Category Archives: Uncategorized

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? For a business student whose assignments often consist of analyzing companies entering a downward spiral in some aspect of their business, […]

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 […]

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

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.   Although I don’t doubt that they will be successful in India, the questions of whether the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]