five million regular customers.”

In order for Asos to maintain these numbers, their operations must be above par and ready to adapt.

Two big issues arise in Asos in terms of logistics: 1) receiving thousands of diversified products made on five continents on time and 2) delivering the right product to the right customer in an efficient manner.

Firstly in solving these issues I want to note that Asos solely operates with one warehouse located in Yorkshire where they send out all their products for delivery to their customers. I view this as a good idea because this can lead to a more efficient workforce from the unified employees. Additionally, if a problem did come up, it would be easier to source the root of it because there is only one destination to look at. 

Secondly, Mr. Robertson, the CEO, puts a lot of focus into his couriers ensuring a variety of ways to deliver Asos’ products. An attractive feature of Asos is that they also have free delivery, both local AND on an international level.

In essence, these points of differences truly do add to the overall succession of Asos and it is without a doubt, that the suppy chain of Asos is working at a very efficient level. Whether it is the free shipping aspect, or picking out its couriers, Mr. Robertson has made a blueprint for success in terms of operations.

This article has really made me realize how important operations is. With a big company like Asos, it seems that operations is the very driving force to success. A good business will have an efficient supply chain from the very beginning to the end. It pays off as evident in the quote,

However, a look at the company’s latest results show it is paying off. Sales outside the UK increased by 64pc to £332.6m in the year to the end of August, including a 91pc increase in the US.

Lastly, Robertson says this

“We’re constantly pushing the logistics companies to be faster, quicker and cheaper.”

Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/business/norbert-dentressangle/9633870/asos-online-fashion-retail.html

Is it our born duty to help others? Is it a responsibility AND not an obligation?

http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/disaster-recovery-through-social-entrepreneurship-in-japan/

Ariel Liu’s post on Air Canada’s decision to start a separate airline has generated much interest for me. When I first read the article, I immediately thought of the point of difference. It appears Air Canada is trying to gain a competitive edge by producing a cheaper airline carrier service UNDER the ownership of Air Canada. By cutting costs of the employees, and increasing the seating capacity by 20%, this new airline carrier is able to reduce it’s price for customers.

Will this move really help out Air Canada? After doing research, I learned that Air Canada is in quite a slump.

With pilots calling a strike vote, disappointing earnings, and a competitor launching a regional airline, Air Canada is getting battered from all directions.

However, my stance is that if this move is positioned well amongst the public, this air carrier line could really be beneficial for Air Canada. It offers them a clean slate in a way because this new airline offers something fresh; something new and efficient. Given that Air Canada can attempt to gain a good first impression, long term benefits will be sure to come. The PoD of this airline being cheaper will also give it a competitive edge toward its rival WestJet and other competing carriers.

It is in my hope that this new airline can bump Air Canada out of the slump. They have been a national icon for Canada and to see them rise again would be uplifting.

Sources:
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1128464–air-canada-pilots-call-strike-vote
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/19/air-canada-low-cost.html
https://blogs.ubc.ca/arielliu/

Kevin Lu brought up an interesting story in where Google was fined $22.5 million for

secretly tracking the browsing of Safari users using cookies.

The internet giant violated their own policy just to install unwanted third-party tracking cookies through Safari. As an individual who strongly believes in proper business ethics, I ask why did Google do this? Furthermore, Kevin brings up another good point in saying that Google received the slightest of punishments. Google makes $136 million in revenue a day, and all they get is a $22.5 million fine?

$22.5 million is a big number, but for violation of that capacity, is there no bigger consequence? To me, had this been a lesser known company, they would be branded with a title such as, “Hackers intent on stealing your personal data,”; however, Google continues on to be known as the reliable search engine.

What compelled me to write about this is big companies are not graced with the ability to bypass their own policies. It’s not proper, and no where near ethical. A company can thrive on good ethics; a company with a foundation of good ethics can also expect superb loyalty. Although not a reliable source, I’ve read comments on this topic saying people have STOPPED using Google because of this incident. My hope is Google does not attempt to do something like this again.

Sources:

http://www.bgr.com/2012/08/09/google-ftc-safari-tracking-22-5-million-fine/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2186270/Google-forced-22million-fine-spying-Safari-users-STILL-refuses-admit-wrong.html

https://blogs.ubc.ca/kevinlu/

Is Starbucks in the right position to see success in India? While many would consider it to be a successful venture, there are skeptics that believe it will be a definite struggle.

The corporation of Starbucks is reportedly lining up for a $78 million investment to enter the Indian market.  Starbucks, a company dating back to 1971 in Seattle, just recently combined with Tata Global Beverages for a joint venture in where they plan to open outlets in India as early as October of this year. With a rapid success in China, Starbucks is hoping to replicate that business model and integrate it in the Indian market. Starbucks plans to position its brand as a location of luxury; a high quality coffee experience serving to the upper middle class. Such a move directly relates to our class on brand positioning. Starbucks is attempting to establish itself as a cool and hip spot on the grounds of India.

Is such a move a guaranteed success? Maybe not. India already holds renowned coffee huts such as Cafe Coffee Day and Costa Coffee. With such strong competitors already, brand loyalty will prove to be a tough goal to manage for Starbucks. Secondly, although Starbucks is a global icon, not everyone in India’s demographic may know about it, and thus, leads me to my next point: Starbucks faces a price-sensitive market of Indian consumers. Average incomes in India are half of those in China (in terms of purchasing power) and the number of millionaires are one-tenth. With that said, consumers may find Starbucks a bit too pricy and may turn to another alternative.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/09/07/starbucks-is-finally-coming-to-india-cautiously/

My question,  “Is flavorless soup worth a painful death of a shark?” For me, such a commodity is not a even a desirable want.

Shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese dish that is often served at weddings, may no longer be a delicacy sold in BC restaurants. North Vancouver and Maple Ridge are now among the new cities that have successfully motioned a ban toward shark fins. Consequently, the mayor of North Vancouver is starting an effort to have a provincial ban on the possession, sale, and distribution of shark fins.

On a global view, this delicacy results in 73 million sharks being killed primarily for their fins which endangers one-third of open ocean sharks. Additionally, sharks will be thrown back into the water after having their fins cut off  to suffer a painful death. Without a ‘motor,’ sharks are susceptible to starving, drowning, or being eaten alive.

In conclusion, the opportunity cost of endangering open ocean sharks for the production of shark fin soup seems out of line when you consider the small popularity of shark fin soup. Few areas may have a bigger demand for this soup, but even then, from an ethical stand point, is it worth it?

Sources:

http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/shark-finning.htm
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/two-b-c-cities-ban-shark-fin-products-1.953171
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Vancouver+debate+shark+fins/7233434/story.html