Month: November 2011

From issues regarding euro-zone antics to reports of recent sport headlines, this Economist blog can be perceived at first glance as nothing out of the ordinary; except, it isn’t like anything I have ever read before. Titled ‘The World in 2012: Cassandra,” the blog focuses on past historic information and formulates predictions for the upcoming year. In a series of posts, I was intrigued by the concept and found it quite amusing to read as it forced myself to ponder on subjects, such as the possible outcome of the upcoming French presidential election. In this post, Cassandra makes the prediction that Sarkozy will fail to win over the confidence of France; in another post, Scottish tennis player Andy Murray, whom had never won a Grand Slam tournament, is expected to beat favoured top-tiered players.

With such diversity in the topics, and the ever-lasting appeal that causes me to question my own dominant beliefs, I feel that the blog serves as a useful reminder for me to question norms and the notion that change continually occurs. As a business student, these skills will prove to be useful since devising plans for the future will undoubtedly serve as a qualifying asset.

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Here is a link to my comment on Rachael Reddy’s blog post. Rachael wrote on the leading innovative ways of Facebook and how it changed the way people socialized with one another.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/areyoureddy/2011/11/09/entrepreneurial-genius/

The topic of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg as being an ‘entrepreneurial genius’ caught my attention as I completely agree with Rachael’s point of view. In our day and age, it is difficult to find a person who does not own a Facebook account. With all of our spare time, we tend to check for new notifications and updates, and this clear obsession with the social network displays the extent of Facebook’s influence on the world and the movement that it has crafted.

If not for a certain entrepreneurial company, our daily lives would be significantly inefficient and certain beloved products would cease to exist. This company is of course, 3M, a global conglomerate consisting of scientists in its history, whom invented a series of prominent items today, most knowingly Post-It Notes. Although 3M employee Art Fry stumbled upon the adhesive paper in 1974, it was due to the fostering of 3M, which allowed his ideas to be achieved.

The company’s “15 percent program” enables employees to seek their own iconic product by allotting a percentage of their paid hours towards testing their own ideas. It is this entrepreneurial characteristic of 3M that has allowed the corporation to prosper, as many of their most successful products today were dreamt up in the program. When speaking about innovation, 3M leads by example, having spawned an employee benefit that can be seen within other companies, such as Google and their “20 percent time program.” 3M’s culture and philosophy of allowing employees to develop their own entrepreneurial drive has cultivated the notion of innovation within the company and its workers. Who knows when the next ‘Post-It Note’ will be discovered?

Link to Original Article

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Here is a link to my comment on Jeremy Kwan’s blog post. Jeremy wrote on the issue of America’s 401(k) retirement plan system and the recent controversy surrounding it.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/jeremykwan/2011/10/24/time-to-retire-the-401k/

The topic of whether or not the 401(k) retirement plan should be abolished has raised my interest on the matter. From reading Jeremy’s post and further research, I gained new perspective on the struggles ordinary citizens are experiencing and how the recent economic faltering has impacted their retirement goals.