Many people forget that the National Hockey League (NHL) is a business in addition to being a professional ice hockey league. Being a business implies making sales and attracting customers (fans). One way to do that is by delivering an entertaining brand of hockey on the ice. Many owners have brought in enforcers to do just that. The enforcers’ job is to rough up and fight opponents. I, personally, am a fan of this tough brand of hockey. A part of hockey’s essence is being a fast-paced and hard-hitting sport. Hockey is a brother-hood and its nice to see teammates defending each other. However, I agree that there is too much pressure put on the enforcers to live up to that image. This article discusses the unfortunate stories of former NHL players. In the summer of 2011, the NHL lost three players to suicide. It was confirmed that all three had depression and that the depression stemmed from their time in the NHL. This news tarnished the leagues brand and as a result I felt it was time for an image change. The beginning of the 2014-15 season was the start of a new look NHL. The role of the “Enforcer” started going into extinction and the league never looked better. I hope that the leagues transformation continues in this positive direction.

I found Mike’s blog in the middle of September and have been an avid visitor of his site since. When university started I found that there was a lot of material being covered in a short period of time. This led to me forgetting important concepts and being lost in class. So I sought out to find a place where I could find extra material to re-enforce these important concepts. I chose to comment on this specific blog post because it is an example of have thorough Mike is in his explanations. I found this post to be a wealth of information and easy to understand. In addition to explaining the concepts and how they are used, Mike provides examples similar to the ones used in class. Therefore, it was convenient to refer to his blog before and after our finance classes to fortify my understanding of these concepts. I would recommend Mike’s blog to anyone who is having trouble with the fundamental concepts of business, small business owners or anyone who is looking for some extra reading.

Jason’s blog post about Abercrombie really sparked my interest. This is a topic that I have wanted to discuss and now I am going to seize the opportunity to do so. The retail brand Abercrombie has made headlines for comments made by the company’s CEO, Michael Jeffries. Although Jason mentioned various perspectives, I was still able to get a sense of how he feels regarding this topic. Conveniently, my perspective is similar. Like Jason, I understand Abercrombie’s reason for making these statements. The company wants to establish that it is targeting a select group of consumers. While I feel the comments made were harsh, I believe this was a smart move by Abercrombie. There is no doubt that this controversy changed the image of the brand. For example, when I now think about Abercrombie, I think exclusivity. It is unreasonable to think that I of all people feel this way, but a large percentage of the population agrees with me. Therefore, the brand has become elite and anybody who wears Abercrombie clothes is seen as elite. This is a key example of how “certain values must be prioritized over interest in profit,” as Jason mentioned. Overall, this publicity has allowed Abercrombie to maintain the same consumers and to continue as growing a brand name in the retail market.

The feud between the First Nations and the Canadian government goes back to the inception of Canada. Even in 1867, when Canada became a country, it presumed control of First Nation affairs. Proof of this was in 1876 with the Indian Act being enacted. However, times have evolved and a recent article was published that made a splash in the First Nations community, primarily, the Tsilhqot’in. This article states that the Tsilhqot’in plan to create a tribal park on the same land that Taseko Mines Ltd. planned to use in their upcoming project. Both parties make valid arguments as to why they should be allowed to use the land for their respective projects. However, Taseko Mines Ltd. has already had their project approved by the government. On the other hand, the Tsilhqot’in have discovered that they have rights to that land. It amazes me that even in 2014 the government is still able to make decisions on land that does not belong to them. This is where the issue of business ethics comes into play. The government can choose to take this land from the Tsilhqot’in in hopes of higher revenue, or they can choose to let them have the land that is rightfully theirs. In my opinion, the government should let the Tsilhqot’in have the land as allowing Taseko Mines Ltd. to go forward with their project would harm the environment and therefore be detrimental to society as a whole.

I was reading through various articles and stumbled upon one that discusses the potential split of the Multinational information technology corporation, Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 and has been a powerhouse in the industry for many years. I am of the mind-set that if something is working, then there is no need to change it. Therefore, I was quite surprised to see this headline on the Huffington Post website. However, this got me thinking about Porter’s Strategies. By dividing their company into two, Hewlett-Packard may be striving to achieve both Differentiation Strategy and Focus Strategy (Differentiation). They definitely have the resources to do so. In addition, I believe that Hewlett-Packard is making this separation to continue to compete with the pioneers of the technology industry. Separating gives the company the ability to put more focus into different areas of its products. Their, already, loyal consumers will see this as an attempt for the company to continue growing. Therefore, strengthening their relationship with its consumers. I think it is great to see a company, as successful as Hewlett-Packard,  still looking to reshape and improve in order to maintain its status in its industry.

Microsoft has unveiled their newest operating system, Windows 10. Windows 10 succeeds Windows 8 and is set to be released in 2015. The company decided to skip Windows 9 to put emphasis on its innovation and the advances they’ve made. The company promises that Windows 10 will be easy to use regardless of what system customers are currently using. Microsoft’s goal, with this new operating system, is to bring all their services together and establishing a system centred around a world of internet services. This news broke only a week after Apple had released their newest operating system, IOS 8. This news has captivated many Windows users.

I found the idea of naming this new operating system Windows 10 instead of Windows 9 to be crafty and perhaps has made this product more marketable. Even to those who aren’t so tech savvy, such as myself, this captures their attention. This new operating system promises to easy for all to use and has taken the best parts of all past systems to put them into one. Windows 10 is being released 3 years after Windows 8. Personally, I think Microsoft’s marketing ploy has built up this new operating system and therefore, it will succeed and gain customers once it is released.