Monthly Archives: November 2013

What does it take to become a successful company?

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Toyota

Image taken from: http://www.autocarhire.com/travelblog/featured/toyotas-future-plans-in-the-us/

Toyota is once again the world’s best-selling vehicle brand. What is the secret behind Toyota’s success? A blog post by McComb School of Business give insight to this secret. According to the post, Toyota managed to balance the company’s strategic goals while extracting maximum effort out of every employee by managing the variety, velocity, variability, and visibility of its supply chain. On top of that, the car maker embraces a humble attitude which prevents it from getting complacent with its success and is constantly learning and improvising. This results in their ability to think in the long term, and deliver value to both customers and themselves.

This ability to think in the long term has been illustrated in the production of the Toyota Prius, the firm’s first hybrid car. When it was first produced, the gas prices in the United States were only $1.50 a gallon. However, Toyota was able to think long term, and the Prius became a breakthrough vehicle for Toyota, giving it a commanding lead in hybrid technology. As such, the ability to innovate and plan ahead enabled them to achieve a first mover’s advantage in a popular section of the automobile industry today.

Heal the world, make it a better place.

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I recently came across an article on Kristina Bukharova’s blog regarding Me to We, a social enterprise selling bead work produced by struggling Maasai mothers. As highlighted by Kristina, they help these Maasai mamas earn fair wages, allowing them to support their families. Find out more about them here.

Image taken from: http://schoolsites.granderie.ca/ddss/node/764

However it does not stop here. Me to We goes the extra mile by encouraging these mamas to take part in financial literacy and leadership training, presenting them with an unprecedented opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge, and transforming them into leaders who have the ability to positively impact their communities.

What intrigues me about this organization is its commitment towards creating shared value. They do so by improving the livelihood and skills of these Maasai mamas, and reconceiving its product, allowing consumers to take part in this conscious world changing activity one transaction at a time. By infusing the best business practices, products that are highly sustainable and rich in culture, and a world changing spirit, I have faith that these organizations have the capability to transform our world into a better place.

This is how you advertise in the 21st century!

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I recently read an article on Nydia Gunawan’s blog about how Ryan Smolkin, the founder of Smoke’s Poutinerie, used social media to market his business. Information and technological integration has had the reputation of high costs and low success rates. But people like Smolkin has proved otherwise by capitalizing the low cost of social media and influence it has on consumers.

Image taken from: http://www.local10.com/news/money/French-fry-joint-lures-customers-through-Facebook/-/1717308/22867418/-/ugy3vi/-/index.html

In my opinion, by using free and highly accessible social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, Smolkin managed to save advertising costs and achieve something that regular advertisements cannot.

Smolkin took advantage of the fact that both Facebook and Twitter are used by many users daily. By uploading things that would attract his target demographic, mainly news on sports, ideas for new recipes and events taking place in his company, he managed to transform a regular Twitter or Facebook page into a source of daily entertainment that his customers would want to be a part of. Its no wonder that the number of followers on the company’s Facebook page is constantly growing, and customers are now automatically befriending his Facebook page.

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Would you want to work in a place like this?

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Image taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombricker/5537082833/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Pixar animation studios is setting up its studio in Gastown, Vancouver! After looking at the studio’s configurations, I noticed that Pixar uses various methods to bolster innovation and creativity in all staff. The staff are provided with spacious custom cubicles and are allowed to design them according to their own preferences. In an attempt to bring the rich history of Pixar to its new office in Canada, artifacts such as the Monster Inc. character Mike Wazowski was brought to the Gastown office. This flexibility in working environment, coupled with other unique elements such as the secret bookshelf passageway in the library, allow the designers to temporarily transcend into a world of cartoons and animation where their creativity would flourish.

This mentality of cultivating a company culture that bring out the best in the staff reminds me of Zappos, the online shoe retailer. In class we learnt how companies like Zappos create a happier working environment to spread joy among its staff. This would translate to better service standards for the company. Likewise for Pixar, the firm focuses on cultivating creativity  through its work space configurations, and producing the best animated movies by doing so.

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Moving houses in Japan

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Ever worried about the amount of stress and time consumed when moving houses? Well, The 0123 moving company is here to relieve you of your worries. This moving company in Japan not only transports your belongings, but also helps you pack up and clean up your old apartment. Upon reaching the new apartment, all movers put on new socks to ensure cleanliness in the apartment. They then swiftly clean up the apartment and rearrange all belongings based on customer’s instructions. Before you know it, your new apartment is clean ready for use.

Watch the video below for a glimpse of this highly efficient moving service!

The 0123 moving company is the pioneer of such moving business in Japan. In a fast paced country like Japan, time is precious. 0123’s fast, polite and considerate service saves customers the hassle of packing up and unpacking their belongings. Furthermore all the packing and moving are completed within a day, allowing customers to resume their daily lives and ensuring minimal time is wasted. With such excellent and thoughtful service, I would love to hire these movers when I have to move too!

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Is there anything technology cannot achieve?

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NCR Corporation has managed to integrate retail operations by merging online and traditional shopping by allowing consumers to engage in retail shopping on their endless aisle kiosk. The kiosk allows consumers to check for availability and colors of clothes, search for related complimenting accessories and even pay or order items via the kiosk.

Watch the video below for more details on the functions this amazing machine provides.

Through the production of such machines, NCR has revolutionized shopping by blurring the lines between in store and online shopping. Consumers are now able to effortlessly gain access to clothes and accessories that interest them without going through the hassle of hunting for the pieces by themselves. Furthermore, NCR now plans to bring this technology onto the mobile application platform, allowing consumers to shop at any time and location.

This breakthrough in the retail technology has reiterated the need for information technology and systems to gain a competitive edge today. Given the variety of shopping methodologies, retail firms that refuse to innovate stand to lose customers due to the hassle of traditional shopping and uncertainties in online shopping. Therefore, the firm that provides shopping with highest convenience stands to benefit.

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