See the building before it is structured

If United Nations was fully funded we would still need social enterprise because charity or donation would not really solve the poverty. Maybe it would solve poverty for a short time but it is definitely not the answer to overturn it. As long as there is unemployment and lack of knowledge there would be poverty around the world. But what social entrepreneurs do is unlike other people. they believe first and then they will see. They give something far more valuable than money; they teach uneducated society how to be productive. They are creating shared values. They are creating jobs in undeveloped countries and decreasing poverty.

In this article, we can see how people in undeveloped societies can improve their lives with education. How social entrepreneur changes people lives not by donating charity but with sharing skills and developing job.

I believe UBS’s Arc Initiative is great opportunities for students to help people in impoverished countries. There are many countries that can benefits from this program and also there are so many students in best universities around the world that are looking for an opportunity to make the world a better place for living.

Response to Diao Ziqi’s post on falling trend in profit

It is interesting that for my first blog it was so hard for me to find an article that is about business ethics and I always though ethics are not really relevant to business; however, now I can not find news or business article that does not contain business ethics. I can see that we have all the concepts that we learned in class in all articles.

As Diao mentioned in his blog McDonald has been suffering a decline in his profit after scandal over meat supply in China. I agree with Diao, and I think they should let people visit their company or they can even record it themselves, because not everyone can go. Moreover, most importantly they should cut all ties with the supplier, because now they are just switching from OSI’s Shanghai Husi Food Co. plant, to an OSI-owned plant, Henan Husi, which really won’t earn customers trust back. Also to improve brand image and customer relationship they should apologize to their customers and assure the customers that they have taken that meat off the shelves.

I also strongly agree with Diao and I believe people are paying more attention to healthy eating, so I think that Coca Cola should have some strategy to respond to customers need. read more click here

 

Response to Shannon Bell’s post on Ben and Jerry’s non-GMO ingredients for ice cream

Ben and Jerry’s is more than just an ice cream with incredible taste; it is a brand known for it’s non-GMO ingredients. Most developed countries do not consider GMOs to be safe; however it is not obligatory to label a non-GMO product although it is important to most customers.

As mentioned in Shannon’s blog Ben and Jerry’s is supporting the non-GMO movement and there is a label on all of their ice cream and more importantly their website focuses more on informing customers about this uniqueness they have rather than advertising their unique flavour. They try really hard to make people aware about their value and the way they operate and in this way they are both benefiting the world and themselves.

They are benefiting the world by informing customers about their rights and benefits of non-GMOs, so in this way people will stop buying GMOs so companies will stop using them and formers will stop growing them so we can consider this an ethical manoeuvre.

On the other hand, they are making a great brand image for themselves along with a better customer relationship.

 

Facebook for clothing

Have you ever thought about what is missing in our social networking?

Have you ever spent lots of time on online shopping and buying clothes and shoes online but after waiting for a week or in some case a month end up with clothing that does not even fit you and then you had to return it? The story doesn’t end here; about thirty percent of clothes sold on the Web go back to retailers.  Germany’s Zalando, announces about half of the items it sells are returned. Christian Wylonis aims to fix this problem with Fitbay. What Fitbay basically does is to ask you about your body measurements and asks for a selfie with one of your clothes and then it will tell you whether this dress will fit you or not.

What Fitbay is aiming to do is not something new. New York fashion technology company Clothes Horse, London’s fit.me, Virtusize in Stockholm and EBay are doing something similar but in a different way.

   But is it really going to work or will people will be bored with putting their size and consider this as extra work, which is unnecessary? Nearly 100,000 users have signed up since February on Fitbay, so I’m guessing when it comes to shopping, people will spend as much time as it is necessary to get what they want.

read more click here

Thoughts on Lou Adler’s blog article on compensation and performance

Usually people seek jobs with higher compensation; however, in this blog Lou Adler explains why it is actually a good thing to be underpaid. Looking for jobs with most upside potential rather than most paid brings more for you in the long run. In fact, I agree with Lou Adler and I believe you should not accept a job with high income if you do not like it, because a career maximization strategy will always end up with maximum income.

He also points out some reasons regarding why it is better not to be overpaid. For example, people will expect more from you or you will never have a honeymoon period and it’s less likely for you to be promoted. Overall, he emphasizes how it is beneficial to be slightly underpaid. But in my opinion being an underpaid employee is not fair for you or other people in your field, because you might first face more offers but what if everyone follows and asks for less income?

He also mentions,”Compensation growth must follow performance, not lead it.” which I strongly agree with because compensation could never really lead performance.

 

Lets Work Together

  •  For years government has tried to control first nation people, they tried to kill the indian in the  their children, which they  made an apology later. But now everyone is starting to realize that fighting and arguing is not the answer and trying to work better together and respect each other has benefits for both group. It is obvious that every act has its own draw back; even for aboriginals which have to give up their protections, such as tax exemptions in services, but the benefits overweight disadvantages.
  •  Cooperating with aboriginals brings lots of privileges such as having access to capital and resources moreover it is a great opportunity for sharing knowledge and foremost it build a relationship for the future. Moreover, first nation people have some issues in their businesses such as lack of credibility and business sense and also lack of financial capital which can be improve by this cooperation, beside because of all job creation there would be less unemployment and poverty.
  •   NK’Mip Cellars is a good example of unique resources that first nation people have. NK’Mip Cellars is a new industry that first aboriginal american owned. This successful  industry has received more than 50 international award since 2002. The most important reason that they have received so many awards is because they have the oldest vines in the regions(resources ). Second of all, they have a unique site that has create a tourism business that bring them $40 million every year. To conclude, by sharing things both aboriginals and non-aboriginals have to offer we can have a thriving business.
  • for more read: this and this

Finding a parking spot

Now a days finding a parking spot in big cities has become a nightmare, circling, narrowly missing a spot and finally when you find a space observing that is off limit during working hours. Beside all that 30percent of traffic in big cities are caused by people circling around looking for a parking spot. So it was expected that some people and companies would come up with solutions in order to over come this problem and make some money out of it.

There is new smart phone app which let people to earn money just by waiting couple of minutes in their spot before leaving until someone that has paid can pull in and of course there is a commission for the company to. But is this really an ethical business? Selling public property and making money with selling something that clearly isn’t yours. Further more if this really take action we are going to have some people making money just by changing and selling their parking spot and increasing traffic. Moreover, not everybody will use this app and that would really be another problem and even if everyone use this app is it really safe for drivers to use this app while driving? In my point of view best solution right now would be to increase the price of parking space, this way people will move their car more often and they might use public transportation when they can.

for article:click here

LEGO’S GIRL PROBLEM

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who were attracted with any pink coloured toys, that girl is now a grownup. For years toy makers company focused on pink products for girls that represent beauty but now girls are inspired by female heroes and warriors the one that are successful while beautiful like Katniss and etc. As we talked about in class when the customers change their interest toy industry should catch-up and produce products that customers want.

For years Lego was struggling with wether they should be gender neutral or not. The company finally launched it’s first product line aimed at girls. The company made interesting toys for boys and non-successful mostly pink toys for girls. As it can be estimated Lego were more popular between boys in fact in 2012 Lego’s customers were 91percent male.

Finally last month Lego introduced a line called the Research Institute aimed at girls. This line is offering women in professional setting not just partying. Moreover barbies are way more girly so maybe its better to focus on girls who are looking for something different and offer them something different(class prep7).

So why didn’t Lego one of the best toy makers company in the world didn’t came up with this line and satisfy female costumers sooner? I guess it is because most of the leaders in company are male and you can’t expect gender balance in costumers if your team isn’t gender balance.

read more: here and here

starting with next to nothing!s

 

It doesn’t matter where you start, its where you finish. In this day and age most businesses started as a result of years of experience and strategy investment with large investment and big money in the beginning. However, there are still million of people starting their business without experience and with only small amount of money.

          Whole foods market started out with a small store in Austin Texas but today they become world’s leader in natural and organic foods. Now they have more than 360 stores in North America and United Kingdom. The owners were less than 25 years old when they started their business. They opened their first store with borrowed money from family and friends and after a year they decided to use their apartment storage for their second store and for reducing their cost they start living their as well. Although it was hard-they didn’t  even had a shower stall for a year-  but they didn’t give up and eventually they moved back to their apartment and opened a new market with 19 stuff. Today they are consider as a successful business.(read more)

So i guess they success is so inspirational and remind us that winners never quit and quitters never win and it really doesn’t matter so much where you start from as long as you keep going forward with all the difficulties you are facing you will find what you were looking for .

Crossing the line

SLIPPERY SLOPE

While crossing the ethical line a little seem not to harm anyone in long term. It has effect in all of our lives because if you cross the line once it gets easier for you to cross it again. We usually convince ourselves by saying it didn’t harm anyone.

But what really causes people to begin unethical behaviour in the first place? I guess we can say lack of appropriate ethical guide line. If people be aware of the consequences of their behaviour they will be more trustworthy. Having a regular check can also prevent any unethical behaviour. Teaching mangers to know what to look for and to add politics in their practices.

In addition unethical act is not always transparent and some would do an unethical act without knowing it. Therefore companies must be clear about the type of conduct and behaviour they expect.

Companies should also encourage loyalty by showing appreciation to employees who work well. Also they should be more concerned about who they hire and make sure they hire people that are educated and experienced with good reputation, because people usually don’t risk losing their background. Finally I read somewhere that having more open and transparent practices really lead to less unethical behaviour.