Day: November 17, 2013

 Nestle is implementing CSV, through their products, markets, value chains and social/economic investment. Nestle has implemented CSV in many aspects of their company.

They have formed partnerships with The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and United Nations Foundation – Every Woman Every Child Initiative (EWEC) and many more. Through these partnerships, tackling social, economic and environmental challenges are more impactful, providing financial support to help aid projects that in return changes current issues. The partnership is mutually beneficial hence ‘shared value’, because it enhances reputation while simultaneously recognizing and changing societal, economic and environmental challenges.

Nestle is responsibly sourcing, working with coffee farms, cocoa farms to improve their profitability which will in return also improve product quality.

        Creating shared value will slowly be adapted by other companies, replacing the concept of CSR, which did not seem to have a sustainable outcome. Some may use CSR as a way to receive sustainable awards, that may be unethical.

References:

“What is Creating Shared Value?.” http://www.nestle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nestle.com/csv/what-is-csv>.

“Responsible sourcing.” http://www.nestle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nestle.com/csv/responsible-sourcing>.

“January 2011.” Creating Shared Value. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value>.

Twitter recently had its IPO, moving from being a private company to a public one. What about small companies who don’t have capital to expand?

Cover FX,  a foundation cosmetics company landed an investment partner through serendipity. This is exactly what Sauder Alumni Brian Wong advised us about, to generate serendipity and by “creating your own luck…believe in people who understand how to build the right relationships and… their own capacity and propensity to create.”  

Cover FX targets a specific customer need, and their value proposition is to sell a high quality foundation to customers that want a natural look that is also good for the skin. With a clear and concise value proposition, they have a clear goal to achieve. Having a focused strategy,

The company’s business model canvas has actually been revised under different circumstances including supplying a sophisticated chain store rather than from being only available through a dermatologist. The revisions done to the business model canvas allows for growth, and is perfectly normal as learned from revising the business plan we created for a business. The customer strategy shifted when Cover FX built its online brand for awareness, widening the customer channel.

From a successful partnership with a private equity firm, that was unexpected, she now has a broader set of skills and financial power necessary for taking the company to the next level.

References:

“Twitter Goes Public.” Yahoo Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/watch-twitter-ipo-live-stream-coverage-nov-7-194141440.html>.

“Private investor takes cosmetics company to next levelAdd to ….” The Globe and Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/going-global/private-investor-takes-cosmetics-company-to-next-level/article15387067/>.

“Vancitybuzz.” Vancity Buzz Vancouver Events News Food Lifestyle and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2012/07/vancity-entrepreneurs-brian-wong-kiips-it-real/>.

Many successful companies such as Apple, Google and Zappos have succeeded by creating a strong corporate culture. Nike depends on innovation, and being such an internationally known company with 44,000 employees, they continue to succeed because of its powerful culture that attracts employees who are loyal because of the sense of belonging to a goal-oriented organization.

If its employees were unsatisfied, Nike would fall apart because of its dependence on its workforce. A main component of Nike’s strong corporate culture comes from the secrecy of its company. Nike’s identity of having “the best-kept secrets” (Jackson) allows employees to feel important and key to the success of Nike. It makes them value all the work they put into Nike and how important it is to protect the company’s internal stories.

The Innovation Kitchen and the Winnebago are only a few of the company’s ‘secrets’ that keeps employees conscious of Nike’s history and story. These stories strengthen the corporate culture, as having a physical object will be a reminder of the huge secret that they take part in. There are other “secret” facilities like the ‘Zoo’, and employees internalize their own stories, that their work is so valuable it must be kept a secret.

References:

“Nike: The No. 1 Most Innovative Company Of 2013 | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.” Fast Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2013/nike>.

“Strong Organizational Culture: How Nike Drives Innovation.” Corporate Culture Pros. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.corporateculturepros.com/2013/06/strong-organizational-culture-how-nike-drives-innovation/>.