Sustainability has been a hot topic in the business world and is starting to contribute to companies’ decisions on manufacturing their product. In John Izzo’s blog he posted that the consumers nowadays, no matter in developed countries or undeveloped countries, prefer to consume without feeling guilty. To be precise, he mentioned that a large percentage of consumers actually values how the making of the products affects people, society and nature, and the planet. Thus it would be wise for firms to now focus on guilt-free consuming.

It is great that consumers are concerned about the impacts of the products they buy, and as a result many firms are starting to to shift towards a sustainable business model. However, in many cases, firms market in a way such that consumers believe the products are not harmful to human and the society while they are. The consumers’ guilt-free shopping psychology is taken care of but the planet still takes the hit. In a market as competitive as today’s firms are still price driven and will have to do whatever they can to stay in business and maximize their profit. Reaching the goal of sustainability may be a wise choice in the long run but it sure will burden the firm with debt in the short run. That being said, it is still difficult to balance between cost minimization and not harming the society, the planet, and its people.

In her post “the Demise of the Mall“, Dawn discussed the miserable future of mall caused by the rising e-commerce industry. Companies such as eBay and Amazon are slowly taking the retailing business out of business. Now that more and more people enjoy the convenience of shopping from home there is no doubt the future of malls is at risk. This new way of shopping disrupted the retailing industry and retailers and mall owners have to cope with this imminent problem to avoid shut down. House supplies, clothing, and electronics can be purchased and delivered directly to the hands of consumers, however, the experience of having food in a restaurant cannot.

The restaurant industry is very likely to be the savior of malls since it receives little disturbance from the e-commerce industry. Whichever mall you go the food court or restaurants is always crowded regardless of holidays or sales days. It is in people’s nature that the combination of dining at home and away from home is necessary. Thus it is possible that malls will introduce popular restaurants and reduce the amount of retailing stores in the near future.

Private corporations are known for their aggressive way of avoiding tax, out of it billions of dollars can be saved. But how about Crown Corporations? The Canadian Federal pension board is recently exposed of its offshore “scheme” to avoid foreign tax. The federal agency that invests civil pensions exploited loopholes in Berlin Germany by buying apartments through a complex web of shell companies. By law in Germany transfer tax has to be paid if oneself owns 95% of the property, and the federal agency invested through several shell companies and successfully avoided tax. When this matter was revealed German officials characterized Canadian Crown Corporations as to the private corporations who avoid tax super aggressively. This news drawn negative comments from all across Canada.

But think about it. Canada was able so save millions of dollars without breaking any laws and therefore can provide more pension to the citizens of Canada! Every year, brilliant accountants are trying millions of ways to save their firms millions of dollars, and as a result the firm has more to offer to its shareholders. In this case, it is the every retiree that Canada have and will have in the near future who benefit the most. This federal agency should not be under so much heat as it is just merely doing its job, maximizing the pension fund.

It is not difficult to  predict that Germany will soon amend this tax law, but corporations will just jump to next loophole or the next country that will save them even more tax money.

The fast decrease in the price of oil was caused by the cut in price of the largest oil export country, Saudi, as a strategy to compete with the increasing U.S. production. While car owners are glad, which is the obvious, let us take a look at the winner and the losers of this event. The list of the winners of this drop in price starts with airline companies. Airline stocks responded to this market action with almost instant rise in prices; Delta Air Lines stock price raised 4.2 percent as a result.  Also as mentioned, car owners are now more gladly to do an extra Sunday drive. Among the stakeholders many have a lot to lose. For instance, other energy was disrupted by this turmoil, reflected in their substantial fall in stock prices. However, one stakeholder in particular, is more troubled than the other, Russia. As the world’s second largest oil export nation this news would devastate the nation’s income and therefore affect the Russian government’s budget. Although the bad seems to outweigh the good at the moment, it is optimistic to assume that the economic benefit in the future this event will bring. The drop in oil price would ultimately make the consumers’ pockets deeper and therefore increase their buying power.

Let’s take a step back and have a look  at the very long run. As we all know the change in price in oil has massive impact on almost everything in the world; from a country’s budget to the cost of shipping goods, all industries and corporations are concerned parties. However, will its power diminish in the future? As technologies develop and more and more new energy companies mature, will the world one day snap out of oil’s control? Well, clean energy is a hot topic and with the emergence of oil-independent utilities such as electric vehicles, maybe in the near future the world will be rid of this environmental unfriendly raw resource.

Link to Steven Gao’s Post

In his post Steven Gao discussed the disabling of NFC (wirelessly share information, eg. payments), and the possibility of promoting another type of phone wireless payment method. As we know form the iPhone 6 rush not long ago one of its new marketing ideas was to pay using Apple Pay. It is essentially tapping you iPhone make a simple payment. The tap-payment was widely promoted over the past year by Interac Flash and is now a generally accepted payment method in stored such as Starbucks and Futureshop.

Paying your morning cup of coffee with a tap of your debit card, convenient and simple. Paying your morning cup of coffee with an iPhone 6, really? That flashy? Paying with our phones raises many issues. Phones can malfunction, break, or get stolen. I mean come on, paying with your phone is great? Speaking as if we never lose our phones. For the above reasons maybe most people would think twice before letting their phones take the role of their wallets.

Issues between the aboriginal groups and the Canadian government had never ended, and most of them are regarding government civil projects that are thought to violate and exploit First Nations’ resources and beliefs. The recent issue that rose to people’s attention in B.C was the hydroelectric megaproject. While this project may propel the use of clean energy and  providing jobs, the B.C aboriginal groups displayed concerns. The First Nations worry that with this project in place their sacred land, which as allegedly to be for their religious gatherings, will be destroyed. Also the dam the project plans to build may disrupt their hunting game and fishing lifestyle. As a result, leaders of the First Nation groups have threatened to take the government on court if the hydroelectric motion is passed.

For centuries the government of Canada has been trying to balance the aboriginals’ interest with the country’s. For the wrongs done by ancestors Canada has tried to redeem by compensating the descendants of those wronged. However, First Nations’ beliefs are contradicting to the majority society as the world progresses. The hydroelectric megaproject, for instance, is a project that would increase Canada’s energy capacity and ultimately, bring economic profit to Canada. Therefore, this project will eventually take place; it is only a matter of time that the government of Canada persuade the aboriginals.

Within the past year the tension between Hong Kong and the government of China has skyrocketed. One of the main issues is the protest against China’s interference with Hong Kong politics. To be precise, many Hong Kong citizens are upset because they fear that they might not being able to elect their leader in a democratic manner. As a result many students and advocates have volunteered to protest. This protest had evolved aggressively since it started; volunteers are camping in major areas of Hong Kong such as Central and Admiralty. Police forces are sent to maintain order, but just like any other protests, some extremists brought the element of violence into the matter and people were hurt.

Let us put all the politics aside and see how this protest have affected the society and the economy of Hong Kong. Since substantial amounts of protesters had settled in public areas of Hong Kong, transportation was slowed down or even paralyzed. As a result, public schools were closed down for a week. As British Columbians who just experienced the B.C teacher strike, we would be able to understand the problem such matter causes. On the other hand, the protest had traumatized the the economy of Hong Kong, especially the retailing businesses. Many business owners have complained about how devastating the protest have contributed to their miserable revenue decreases. The negative impact on economy is also shown in the stock market; the Hang Seng Index has significantly decreased.

BBC News Occupying Central 

Just within the first day since IPO Alibaba has tripled the stock price, reaching a new level of success on its debut in North America. However, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, has no intention to slow his pace. His ambition in competing Amazon in its home ground is not surprising. Both business models follow the basic structure of e-commerce, however, Alibaba has certain advantages that may change up the game in North America. Alibaba offers an open marketplace which not only facilitate channels for branded companies but also small businesses as well. As a facilitator Alibaba does not sell products directly to consumers which allows them to abandon warehouses and the heavy cost that comes with it. As a result Alibaba is greatly more profitable than Amazon, with margins as high as 40%. Furthermore, the vast market in China has widen the gap even more.

It seems like Alibaba is the real deal, but the real question is, is Alibaba capable of sharing a part of the pie in North America? Many obstacles are in the way and Alibaba does not to seem to be able to solve them anytime soon. The major problem is that can Alibaba fight its way into the market share of North America with costly expense? After all it is Amazon’s turf and Alibaba would need loads of cash to fight the battle of market share. On top of that Alibaba’s business model may not adapt the already existing e-commerce system set up by Amazon. With these critical issues it is difficult to judge if Alibaba would recreate its immense success on North America, however, stakeholders strong believe in the chance.

Alibaba vs. Amazon: Who Will Win the Global E-Commerce War?

The recent iPhone 6 release has been a huge success, however, it has also been problematic especially for local society majorly due to glitches between buyers in the chaotic line up. Long before the release Apple fans had already been anticipating this promising product, and the release had finally pushed the wave to its peak. Hours, or even a day before the release, tons of Apple enthusiasts had already taken their places in the local Apple Store lineups. With the frustration from long waits and the lack of sleeping people were roused up; to be specific some buyers even started to fight over positions of the lineup. As a result, some troublemakers were arrested or restrained. Aside from the Apple fans who longed for iPhone 6, a group of “re-sellers” have contributed to the chaos. Prices of iPhone can ranges from around $800.00 to $1000.00, and re-sellers drive the price to $3000.00 or even $4000.00. Many people see it as an opportunity to earn quick cash, and it definitely is considering the substantial amount of profit that can be gained from reselling. This profit is insane!

While the crazy demand and price for iPhone 6 skyrockets, bystanders may begin to question the issue of overprice. Is it worth it to spend a fortune on an Iphone? While the debate currently taking place a devastating concern for the quality of the Iphone 6 had broken out. Customers had reported that under daily use (carrying the phone in jeans) the Iphone 6 seems to bend. When put under tests, the iPhone 6 does exhibit tendency towards malleability.

There is no doubt that the Apple team has marketed well and constructed a high standard of value proposition which is reflected by the insane response of buyers, however, is it worth it to spend $1000.00 on a phone that may shape-shift just within days of use?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/apple-iphone-6-lineup-fights-flare-amid-accusations-of-reselling-to-china-1.2775063

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/nike-indonesia_n_2481236.html

Exploiting local corruptions to lower manufacturing cost has always been an unethical business practice. Nike, for instance, has always been linked to these scandalous accusations. By using Indonesian military forces Nike intimidated factory workers into accepting lower pays. This socially irresponsible action demonstrated the exact opposite of ethical business practices. This was not the first time Nike had been accused of operating out of bad faith overseas. The issue of using local corruption has always remained unresolved.

Many may criticize Nike and empathize with the unfortunate victims who fall under the control of powerful yet unethical corporations. However, to almost all corporations, these actions are merely an efficient way to generate larger profit for shareholders. Some may not even care the fact that their benefits are based on the suffering of others. In a world where money talks, these unethical actions may not even concern the vast majority, including distributors who gain more profit and consumers who enjoy lower prices.

Questions on business ethics are always debatable; however, there will not likely be a conclusion which all parties involved will appreciate and follow.