Monthly Archives: November 2014

Although the United Nations Development Programme supports many initiatives that help reduce poverty, protect vulnerable groups, and create sustainability, Social Enterprise (including the Arc initiative) empowers the people of impoverished areas to move out of poverty on their own account. Social enterprise allows for long term change within communities and builds on the tools and skills of local villagers. There are three primary reasons why I believe Social Enterprise is necessary.

1. Social Enterprise is Long Term

While the UNDP does support many humanitarian efforts globally, much of this aid comes in monetary form and therefore is short term. Social enterprise, through microfinancing, allows for long term employment for those in impoverished areas, providing them with a stable income. Furthermore, since the businesses are local, people within the community are directly impacted and benefited by the enterprise.

2. Social Enterprise is Innovative

Given that these are businesses we are speaking of, there is much innovation and creativity involved in social enterprise. Since the villagers know the specific needs and markets of their community, they are able to create suitable products. For example, Salem’s Ethiopia, who worked with the Arc Initiative at Sauder, was able to create baskets and cater to the tourists who travel to Ethiopia.

3. Social Enterprise Fosters Relationships

Social Enterprise and movements like the Arc Initiative fosters relationships and trust between business people from all over the world. This creates a fantastic network of people who are able to support one another financially, through advising, as well as through sharing experiences and is a learning opportunity for all.

picture source

picture source

Class 19 of COMM 101 focused on how organizational behaviours and human resource practices can benefit a company. The example of Zappos was brought up as a company who truly values their employees and shows evidence of that through providing free food, healthcare and dental benefits, and parties for their staff. The video we watched depicted a vibrant and happy work place environment that is not typical of call centres.

This article affirms the belief that great CEOs pay attention to corporate culture.

Eagle’s Flight CEO Phil Geldart says that the most important thing in creating corporate culture is for the leaders of a company to role model what they want to see in their workers. In the example of Zappos, the CEO Tony Hsieh works in a desk alongside his employees, showing his down to earth manner of leading and also setting an example of humbleness and equality for his workers.

In a quote by Herb Keller (Chairman of Southwest Airlines), he says “Culture is what people do when no one is looking.” I agree with this statement as it shows how culture is not simply a program one can implement or even a training session employees must go through, but really boils down to the inherent nature and combination of everyone who works at a company.

Unilever sues Hamption Creek over false advertising

picture source

This recent article in the Financial Post explains how house-hold product giant Unilever is suing start-up company Hampton Creek for its product “Just Mayo.” Unilever contends that its competitor’s product (which doesn’t contain eggs) is violating federal trademark laws since Just Mayo’s label features a white egg cracked by a pea shoot. Furthermore, Unilever argues that Just Mayo is denting sales of its popular mayonnaise products, known as Hellmann’s as the new product has won distribution in giant retail and grocery chains like Target and WalMart. Unilever also wants Hampton Creek to pay three times its profit in damages plus the legal fees. Additionally, Unilever is asking the court to require Hampton Creek to stop using the egg on its label and stop claiming that Just Mayo is superior to Hellmann’s.

WHY I THINK THIS IS RIDICULOUS:

In my opinion, Unilever is bullying smaller companies who are actively trying to innovate and shift the face of food production. While there is an FDA standard on what mayonnaise should entail, those guidelines were set in 1957 (as stated in the article) and the reality is that in a tech-driven economy, innovation and creativity should be rewarded. Just Mayo is rising up to be a main competitor of Hellmann’s and it is that rivalry that allows for the stimulation of innovation and creation of better products. Competition benefits consumers as it lowers costs and allows for new products. Unilever should address this reality instead of accusing Hampton Creek of ridiculous clauses.

This blog post refers to a fellow classmate’s post which can be found  here.

In Twinkle’s post, she comments on the clash between the free market and government regulation by bringing up the example of Uber who wants to expand to larger cities but is finding it difficult due to restrictions in those places.

What she also talks about is building a bridge between the government and businesses to come to a point of compromise that allows for a profitable business to exist within the constraints of government regulation.

Personally, I believe that she is correct in stating this. However, realistically, it is easier said than done. It is a fact that clash between government and businesses will always exist given that there are different agendas at play promoting different ideals.

Another example of government intervention in business is the Netflix-CRTC debate. Essentially, the CRTC is a regulatory body whose goal is to ensure Canadian content within television and media. The CRTC has recently asked Netflix to hand over user data to the Canadian government as a tool to monitor Canadian viewer data. Naturally, Netflix disagreed and refused to hand over this data to the CRTC on grounds of privacy and protecting their customers. Since Netflix is a American company, the question of jurisdiction falls into play as one can question if the Canadian government truly has power to demand such an action from Netflix.

Ultimately, the conflict between businesses and regulatory bodies leads to many interesting debates and I believe each case varies in the way it should be best dealt with. Sometimes the government over-regulates, thus harming the free market. But sometimes regulation is beneficial as it protects consumers. Very debateable.

source – www.mentorworks.ca

source – www.setting-up-a-business.com

Many Sauder alumni who became entrepreneurs recently visited our COMM 101 classes. Many of them also mentioned initially bootstrapping their business when they first began (ex. Paul from Tangoo). This post responds to an entry on the external Business blog, Quora, regarding the mechanics of bootstrapping a business. The reason this article caught my eye was because turned the term “Boootstrap” into an acronym teaching people how to go abouts the endeavour. Here’s what the blogger came up with:

B-uild your audience early

O-ptimize social media

O-ffer unusual freebies

BOOTS!

T-ie up with influential connections and partners

S-ponsor events

T-estimonials

R-eferral program

A-wareness campaign

P-itch to reporters and bloggers

What was really interesting for me to see was that many of the ideas the blogger suggested had channels via the internet. This truly demonstrates the importance and presence of utilizing social media and the internet as a marking tool in today’s society. Further, another theme that I acknowledged was that another main purpose of bootstrapping is to create an awareness for the company or product your are starting up. Many of the channels suggested are avenues to generate publicity, thus building up a consumer base that will eventually purchase the product or service. The suggestions brought up in the external blog were all thoughtful and relevant and can be used even in many cases that we deal with in COMM 101.

picture source

A repeating theme in many of our COMM 101 marketing classes has been differentiation and finding a Point of Difference in products. This Globe and Mail article introduces a unique law firm that tailors specifically to dentists. Furthermore, the article touches on many points of the Business Model Canvas and is a fantastic real life example of many sections within the model.

The Background:

Michael Carabash was fresh out of law school with an ambition to become the best criminal lawyer in Toronto. However, his MBA came into play when he realized there was a unique customer segment that he could cater to – dentists. With two other lawyers on his team, DMC Dental Lawyers has been attracting new clients and providing services in a effective manner.

Why DMC Stands Out:

The firm approaches their business with an amalgamation of online, easy-access resources, as well as in-personal legal advising. Through the website, dentists can easily fill out legal forms based on templates which are reviewed and finalized by lawyers. This reduces costs for clients and also allows for lawyers to use their time doing more challenging and interesting tasks. Furthermore, DMC uses a blog as a channel to reach out to the tightly knit dentist community, allowing for the spread of their company by word of mouth as well. To find out more about the company – see their website here.

Why This Interests Me:

I have aspirations to go into law and legal advising in the future making it interesting to read about how someone was able to combine their business acumen with legal training.  DMC Lawyers inspired me and got me thinking about the possibilities of future careers.

Picture Sources Respectively: www.telegraph.co.uk, wisestartupblog.com

“We can help YOU”