Social entrepreneurship uses three key factors: opportunities, optimism and  resourcefulness to bring a social change or progress in the society. One of the best examples of Social Enterprise is Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center located in Lahore, Pakistan. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital was opened in 1994 by Imran Khan, a famous Pakistani cricketer.

It is the first and only cancer hospital in Pakistan and it was constructed by raising funds from donations. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre has established itself as a centre of excellence providing comprehensive care free of cost to thousands of indigent cancer patients who cannot afford treatment. The hospital uses the typical “fee for service” method to generate income to sustain operations but this fee is charged only to people who can afford it. Funding is raised by charity and donations. Apart from this, Shaukat Khanum also has numerous clinical laboratories, spread all over the country, where they charge people for a wide range of medical tests. Moreover, Shaukat Khanum offers internship programs for students, providing them opportunities to work for the betterment of society. It also creates employment opportunities for people to earn a livable wage and polish their skills.

Sources: http://www.shaukatkhanum.org.pk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaukat_Khanum_Memorial_Cancer_Hospital_%26_Research_Centre

Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150304917167029

At the beginning of the year 2010, eBay announced some changes in their policy which was against the interests of most of the sellers. There are several problems and disagreements that have resulted because of these changes between eBay and it’s sellers. One major problem is the eBay’s Feedback Policy that is getting most eBay sellers fired up. Buyers can leave feedback on sellers, but sellers can’t leave feedback on buyers. Some new buyers just leave negative feedback without even contacting the seller about exchanges, returns or refunds and sellers are powerless. Few small businesses lost their ability to sell on eBay because of this feedback issue.

Another big problem is eBay’s payment policy. Ebay has stopped using other types of payments methods like money orders or checks and is just going to use PayPal
from now on. Many people believe that eBay has done this because they want people to use PayPal as they own it. Some sellers have also been complaining about glitches in eBay’s website such as PayPal glitches, search glitches, etc.
Finally, some just don’t consider eBay as they used to, they just don’t think that eBay is bringing any innovation to their work anymore. People, especially sellers have become less impressed.

Sources:
http://www.webpronews.com/top-10-frustrations-for-ebay-sellers-2009-01
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/the-depth-of-ebays-problems-1-disappointed-buyers/

Image Source: http://www.e-commercefacts.com/news/2012/01/ebay-calmly-seeking-paypa/index.xml

Questionnaires are a vital part of Market Research on which an organization’s failure or success is dependent. Designing a questionnaire can be split in two parts.

• Questions and Layout of Questionnaire This step is a key one you need to choose the questions and answer attractively and neatly. Try to be consistent with wording. Be careful not to overfill the page like using lots of lines, borders and boxes as these can make your questionnaire look messed up. Its always good to use a good legible fonts likes Times. If you really want the respondent to complete the questions, start with questions that will catch his/her interest. Whatever approach you may choose you should try to keep the flow logical and very simple and avoid complexities in questions. Its always advisable to use two or three versions of the questionnaire for different situations.
  
• Types of the question In this step, you need to choose the types of questions you are going to use in your questionnaire eg. multiple choice, ranking, rating etc. When designing multiple choice questions ensure that you want the respondent to give one  or multiple response. For ranking or rating type, make sure to put less but accurate and different options.

 Image Source: http://www.carp.ca/2012/08/08/ontario-seniors-care-strategy-questionnaire-your-input-required/

Nearly 60% of BlackBerry users planned to jump to an iPhone or an Android device in the U.S., the U.K. and France. The company has recently announced that their earnings have fallen tremendously. BlackBerry shipments fell suddenly 41% from the previous year. Nearly one-third of its workforce i.e. around 5000 employees will be laid off. CEO Thorsten Heins announced another devastating news, Blackberry 10, the operating system that is said to be a good resort for the company, will be delayed until early 2013. The company’s share price provides the most solid evidence: it crashed around 95% from $149.90 in 2008 to less than $8 at present time.

A series of poor decisions and missed opportunities led RIM to this point. Former co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie did not realize the importance of the iPhone when it was launched in 2007. They did not realize the fact that iPhone is going to snatch their market share in coming years and that they should start working accordingly. Therefore, within few years, RIM fell behind when it came to the features that mattered to the much larger consumer market, such as an elegant operating system and web-browsing capabilities, variety for applications for BlackBerry users. RIM should now come up with innovative products and features to be able to sustain in this highly competitive market.

Sources: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/90629–the-end-of-rim
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/87308–blackberry-10-unlikely-to-save-rim