Teeth delving into a soft, golden brown treat, eyes closed in glee, a child holding a Twinkie in its crinkly, clear wrapper with two hands…

…but not anymore.

On November 16th at 7:00a.m, Hostess declared it’s brand’s official closing, instigated by 18,500 employee strike. How could a business that had so clearly been doing well not make it through?

A tribute to our beloved snack cakes.

For a business student whose assignments often consist of analyzing companies entering a downward spiral in some aspect of their business, I can hardly believe such hypothetical circumstances actually exist in real life, and aren’t simply depicting a made up scenario.

With this realization, I feel like I will be attacking my future assignments with new vigor, trying to find realistic recommendations that could potentially save a crippled company, or preserve a childhood memory from being crushed.

A humanitarian at heart, since high school I have been on a quest to find initiatives in business that allows helping others by using business acumen, like through Shokti Doi.

As explained by Léa Domenach et Arnold Montgault‘s blog titled Au Bangladesh, business et social se mèlent dans le yaourt”, or in English, “In Bangladesh, business and social blend in yogurt”, Grameen Danone Food Ltd’s venture in Bangladesh, where they collaborated their Supply Chain to provide a sustainable way of promoting corporate social responsibility by using their product, rather than simply dishing out the big bucks to “help others” indirectly. Together, they work to make a high nutrient yogurt, Shokti Doi, to distribute to poorer families in rural areas of Bangladesh, at a fraction of the cost.

Shokti Doi Yogurt

Nowadays, I often feel as if corporations giving back to society is seen as more of a trend, or marketing ploy, than a true act of kindness. I think that tailoring one’s product to help at each level of its supply chain is an efficient way to not only aid others, but also truly capture the essence of directly helping those in need.

While studying for my Management and Organizational Behavior class, I came upon (what seemed to me at least) an unusual side note:

p 278 of Nancy Langton, Stephen P. Robbins, and Timothy Judge’s “Organizational Behaviour”, 5th Canadian edition, 2009

Having been raised into the “tech savvy” generation where email, instant messaging, texting and online social networking have been integrated mediums of communication discovered through trial and error, I did not realize that these were “revolutions” of modern technology until now!

In my first few months of post secondary, I have encountered more and more  lectures and workshops attempting to teach me the low-down, hoe-down on these evolving technologies, as if I had not seen them before  Curious about the views of people not born into this tech revolution, I attended a LinkedIn Workshop held by UBC Sauder’s Business Career Centre and was surprised to find many third and fourth year student, whom I had assumed online experts, filing in the room. Throughout the workshop, I was exposed to a new sense of how-to regarding using the internet in a serious light: to enhance one’s professional appeal.

Post secondary has compelled me to keep an open-mind, and realize what I perceive as a norm may not be for many.

What could be better than finding a pot of gold at the end of the colorful, and very, very long (at least it feels that way with those dreadful finals approaching) rainbow of your post secondary degree?

A pot of passions.

Tom Dobrzanski, a former UBC finance student was able to do just that when he combined his love for music, and his knowledge of numbers and networking into a vat of entrepreneurship. The concoction that arose after many ventures was Monarch recording Studios.

Tom Dobrzanski, Owner of Monarch Studios

Although I may not yet know what major I will specialize in, or what career path my future holds, I can affirm with confidence that, no matter where my future may lie, my business acumen will propel me to greater heights, and help me achieve my own customized “pot of passions”.

A “social entrepreneur”

Some see it as almost a paradox, a contradiction that sullies the stereotypes of business men and women. These individuals, who are often depicted as profit-maximizing money-suckers, parading around downtown in suits with a coffee and briefcase in hand, are also the people working to blend the best of two worlds by mixing the values of financial and social returns.

While in secondary school and struggling to answer the pesky question “what do I want to be when I grow up,” I tried a variety of initiatives, from sports to clubs to extra-curriculars to figure it all out. One of these involvements was with Free the Children. After attending their conference 2010 We Day conference, I was inspired to make a difference. Along with other students at Hugh McRoberts secondary school, we co-founded a Me to We club at our school, and launched into holding fundraising events.

Me to We volunteers implementing the Halloween for Hunger canned food drive initiative – Photo Credits to Chung Chow, Richmond News

What I did not recognize at the time was that the organization I was working with was in fact a social enterprise, and it’s program was fostering social entrepreneurs. Although change is not always welcomed, I must agree with Abeer’s blog post on Tumblr, that performing business as a social entrepreneur is on the rise, and will do our world a lot of good.

A start-up: dreams, risks, pressure, pay-off.

When UBC alumni Janice Cheam shared the success story of her company, Energy Aware, I was blasted to the past, reminded of my year with the TiE Young Entrepreneurs program. After attending 8 classes covering the fundamentals of a successful business, my team of 5 worked long and hard to produce a feasible business plan for the competition held in April. The plan was centered on creating our own medical device company, sprouting from our innovative product, a spray-on cast. During that pilot year of the Vancouver chapter, our efforts propelled us to globals in Atlanta, Georgia where we proceeded to win $25,000 to start-up our own business.

Winning team of TiE Young Entrepreneurs and co-chairs of the Vancouver chapter, holding their prize after Global Competition 2012.

As Michelle Lee stated in her blog entry, Janice’s story highlighted the ongoing commitment, patience, and most vitally, belief, required to execute a start-up. This prompt reminded me not give up on the idea, and continue working on executing the patenting process for it. It also reinvoked the reason why I am studying in UBC Sauder’s Commerce program: to develop a tool kit that will provide me the means to fulfill my future aspirations, and not only dream, but implement, create and succeed – pay-off.

Starbucks making its way into the Indian coffee market at the end of this month comes as no surprise, given their precious success and popularity. What is unusual is that Starbucks, infamous for its strong branding and praised for its effective marketing, will be infiltrating the the world’s second largest population as a joint venture with Tata at the end of this month.

Photo from http://adgully.com/image/2012-01-Tata-Starbucks.jpg

Although I don’t doubt that they will be successful in India, the questions of whether the essence of the Starbucks brand will remain, given its association with Tata. As Rupinder’s Commerce Blog regarding this joint venture asked, “will Indian consumers associate Tata Starbucks with Tata or with Starbucks?”

In Debbie Millman’s article, “How Starbucks Transformed Coffee From A Commodity Into A $4 Splurge”, she discussed how Stanley Hainsworth, Vice-President Global Creative at Starbucks, said that “Many brands have lost their way in the process of evolving from a small company to a much bigger corporation.” I am curious to follow this development, and see whether the vision of Starbucks will vary, or remain true to itself in the shadow of Tata’s pre-established presence in India.

As technology advances, so does the frequency of change. New, innovative creations are popping up around the globe, and the old is quickly becoming simply a part of the past. The age-old expression “if it ain’t broke, don’t’ fix it” is irrelevant as corporations strive to differentiate themselves against their market rivals. Although new products are refreshing, this desire to constantly maintain a competitive advantage over other companies through revolutionary merchandise is rapidly becoming ridiculous.

While on the bus, reading the September 24th Coffee News I encountered the ground-breaking Japanese invention of the Nemuri Tie, meaning pillow tie, launched by KTM Co..

Sep 24th edition of the Coffee News, highlighting KTM Co.’s Nemuri Tie

This tie targets the “hard-working business people who want to take a quick nap on the job” as more professionals spend longer hours at the office. It can be worn, and then inflated when one needs to catch some Zzzs. Though this tie does solve a need to society, albeit for a very particular niche of people, I begin to wonder how effective these trivial inventions are as a marketing ploy of differentiation against competitors.

Is the value of innovation dwindling in the eyes of consumers due to an excess of inventions?

A name – a loving title bestowed from the start of something. It may be precious and meaningful to you, but could that revered name become a liability to future success? Apparently so.

In the article “Positioning – As Popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout”, it is revealed that “Even a person’s name impacts his or her success in life.” Though this article was written for marketing ones’ business or company and its brand, it also discloses that even the names of individuals can affect the perception others have of them, which can affect attaining their future goals. The article mentioned how “one study showed that on average, schoolteachers grade essays written by children with names like David and Michael a full letter grade higher than those written by children with names like Hubert and Elmer.”

An excerpt of “Positioning – As Popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout”

Living in the ever expanding city of Vancouver, BC, Canada, where diversity is, ironically, becoming a norm, and multiculturalism an integrated part of society, the possibility of what I would call “optimal names” rouses my curiosity. I must ask myself, amongst the many eclectic names I have encountered, “is my name a no no?”

Vancouver; a burgeoning city thriving off of crisp mountain air, salty ocean breezes, and  wafting particles of saw dust. As it grows, construction has become a common sight for locals. Single family homes are torn down and transformed into multi-unit residential housing to accommodate the many families who have fallen in love with the lower mainland of Canada’s beautiful British Columbia. With the development, a small group of people, not in population but rather in size, are often overshadowed – children. Tykes need room to explore, play and grow are not able to do so in their own backyards as many townhouses and apartments do not feature a personal outdoor play area. With a lack of space dedicated to play already, the work of arsonists and vandalists on playgrounds, do not help the issue. Building a new playground comes with a hefty price, ranging upwards from anywhere from $100,000.

Children enjoying a playground in Richmond, BC

After facing such a dilemma in Richmond, BC, the article “Contractor makes playground challenge” of the Richmond News explains how an elementary school’s playground was set ablaze, and would cost $100,000 to replace. The school’s Parent Advisory Committee decided to approach the construction companies themselves, and were rewarded for their efforts. On a mission to promote corporate social responsibility, Am-Pri Construction Ltd. donated $10,000 to the cause, and challenged other companies to follow suite, raising enough funding to build a play place for the entire community to enjoy.

This display of going one step further to enhance the quality of a community, rather than simply providing a living space, goes to show that a business is much more than its measured profits.