Even if the United Nations was fully funded, I think there would still be a need for the Arc or other social enterprises because they make a connect between people. The Arc , as an example, is a two way street. Firstly, it helps start and fund businesses for entrepreneurs who have the idea but not necessarily the means. As well as, students from Canada get to experience a different kind of lifestyle and form of business.  Both sides get hands on experience and further connect all corners of the global.

Furthermore, social enterprises consist of social entrepreneurs, who have certain qualities that can cause a positive change in the world, such as being resourceful and ambitious. The U.N. might share some of these qualities but that is not their goal of being innovative and sustainable (not only environmentally). The U.N. I believe is too large too manage what social enterprises can do, their focus is else where. Social enterprises are valuable to today’s world, because we need them to ensure further connections and growth not only in the business world but the future of the Earth.

I had a bit of a difficult time finding a business blog, luckily I stumbled upon the Business Insider, which lead me to Mark Cuban’s blog. After reading a few of the posts I came across the “Is Search Changing” post; he discusses his views about what Google offers and how he believes social medias sites are better at providing recent information. Mark Cuban uses Google to find information about a company or their products, but for any of the latest news he turns to Twitter or Instagram.

I disagree with Mark Cuban for the most part, regarding this topic, because personally I Google everything! I don’t think you can even compare Twitter and Instagram, for example, to Google because the way I see it is that Google is the connection. It’s the place where you can find what every social media has to say about a topic/event in one place, and so much more. Of course there is a balance to everything, and social media does give an extra edge to how we share and receive knowledge, but I think it works with Google. They go hand-in-hand. Although Mark Cuban and I both agree “Google is still an important part of our lives”, I only see it improving from here.

I was browsing through the Globe and Mail in hopes of finding an article that I could relate to and can add my own insight to, and I found it. The article “Designer launched her own label after cutting her teeth at Lululemon” at first look I thought it would focus on the designer Nicole Bridger ‘s relationship with Lululemon and I would be able to connect it to my previous blog post. After reading it, I realized it had little to do with Lululemon but how she developed her business to become what she had dreamed of it to be. She describes how she started her clothing line after working with Chip Wilson, lululemon founder, and her first loan from the Canadian Youth Business Foundation for $25,000. Now Nicole Bridger has a successful store, sells online and in other stores that carry her line. Plus what makes the company different is the use of ethical materials and the mantra “I am love”.

Nicole Bridger’s story reminds me of Emma Smith’s and her path towards creating Zimt Chocolates. I find these women to be inspiring in the business world; they found a passion and worked hard till this passion made them profits. Also both of these examples show social responsibility and a have a strong sense of ethics. In my future I hope to share a similar story.

“We Day is the movement of our time, empowering a generation of young global citizens through an inspirational event and a year-long educational initiative.”

Recently the annual We Day event was held at Vancouver. Although I have never attended, it interested me to see what exactly the event consists of and how it came to be. I discovered We Day is only a small part of a broader organization which was founded by two brothers Craig and Marc. Initially, Craig and Marc started with Free the Children as children, with support from their classmates. To this day they empower kids to help those in need, and have created Adopt a Village as a long-term solution for international communities facing poverty. Through the years Craig and Marc also launched Me to We , a social enterprise fueled by the need for change, and 2007 the first We Day took place in Toronto.

We Day is a way for the organization to fully bring together the idea of  youth working in unity to create positive change.  Simply put it provides the children of the world with the tools to shape the world as a whole, not individual parts. This is what attracted me to learn more about We Day and the organizations as a whole, they understand children are the future. The organizations Craig and Marc have created shows their passion in social responsibility and that there is really more to the world than making a profit. I am hopefully for the future of business ethics, and ready to empower change myself as well.

Until I came across Cecile Ouillet’s blog post about Intermarché and their ‘Inglorious fruits and vegetables’ campaign, I was firstly not aware of the amount of “ugly” food thrown away, and I was glad to see what Intermarché was doing about it. Intermarché sells fruits and vegetables that would be thrown away due to their shape and sells them for cheaper. Based on feedback, consumers didn’t mind buying not ‘normally’ shaped foods for cheaper. This is a beneficial solution to both the consumer and supplier.  It is a very simple and obvious solution, which makes me wonder why there is not more of this.

So I researched further into ‘misshapen’ produce, to see what other companies were doing. I found close to nothing, it was either possible future plans or I would come across Intermarché once again. Having a strong interest in sustainability, I hope the idea of selling ‘ugly’ produce becomes the norm in North America, especially when considering our food waste compared to the people who cannot afford healthy fruits and vegetables (and having to turn to unhealthy alternatives).

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After reading Rene’s blog  about the Lululemon controversy, it reminded me about ethics of a businesses and how it reflects with society as well. The founder of Lululemon, Chip Wilson, suggested that only a certain type of woman can wear Lululemon; this is obviously wrong for many reasons socially and for the business included. Not only did Chip Wilson narrow Lululemon’s market segment, but he “bullied” women that didn’t fit his (Lululemon’s) standards. These women don’t belong to “the cult of lulu” .

But Lululemon is not the only one to blame ,like Rene mentioned. This I think is only a small part of a bigger problem;  society today has developed an image about how women should look, and the consequences if they don’t look that way. Luckily many companies are changing their views and hoping to change society’s views about how women should look, for example Real Beauty campaign by Dove. These companies are not only improving their profits and reputation but empowering women to accept who they are because they will be accepted back.  They realize the problems in society and are reacting back.

In the  First Nations and BC Hydro article, BC Hydro’s plan to construct a new dam on Peace River is challenged by First Nations chief in the surrounding area. Although BC Hydro provides relatively clean energy, providing this energy results in flooding “83 kilometres of… farmland and wildlife habitat” that the First Nations are not willing to give up.

Looking at the PEST Analysis BC Hydro is faced with two major external factors: Political and Social.  Politically the government has to get involved to ensure all regulations are being met. Also to act as a referee in the fight between B.C.’s Indian land and the need to expand/provide energy to the growing cities in the area. Furthermore BC Hydro has to be careful and consider the land the are planning to change. First Nations groups have lived on this land for decades, and their lives, traditions  and culture have been intertwined with the Peace River area.

BC Hydro has to evaluate how hard to fight, and how it can get past these external factors that affect its expansion and supply of energy. By first observing its internal strengths and weaknesses BC Hydro can assess where to take this project in the future.

The article discusses Kraft‘s actions and new plans to keep JELLO ‘alive’ in the dessert industry. They took actions like promoting a sugar free Jello that  “giv[es] that “wiggle room” every diet needs.” Although I agree that Kraft needs to try and fight, to a certain point, in order to try and bring back a famous and classic dessert, I think much like the ‘Twinkie’ it is soon Jellos time to go. Nowadays, especially relating it to Vancouver, there is the trend to live a healthy lifestyle. People are not dieting but changing their lifestyles as a whole ( for example 100 mile diet, 801010 diet, and in general eating good, local food). I don’t see a place for Jello in the this current and further developing trend in the food market.

Kraft should considering letting go of Jello and focus on what it could do next, create a ‘new ladder’ in which it could be at the top; instead of trying to be on top again with Jello. People have moved past Jello dessert and packed pudding snacks for lunch and Kraft needs to adapt to this change.

Patrick Condon, chairman of the urban-design program at the U.B.C., believes that Vancouver’s current housing plans to build “high-density tall towers” expanding outside of downtown is not the direction the city should keep growing in.  Condon thinks Vancouver should focus on townhouses and low-rise buildings instead of “expensive, energy inefficient and, to many, an alien building form.” towers ; plus preserve small parks and walkways to create more neighbourhoods like Kitsilano and Granville Island.

Like most other citizens, I agree with Condon views on the future development for Vancouver. From a personal point of view, there are currently two buildings being built in a one block radius of my apartment building. Also both of the new ‘towers’ block my view and sunlight. Vancouver should redirect its direction of expanding from vertically to horizontally, so growing the downtown area and Vancouver as a whole by creating more townhouses and low-rise buildings outside of downtown.

Why is this better? For many reasons explained by Condon, but simply because smaller buildings are safer (earthquake), cheaper, more efficient and more appealing than living in a concrete and glass jungle. I believe it is not to late for Vancouver to adapt and change its goals in order to create an even more ‘liveable’ city.

http://http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Barbara+Yaffe+Vancouver+push+taller+towers+short+sighted/10246881/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/episodes/revenge-of-the-electric-car

Documentary: “Revenge of the Electric Car”

More information about Tesla and other electric cars. What surprised me, that I learned from this documentary, is how the electric car became “extinct”. It really shows the power of companies ,which further magnifies Tesla’s current threats and their need to further expand to make Tesla more accessible to a larger demographic.  It also makes me think about the future of cars, although the crazy flying cars of the’ future’ might not be invented yet, I think we are getting closer to this era of high tech, sustainable cars . Personally I really enjoyed the assignment because of my interest of electric cars, so this documentary further inspired me and gave me an insight to the industry.