Darah Hansen recently reported in her Vancouver Sun blog that “nasty workers earn more money.” A new study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that the majority of employees who were unpleasant and ill mannered were in fact paid more than their friendlier coworkers. The experiment was conducted with a sample of around 10,000 workers in a variety of professions, salaries, and ages. Disagreeable men tended to earn around 18 percent more annually than the nicer male, whereas women earned around 5 percent more.

Picture credits to jillbremer.com

In my experiences throughout school and the workplace, I have not often observed that more agreeable colleagues were less successful or paid less. In fact, I believe that these people are more socially active, willing to compromise, and considerably more productive in group activities. However, I have noticed that these people sometimes appear to have difficulties expressing their views and are less assertive than others. The Wall Street Journal states that being highly agreeable does not conform “to expectations of ‘masculine behavior’.” People who are rude and unfriendly are also more likely to use unconventional means to artificially advance their career. It appears that the saying, “nice guys finish last,” might really be true.

Using Nalgene as the perfect example, Josh states in his blog that it is all about the consumer perception of a brand and product that is crucial to the organization’s positioning. When the company’s product was implicated as having a major health concern, consumers rejected its well-known water bottles.

Similarly, Coca-Cola faced its biggest crisis when they attempted to change to an improved formula called “new Coke”. Although this upgraded recipe was tested to fit the tastes of almost 200,000 consumers, its loyal fans felt a special bond to the brand already. While the corporation initiated this plan in order to counter its biggest competitor in the market, Pepsi, it was forced to return the original formula. However, somehow, this disaster had actually rekindled the consumer’s affection for the original Coke, causing sales to surpass its competitors, as well as allowing the brand to reach new heights.

                    
Picture credits to Wikimedia and www.americansweets.com

As demonstrated by these cases, it appears that it is in fact the consumer’s perception of the brand and the product that determines the success of the company. While the product or service’s quality may improve, remain identical, or deteriorate, none of this truly matters unless it’s in the eyes of the customers.

Picture credits to gigjets.com.

Nintendo had created the ultimate childhood experience for everyone, bringing to us games consoles like the Nintendo 64 and Wii. The company displays all the characteristics of an entrepreneurial venture: substantial wealth generation in a short period of time, innovation, and risk. Although the establishment was initially founded as a card business, its actual venture into the electronics market created massive short-term profits. The Nintendo Entertainment System was introduced in 1985, and it became an instant success, selling over 60 million units in two years.

Picture credits to www.gameyea.com

Soon after that, the Gameboy was released, becoming the most successful video game system ever invented. Nintendo continued to devise even more advanced game consoles, displaying the company’s constant innovation, resulting in what eventually became billions of dollars in profits. The risk of this venture was not small, as the video game industry had crashed in 1983 because of growing home computer usage. It was not until Nintendo entered the market that the video game industry was revitalized. The fact that Nintendo was able to overcome all the obstacles and generate such substantial profit in the short-term shows that it is a commendable entrepreneurial venture.

Although Apple has become increasingly recognized in today’s electronics sector, I hold a different perspective to the overall views stated in Ann Wong’s blog. Most of the demand for the company’s products is not from its “innovative” concepts, but rather from exceptional marketing and advertising.
The majority of the world still utilizes PCs and not the Macintosh. Admittedly, there are a rising number of Mac users, as demonstrated by students at UBC; yet, many programs are still only operational on Windows.

Picture credits to timsaudiocorner.wordpress.com.

Apple’s iPhone has also become a widely purchased and used phone; however, CBC reported last week that Samsung had actually outsold them in the smartphone war with 28 million sales in the third quarter. In addition, only a few weeks ago, Apple did not make analyst expectations for its fourth quarterly profit, causing the company’s stocks to temporarily drop. This may be because of the iPhone 4S, whose sales may have surpassed its predecessor, but nevertheless received ample disappointment from consumers in the market for a product that had few new features.
Picture credits to CBC.

From what I have observed, Apple’s brand value has significantly improved over these few years, but it has yet to fully surpass competitors like Microsoft and Google.