Although Tesla’s stocks have through the roof (500% increase this year), Tesla’s accountants have been disclosing certain numbers to up-play the success of the company. This perfectly correlates with our financial accounting class in which we discussed how financial statements can be used to release only selected data in order to portray the company in a beneficial light. In the case of Tesla, they repeatedly disclose data that doesn’t abide by the GAAP. For example, Tesla released their revenue as almost 27% higher than what it actually is when calculated under GAAP. When calculating the earnings per share, they exclude shares that could have been issued to repay debt, resulting in a lower total share count, and in turn a misleading, higher EPS. These misrepresented numbers simply act to boost Telsa’s non-GAAP image; possibly attributing to the significant rise in stock. Also, the technology used in Tesla’s cars is still new and “unproven”[1] compared to the rest of the auto industry, yet they provide a guaranteed four year warranty which is longer than most traditional warranties. Despite the dramatic boom in stocks, the lack of integrity in Tesla’s accounting may lead to a dramatic bust despite their growths.

Article[1]: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/tesla-financials-a-peak-under-the-hood/article14668932/

A short video demonstrating how consumers are losing faith in the integrity of Tesla:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-tesla-shares-cool-after-fire-report/article14679523/

This video shows how Steam Whistle Brewery perfectly exemplifies the focus strategy as explained in Porter’s Generic Strategies. Although the massive beer industry offers a very diverse range of products and competition, Steam Whistle (founded in 2000[1]) has been very successful in establishing their position in the market through implementing the focus strategy. As Steam Whistle only produces one product, the entirety of the companies time and resources are devoted to making their product be the best. This devotion enabled them to see the opportunity to enter the market in the first place, as well as enabled them to compete and succeed against the best beers in the world, despite being newly established. Their single product specialization has added an element of differentiation to their product, which would make it near impossible for another company to enter the market and compete with or replace them. However, although this strategy certainly has its benefits, what would Steam Whistle do if a new product were introduced that replaced the demand for pilsener beer? Could the foundation of Steam Whistle’s be undermined by a change in consumer taste? How could Steam Whistle reform their entire business model to adapt to new consumer wants?

Link to Video: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/steamwhistlemp4/article14675470/

Link to Porter’s Generic Strategies (also on connect): http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml

Another interesting link about the birth of Steam Whistle: [1]: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/two-fired-guys-poured-ambition-into-steam-whistle/article14662456/

This article briefly discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Blackberry in a similar fashion as we did for our first assignment. As the fall of blackberry has been largely attributed to the release of their touchscreen Z10 handset, the article highlights how Blackberry should stop assimilating to other smart phones; staying away from all the fancy apps and touch screens. Instead, they should cherish their traits that set them apart from other smartphones, including the functional, physical key board that provides a much more functional alternative than the competitors. By limiting Blackberry’s target demographic to those in a corporate setting (as many emails are sent and received everyday, a physical key board is more functional), they could eliminate the distracting apps and differentiate from the competitors. Although this is a smaller demographic than they had targeted in the past, it is much easier to grow in a smaller market because there is often less competition, and operations are much simpler. Once they begin to establish themselves on a smaller scale, I believe it is possible in time for Blackberry’s popularity and strength to be reestablished.
Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/for-a-start-blackberry-needs-a-cultural-revolution/article14599159/

This is another article summarizing the rise and fall of Blackberry, it helps to provide insight on the SWOTs of the past and present: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-inside-story-of-why-blackberry-is-failing/article14563602/?page=all