Business. Communication. Enrichment.

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.

During class 6, we explored the efficient supply chain of Dell Company where Dell revolutionized the logistics of computers. The tradition of a typical supply chain has many negative aspects. Often, it has much more intermediate cost which makes products more expensive to consumers than its original price. Also, inventory of products may accumulate and it can depreciate drastically, especially technological gadgets where the market flow updates quickly. Companies such as Dell gained many advantageous edge while fully utilizing the efficient supply chain. When products go straight from the manufacturers to the consumers, the company can customize the product to the liking of individual customer. Giving exactly what consumers want will bring in higher profit because consumers are usually willing to pay more for something tailored for them. Plus, customer satisfaction will bring company intangibles assets such as good will and good reputation which are all important to maintain the operation of the company. Another significant advantage is that efficient supply chain will generate zero inventory. Zero inventory promotes company’s organizational effectiveness which can lead to sizable increase of profit. Efficient inventory is an innovative approach to increase profit and reduce costs.

I was surfing through the business section of BBC’s news online and came across an informational article relating to global warming, one of the hottest topic around the globe. The title of the article is “Miliband draws up green tax plan” published on October 30^th, 2006. Below is a link to the article.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6095680.stm

In this article, United Kingdom’s Environment Secretary David Miliband established the fact that the government is holding discussions on tackling climate change by implementing green taxes. This green tax plan, also known as “pay-as-you-drive” plan, is unique is which it calls for measure to combat “car use and ownership”, and a “substantial increase” in road tax. The proposal suggest families with big cars would have to end up paying more than £1,000 a year in additional tax.

Many ethical problems surfaced from this article. However, the main ethical issue is that why would or should a household with a bigger car responsible for paying a higher tax than a household with a smaller car? This is extremely unfair to the bigger-car owners because even though smaller cars produce less greenhouse emissions from their exhausts, the smaller cars are still on the road and they still contribute to problems of air pollution and global warming.

Large families needing larger automobiles to accommodate the number of passengers should not be the only targets of the new taxation. If government were to implement the new green tax plan, they should tax all cars the same amount of tax because no matter the size of the vehicles, they still provide the harmful greenhouse emissions that leads to global warming.