dlehnersauder

Though I have learned an enormous amount about building my brand, creating a competitive cover letter and resume, interview etiquette, and job search and career research techniques, what I have learned about myself in Comm 299 is far more important.

I have learned that I have the natural skills necessary to excel in interviews, but I am not naturally skillful enough so that I require no preparation. I know several people, some of which share my DNA, who can succeed in a 45 minute interview with absolutely no preparation. I do not share that same talent. During my Comm 299 interview, I forgot most of what I prepared. Though I received great marks for the non-verbal component of the interview, I fumbled and forgot the verbal components. Thus, I have learned that it is necessary for me to prepare and practice extensively before an interview.

I have also learned that my confidence is highest in two situations. The first situation is when I am completely natural, unprepared and off the cuff. Perhaps it is a false sense of confidence, but I feel as if I am completely in control of the situation, charismatic and very personable. I came to this realization when I was reflecting on my interview. In the past, I would never prepare for oral presentations or interviews, was always confident and seemed to always succeed. During the interview I was nervous, stumbling and forgetting what I had prepared (most likely because I did not prepare enough). However, the TA who marked me commented that I would have been very excellent had I prepared more thoroughly for the interview. I have since had two interviews for summer jobs, prepared extensively and was not only well-prepared and well-researched, but as confident as I am when I am completely natural.

Comm 299 has taught me a lot about practical application of career fundamentals. Comm 299 has also taught me about my confidence and my need for extensive preparation to excel in the business world.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

Throughout my young life I was barraged with a multitude of “life lessons” provided by my parents, teachers and anyone who felt they had unique and applicable philosophical advice to give. Most of their teachings fell on deaf ears. I was bombarded with catchy sayings generalizing how I should conduct my life and I recall rarely implementing the teachings. However, every so often a catchy saying would be pertinent, forcing me to ponder on the teaching and actively attempt to incorporate it into my conduct and personality. When I was 11 years old, my father gave me his first (and to the best of my knowledge his last) corny, catchy philosophical saying:

“Treat every opportunity as if it was the only opportunity you will ever receive.”

Though overtly simple and somewhat trite, this lesson has proved to be the most important lesson I have ever learned. My father understood opportunity. As a refugee, he came to Canada with few possessions and even fewer opportunities. However, he told me he worked tirelessly and embraced every miniscule opportunity he received to improve his standard of living. He worked his way from a non-recognized refugee to a well-respected professor and researcher. He lived, and continues to live, by his corny, catchy saying.

I embrace this life lesson and apply it to everything I do. I approach my education as an opportunity and privilege and work as hard as I can to make the most of it. Every job opportunity I am given is scrutinized to determine if the job is suitable for me and if it holds benefit to my development. Often, opportunities are not simply given. As a result, the opportunity must be created through initiative and effort. If an opportunity is not present, I will do my best to create it. Whether the opportunity pertains to my education, professional and/or personal life I will always do my best to embrace and explore it. Like a catchy song, a catchy saying can get stuck in your head. Unlike most catchy songs, I never want to forget this saying.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

Case 3, class 23, and class 24 all involved analyzing Bell’s $200 million dollar bid which won Bell exclusive telecommunications sponsorship of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Debates regarding whether the pricey investment was a good investment and whether it paid off for Bell absorbed Comm 101 class. My case 3 assignment argued the Olympic sponsorship was a good investment for Bell. Many persuasive arguments justifying both sides were made during class discussions. I still contend that the sponsorship was a good investment. I will present additional justification for the sponsorship (from a financial standpoint) which I excluded from my assignment (I focused heavily on marketing).

Bell experienced a 61 percent jump in profit the first quarter following the Olympic games. Bell Canada largely attributes their massive revenue growth to their aggressive Olympic marketing and advertising. Additionally, because Bell had exclusive Olympic-centric telecommunications marketing during the Olympics, their competitors’ (TELUS and Rogers) ability to counter Bell’s aggressive marketing (especially in Western Canada) diminished significantly. Bell boasted their market share for postpaid wireless phone activations rose to 42 percent, compared to just 19 percent the year previous. Bell CEO George Cope stated Bell’s overall market share growth goals from Olympic marketing were surpassed, meaning Bell’s initial goals measuring the worthiness of the expensive sponsorship (increasing its market share in mobile phone and satellite TV services by more than 1 percent) paid off.

Since Bell’s 2010 Q1 results, Bell’s revenue and profit growth has increased at a decreasing rate. More time is needed to measure whether Olympic sponsorship will benefit Bell in the long-run. If McDonalds and Coca-Cola’s successes from Olympic sponsorship are any indication of long-term benefits, Bell could be looking forward to a profitable future. Bell secured their brand presence in Canada to a similar extent that McDonalds and Coca-Cola position and secure their brands. All three companies fulfill the circumstances determining if costly Olympic sponsorship will be beneficial (I defined these circumstances in my case). Bell’s increased brand presence in Canada has already brought the company profits, and could potentially increase Bell’s long-term profitability, demonstrating that Bell’s Olympic sponsorship was a good investment.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

In my second blog post, I argued in favor of Friedman’s perception that the “only social responsibility of a business is to pursue profits” to the constraint of legal and ethical conduct. I supported this point by drawing parallels to what I believed was the embodiment of the ideal business man, the fictional Wall Street character Gordon Gekko. Though I believed this was viable, in reality, the pursuit of profits often encourages ethical and legal standards to be broken.

I did not take into account the willingness of firms to circumnavigate the law and ethical practices, nor did I recognize the consequences of the firms’ actions. In class 17, we examined the causes of the 2008 financial crisis, which in summary can be attributed to the unrelenting pursuit of profits from banks and investment firms. The pursuit of profits from these firms did not create wealth, which opposes Friedman’s argument, but instead encouraged deceptive business practices. Whether over-leveraging, shadow banking, the housing bubble or predatory lending are ethical or not – they are all legal – it led to a global economic catastrophe, all in the pursuit of profits.

My entrepreneurial and business ideals were erroneous, and I was doubtful if profits and societal benefits had any correlation. My doubts were quashed in class 20, when we learned about social entrepreneurship. A social entrepreneur uses the innovative, opportunistic qualities of an entrepreneur to make social change by applying business principles to make some type of social change, all while making profit. Social entrepreneurs benefit the lives of individuals by achieving, or attempting to achieve, social change, yet still have the capacity to make profits. Micro-franchisers, for example, supply ambitious, underprivileged individuals with the ability to operate a business and earn a livelihood. Though it may seem like a charity, a micro-franchise makes profit to sustain business, and do not solely rely on donations and outside funding to continue operations. Social entrepreneurs may not prioritize the pursuit of profits as the most important aspect of their business, but it is an essential part of their business function. Social entrepreneurialism has reshaped my perspective regarding how businesses can benefit society.

In light of this, perhaps my reworking of the famous Wall Street quote in my second blog post should be reworked again: “Greed is good, but only if the greed for profits does not outweigh the desire to benefit society.”

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

http://www.caseatduke.org/documents/dees_sedef.pdf

Alibaba.com is an e-commerce business that embodies entrepreneurship. The company, founded in 1999 by Ma Yun (Jack Ma) in Hangzhou, China, offers businesses a service that allows them to connect with producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and consumers from around the world. Alibaba.com, China’s largest e-commerce site has garnered approximately $211 million dollars in revenue in the second quarter of 2010 alone. Since Alibaba.com’s inception, their innovative entrepreneurial business model has proven to be successful – between 1999 and 2000, Alibaba raised US$25 million from investors such as Goldman Sachs, Fidelity and Softbank.

Alibaba.com’s success derives from their ability to embrace the essence of entrepreneurship to the fullest extent. Recognizing a new, growing market of e-commerce for China’s 42 million small and medium sized businesses (in 1999), Alibaba decided to offer a unique, innovative internet service. Soon, businesses from around the world, including giants like Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble, were using Alibaba.com’s services. In an extremely short amount of time, an enormous amount of wealth was created. Alibaba’s $1.5 billion IPO in 2007 best exemplifies the magnitude and speed of Alibaba’s growth. The speed of the company’s massive expansion of wealth is attributed to their ability to create a new service in a market formerly devoid of attainable  e-commerce. Further, being the first of its kind expedited their growth in a new market and accentuated the uniqueness of their services.

Alibaba.com exemplifies entrepreneurship. The innovative, unique service that launched a new market amassed a large amount of wealth in a very short time. Alibaba.com conforms to Schumpeter’s View of Entrepreneurship.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/123/the-worlds-most-innovative-companies.html

Communication between suppliers and retailers is the most crucial part of a supply-retailer relationship. In the realm of technology products, communication is especially important. This is because technology is continually changing; products are constantly improving and innovating, and suppliers and retailers need to keep up with ever-changing consumer demand. For a technology business to succeed, turnover rates must be high because “unsold inventory only loses value as newer technologies hit the market”[1]

The relationship between retailers and suppliers in technology is best exemplified by Best Buy. Best Buy can predict, for example, consumers will demand DVD players in the future, and Best Buy tends to order product about 6 weeks before they want them on the shelves. However, it may take twice as long for suppliers to manufacture and deliver the DVD players. Suppliers therefore must predict Best Buy’s ordering habits, and consumer behaviour to keep up with the orders. As the suppliers become further removed from retailers, the guessing increases. Communication is key between retailers and suppliers to minimize blind guessing.

The global recession has revealed the importance of communication in the technology supplier-retailer relationship. Technology suppliers tend to have extremely limited inventory, and huge turnover rates. When the economic crisis struck, suppliers significantly slowed production in an attempt to withstand the harsh marketplace. They did so to match with retailers, who’s plummeting sales forced cutbacks in inventory orders. The phenomenon that followed was suppliers frantically cut production. Retailers were understocked; a downward spiral of low production and low inventory occurred, diminishing profits and prolonging the recession.

If communication was better between suppliers and retailers, perhaps they could have avoided the inventory crisis that was nothing but detrimental to business. If possible, retailers, like Best Buy, should communicate to suppliers what they need with an appropriate time-span. This will allow suppliers to keep up with production, improve inventory turnover, and not force them to estimate what and how much they need to manufacture. Improved communication would benefit all facets of business in the field of technology. Communication is key.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124260855682928885.html

I may be the only youth in the world who is more interested in Facebook as a business than Facebook as a service. Facebook’s success as a private company can be largely attributed to the freedom co-founder, President and CEO Mark Zuckerberg grants his employees.

The following video offers a little insight into Zuckerberg as a manager, and the Facebook work environment:

The organizational culture created by Zuckerberg is relaxed, unstructured and open. Employees can come and go as they please, with no standard work schedules, thus more employee freedom. The Facebook offices are open, with undivided desks scattered across large rooms. Zuckerberg himself works among the employees in the open workspace.

The openness, according to Zuckerberg, encourages collaboration, team-work and an informal atmosphere and communication. Moreover, if employees need to unwind on the job, they can play video or table-top (foosball/table tennis) games.

Employees working to their suitability permits employees to self-determine their job satisfaction in the Facebook organization. Job satisfaction is the primary factor in intrinsic motivation. Productivity is a direct result of intrinsic motivation. Therefore, due to the organizational culture established by Zuckerberg, Facebook employees are satisfied with their jobs and as a result do their jobs well.

The next challenge that will test Zuckerberg’s managerial abilities is the inevitable transition of Facebook from a private to a public company. Zuckerberg is worried that going public will reduce Facebook’s flexibility. If Facebook’s organizational culture can be maintained once the company is public, Facebook will most likely prove to be a very successful company for years to come.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://www.fastcompany.com/mic/2010/profile/facebook

Gap, Inc. is currently in the process of reshaping their brand identity. Annual sales have not increased since the 2005 fiscal year, and Gap has devised a new business strategy, setting their target market as “consumers in their 20s and early 30s”[1]. Not only is Gap changing their target market, but their brand identity as well, “switching from ‘what was classic, American design, to modern, sexy [and] cool’”[1]. In order to enact this business strategy, Gap, Inc. set a new tactic.

Gap’s new tactic is a logo change. Gap believes the change in logo will revamp the brand, and show consumers that Gap is changing. The logo change is supposed to demonstrate Gap’s new image to appeal to a new target market, but initial response to the logo has been negative.

Could it be that Gap’s tactic is not to simply change the logo to re-position their brand to consumers, but to change the logo to garner consumer outcry and media attention. This would bring more attention to Gap’s reshaped brand identity and new target market. A logo change may garner some consumer intrigue and awareness, but news coverage and public commotion elevates publicity of Gap’s new strategy plan to a new level. If this is the case, the logo change is an impressive tactic executed by Gap, Inc.  to achieve their strategy.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marka-hansen/the-gaps-new-logo_b_754981.html

In class 7, finances was the topic at hand. Among the vast array of topics involving finances, investors’ decisions on safe or risky investment opportunities was mentioned. More specifically, the topic of stocks as an investment to receive return was discussed. Stocks are a risky method of investment, and thus often yield negative return.

With that in mind, I came across a morsel of information regarding Microsoft that could attract or repel current or potential investors: “Microsoft will formally unveil Monday a lineup of smartphones using the revamped version of its mobile operating system, Windows 7. The phones will be available through AT&T and T-Mobile USA.”[1]

This small piece of information grants investors the insight they need to decide if they want to, or do not want to invest in Microsoft. Investors could look at the successes of competitors in the smartphone market, such as RIM’s Blackberry, Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android and think Microsoft phones would thrive in the marketplace and the investment would yield positive returns. Other investors might look at the past failures of Microsoft in portable electronic devices (the Zune) and decide not to invest.

The relationship of risk and reward in business finances is often indistinct, and an individual’s interpretation of information can lead to a great, or terrible investment.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

Proctor & Gamble innovated brand management when they released Tide to the laundry soap market in 1946. They created a new kind of product, laundry detergent, and thus positioned Tide as the first, and the leader, in the newly created market of laundry detergent. Flash-forward sixty-four years, and Tide laundry detergent is still positioned as the most popular brand of detergent in North-America.

So why re-position an industry leader? Following the 2008 world economic crisis, consumers became more frugal. To appeal to this growing, new demographic of consumers, Tide launched Tide Total Care. The detergent was initially targeted to the fashion adept by promising that Total Care preserves clothing better than competitors. However, Proctor & Gamble knew that Total Care, more importantly, would appeal to the thrifty consumer because of the promise of the product allowing the consumers to stretch the lifespan of their wardrobe.

Proctor & Gamble continually prove that effective brand management is essential in competitive marketplaces. Playing off Tides position as number one in consumers’ minds, P&G introduce new products to appeal to a broader range of buyers, and in doing so, solidify their position as industry leader. If  P&G can keep this up, their future success as a business is a cinch.

Daniel Boissonneau-Lehner

http://www.piercemattiepublicrelations.com/2009/04/tide_and_woolite_reposition_th.html