When I think back on all the concepts that I learned during Comm 101 this term I get quite overwhelmed with the amount of tools that were given to me to use in becoming a successful businessperson. As I prep for my social entrepreneurship class I realize how lucky I am that I was given these tools, something that people in third world countries do not have easy access to.

The Arc initiative is a very unique and different program that brings more to the table than what the United Nations does. Yes, the United Nations provides better living standards and promotes social progress, but what the Arc does is it gives people in third world countries the knowledge they can use to start their own business. Through workshops, the Arc is fuelling entrepreneurship. It gives the people in third world countries those basic fundamentals that I am so lucky to have. This is the opportunity that many people need to lift them onto their feet; the ability to take an idea and organize it well enough to pursue it. I think the Arc Initiative is a really great program because it is something that can help people for a lifetime.

Sources:

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative/About_ARC

http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/

Vancouver and hockey are two things that just go together. The Vancouver Canucks have previously had some very successful seasons, but last season was a huge upset for the team and the fans. The management and the team had some issues that could have directly led to their terrible season. The team, including the coaches, and management lacked organizational culture. Although, everyone’s intentions were to win games, the belief in which the way to win those games differed for some members.

During the offseason, the Canucks made many changes to their team and their organization. With a new coach in Jim Benning, and Trevor Linden, as president, they addressed many issues in the organization and began to change the culture of the team. One key example is the release of Ryan Kesler, who spent the latter part of last season with the attitude that he no longer wanted to be in the Canuck’s organization. This type of attitude is what brings down the whole organization.

When I think of organizational culture, I think about a team of people who are passionate about doing the best they can to benefit their whole team. We’re a month into the NHL season, and we can already see the positive outcomes with these changes in the organization culture.

Sources:

http://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-need-brendan-morrison-as-character-model/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/canucks-set-to-begin-talks-with-potential-general-managers/article18197903/

There is one very huge factor that motivates businesspeople in today’s society, and that is power. Power however, is not always given out to the right people. The article “27 Psychological Reasons Why Good People Do Bad Things” gives some interesting reasons to why businesspeople do terrible things. One very important aspect is something we discussed in class, rewards. It seems like we tend to reward people for doing something when really we should not be rewarding them at all. I feel like this is very true and it is something that no one really thinks about until it is mentioned. Rene’s blog, Power Hungry, gives a really good example of this is the real world. Jordan Belfort, the wolf of Wall Street, has been given too much attention for his bad actions. I agree with Rene, his bad behaviour was never really punished; he has a movie, a book and countless tours. I believe that as a society, we give people more credit than they deserve. In order to change the way people act; society must change its views on rewards as a whole. Everyone wants power but there is a right way to get it.

When you think of October what first comes to mind? The first thing I think about is Halloween, so obviously chocolate comes to mind. While looking through UBC Sauder alumni, I came across Zimt Artisan Chocolates, a company started by Emma Smith. This company displays a lot of corporate social responsibility. The chocolate is organic, and the packaging is environmentally friendly.

In her blog “Trick-or-Treat… What’s the organic solution?,” Emma gives some ideas (tricks) on how to create an ethical bundle of chocolates for trick-or-treaters. I think her solutions are great because she’s making an effort to create a shared value for everyone (especially chocoholics), even children. To introduce children to the idea of organic foods is uncommon and important for sustaining a healthy environment.

She really thinks about the triple bottom line and the 3 P’s that are involved with it. Her products are environmentally (planet) friendly because they are organic. All the ingredients are grown without herbicides, pesticides, and/or insecticides, which means that there is nothing to harm the Earth. This is good socially (people) because then the farmers do not get exposed to the harmful chemicals. As for the economy (profit), Zimt is a small company based in Vancouver and is looking to expand to Asia and Europe.

Source:

http://www.straight.com/food/zimt-artisan-chocolates-looks-take-its-raw-vegan-confections-beyond-vancouver

Michael Sky’s blog, Share a Coke, discussed how Coca-Cola’s marketing campaign is unique method to increase soda sales. While reading his blog I found myself thinking about how other companies have similar marketing techniques that creates a point of difference.

Coming from a huge sports background, Nike obviously came to mind. Nike has always been a part of my athletic attire. Personally, when shopping for new athletic wear, Nike is at the top of my list. So, what makes Nike different than another athletic wear brand, such as Adidas? Nike’s point of difference: NikeiD.

Like Coke, Nike’s strategy is customization. It allows customers to take an ordinary Nike shoe and create a exclusive design. I believe this is a very smart way to draw in customers, which directly attributes to more revenue.

Mass customization isn’t always a successful marketing scheme, but it has definitely been a success for Nike and Coca-Cola. Like Michael, I also spent time looking for my name on a Coke bottle. Additionally, I have used NikeiD; I can sit in front of my computer and design my new shoes for hours. I love that there’s the option to have a pair of shoes that’s all my own.

http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/nikeid

 

When you constantly watch how the stocks go up and down, it can be a real turn off. Buying a stock allows you to own part of the company, which gives you the right to some of its earnings. Last week we watched as the Netflix stock fell 26% after their third-quarter result were not what management had originally forecasted. A drastic fall like this in a stock leads to many people selling their stock, as they are afraid that they won’t make a large profit.

Little do they know that if they do their research, the Netflix stock is actually predicted to grow tremendously in the future. Netflix, knowing that their stock is predicted to grow in the future has the ability to buyback their shares from those who are willing to sell it. This way, Netflix is able to keep the profit within the company and reduce the amount of shares in the market.

In my opinion, if I were Netflix I would be trying to buyback as many shares as I could, and if I were a shareholder I would continue holding onto my share. Although entering the stock market is a huge risk, and anything can happen, high-risk investments have a tendency to lead to high rewards.

Sources:

http://fw.to/2X45XgJ

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/strategy-lab/growth-investing/ignore-the-white-noise-about-netflixs-future/article21180198/

The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline (ENGP) is a proposed project that would allow twin pipelines to deliver diluted bitumen from Alberta to Kitimat, BC. Although, Enbridge claims it would be beneficial to the Canadian economy, there are many people who oppose it. The BC government set out 5 conditions for approval before they will agree to the project and one of the conditions concerns the First Nations living around the Fraser River. The ENGP would cross through Aboriginal land and the risks that the pipeline imposes are too high. I agree; the ENGP isn’t worth the risk to the environment. Enbridge’s Spill risk assessment is flawed therefore, it is difficult to trust them. A spill is irreversible and it wouldn’t just affect the First Nations. Salmon in the Fraser River is a backbone to the economy and if a spill were to occur that would be disastrous to their habitat. The First Nations have a right to oppose the pipeline. They are dependent on the jobs around the Fraser River, and if there were to be a major disaster, they could all lose their jobs. Enbridge has a ways to go before they can begin their project.

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Northern+Gateway+pipeline+through+unlikely+start+2018+project/10174245/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/There+will+pipeline/10122968/story.html

Have you ever imagined that you could wake up one morning and look next door to see that a house has been transformed into a Tim Hortons overnight? Well, in Southwest Calgary it happened. In efforts to increase their marketing, Tim Hortons wanted to draw attention to the job availability in their Alberta restaurants that they are trying to fill. This is what they call the Tims Next Door’ recruitment campaign. I believe this is a great idea! What better way to market a business than to put it right in front of people where it is easily accessible. People were offered free coffee and donuts to go inside the home and take a look to see what working at a Tim Hortons is really like. Although this kind of campaign can be pretty costly – turning a home into a restaurant for just one day – it is a unique strategy that could work for them. People all over Canada were commenting on how they would like to see the campaign come to their neighbourhood. If this strategy is successful, Tim Hortons could see an increase in employees, which would lead to an increase in their sales, and therefore, an increase in their revenue.

Sources:

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2014/9/23/Calgary-home-quietly-turned-into-Tim-Hortons-overnight.aspx

http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/09/23/a-bit-of-a-treat-for-us-tim-hortons-transforms-suburban-calgary-home-into-pop-up-shop-wowing-neighbours/

The biggest craze these days are in health. Most people are caught up in the eating healthy and working out aspect of a healthy lifestyle, but little did they know that’s not all they need to worry about. Brain diseases are on the rise and it is something to make note of. Dr. Raymond Lam offered readers 7 ways (exercise the brain, fitness, sleep, communicate with friends, eat an antioxidant diet, challenge yourself, appreciate beauty) we can help ourselves stay mentally fit. But as students, how are we going to cram these things into our busy schedules? It’s something along the lines of time management. Although, most of us are “good students” and tend to like to get our work done as soon as we can, sometimes we need to give ourselves some time away from school and work on our physical health. It’s good to prioritize; what’s most important and needs to be done first; and what doesn’t need to be done as urgently. Even during that short time in between, we can use it to better our brains and keep them mentally fit. Because without a brain, where would we be?

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health-advisor/no-health-without-brain-health-seven-ways-to-keep-mentally-fit/article17326102/#dashboard/follows/

http://breakingmuscle.com/

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, Mike Jeffries, has a marketing scheme that leads us to question his ethics and the integrity of the brand name. Because he believes that “good-looking people attract other good-looking people,” the company hires very selectively. His statement brings upon the questions, what makes someone good-looking? Is it their attributes? Their body? Is it the way they dress? Or the size they wear? These things shouldn’t matter to us, but they do. They matter so much that in efforts to patch up the issue, Abercrombie & Fitch came out with an anti-bullying t-shirt. It’s terrible to think that Jeffries could believe that coming out with a special t-shirt would fix the problem. All the women’s styles do not come in sizes larger than 10 and still don’t. So, what this campaign is doing is not fixing the problem but just covering it up to help lessen the blow. Jeffries hasn’t put any money into creating new sizes but instead he offered scholarships to those who fought bullying. Although, he seems to be trying to make good with the people affected, I don’t believe it gains him any new fans.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/abercrombie-fitch-tries-to-make-amends-with-anti-bullying-t-shirt-that-doesnt-come-in-plus-sizes/article14660724/#dashboard/follows/

http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/b24mf/media/1310/abercrombienobully_zps1a3d954c.jpg.html