If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?

 Photo Courtesy To:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8454397

 When I read this statement, my mind quickly raced to all the information I had learnt about the UN in Social Studies 11 and History 12. I thought about all the peace keeping missions the UN promoted and all the interlinking organizations, like WHO, that help the citizens of the world live a happier life.

Yet, I do not believe that if the UN was fully funded there would be no need for any other social enterprise to exist. From my perspective, it is impossible for ONE ORGANIZATION to “look after” a complex world with 7 billion+ citizens. Moreover, I believe that the world NEEDS small organizations whose work is more focused on small local communities and countries. While the UN can promote certain ways of living around the world and aid to the needy, these social enterprises are the ones that are making the change on a more micro level. They are more national than global which makes it realistic for the enterprises to focus in on a group of people in order to make the world a better place, one person at a time. It would be completely unrealistic for the UN to take this mission and therefore, it would be impossible for the UN to replace social enterprises.

Photo Courtesy To: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8454397

Business Insider, one of the top business blogs around, posted a very controversial blog about analysts on Wall Street being too “bullish” about certain shares so that they can attract their clients to hire them in the future.

The only issue that I had while reading this article was this: There is a clear tradition of investment bankers shifting from the “selling-side” to the “buying-side” over the time period of approximately 3 years. This means that the majority of analysts have the desire to, one day, be in the position of their clients. That is why I do not think having a bullish attitude when affiliating with your clients is a bad thing.

Yes, I understand that sometimes according to this blogger’s “research” the analysts will give inaccurate information, just to make themselves sound more optimistic. Yet, there can be many other reasons as to why someone would be more optimistic or pessimistic about a certain stock. They do the research and then look at it from their perspective. This applies to EVERYTHING! It is impossible to single out a specific reason as to why an analyst is more bullish.

Therefore, I cannot agree with this blogger’s opinion that the analysts that promote certain stocks in order to gain a positive image in their client’s mind is an inadequate deed.

http://ctobob.com/2014/10/14/bob-pellerin-has-a-new-financial-article-published-in-bull-bear-financial-report/

http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-analyst-conflict-study-november-4-2014-11

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8454397

My classmate, Jacqueline Yan, wrote a blog about the decreasing rate of customer flow in retail stores as a result of the new online shopping trend. In the post, she mentions the need for a change in retail store’s business model in order to attract customers.

From my perspective, I completely agree with Jacqueline; however, I would like to apply the fresh knowledge we just learned from our COMM 101 class about the dysfunctional reward system for businesses and the unwanted pressure it causes for the company’s management.

Photo Courtesy To: http://zarrtech.net/the-ins-and-outs-of-the-online-shopping-experience/

It is interesting to observe that at this time, store management has the pressure to fight the online opponent by being creative AND find methods to be low cost at the same time. I see these two concepts as contradictory because in order to be creative, it is evident that the company will have to increase their costs. Yet, the CFO wouldn’t be too happy if their “innovation” didn’t bare any fruit.

I personally think that setting expectations on stores to increase the customer flow is very unrealistic because it must be a decision that the entire company makes as a whole to add or remove a certain aspect of the retail stores (e.g. live entertainment). I actually would suggest that companies change their perspective and take the pressure of their management in order to gain more success.

Photo Courtesy To: http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

In one of my previous blogs, I analyzed the IPO of Alibaba, however, I feel that I have gained more knowledge after taking the Comm 101 finance classes and an investment banking workshop through the UBC Finance club and can now look at an IPO from a more “fact” based point-of-view.

Many people have asked me what I think about some issues involving IPOs and the privileges investment banking companies receive.

First of all, it is very interesting to see that influential investment banking companies get the first, and usually greatest, piece of the pie before the IPO is released.

Is this fair?

Well, personally, when I think of capitalistic economies, I DON’T think everything is equal for everyone. Even though it may seem unfair to me right now, I would most definitely be okay with this method if I were to be working for one of these companies.

Second of all, many people think that ALL companies that have the opportunity to invest in an IPO, actually end up investing.

Is this true?

NO! Investment banking involves a great amount of research to look at the advantages and disadvantages of putting money into a company. The only downfall I see from this is that people who want to invest can’t because they are not that influential. Yet, some influential companies have the power to invest, but decide not to.

Overall, no industry is perfect. The more influential you are, the more privileged you are.  It’s the sad truth that applies to IPOs and investment banking companies.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2014/05/09/alibabas-ipo-if-you-can-buy-it-should-you-even-want-it/

Photo Courtesy To: http://www.commdiginews.com/news-2/free-market-debate-uber-cab-pits-taxis-against-app-service-21777/

Uber has been in Vancouver’s news headlines for quite a while regarding the conflict with the taxi industry. Everyone seems to have a different solution to conquer this issue, but will it be possible to negotiate a win-win situation from this mess?

Lets take a look at how both sides view this issue:

From the perspective of taxi operators, if Uber is successful in Vancouver, then their income will drop significantly. Just in Seattle, taxi drivers lost 60% of their clients, which can foreshadow the future rise of unemployment in Vancouver.

From the perspective of Uber, they are offering a cheaper and more convenient way of transportation. They want customers to receive service on time, while they gain profits.

I, personally, believe that at the end, only one side will stand. The taxi industry and Uber will clash until one or the other backs down and leave the city of Vancouver. From my perspective, I find this new Uber craze very risky because I don’t trust the “background checks” or measures taken by the company to ensure my safety. Since Uber focuses on making profit off private cars, I don’t see why they would be accountable to anything that happens relating to their app. I have traveled to many cities that offered Uber, but my family chose the conventional way of transportation in a foreign city for the sake of protection and security, which taxis provide.

Ultimately, the decision made by the provincial government will change the fate of many Vancouverites. Do you want to see this change?

http://www.theprovince.com/news/ready+take+billion+boys+Vancouver+cabbies+take+Uber/10264325/story.html

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/test-driving-uber-in-seattle-could-it-work-in-vancouver-1.2049471

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/uber-hiring-staff-in-vancouver-despite-city-moratorium-1.2789802

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/07/uber-vancouver_n_5947174.html

https://www.uber.com

Review of Asha Kaila’s Blog Post: Tesco Accounting Scandal: Numbers gone wrong

After reading Asha Kaila’s blog post, it exposed me to the link between human behavior and financial accounting. Although many people might think accounting is all about numbers, it is interconnected with different issues, such as marketing.

Photo Courtesy To: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/11214948/Unanswered-questions-in-Tescos-accounting-scandal.html

For this specific example, Tesco falsely declared 2.5 million pounds more than they actually made in profits. I can confidently state that if Tesco did this intentionally, it is because they hoped that declaring high profits would attract consumers to use their grocery store. To begin with, I completely agree with Asha’s point that Tesco was under immense pressure to steer away from being the underdog. However, my perspective is a twist from what we learned in class 3 about marketing meeting accounting. Tesco is apart of the 4 largest stores in the UK, and in the last couple of years, it has been ranking fourth. Now if they give consumers the illusion that they are making a ton of money, then most consumers will buy more from that store and MOST IMPORTANTLY, buy some of their shares. In a somewhat malicious way, the accountants studied human behavior, through marketing, and had an epiphany that lying would increase their income. Regardless of the fact that this idea was a great method to connect to aspects of business, it was an unethical and wrong move, which led to a national investigation. Good luck Tesco.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/tsco/11193968/Tesco-suppliers-call-in-audit-teams-over-accounting-scandal.html

GT Advanced Technology Inc. has recently filed for bankruptcy after their stocks declined by 90%. This company, based in Arizona, depicts the reality of the stock market and how in a few seconds a company can go from being worth 1.5 Billion to 175 million. It is very evident that GT’s glass sapphire has somewhat caused this enterprise to declare bankruptcy. Why? Let us take a look.

Photo Courtesy To:http://www.cultofmac.com/267068/everything-wanted-know-sapphire-glass-afraid-ask-qa/

Many analysts suggest different reasons of why this odd situation occurred. Yet, from my perspective, only one reason seems to have triggered this catastrophe. Apple released a statement declaring that glass sapphire was not used in the new version of the IPhone; simultaneously GT stocks plummeted. Coincidence? I think not.

First of all, I do not believe that there is a big difference between the glass that GT supplies and other glass companies. There have been many “drop tests” to prove that most glasses have the same durability. Next, if you look into how much GT was able to supply; it didn’t seem to be enough to satisfy the amount of glass that Apple required. Yet, it is interesting to see how dropping a resource for only two products can cause such dramatic changes.

Why do you think GT filed for bankruptcy? Is Apple really the only cause?

http://www.businessinsider.com/gt-advanced-files-for-bankruptcy-2014-10

https://finance.search.yahoo.com/search/;_ylc=X3oDMTI1NThzcHVzBGtleXcDc2FwcGhpcmUgZ2xhc3MEbWlkA21lZGlhcXVvdGVzc2VhcmNoBHNlYwN1aGIyBHNsawNmaW5hbmNlX3NlYXJjaA–?p=sapphire%20glass&type=2button&fr=uh3_finance_web_gs_ctrl1