Peter Ewart & Dawn Hemingway’s response on the financial crisis which occurred in Iceland back in 2008 and 2009 provided helpful insight in trying to understand the current situation of economy as well as the extent of financial control a country needs to have in order to avoid having disastrous financial crisises. After reading the blog, I could see how countries could lose grip of their finances and end up asking for help from other countries or institutions. The collapse of three of Iceland’s banks due to their difficulties in managing their short- term debts which nearly caused the country to go bankrupt. Emergency measures such as massive borrowing from the IMF and other countries as well as austerity measures helped clear out some of the debts, but the effect it had on Iceland’s people still linger till now. The financial crisis which occurred in Iceland can be learned from, as it is dangerous to lose control of finances and the long term consequences can be extremely devastating. Therefore, although it might seem that countries have a strong grip on their finances, mistakes can so often be made; making it imperative to prepare for the worst and expect the best in finance.

Source: http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/22044/1/reflections+on+iceland+and+the+financial+crisis+-+part+10

After reading Spencer Baldwinson’s insightful blog, I became more aware as to how serious competition is. Many developed countries have set up strict rules regarding competition policies which have helped prevent harmful monopolies from forming. Although governments and competition agencies put in their best efforts to prevent such monopolies from occurring, it is often the case for companies to find a way around the policies implemented. A good example for this would be the Intel controversy from the blog post, which shoes how thin the line is between favourable competition and harmful competition. As said in the blog post, capitalist nations such as the USA which favour competition and encourages it in the private sector still have rules to govern the competition. In my opinion, one fundamental drawback of a laissez- faire economy would be the handling of competition. As private sectors become greedy, the allocation of resources becomes inefficient as the focus shifts to the private sectors interests rather than the consumers. Therefore, the deceptively simple tactics implemented by companies in free markets should not be taken lightly as it is often part of a long term strategy that has a strong possibility of creating harmful competition and a monopoly.

After reading this blog by Jenny Ye, I felt inspired to apply the fundamentals of Corporate Social Responsibility in my future business endeavors, even for just a regular job. I agree completely that “just because a company isn’t obliged to support a social cause doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t”, as social goals can be equally as important as financial goals. Companies which have set values and beliefs should not only use that as a marketing gimmick to garner more sales and appease social organizations, as it will not benefit the company in the long run. With growing concerns over Corporate Social Responsibility and ethical trading, consumers are starting to make more informed decisions regarding their consumptions. And with the growth of local businesses which support local communities and fair trade, bigger companies should start taking a hint and actually implement their values and beliefs.

Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jennyye/2011/11/24/blog-response-2

Apple’s products are most famous for one thing which is their design. So much of Apple’s success are due to its product developments which are extremely unique and stand out from all the other products in the market. But what goes behind the design process of Apple’s incredible products? The answer for this would be its people; its design team to be specific. The company’s culture is deceptively simple which is its innovation and creative culture. Apple’s team is a very tight knit team that works together and work very hard as well. Each product that is being launched must undergo ten different mock ups which is eventually narrowed down to 3, and finally experimented for a couple of months until a strong decision is made on the final product. Constant meetings every week between design teams are held which encourages team work and lets ideas flow, which is a rare quality that is found in most big companies where “barriers” are often felt in between teams. I believe that this is one of Apple’s key successes as they have stuck to the one thing which holds a company together: Its people.

Class 16- People, teams and culture

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2008/03/apples_design_p.html