In the 21st century, china”s education return rate remains stable at around 10%. It means that one year high education can get 10% more salary. The college’s education return rate even reaches at 40%. However, what made people surprised is that the high school’s education return rate is zero.

For Chinese students, the most hardest and busiest time is during high school. As s result of the lack of high education resources, students have to force fierce competition. gradually, Chinese high school education evolved into a n elite selection mechanism. Students must spend most of their time doing exercises rather than learn practical skills. Eventually, if a student fails in college entrance examination, he is incapable of any jobs. If these students choose to study at secondary vocational education school, they are able to find appropriate jobs easily. It reflected the irrational allocation of education resources in China. the Chinese government should realize that education is the priority.

Articlehttp://cn.wsj.com/gb/20121031/LHB081424.asp

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Matt Filippini, a 27 year old software engineering, who earns 40 thousand dollars a month. He rents a apartment with his friend; however, he was annoyed by wasting money on apartment renting. He longs for owning his house. He plans to buy a house costs 3~4 million dollars. In order to achieve this goal, matt has a specific plan. Each moth, he automatically transfers 800 dollars from cheque account to savings account. Financial expert proposed that is is a good choice to invest half of his monthly savings on fund investment(90% stocks and 10% bond respectively)

The rich are rare, so most of people can not afford the costly house. How to allocate money effectively remains a confusing question. Someone would rather rent apartment because it guarantees his or her the adequate quality of life. While some people choose  to purchase house. They think that house is the preservation stuff and they want to live in a steady condition. The value of money changes all the time so if people just save money at bank. It may even depreciate. Investing money in fund or stocks may be a better choice.

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China has implemented one-child policy over long period due to its large base of population. However, in recent years, the death rate of population has grown more than the growth rate of population. The problem of increasing population aging posed a threat to the labour force. facing this situation, Chinese government allows couples to have a second child if one spouse is an only child. It remains a debated problem in China for a long time.

There is an old saying goes like that labour is the first productive. Many people thought that China, as a populous country, never lacks labour. The reality is that China is  trapped into the shortage of labour force due to these two reasons: labour migration and population aging. Companies manufacturing in China have already seen their profits diminish as the supply of labour tights. From 2010 to 2030, China’s labour force is expected to lose 67 million workers( more than the entire population of France). In a word, the abolition of one-child policy will effectively eases the labour shortage.

Article:http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20131118/bch111913.asp

Picture:http://offbeatchina.com/are-you-a-survivor-of-chinas-one-child-policy

Facebook, a social media giant, proposed to purchase Snapchat with approximately 3 billion dollars. Snapchat provides a platform for users setting  remaining time for shared photos. once the time expires, shared photos will be completely delegated. As a new featured software application, it attracts many teenagers, which has the potential to snatch the Facebook’s market.

It shows that a platform with more users values a lot. However, Snapchat and Facebook are apparently opposite because users do not leave any personal information on Snapchat. While users often browse friends’ webpage( e.g., posts, photos, personal information). how to perfectly combine Facebook with Snapchat? In my point of view, Facebook overstressed the threat of Snapchat. it eager to keep the leading position on the global mobile platform. I think Facebook should develop its own style rather than include all of stuff that users are interested in. Facebook should rationally treat Snapchat’s rise, and other companies in the future.

Articlehttp://cn.wsj.com/gb/20131115/hrd154658.asp

picturehttp://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/snapchat-adds-stories–but-can-it-take-facebooks-crown-8856329.html

Nowadays, increasing elite business-school graduates head to work in technology over finance due to the financial crisis. the data shows that at Harvard Business School, just 27% graduates took jobs in finance this year, decreasing 8% compared with last year. The financial crisis affected it a lot so the salary of financial job sharply decreased. At the same time, Wall Street has offered fewer opportunities for ambitious young graduates. Moreover, many business school graduates seek for meaningful work. They thought that jobs give them opportunities to drive innovation, and have the most impact.

How could this happen? As we all know, business work are busy and tired, but it has rich reward. So even though people may not have time to have a dinner, they choose business work and work pretty hard mainly because of the high salary. However, with the financial crisis, the salaries seems not to be as attractive as before. In my opinion, this situation would not last long, the financial sector will be popular again when the effect of financial crisis disappear.

Article:http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20131107/mba085218.asp

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Apple now has $ 147 billion in cash, which is a amazing number. what should apple do with the money?  Mr. Icahn’s propose that Apple use that money to buy back its stock. it is may be the worst use of its cash because it cannot improve its product, its customer service and its manufacturing capabilities. it is known that tech companies will lose its customers and market without the development of technology. Therefore, Apple needs to spend its money on its future.

Here are several recommendations. Firstly, I think A need to invest money in enlarging its production capabilities. Each time Apple releases a new product, customers cannot get it, especially in China. The strategy of hunger marketing can reduce its inventory costs, thus boosts its profit and reduces risks. However, Apple lost a large amount of sales due to its shortages. Therefore, setting up factories in developing countries is necessary. Another way is to give away storage. When samsung has already provided free 50 GB of space on the cloud. Apple still charges extra fees for expanding capacity. If Apple provides free storage on cloud. it is no doubt a good news for loyalty customers.

Article from:http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20131029/atc083824_ENversion.shtml

Photo from:http://www.microcenterblog.com/2013/06/07/apple-born-in-the-u-s-a/

Compared with other countries (e.g., the USA, Japan), Germany does not show a positive attitude towards starting a business. There is a series of hurdles that kept Germany’s newly minted entrepreneurs from expanding their business. Although one bank has said that a new start-up is founded every 20 hours in Berlin, there are several limitations that hold back start-up’s steps. It is a big problem about lack of finance. Small companies can only get puny financial support from angel investors and venture capital. It worth noting that Germany has as many venture capital investments as America, but the average investment in Germany is far less than America.

Fear of failure is another problem. It is a sign of failure if entrepreneurs end with bankruptcy, while it is seen as a positive thing in the USA. Germany does not have innovative problem. It has two deficits: one is that the slow increase in IPOs, which cannot create billionaires, mere millionaires. The other is the absence of standard-setting giants like Facebook, which serve as schools and customers for newer ventures. Germany will be more competitive in business by making its market more flexible and open.

Article: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21587209-vigorous-start-up-scene-has-yet-produce-its-first-big-breakthrough-slow-climb

Picture:http://www.berlincitytours.com/blog/2011/06/visiting-berlin/

According to the latest data, Apple overtakes Coca Cola as world’s valuable brand. Its brand value increased 28 percent, reaching at $98.3 billion. Meanwhile, the Coca Cola Company slipped from the top spot to third place with $79.2 billion. Brands value, which evaluated by financial performance, is intangible. Technology brands listed on the top are the ones concerned with “finding real problems, solving them, and then repeating the process.”

Brand value is priceless. The CEO of Coca Cola argued that even though factories worldwide were destroyed, the Coca Cola could grow as a successful company as large as the current scale. Brand value can make a tremendous contribution to the total assets. Apple led the innovative smartphones’ trend and met consumers’ demand. Good reputation is the basis of the brand value. Nowadays, there are numerous Apple fans buying the newest iPhone as soon as it on sale, regardless of whether they need to change their smartphones or not. It is the magic of the brand value.

Article:http://memeburn.com/2013/09/apple-overtakes-coca-cola-is-worlds-most-valuable-brand/

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Amway, which combines direct selling with a multi-level marketing strategy, is a successful example of direct business model. Without the supply chain process of distribution, independent business owners (IBO) sell products directly to potential customers. Everyone can become IBO and has the privilege to buy all products with discounted price. Therefore, Amway mainly sell products online rather than through physical stores. This strategy saves the cost of setting up warehouses and cuts middlemen. It guarantees consumers buying products with lower price compared with other brands.

In addition, the direct business model can build a bridge between manufacturers and customers. Amway sells products to costumers face to face; therefore, it provides an opportunity for Amway to realize consumer’s thoughts and track their feedbacks. That is to say, Amway can get immediate information and adjust their selling strategies.

However, the direct business is not adaptable for each product. Retails cannot completely be replaced. These two sales models generate mutual benefits together.

Articlehttp://www.amway.com/about-amway

http://web.archive.org/web/20080222222509/http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study–meeting-global-responsibilities-by-caring-for-communities–11-172-2.php

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There is a report about the chicken’s growth process in KFC crazily reproduced in China. The report reveals that it only took two weeks to grow a chick with four or five wings and legs. People injected hormone into chicken to make them grow faster. in this way, the manufacturer can save a large sum of money. They were tempted by the maximum profit but lost conscience. They do not awareness the harmful effects on children due to excess hormone, which may cause obesity problem and so on. No one doubts that the company’s top priority is to earn the money. However, business ethics can not be ignored.