During the month of August of 2011, Europe and America saw their economies enter a downward spiral towards recession. With a few months of adjustment and changes, the U.S. managed to slowly stabilizes its economy as the government has been careful with its decisions and the job market had slowly become secure. On the other hand, Europe is still falling as the economies of its countries is near the beginning of a recession. Americans should be concerned about Europe’s economy as if it continues to fall, as it will drag the recovering American economy back into another recession.

This blog post shows how quickly the economy can change if the government takes immediate action and make smart choices. The U.S. government has significantly cut its federal budget in areas such as aid for foreign countries. However, European governments were ignorant about the fact that their countries were economically unstable like the Greece’s government lets the debt build up. Worst of all, since the U.S. and Europe are major international trading partners; the continually failing European economy will damage the U.S. economy. So, the European governments should take immediate action to solve their crises before letting the problem spiral further.

Sources: The Economist      Picture

Derek Huang in his blog post, “Apple unveils refreshed iPhone 4S, but no iPhone 5”, talks about Apple Inc.’s marketing strategy of releasing the iPhone 4S instead of the iPhone 5. This announcement has disappointed the public, which was anticipating the release of the iPhone 5. Derek believes that this is a genius strategy created by Apple, because he thinks that Apple has inelastic demand. This means that Apple can adjust products and prices the way they want, while maintaining constant demand.

Although, Apple has not been impacted negatively by the release of its iPhone 4S, I think that, if Apple repeats this strategy again in the future, they will experience a large drop in sales. This is due to the fact that, in the cell phone market, the competition is increasing rapidly, which means that, if customers are disappointed by an Apple product, they would switch to another brand. If Apple releases the iPhone 5, then customers are expecting more features to be included since Apple has delayed the release. If Apple fails to satisfy customers in the future with the iPhone 5 then Apple should expect a significant loss of loyalty among its existing customer base.

Source: Picture

Chloe Chow talks about the possibility that Japan is releasing a hair washing robot, in her blog post “Robots Already?”. This robot can assist elderly and handicapped people with washing their hair. Chloe said that this concept will become useful not only for the incapable customers, but it will also help hair salon stores to reduce expenses by replacing employees.

This is another example of how technology is starting to replace human jobs. I do not agree with this idea, because not only does it replace certain employees who need the job to make a living, but I also do not think that these robots will be able to provide the same quality of service as a human employee. This means that customers will possibly be charged by the same price for a lesser quality of service, as these robots cannot tell if one’s hair needs more washing. Helping someone wash their hair is more than just washing it; it should be comforting and the wash motion should vary depending how the customer wants it. At this stage, robotic technology is not yet ready to design robots that can perform complex motions as well as fully understand human commands.

Source: Picture 

Canadian grocery giant Metro is purchasing a majority stake in Marché Adonis as both companies try to expand further into the fast-growing, multibillion-dollar market for ethnic grocery. The purchase will give Metro ownership of 55% of Adonis’ market share. With this purchase, both Metro and Adonis will benefit from each other. The financial backing of Metro will help Adonis reach more consumers. Also, access to Adonis’ expertise will help Metro boost its advance into the ethnic food market.

This is a good tactic for Metro because it is beneficial for the company in the short run and also in the long run. In the short run, Adonis’ supplier network will provide ethnic foods in Metro stores, which could attract more consumers. In the long run, Metro will become more experienced in the ethnic grocery market through the help of Adonis and also knowledge gained for operation in the market. Also, this differentiation strategy will help Metro to standout among its competitors with products appealing to a larger portion of the market. Adonis, on the other hand, should expand in to other provinces like Ontario and British Columbia as currently the company only operates in Quebec.

Source: Globe and Mail       Picture

Twitter Inc. would be considered an entrepreneurial company as it was founded and created by an entrepreneur named Jack Dorsey. Twitter started as an entrepreneurial company and transitioned into a private corporation. During the entrepreneurial stage, Twitter Inc. had gained a substantial amount of profit due to the huge increase in consumer over the years. The business was created in 2006 and by 2011 the business has attracted over 200 million consumers which shows the speed of wealth creation of the company. Since Twitter Inc. is created based on the business of social networking, it is considered to have a high risk when it was first created. This is because over the recent years the industry of social networking is increasing as more social network websites are created every year. When Twitter was created it has to stand out among its huge competitor base and also has to attract consumers to continuously using it. It was difficult and also risky for the company to achieve those goals with small reputation. Twitter Inc. has designed varies of different website interfaces and features on a daily basis, the company wants to innovate the website as often as possible to make business fresh and entertaining.

** This is not for the blog assignment.

Many underground miners in third world countries are forced to work in dangerous working conditions with low wages. This is caused by foreign corporations’ thirst for profit, while at the same time ignoring the ethical responsibilities of a business. Indonesian miners of the Grasberg mine owned by Freeport McMoran, are the victims of the company’s failure to be ethically responsible. Thousands of workers began a protest a month ago, demanding better working conditions and wages.  Eventually, the problem seemingly escalated, as it led to the deaths of seven people as they were shot by unidentified gunmen.

We see similar cases about unfortunate miners being killed either by hired gunmen or collapsed mine before on the news such as the Copiapó mining accident. However, nothing is being done to help the workers, as these powerful corporations have a strong presence in third world countries. When jobs are offered to the unemployed in these countries, it appears to be that the corporations are helping them by creating jobs. However, this may be quite deceiving, as corporations have previously used these workers to perform tasks, sometimes dangerous to their health, without adequate compensation, at a profit for the business.

Source: Globe and Mail          Picture

Enbridge Inc., a company which operates Canada’s largest oil pipeline is making a 900
million dollars investment to become the owner of the Cabin Gas Plant in British Columbia. The plant is worth 250 million dollars but the rest will finance the plant’s expansion. This investment is an initial step to execute the company’s strategy to establish a strong position in the Canadian midstream business focused on growing unconventional gas production in B.C. and Alberta.

I believe this is a keen purchase by Enbridge Inc. because of what is happening now regarding the Keystone Pipeline project. The investment allows the company to expand its natural gas business and create jobs in B.C. and Alberta. The debate of oil and alternative energy sources triggered by the Keystone Pipeline project could increase potential demand for natural gas due to the fact that natural gas is a greener energy source compare to oil and coal. Solely based on the negative feedback of the pipeline project, Enbridge should be able to see a strong financial performance with its natural gas business while maintain peace between environmental activists and jobs seekers.

Sources: Globe and Mail                Picture 1                      Picture 2

In my other blog, I have talked about the Keystone XL pipeline project and how this project has caused a great debate among American citizens. This debate has spread itself into Canada and the same two groups are involved in the Canadian debate. One of the groups contains people who are concerned about environment, while the other consists of people who see the opportunity of employment generate by this project. As the debate goes on, it brought in the topic of alternative fuels and fossil fuels. This sudden transition took CEO of TransCanada (the project was proposed by TransCanada), Russ Girling by surprise, as he says “I did not expect this [project] to become a lightning rod of the debate between fossil fuels and alternative fuels”.

The project will not only cause environmental issue but also health issues from the pollution generated from refineries. I believe that this project will increase people dependency on oil and delay the future of alternative fuels. The debate has become an ethical issue where some people only see profit, while others see the negative impacts of oil. The question is how many oil incidents will it take to make people more ethical?

Sources: Globe and Mail              Picture

Recently, the Chinese government has grown concerned about attempts by the U.S. government to pass a currency bill, which would force Beijing to raise the value of its currency. Critics of Chinese export subsidy polices say that undervaluing the Chinese Yuan has given Chinese exporters an unfair advantage. As a result of this, many American jobs were lost because businesses were unable to keep up with the Chinese competition. Fearing that the bill would pass in the U.S. government, the Chinese government responded with threats of a potential trade war with the U.S.

Washington believes that, by passing this bill, the unemployment rate will decrease. However, I believe the result would be different, as America still faces competition with other giant exporting countries like India. With the bill passed, the Chinese economy could be severely affected due to the rapid inflation of its currency and potential trade war is at stake. The Xinhua News Agency has mentioned that, by raising concern towards this issue, U.S. politicians might by drawing the public’s attention away from domestic problems. I believe this is a valid point considering that the U.S. is struggling with its economy.

Sources: Globe and Mail             Picture 

There has been a debate over the issue of whether or not the Keystone XL pipeline should be build on a field in Nebraska. This field has an underground formation known as the Ogallala Aquifer, an underground body of freshwater the size of half of British Columbia . Detractors of the project claim that the pipeline presents a risk to the aquifer, which is essential to Nebraska farmers in such a dry land. Advocates of the construction instead believe it will create many jobs for Americans.

Deciding whether or not to build the pipeline is difficult, as the issue alternates between various pros and cons of the project. In my opinion this pipeline should not be built, as it is too much of a danger to the aquifer. This may damage the nearby agricultural industry, worsening the economy more than helping it. By learning from the BP oil incident, we all can foresee the potential impact of an oil spill in Nebraska. Additionally, with the pipeline built, it is likely that the oil industries in Alberta will have to increase output to meet America’s high demand. This development would have certain health impact on the Albertan residents.

Sources: Globe and Mail           Picture