Emily Lovett's Blog

(View from outside Market Basket in Danvers, Massachusetts)

Up until a few months ago, every Saturday my mom, sister, and I would venture up to Salem, Massachusetts to visit my grandmother. As she could not grocery shop for herself any longer, we would take a short trip over to the Market Basket in Danvers. Market Basket is altogether a great company. Its prices rival all other supermarkets. The workers enjoy many benefits: a pay above the minumum wage, paid sick leave, health care, and bonuses. And, they like working there; some having worked decades the company.

(Protesters show support for fired CEO, Arthur T. DeMoulas)

Everything changed when Arthur T. DeMoulas was removed from his CEO position. This caused the loyal employees and customers of Market Basket to begin two month long protest. The stores shut down and some of them ended up losing their jobs for organizing protests. As time went on the protesters began to see this as “a battle in a larger war against the decline of both middle-class jobs and family-owned businesses where employees come before maximum profit”. When things finally tied together after two moths after Demoulas bought his cousins’ share of the company, employees were overjoyed. One even said,”[he] felt like [he] just won the lottery”.

(DeMoulas’ removal was seen as the company putting profit over people)

More companies should strive to be like Market Basket. They have a good relationship with their customers and loyal employees. I don’t think many other companies have experienced protests at the removal of a CEO. It just goes to show how a company can “do good and do well”.

Read: US labor secretart cites Market Basket as a model for other companies &  A happy ending for Market Basket employess, customers

Here’s an interesting proposition: Apple should buy Tesla. When I first read the title, I thought this idea was interesting, but crazy as well. I’m not entirely sure if the craziness of the idea made me read the article, or the fact I feel I should read everything Tesla related after doing so much work in Comm 101 regarding Tesla. Either way, I was not disappointed and by the end, the idea was not so crazy as I originally thought.

(Source)

Both Apple and Tesla are know for their innovative and forward-moving thinking with products that reflect this. And, even though the two companies are in two different industries, the two could benefit if Apple were to buy Tesla. Interestingly enough Steve Jobs did have an iCar in mind before he passed, and other Apple executives displayed interest as well. If Apple were to buy Tesla, they could set Steve Jobs’ dream into motion. Also, given that Telsa is working on making electric cars more affordable in the future, Apple could help find ways to cut down on the selling price as it has been said, “If it weren’t for Tim Cook, the iPad would cost $5,000”. Lastly, the two companies could work on using similar software to improve their products. “Apple is a great software company. Tesla’s software could use some work. Apple [and Tesla have] been studying battery technology for years… they could work on that for Tesla’s cars and Apple’s gadgets.” An unlikely match, but it’s almost like the two companies were made for each other.

Now, despite thinking the idea is a good one, the chances of this happening seem very slim. 

(HP’s new computer: Sprouts)

HP released a new computer, Sprouts, with unique features: a touch mat that can transfer anything written or drawn on it to the computer and a built in projector that can scan anything placed on the touch mat. I agree with Judi, this is an amazing peice of technology.

(The overhead camera in the process of scanning)

I think that Sprout will attract particular target groups such as artists and designers as Judi mentions. This is never more apparent when Sprout is presented as a product for creativity and expression. This product, however, is marketed for a multiple target groups, for example, teachers, “reimagine how you can teach”; children, “reimagine how you can play”; businessmen, “reimagine how you can sell”; and more. The reason I think Sprout will mainly attract artists and designers is because not everyone needs an overhead camera or a touch mat. Both are really cool feature that I wish I could try myself, but I could never see myself buying a product like this.

Last June, Tesla openly displayed their patents in attempt to advance of development of electric cars.

There are limited models of electric cars on the market, and many people trust gas-powered cars over electric cars which are not viewed as entirely reliable. Tesla has worked hard to prove this as false, but even then electric cars are not the most affordable.

(Tesla Model S)

There are many ways the display of these patents benefit the electric car market. First of all, other companies can work to find and fix flaws in them. No one wants to buy a car they feels is unreliable. Then, other companies can discover ways to make electric cars more affordable. Tesla already has plans in the works to make an electric car more affordable to the middle class in the not too distant future. But, Tesla, despite being a leader in the electric car industry, cannot be expected to come up with all the good ideas by themselves. Other companies in the electric car business can give their own inputs and they may be able to produce an electric car that is more reliable or more affordable compared to Tesla in the long run.

(Black Friday madness)

One of the scariest days of the year in America: Black Friday, is, for some stores beginning on Thanksgiving Thursday. The day, or now days, when people are willing to fight to the death to catch the best deals of the year, before the holiday season, offered until midnight on Friday, or until supply runs out. Stores, such as Toys R Us, Macy’s, and Kohls, are opening at 5 pm on Thanksgiving to sell as much as possible in the next 30 odd hours. A lot of Americans are willing to shop till they drop on Black Friday and are willing to go through great lengths to buy what they want and as much as they can. Many of them will spend far over what they normally would allow themselves. I think the stores will definitely profit by opening earlier. The prices may be lowered thanks to the deals the stores will offer, but business will boom over those 30 hours the stores are open for.

(The congestion of stores during Black Friday)

Other stores, like Costco, are taking an opposite route; they will stay closed on Thanksgiving to allow their employees to enjoy their Thanksgiving. Costco’s employees spend these days much happier than those working at Kohls or Toys R Us. And, we know as much as business is about making profit, there is more to it than that.

(Source)

Over the last few years, gas prices rose and rose to the annoyance of those who drive regularly. Low prices seemed like a thing of the past. Plans to try and lower gas prices spread like wildfire even if they planned to lower them for one day. I remember my friends would share events and days where people pledged not to buy gas for that day to lower the price per gallon. There were times it did briefly lower for a week or so, the slightest amount, but it lowered nonetheless. These days were huge for people, they would fill their tanks to the brim and would buy gas in bulk by bringing portable gasoline containers. News stations would position themselves outside of gas stations documenting the craze.

Now, thanks to a drop in the price of oil, gas prices have dropped to an average of $2.96 for the last week. This is still 3 cents above the national average, but it is a relief to many. Who knows how long this will last, but no one wants to think about that right now.

Changes of eating habits and diet trends contributes to the declining sales of Jell-O products. So, Kraft Foods has decided to shift Jell-O’s “core purpose” and market the products as “food for fun”.

From my experience, people mainly eat Jell-O products after their wisdom teeth are removed or they are sick at home. Generally speaking, one of the last things we would associate with fun is Jell-O. Furthermore, many people nowadays rush about their daily lives and want things the momet they decide they want them. With Jell-O’s gelatin, there is this process of mixing the powder in boiling water and then cold water, then it must firm up in the fridge for a few hours until it is ready for consumption. And, the instant pudding is not as instant as it claims. There are packaged cups of ready to eat Jell-O products at the supermarket, but those are usually just seen on the bedsides of hospital patients or nursing home residents.

(Source)

However, Jell-O did successfully work its way through the family-focused dessert trend and the more recent adult-centric diet trend. Now, Jell-O must redefine its purpose to fit current trends or redefine the way people view the product through its doubled spending on marketing. Marketing has the ability to ingrain products into consumers’ minds and make them perceive products in a certain light. With a sufficient amount of advertisements the way people currently think of Jell-O products could change to that “food for fun” image Kraft Foods wants to market it as.

As for right now, it has yet to become its desired image of the fun-filled snack food.

Gender imbalances in Twitter’s workplace causes the company to face heavy scrutiny. As of October 13, 2013, Twitter had only one female employee in a male dominant workplace. Unlike Richard, I agree with the experts’ inputs.

As much as I dislike the reluctancy companies, such as Twitter’s, have towards hiring women, I think that it is necessary that the company hires employees without government intervention. It may take some time, but the company must work to counter gender imbalance in the workplace by itself for its own reasons. Additionally, even though sponsorship could create an incentive for companies to hire women, as Richard suggests, what if the company begins to hire women not because they fit the qualifications, but because if the company hires a certain amount of women the government will promote the company.

(Source)

Women should be hired because they stand out among the other candidates, not because the company feels they must hire them. This is where it becomes a long-term problem. Women, with similar or identical qualifications as their male colleagues, must try harder than because of bias against hiring women. For this reason, as Richard points out, there are many other companies with the same gender imbalance issue. This fact is especially relevant in high tech companies, however, as “only 5.7% of employed women [work] in the computer industry”.

So, I believe if Twitter works to hire more women holding the same standards its male employees, over time the gender imbalance will shrink. And, hopefully then, gender imbalance will become less common amongst other companies as well until it seems almost abnormal for their to be a gender imbalance.

Taseko remains hopeful in the fight for its proposed New Prosperity mine. However, previous rejections by the federal panel and government, as well as the Tsilhqot’in tribe’s declaration of the site, decrease the chances of Taseko getting their way.

There are many benefits highlighted by Taseko that could better BC and its economy. The project would lead to the creation of jobs, over 10,400, and the company claims that many First Nations workers would be employed. Despite this proposition, the Tsilhqot’in tribe has plans of their own to create job opportunities of their own for First Nations workers. And, they would probably not allow Taseko the right to go ahead with the project because of the problem that lead to the project’s previous rejections.

Taseko’s problem lies in their proposed plan. The original plan faced rejection due to the environmental destruction that would be caused to Little Fish Lake. So the plans were revised, only the plan’s outcome still lead to destruction. And, now with the land Taseko sought after is in the hands of the Tsilhqot’in tribe. I doubt that Taseko could manage to achieve a mutual agreement with the Tsilhqot’in people unless they somehow could find a way to leave the area unharmed and go through with the project. But, if Taseko could do this they would be changing their plans instead of putting up this fight. Taseko will take this to the Federal Court later this month. Only time will tell, but the odds are not looking in Taseko’s favor.

Read the article here

Everyday many individuals driving cars from various dealers worldwide put their safety in the hands of the Takata Corporation. Takata, one of the top three airbag manufacturers, supplies its products to multiple automobile companies such as Toyota, Nissan, and Subaru. Recently, Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles due to faulty airbags, produced by Takata, that could cause harm to the vehicle’s passengers. Takata has made numerous questionable business decisions facing fines and lawsuits alike. Along with its history tainted by defects, it is a wonder that many automobile manufacturers still purchase their supply. Almost, if not all, of these automobile manufacturers claim an utmost commitment to the safety of their consumers. So, being provided faulty safety features for their own products on multiple occasions could be seen as breaking their dedication to the welfare of the consumer. This may result in the manufacturers seeking business elsewhere with Takata’s competitors, not wanting to be known to distribute automobiles with harmful safety features. In the past, Takata has pulled through their troubles, but because of their lengthy past with these troubles, companies may think twice before doing business with them. On Takata’s website, they claim to “[have] continually thought of ways to improve safety”, unfortunately this statement does not reflect.

Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/automobiles/toyota-recalls-2-3-million-vehicles-for-air-bag-problem.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A12%22%7D

Takata Website:

http://www.takata.com/