There has been an ongoing conflict between Samsung and Apple for quite some time. The main conflict was focused on patents, as seen in this article. In this article, the conflict between the two firms is “analogized to a nuclear war”, and the two firms are compared to “the United States and the Soviet Union”. I agree with this statement to a large extent.Both companies have a huge amount of influence in the market for phones and other portable devices, such as tabs (Galaxy Tab, iPad).

This video shows one of Samsung’s ‘shots’ according to another article on the conflict between Samsung and Apple.

In the same article, however, it is stated that Apple has a slight advantage over Samsung in this ‘war’ as “Apple’s patents are … related to the modern operating system” and “because Samsung seems to have copied so slavishly”. I strongly disagree to this point, as Apple uses Samsung processors and it is one of Samsung’s biggest customers. In my opinion, therefore, Apple is at a disadvantage, as should Samsung decide to stop providing products for Apple, Apple will have a great decrease in production, and the high demands it enjoys will have no value.

Having the right organizational structure is one of the key aspects of successful businesses and firms. This is because the structure of a company affects how the entire company runs. Most importantly, it affects how the company gives feedback. In his blog post, Stefan Töpfer talks about “the importance of feedback for management and improvement”.  He talks about how managers can improve the way in which they give feedback, to ensure that the message sent across is clear and accurate.

I agree that his is essential to success, since employees first need to know what is expected of them in order to perform to their potential. If they are wrongly rewarded, such as having job offers from other firms, they will work to get offers from other firms in order to get that reward. In his post, Stefan says that managers need to “make sure feedback you provide is timely, … professional and constructive … and consider how else you can help going forward”. These will all help managers make the proper feedback. Even if an employee is extremely capable, if the appropriate feedback is not given, the employee will not be able to benefit the company to his/her maximum potential. Therefore, feedback is arguably one of the most important factors to success.

Information technology (IT), along with all other divisions of technologies, is an essential part of a company. Without IT, there would be no “e-commerce”, including “online retail, Internet auction sites, group buying and … mobile commerce”. This article discusses IBM’s approach to technology in business. IBM states that “brick and mortar stores (are) still relevant”, and according to Tadd Wilson (an “expert for the retail store solution, system and technology group of IBM”), this is because “our brains are basically wired the same way they were 10s of thousands of years ago”, and that “Browsing through a store, touching merchandise … making a purchase … fulfills a need in consumers”.

I personally agree with the take that Wilson takes on for IBM. Although it is, indeed, imperative that technology, IT in particular, is constantly maintained and updated for the convenience of consumers, I feel that a majority of the consumers would prefer getting to see and touch the product before making a purchase, rather than relying on pictures and the reviews of other consumers. However, in my opinion, the main focus should be on technology, as consumers increasingly becoming more inclined to use the internet for information and not the traditional sources. This will become very important in the future, when the internet will have even more influence than it has at present.

Andrew Mason, the “unlikely CEO of last year’s unlikeliest breakout business”, brought the “bottom-feeding” Groupon into a “billion-dollar force”. He was studying to get a degree in public policy and had not had much business training. Groupon operates in a similar way to eBay: it is essentially a website featuring discount gift cards/coupons usable at the respective local or national company.

This article shows Mason’s thoughts on how he achieved such a huge success and also his future expectations. The main source of innovation for Mason actually came from his previous area of study, which involved social change. He states that “most of the web businesses that have been truly successful at making the world better” are tools that help “usher in social change”. This was what he wanted for Groupon as well, which gave him the innovation he needed to make this huge success.

However, there are also risks as there is a tendency for anything that rises quickly may crash as quickly. There are also other big competitors who add to this risk.

Diagram

This diagram shows the speed at which Mason increased revenue. In a year, he managed to get a growth of approximately $78M, from Jan’10 to Jan’11.

This article talks about Zappos, which mainly focuses on shoes and clothing, along with other products, such as accessories and eyewear. Its CEO, Tony Hseh, started the company “in 1999 by selling shoes online, and has since grown to a US$1 billion per year retailer.” This was all thanks to Hseh’s “deliberate decision to re-direct its marketing budget towards delivering exceptional customer service”. Hseh makes sure that his employees live the company’s core values through a training course, “where new employees cycle through work in the Kentucky warehouse and call center”. According to the article, Hseh has even “passed on numerous experienced employees … (because) they were wrong for the company culturally.”

In my opinion, companies should adopt this strategy in order to optimize their customer services, to a large extent. I do not agree with Hseh’s method of creating a happy mood in the office, however. It is mentioned in another article that “pods of cubes (cubicles in office) is wildly decorated … space alien motif, … group of people in party hats … playing ring toss”. In my opinion, companies should set a limit as to the activities an employee can take part in, as there should still be some discipline and order in the office.

As the world develops and time passes, environmental issues are getting more severe and acute by the year and sometimes even by the month. Hence there is growing attention and appeal in sustainability and environmental responsibility. Many consumers now choose environmentally responsible firms than others, causing many firms to come up with ideas and innovations to increase sustainability and environmental friendliness. This article shows “50 Ways to Green Your Business”.

Among the many ways to ‘go green’ shown in the article, about 51 organizations are mentioned, and not only firms are mentioned, but other institutions, such as universities, and even sports teams are mentioned. The article shows how these companies achieved sustainability and a step towards a more environmentally responsible organization. As I read through the article, I saw many familiar names, such as Microsoft, Apple, GM and even Texas Instruments, which manufactures the calculators that most students use world-wide. Listed as number 17, the article says that Texas Instruments “estimates it has eliminated 15million pounds of CO₂ emissions and saved 3.7 million watts of electric power”.

Not only will such steps help improve the reputations of firms, it will also ultimately benefit the entire world in reducing the environmental impacts of development.

In this article, the successes of Coca-Cola, the largest manufacturer of beverages in the world, are clearly described. The title itself largely sums up what the entire article is talking about. It states that the profit of “$2.2 billion was a 9% rise on the same period last year”. The article placed Coca-Cola’s focus on emerging markets as the main factor of its success. This is shown through these statements: “Sales in these regions (Latin America, India and China) outperformed Europe and North America.”

In my opinion, Coca-Cola was able to gain such a huge profit through strong brand positioning. It also used the fact that the regions mentioned above do not have much local competition compared to the European and American markets to its advantage. By having many different kinds of drinks, together with local-taste/preference-specific developments and innovations, it was able to get a much wider and firmer grip of the market.

This brief perceptual mapping of the Coca-Cola company shows a part of the brand positioning of the company. This diagram shows 4 possible factors of consumption: trend, health-consciousness, value relative to price and strong flavor. Some examples, obtained directly from the coca cola website are included.

I agree with Nicola’s view that the protests of Occupy Wall Street are “irrational and unrealistic”. In my opinion, this group of people have no specific or realistic set of goals which they aim to achieve. However, I cannot say that the perspective that Occupy Wall Street protesters take is entirely wrong. This is because these protests were formed in response to “social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government”. They claim that “1 percent of the people have 99 percent of the money.”, according to Nicola’s post.

I agree that social and economic inequality and corporate greed are indeed huge factors in the financial crisis. However, in my opinion, these protests are pointless. This is because by marching in the main financial and business areas of New York CIty, which has the second biggest economy in the world, these protesters are literally slowing the world economy down. They are also creating other costs to the government, as well as residents around the area. They’re ideas would indeed be ideal in theory. However, these protesters must realize the costs and consequences that would arise, should their demands be met, which would ultimately end up defeating the purpose of these protests.

Market research is essential to the success of a business plan, whether it is for a new company or a company which is investing into a new product. This article discusses how market research creates success. Market research “involves dividing the customer base into target demographics”. In other words, market research is about finding the different preferences and tastes of certain groups of people, classified by different factors, such as age, gender and income level. However, according to Harvard Business school professor Clayton Christensen, “each year 30,000 new consumer products are launched – and 95% of them fail”.

This is because people do not buy a product just because of their age, gender or any other one specific factor. Rather, people tend to “take life as it comes”. I agree with the article in saying that companies should clearly figure out what “job” the consumer “hires” the product to do.  If this can be clearly segmented, then the course of action that the company needs to take to improve sales would be clear. And hence, market research is the key to success, since it gives the company an idea of what it needs to do to raise sales.

Samsung issues better-than-expected profit forecast

This article discusses Samsung’s profit estimate for the third quarter, which was more optimistic than the expected forecast. It seems that the ‘better-than-expected profit forecast’ was mainly derived from its handset business, which worked to reduce the losses caused by the falling demand for Samsung TV’s and computer chips. This was supported by another firm, ING investments, shown in the statement ‘Its telecommunications business is seen very positive as shipments of smartphones and other high-end handsets expanded’, by Park Jong Min, of ING investment management. Other than its handset business, Samsung is also the second largest mobile phone producer in the world according to the article. The sales of its Samsung Galaxy II crossed the 10 million mark.

The article also includes some of the risks of Samsung’s optimism. I agree with the article that Samsung’s sales will be heavily affected by the ‘slowdown in the US coupled with the ongoing debt crisis in Europe’ and the possibility of the relatively weak Korean currency causing an inflation. However, the weaker Korean currency can also work to Samsung’s advantage, since this makes its products cheaper to foreign consumers.