Monthly Archives: November 2014

 “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