In this blog, Judy talks about the downfall of HTC, a Taipei based smartphone business. Two years ago the business expanded quite fast and exploded its sales globally. However, its stock price is falling beyond anyone can imagine now. Also, it profit is falling every quarter.

In Judy’s opinion, the company is declining because it does not have a focus. In the past HTC focused on Android phones, however, it is focusing on Microsoft, Android and Facebook phones. The business now is completely in a mess because it does not have a clear focus. I totally agree with the writer that the business should have a clear focus. The value proposition of the business should be quite clear. For example, good quality Android smart phones. If the business is focusing on too many segments, it cannot do as well in each segment as in only one segment. As a result, HTC can not differentiate its products.

Blog link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/judychiang/

Original resource: <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/technology/a-long-fall-for-taiwan-smartphone-maker.html?pagewanted=all>.

Chinese government is going to ease one-child policy. The policy was first announced 30 years ago. Since all families are only allowed to have one child, the labor-system in China has been affected due to reduce of labor force. As a result, Chinese government is going to ease one-child policy.

This policy was originally announced to reduce poverty and energy consumption in China because most Chinese families could not afford tuition fee for all their children.  However, the age structure has largely been affected.

In my opinion, the government is doing the right thing at the moment because the general income level in China is rising now. Consequently, it is not necessary for the Chinese government to reduce poverty by banning second child in a family. Also the labor force is reduced. The ease of one-child policy can gradually offset the reduction in labor force in the long run.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/chinas-leaders-say-the-country-will-ease-1-child-policy-abolish-labour-camp-system/

Yellow media, the Montreal-based publisher, announced that it would cut 10% of workforce. The business is going to focus on its digital business instead. Users switches from published media to online media over the past few years. As a result, the print sales of Yellow Media keep falling.

To react to changes in consumer preference, Yellow media changes its focus to online media. In my opinion, it is the right policy for the business to adapt to changes in market. Print media is declining so Yellow Media should cut its work force in print media.

Also, corporate customers, mainly advertisers, tend to shift to digital products to advertise. Therefore revenue from those advertisers will fall and Yellow Media should cut its expenditure on work force in order to maximize it profit.

However, cutting work force is not good for its reputation and the workers will be less motivated because they may fear that they may be cut.

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/11/12/Yellow-Media-to-cut-10-of-workforce.aspx

This blog talks about the ways to expand and diversify a seasonal business. Some business may have peak and trough of their sales. For example, a landscape business.

The writer suggests attracting different clientele during off-season. For example, if the consumer segment of a landscape is young family during summer, then mature  people can be attracted by the owner during cold and quiet seasons. In my perspective, it is a great idea. However, the business should have a marketing group to advertise to different clientele, even develop a slogan which can persuade mature families to come to the landscape during quiet seasons.

Additionally, the writer talks about keeping expert employees. It is difficult for a business to find trained employees. Also the training process of new employees can be time-consuming. I agree with the writer that the experienced employees should be kept even during off-season. The  employees can be more motivated because they know that they are not going to be fired after peak season.

Resources: http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/blog/entry/4356/

I want to comment the blog of Melissa Wu. She talks about the new law that set by French government on websites like Amazon to protect domestic sellers and producers. The law is expected to pass at the end of the year.

In her opinion, the multinational company like Amazon should respect the country’s rules when entering the market. Global barriers to entry make it more difficult for companies to expand to foreign countries.

I agree with the writer that the trade barriers set by the government is reasonable because the barriers can effectively protect local bookstores from foreign giants which can enjoy economies of scale. It will be a tough time for the domestic book industry to survive without government protection because of higher price.

In my perspective, another way for the government to protect domestic book industry is to impose tax on books purchased from foreign producers. Tax revenue gained from the foreign producers can be used to develop domestic book industry such as providing subsidies to producers. However, it is complicated to manage this policy because many problems may come with the policy like magnitude of tax and how to supervise the authority which charges the tax.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/melissawu/

Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/business/France-Takes-Aim-at-Amazon-to-Protect-Local-Bookshops.html?ref=international

Alibaba is a Chinese online shopping website which is similar to Amazon. On Nov11, millions of Chinese and foreign buyers make purchases because of Singles’ Day discount. More than 2000 vendors promises 50% discount on their products. The revenue generated by Alibaba on Single’s day is even higher than that generated on Black Friday in western countries.

It is a successful marketing to relate a discount to the special festival: Single’s Day is a festival for young people in china. The young is the consumer segment for Alibaba. It cooperates with some banks about online banking services. It even works with Paypal to help customers to pay for their products. Alibaba is a famous shopping website in China with high reputation. It is difficult to find a young person in China who nevers make purchases on Alibaba. Alibaba does not make poducts itself, instead it takes a percentage of sellers’ revenue.

However, the main consumers of Alibaba are always young people because senior citizens do not make purchases online. Additionally, as a website based in china, the website is completely in Chinese and the sellers are all Chinese. It can develop international trade with foreign buyers and provide them with low-price products. It can even corporate with companies like UPS for international shipping.

resource:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303661404579177833662380934

The social networking company Twitter has said that it plans to raise finance $1bn through stock market. In my opinion, the main target of Twitter is still expansion 8 year after set up of the company. Since the financial report illustrates that the revenue grew from $28m in 2010 to $317m by the end of 2012, without making a profit. It is expanding so fast. The revenue streams come from advertisement sales(85%) and licensing its data. However, the business should achieve a balance because if it has too many advertisements, Twitter will be unpopular with users. The business has a very clear value proposition: it want to create an easy-to-use social media that creates something that people like and want to come back to spend time on. The business may want to raise finance through stock market to undergo further expansion, because the CEO said that they decide to raise capital and provide users with a excellent experience. But not all investors are optimistic to the share price, due to the poor performance of facebook share price last year. As a result, consumer expectation on share price may affect the actual share price.

Resources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24392336

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24075010

It is reported that Blackberry faces a $965 million loss for the second quarter ending on 31 August. The 49% revenue decrease makes the CEO and investors disappointed. After reviewing the managerial and financial accounting reports, the CEO says he is very disappointed. The sharp fall of Blackberry revenue may be caused by switch of customers to Apple once it launches its smartphones. The company’s operational reports, which focus on internal situation of the business, make CEO think about transition. The financial reports indicate a loss. In my perspectives, it has negative effects on investors’ confidence but some investors can buy more shares as the share price is decreasing. Therefore, investors can read the financial reports to get information about the company that if it is worth investing, because financial reports focus on the future. The high competition level in cell phone market makes it difficult for Blackberry to expand its market share. As a result, the business should have a very clear value proposition and market segment, to avoid failure in direct competition with iPhones.

Resources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/blackberry/10339283/BlackBerry-plunges-to-1bn-loss.html

YG Entertainment is gong to release the second audio album for its artist, G-Dragon, in a limited edition of 8888. The business promotes the minimization of sound bending and deformation in live concerts, which seem like points of parity in all audio albums produced by competitors. Like other Korean entertainment businesses, YG signs contracts with groups of 4 to 5 people and try to ‘transform’ them into star. Usually the peoples have outstanding appearances and excellent skills in singing and dancing. However, YG entertainment try to differentiate itself from its competitors by design special outfit styles, hairstyles and performance styles. The business tries to emphasize its points of difference compared to other businesses. For example, Gang Nam Style was extremely popular last year, because YG wants to present a completely different style of performance. The song is passionate, simple to remember and even a little insane. It becomes popular as soon as it comes out. The same concept applies to the band called Bigbang. The fancy dressing style and performance style of Biabang attracts millions of young people around the world. YG specializes in providing fancy and insane performances, and the dressing style of its artists has lead a fashion trend in Asia.

Resources: http://www.ygfamily.com/notice/NList.asp?LANGDIV=K&Page=1&n2PageSize=8&IDX=5251&sType=A&SchKey=&SchTitleN=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points-of-parity/points-of-difference

Toyota invested $7 billion on R&D of ‘green’ cars shown on Frankfort model show.The entire line-up of 12 Toyota models is with hybrid engines. The increased customer awareness that technology of hybrid cars is getting better leads to huge opportunities of growth in hybrid engine vehicle industry. Therefore, the competition level in the industry is increasing. However, in my perspective, Toyota still needs efforts to raise its market share. For example, there should be a strong marketing department. The reputation of this business was negatively affected by the recall of cars due to quality control problems in the past few years, so the market group should improve its reputation. Also, it should convince consumers to purchase electric cars rather than fuel engine cars by eradicating consumer concerns about technology bugs of electric cars. Toyota believes that with the increasing consumption of electric cars, the infrastructure like sites of car-recharge will automatically developed because of consumer demand. I think Toyota can finance some recharging sites for energy businesses and provide a discount for owners of Toyota. Additionally, Toyota sets a competitive price so that the cars are affordable to most consumers. Consequently, Toyota is aiming to be the market leader of the huge potential market.

Resources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24033705