Joanna Lai’s article on Sears’ crisis prompted me to perform some research of my own.

Source: smartcanuck.ca

Canadian Business’ article  can be summarized into a list of Sears’ threats. These  include:

• Major American retail stores moving across the border, such as JCPenney and Target.
• Canadian retailers expanding their target market and changing business strategies. The Bay, for example, is going through a major transformation in order to sell more upscale items.
• Retail stores offering equal if not better customer service that Sears had boasted in the past.

A threat to all large department stores are “niche retailers who can offer the same products at better prices or with more knowledgeable staff, and who might carry stronger brand recognition.” (Castaldo, “Sears Canada can’t afford to stand still”)

Weaknesses in the company currently include:

• Lacking a “fresh” image.
• Not fulfilling the reputation for quality customer service, a result of cutting employees.

Source: MPC Newspapers

From here, Sears has a few options:

1. “[d]ownsize and focus on just a few product areas” (ibid.)
2. Undergo a rigorous transformation.

The latter option is more likely. Strengthening customer service and determining a target customer will allow Sears to thrive is this competitive retail industry.

Source: 1stwebdesigner.com

It’s almost a surprise to find a business nowadays that doesn’t maintain a presence on Facebook, Twittor or LinkedIn. But how effective are these social media tools to companies in the first place? Do they serve a purpose other than to gain awareness about the company? Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald’s post in the Harvard Business Review blog network recommends that social media break free of its marketing role.

Bradley and McDonald’s main point is that currently, social media is mostly used as a marketing tool. While it raises awareness for the company, this ‘tool’ is not being used to its full potential. Social media can do much more, such as mass collaboration, The two say that “[w]e need to determine how to apply [social media] in order to do things that were previously impossible or prohibitively expensive.”

In a different online article, a few exemplars are mentioned: H&R Block, Skittles, Starbucks, and Comcast. These companies use social media in ways that actually make an impact on business strategies, in forms such as mass collaborations, forums and discussions.

Source: Wisdump

Two business topics covered in class meet in a short report from The New York Times (reprinted in The Globe and Mail on October 26, 2011) on a business called Eco-Conceirge NYC: sustainability and entrepreneurship.

Eco-concierges makes it easier for the busy to adopt a greener lifestyle. Source: Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Eco-Concierge NYC describes itself as a “personal environmental concierge.” The year-old business, run by President Letitia Burrell and based in Manhattan, runs errands and books appointments for people concerned about their ecological footprint but are often too busy to incorporate sustainability into their lifestyles. Eco-Concierge NYC “tries to make it easy for people to rid their homes of toxins, hire sustainable-cuisine chefs and find organic dry cleaners.”

Eco-Concierge NYC is truly the brainchild of entrepreneurial dreams. The idea of a personal environmental concierge is extremely innovative and risky. There are only about 5-6 similar services in the USA, and business relies on long-term customers. However, the small market offers the opportunity for current players to quickly and firmly establish leadership in this specific niche market. And with the latest trend towards “greener living”, personal environmental concierge businesses will no doubt flourish in North America for the years to come.

Update on November 14, 2011: Eco-Concierge NYC’s website is not available.

Youtube Video: What is Eco-Concierge?

Big City Cupcakes is struggling with legal issues currently but that does not make its success story any less phenomenal.

Source: Big City Cupcakes

QuickMBA’s criteria for entrepreneurship include amount of wealth creation, speed of wealth creation, risk of venture, and innovation.

Risk is evident. When the first Big City Cupcakes store opened in Kelowna in 2008 by Lisa Larue and partners, cupcakes were certainly not the most popular urban snacks. Larue, far more confident in her grandmother’s cupcakes than those from a Californian bakery praised by Oprah Winfrey, decided to test the waters of the Canadian market. In an interview with Entrepreneurial Women, Larue says that “[t]here are always doubts when you’re modelling [a business] after something you’ve seen in the United States… Canada is an entirely different market.”

Taking the risk paid off. Each Big City Cupcakes franchise averages $300,000 – $600,000 in annual revenue, and the company was self-financed and debt-free for several months. (Watters) Larue structured the business to minimize overhead costs of individual branches while still delivering freshness. Instead of opening 5 branches in the first year, the initial goal, 13 were opened.

In Watters’ article in Entrepreneurial Women, “Lisa attributes their rapid expansion to the support of their franchisees, corporate partners and cupcake fans.”

Source: Entrepreneurial Women

A Globe and Mail article on November 2, 2011 reports that the flood in Thailand in early October has generated a 400 death toll, closed 10 000 factories, and put 660,000 jobs at risk. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is one of the many affected after the natural disaster.

A flooded Honda dealership in Thailand. Source: CarNewsWeek.com

Honda was far from recovering after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier on this year before facing another catastrophe a few weeks ago. The slowing export of car parts from Honda’s factories in Asia has put assembly lines in North America on hold.

Thailand is the Southeast Asian epicenter for manufacturing car parts for Japanese car makers.

To avoid a similar disruption to international supply chains in the future, Honda should consider diversify the location of manufacturing plants and be particularly careful choosing to develop factories in regions as volatile as Thailand, where natural disasters such as tsunamis, typhoons and floods are likely to hit every few years.

The same applies to all international companies that depend heavily on its supply chains. Perhaps an emergency fund or a greater variety of manufacturing locations will keep companies afloat in the midst of disasters such as the 2011 flood in Thailand.

How Thai floods are affecting international supply chains. Source: The Globe and Mail