Henry Zhang's Blog

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

The quote, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”, highlights the importance of initiatives like the Arc or social enterprises even if the United Nations was fully funded. The United Nations usually follows the path of traditional relief, which can be seen as “giving a man a fish”, since its programs usually offers temporary help in times of need and do not focus on the long term solutions. However, the Arc Initiative can be seen as “teaching a man to fish” since it focuses on the long term goals. They offer programs that develop leadership and business management skills. The skills developed could then be applied to an existing business or to start a new one, after they understand what is needed for their business to be successful, such as product or service differentiation.

Social enterprises do a similar job since they are solving problems, but through unique ways. Even though they still make a profit, money is not their top priority. Companies like 10 Tree Apparel make a profit, however, their differentiation factor is that they plant ten trees for every item sold. If the United Nations was fully funded, they could just plant their own trees, but companies like 10 Tree Apparel allow consumers to understand why they believe their goals is important and spread the message to consumers better.

Sources:

http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative/About_ARC

http://www.tentree.com/ca/

Images:

http://prairiefoxweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ten-tree-brand-story-300×300.jpg

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative/~/media/7709ACA7C07A4EEC8AABC811569677B5.ashx

In this blog post by Mr. Eger, he discusses the new Music Entrepreneurship and Business Degree Program that is offered by San Diego State University. The program is a partnership between SDSU’s College of Profession STudies and Fine Arts and the College of Business Administration. On top of the usual curriculum, students have to take 15 credits worth of entrepreneurship related courses as well as business course electives. The dual program allows graduates to be much more well rounded since they are incorporating their creativity and the business savvy mindset.

The stereotype around fine arts students is that image of the “starving artist”. In Ontario, bachelor degree graduates of 2008 were earning an average salary of $49,469, which was similar to what graduates of 2005 made. However, for Fine Arts graduates, they saw a drop in their average salaries to $34,460, which is $2,500 less than the average from 2005. Also, application for Fine Arts programs in Ontario has dropped 4.7% in 2011, even though the overall number of applicants rose 2%. (Macleans). With declining interest and much lower starting salaries, I believe that incorporating Fine Arts with business would be much more beneficial for potential arts students. Not only can they learn about what they wanted to initially, they could also be taught how to apply it in the business world and turn their passion into profits.

Blog that is being referenced:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-m-eger/merging-art-and-business_b_5666135.html

Addition Sources:

http://www.macleans.ca/work/jobs/its-a-rough-time-to-be-a-bachelor-of-fine-arts/

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2014-08-10-BusinessofArtLogo.jpg

In Jordan Yin’s Blog post, he discusses the two new healthier drinks introduced by Pepsico and Coca-Cola. Both Pepsico’s “True” and Coca-Cola’s “Life” drinks target a similar market, people who want an alternative from their soft drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup and ones that contain artificial sweetener. With the use of Stevia, a natural sweetener, both companies were able to lower the calories in each serving to 60 calories. With such similar products, differentiation will be exceedingly difficult.

Similar to what Jordan mentioned in his article, the first company to meet the consumers’ need of a healthier, but great tasting beverage would have an advantage in the long run. However, I also believe that a cost advantage would be much more effective in giving either one of the companies an advantage over the other. In most supermarkets, prices for Pepsi and Coke are usually the same. On a trip to The Real Canadian Superstore, I noticed that Pepsi and Coke were selling for the same price, $3.33 per case, however, Pepsi was offering 3 more cans than Coke. Even though I am an avid Coca-Cola fan, on that day, I decided to buy Pepsi instead of Coke, only because of the lower price per can.

Sources:

Jordan Yin’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jyin/2014/10/05/pepsis-new-drink-about-to-launch-on-amazon-com/

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/141002092042-pepsi-coke-natural-620xa.jpg

Currently, the commercial airplane market for mid to long-range airplanes is dominated by Airbus and Boeing, with Boeing occupying approximately 43% of the market. However, Canadian Manufacturer, Bombardier is trying to take a piece of the market with the introduction of their new mid-range airplane, the C Series jet. The jet is competing with Boeing’s 737-700 and Airbus’ A319. Unlike the Bombardier CS100, both Boeing’s and Airbus’ airplanes are already well establish and known for their reliability and they currently have an oligopoly in the mid range aircraft market.

In order for Bombardier to have success with their new C Series airplanes, the company would need to differentiate themselves from its competitors. The C Series’ price tag, at only $62 million, compared to Boeing’s $76 million and Airbus’ $83.6 million airplanes. In many aspects, including range, cruise speed and size, all three airplanes are similar and are manufactured by well known and reliable companies. Because of the similarities, the huge price difference would give Bombardier an advantage in the market. This would mean that Bombardier, at least with its C Series airplanes, is following a Focus Strategy (Low Cost) since Bombardier is only focusing on mid sized airplanes and is pricing it much lower than its competitors.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bombardier-shows-off-c-series-test-planes-in-push-for-us-sales/article21502263/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/06/new-entrants-pose-a-challenge-to-boeings-share-of-the-global-commercial-airplane-market/

http://www.businessinsider.com/infographic-bombardier-c-series-2014-9

http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml

Image:

http://airchive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CS300-2.jpg

For most businesses, higher wages would mean a decrease in total profits, but not for Costco. On average, a Costco employee earns $21 USD per hour and wages start at $11.50 USD. Even with higher wages compared to the industry standard, the company is seeing an increase in their profits annually. The reason for the high wages is to attract the right people for the job. The higher wages and the generous benefits package can be seen as an incentive for employees to work harder since the employees know that they are earning more than the industry standard.

The article about Costco is similar article about Zappos discussed in class 19, people,culture and teams. Both companies invests valuable time and money to find the best employees, rather than cut cost and hire basically anyone who is willing to work for minimal wage. Costco may not go to the extremes that Zappos does, which is to offer potential employees $2,000 to quit on the spot, but Costco does put a heavy emphasis on finding employees who are in it for the long term and not just for the money. The business plan that Costco and Zappos uses is very effective for their business, however, it may not work for all business models. Companies, like Walmart, that put a heavy emphasis on low cost, would not see the same success that Costco does using the same business plan.

Main Article:

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/10/30/a-stick-and-a-carrot-at-the-same-time-why-costco-pays-twice-the-market-rate/

Supporting Information:

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/cost/financials?query=income-statement

http://www.businessinsider.com/costcos-unorthodox-business-strategy-2013-3?op=1

http://www.ou.edu/russell/UGcomp/Kerr.pdf

Image:

http://www.photoprintprices.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Costco-PhotoPrintPrices.jpg

The Northern Gateway pipeline, approved by Stephen Harper’s government in June, is a pipeline worth $7.9 billion and would run from Alberta to Kitimat, BC. However the pipeline project does not come without controversy. Several First Nations groups, especially the Yinka Dene Alliance, are opposed to pipeline and have sworn to not let it be built. This is because about 25 percent of the 1,177 kilometer long pipeline is on First Nation land. However, Enbridge claims that 26 of 40 First Nations have signed equity sharing agreements, including 11 of the 22 First Nations that are along the proposed pipeline route. If Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project was to go through a PEST analysis, it’s main factor affecting this project would be it’s social factors and if there was a SWOT analysis, there would be a major threat factor. The project is government approved, but there is a strong First Nations force that is opposing the pipeline. I can see why the First Nations would not approve of this project since there is always a chance that the pipeline would burst and cause catastrophic environmental damage. However, the project can help boost the economy from the sale of oil and provide jobs during the construction of the pipeline.

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/There+will+pipeline/10122968/story.html

Picture:

Map.jpg. Alexandra Joyce’s Blog. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/alexandrajoyce/files/2012/09/map.jpg>.

After reading about Joban Sandhu’s blog post about Snapchat’s high valuation, I can understand why many people may value the company at $10 billion. Although the company may not have a revenue stream at the moment, they do have a large user base which can eventually be turned into profits. I agree with Joban when he states that “Snapchat adheres to a focus differentiation strategy” since it is a unique product that targets a specific market. However, I do not agree with Joban’s thought on how he can see why the “owners want to continue providing the user-friendly experience” without generating revenue at the moment. I believe that the company will need to be able to produce a profit soon in order to maintain its high valuation. There is no proof that Snapchat could even generate a large enough profit to make their high valuation seen realistic. The popularity of instant picture sharing could just be a fad and the number of daily users could diminish just as quickly as it grew. If Snapchat were to somehow integrate advertisements or sell user information to advertisers, I can see how the company can be successful and make some money, at least in the short term.

Sources:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/jobansandhu/2014/10/04/why-is-snapchat-valuated-so-highly/

Image:

Snapchat-Logo.jpg. Slash Gear. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. <http://www.slashgear.com/snapchat-settles-ftc-suit-admits-guilt-about-security-issues-08328209/>.

The idea of having unlimited vacation days from work may seem like a dream, but not for Virgin employees. Sir Richard Branson announced that his personal staff can take as many vacation days as they would like without prior notification. Mr. Branson believes that people should focus not on the number of hours worked, but the amount of work completed, which is why they also do not implement a nine-to-five policy. With this kind of thinking, he assumes that his employees would only take vacation time when they feel that they’re completely caught up to date with their work and their absence at that time will not hurt the company. The initial idea may have been to boost employee morale, but it has done much more for the Virgin brand. Not only does it boost company moral and gives the company a positive name, it doesn’t cost any more money. Because of the media coverage,  Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin brand is receiving a tremendous amount of positive publicity that is not costing them a single cent in advertising fees. From an employer’s point of view, I believe that Sir Richard Branson’s strategy is very clever. Giving employees freedom to have as many vacation days as they’d like may result in more employees choosing to stay and work in order to keep up and produce the highest quality work. Other employees may choose to forego some vacation time in order to stay to gain an advantage over their co-workers.

Source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29356627

Image:

Cattermole, Gareth . Richard-Branson-boss-of-V-010. Web. 1 Jan. <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/dec/02/delta-singapore-airlines-virgin-atlantic>.

Facebook Inc. will be unveiling its new advertising product known as Atlas. Atlas’ main purpose is to create a better advertising platform to compete with Google, the digital advertising giant. It is supposed to help marketers target Facebook users by providing valuable information, so that the advertisements are specifically tailored to the consumer. The current method of obtaining consumer information and tracking its advertisement’s performance is through the use of cookies. However, this method has its major flaws, one of which is the inability to track the information of mobile device users. With Atlas, a consumer’s interactions with advertisements will be linked to his Facebook, whether it be on his desktop computer or his mobile device. This technology will also offer marketers to buy advertisements that will basically follow a Facebook user around the internet. The use of Atlas is an exciting innovation for advertising and marketing. The ability to retrieve a consumer’s preferences through their mobile device will result in more specific advertisements and will give Facebook a competitive advantage over Google since they will be tracking more information. However, with this new technology, many users may be very upset when they realize that they are having their information tracked and sold by Facebook and could result in negative publicity for Facebook. Nevertheless, some users may see this as a positive since they are being advertised products or services that they may actually use or need.

Source:

http://www.ibtimes.com/facebook-unveil-new-advertising-platform-next-week-take-google-report-says-1693348

Image:

Bureau, Gizbot. “Facebook in Plans to Buy Microsoft’s Atlas Ad Platform .” Gizbot. Greynium Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd. , 13 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.gizbot.com/social-media/facebook-buy-microsofts-atlas-ad-platform-009352.html>.

In the automotive industry, competition is fierce and saving money by cutting costs is crucial. This is best seen in the recent General Motors recall. On February 7th 2014, GM initially recalled about 800,000 Chevrolet Cobalt’s and the Pontiac G5’s because of their faulty ignition switches that could have prevented the airbags from inflating. In the months following the initial recall, GM has recalled nearly 28 million vehicles worldwide. It was reported that GM engineers knew about the faulty ignition switches, but it took them nearly a decade to begin recalling the vehicles. GM had a chance to fix the issue in 2005, but decided to forego the opportunity because they thought it would take too much time and would cost too much. The decision to not repair the faulty parts has led to the death of at least 13 people . GM basically did what the article, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profit” by Milton Friendman said about businesses. GM focused mainly on increasing their profit and not on what others may have considered as their social responsibility. Why it took so long for GM to begin the initial recall is uncertain, but it is speculated that GM didn’t want to spend the extra money to repair the costs, even though the parts to repair the ignition switches would only cost $3 – $5.  The lack in business ethics shown by GM initially saved them hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, but in the long run, they’ve spent more money on lawsuits and repairing the millions of recalled vehicles and have also hurt their company’s image of providing reliable and safe vehicles.

Pollock, Lauren. “What You Need to Know About the GM Recalls.” The Wall Street Journal [New York City , NY] 2 Apr. 2014: n. pag. Web. 9 Sept. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304432604579474000940113892?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304432604579474000940113892.html>

Lienert, Paul, and Marilyn Thompson. “GM avoided defective switch redesign in 2005 to save a dollar each.” Reuters [Detroit/Washington, 2 Apr. 2014: n. pag. Web. 9 Sept. 2014. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/us-gm-recall-delphi-idUSBREA3105R20140402>.