Category — Uncategorized

The biggest news in the summer time in the world of professional basketball revolves around Lebron James, one of the most recognized basketball player. During the summer, he was a free agent, which means that he has the ability to sign with any team that offers him a contract. Being that year’s reigning Most Valuable Player of the NBA.com, he garners most of the attention of the summer in the basketball world. He could have resigned with current team where he is clearly the leader. He was everything to his basketball organization. He holds the record for the most number of jerseys sold under his name. He is one of the most popular sport icon to date. But when he made his “Decision” to switch team, the basketball world went berserk. People from his old team’s city burned his jersey in the public. They took down his posters around the city and some bar even made an offer to whoever that brings in his old jersey gets a free beer. In Lebron James’ next commercial with Nike, he asked the question what should he do throughout the commercial and there were numerous response to the video. Michael Jordan even publicly made a response video to his. All this antagonism toward Lebron James subconsciously helped Nike get much more exposure in the public. No publicity is bad publicity. 🙂

To sponsor an event, regardless of types, there are many aspects that a company must take into account. First of all, the company should do a thorough calculation on Return on Investment (ROI). ROI will be great indicator of whether the investment that the company made was actually profitable or not. If ROI is lower than the projected value, much portion of the investment may eventually result as sunk cost, which will be detrimental to the company’s financial position. The degree of the event is also critical, because company needs to make keen judgment on if the scale of the event is worth the investment. The events can be categorized as local, regional, national, and international. The more renowned the event is, the more market attention and coverage the company shall receive. Therefore, the company should aim for world-class events because these events will garner maximum media attention as well as consumer exposure. Reputation and popularity is also important because the brand of the event can have plenty hidden implications that can be either advantageous or harmful. Last but not least, the financial position of the company is also very important. The company needs to figure out if the company can withstand the investment into the unknown future since marketing generally yields long-term return. The solvency and liquidity of the company should be closely calculated as well. These aspects are definitely something that the company must examine before making any immense investment in events of all sorts.

Recently, the Canadian Dollar has surpassed United Dollars. Is it actually beneficial for Canada? In terms of consumers, it is indeed favorable. People who travel often around North America will feel like spending right at home. Especially for Canadian who live not to far from the border, they will pay more trips down to United States for shopping. It may sound like it is beneficial, but it is actually not a good sign for the Canadian economy. Superficially speaking, stores in Canada will likely have a decrease in sales, but nation wise, it is a big loss for Canada in terms of imports and exports. Canada trade with Japan, UK, and other members of EU, but Canada trade predominantly with US. Canada exports appoximately 222 million and imports 180 million with US. With the increase of the Canadian dollar, export will most likely drop, because global wise, US still have better recognition than Canada. Countries will obviously trade with countries that has a lower cost; therefore, indirectly the US economy will be aided by the increase of the Canadian dollar. Although a strong dollar is a lucid indication of a prosperous economy, I still think that the Canadian government should try to maintain CAD at a optimal rate where it is will be beneficial for the country.

Social enterprise is when an organization that has a common socially driven goal that utilizes market based strategies to achieve a social purpose. These functions take the revenue and profit that they generated to solve critical social problems and crisis. TOMS shoe is a great example of a successful social enterprise that has significantly impacted our society. For every pair of shoes that TOMS shoe sold, for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, the company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need of footwear. Since 2006, the start of the project, TOMS shoe has since given away over 140,000 pairs of shoes. By the end of 2009, that number will have grown by an additional 300,000. This company is a great example where it exploits some superstitions on business. People associate businessmen/women as money driven and the social enterprise obviously is a great way to show that the business world still care about the wellbeing of our society. These philanthropic social enterprise is an effective way to put innovative ideas together with a caring heart for the society. I believe the existence of such market must be recognized for our business market to be more diverse and prosperous.

As I was reading the e-newspaper on New York Times today, something surprising caught my eye.

Goldman Sachs, one of the top global investment banking system, was accused by United States Security and Exchange Commission(SEC) of defrauding customers who purchased investments that were tied to sub prime mortgages. It seems like a small mistake for Goldman Sachs; yet, this small incident perhaps may have confirmed many the many suspicion of Wall Street and other financial investing institutions. Throughout the financial meltdown, many major companies like General Motors Inc. have asked the US government for funds to “rescue” them with taxes. US government did made some investments in attempt to rescue these companies, and the general public knows it. What people do not know is that how are the investment allocated within the company. The bonuses of executives appears to have dropped, but no one knows for sure. Although this incident has yet to have sufficient evidence to be true, the release of such news to the media have drastically affected Goldman Sachs. The share of Goldman Sachs Inc. dropped simultaneously the news was issued worldwide. This news has dealt a major blow to Goldman Sachs regardless of its validity. Personally, I believe that it is unethical for Goldman Sachs to use investors’ funding as payment of mortgages. Accounting wise, it is violating the General Accepted Accounting Principles and causing turmoil within Wall Street. Also, I feel that the SEC will conduct more in depth research and analysis not only on Goldman Sachs, but also on other companies. These news sound devastating to investors and the reputation of Wall Street will sure be tarnished to a certain degree.