With increasing competitors and higher quality standards from customers, it is no wonder that McDonald’s global sales figure declined after its food-safety scandal in China. With the growth in standard of living, people from all over the world are now more concerned about the quality and nutritious value of the food they are eating. When companies get caught taking short cuts in their products and services, it doesn’t only affect their sales but it also affects their reputation in the market. McDonald’s image has always revolved around cheap, fat, and unhealthy but now there are many convenient and healthier alternatives that customers will turn to for quick bites, such as Chipotle and Subway. With the change in our culture, where customization is a growing trend, McDonald’s is planning to offer a touchscreen station where customers can build their own burger. I, however, don’t think that is a big enough point of difference because the customization trend has been done by numerous restaurant chains (for example, Subway) and the convenient touch screen service is seen all over Asia at many Sushi restaurants. McDonald’s will need to find a new “wow factor” that will get consumers excited about the chain again.

Convenient Touch Screen Ordering service seen in japanese restaurants all over Asia

Super Size Me is a documentary film where the filmmaker experiences eating McDonalds everyday for a month. The end results are astonishing

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

There is a very well known quote that says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” There are many organizations that “raise money” to improve terrible living standards in third world countries temporarily but doesn’t solve the problem in the long run. Even if the United Nations raise a lot of money for these countries to escape their poverty, the people in these countries will most likely not have the knowledge to maximize the use of the money. That is why Arc Initiative and Social Enterprises are crucial to helping the hard-working entrepreneurs of these countries to have the knowledge to start their business off in the right way. For example, Fitih Tesfaye was operating a restaurant in a highly competitive market before she went to Sauder’s Arc Initiative for guidance. After a successful workshop, she developed the skills, knowledge and strategies to start a highly successful Sweets business. The knowledge she gained from Arc Initiative can take her business far further than any monetary donations ever could and that is why these organizations are needed even if United Nations can fully fund these countries in need.

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In a crowded market, entrepreneur finds a sweet way to stand out

After reading fellow classmate, Laura Palombi’s blog post, I completely agree that Taylor Swift made a right move of removing her songs from free music streaming software, Spotify.

We all stream music because it is free and convenient, but I never investigated on how artists continue to make money when everyone can get their music for free. I also didn’t understand why they would want to take part of services such as Spotify and Songza when they don’t make any money, but then I realized that these softwares are great platform for artists to get their music out there. However, well-known artists such as Taylor Swift and Beyonce wont need this software to increase their fans since they’re already so popular. Therefore, I think Taylor Swift took a very smart and profitable move by taking off her songs from free-streaming softwares and indirectly forcing her fans to buy her physical CDs.

The polaroid picture of her that comes with the CD

It is fantastic that she’s trying to bring physical CDs back by including exclusive freebies that come with the CD. As a consumer, I do think it is worth buying a CD as a collectible only if I’m a huge fan of the artist. So it might not be as wise for a starting up musician to not utilize Spotify to get their music out there.

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I stumbled across an opinion piece in the New York Times, which talks about the change in dynamic in a workplace. The author makes a good point that the American work style has switched from physical labor to mental labor. Even the most unskilled American worker wouldn’t want a job that is physically demanding, thus leaving all the hard labor to immigrants.

In the comments section of the same blog post, a 60 year-old user under the name “pooch43” described his experience with hiring people for menial labor. He operates a business that restores wood gymnasium floors. Even though it is physical work, there is “very little dust and the room is not hot,” so the job isn’t tremendously difficult. He started off with fifty people interested after hearing its $15/hour but that quickly cut down as soon as they found out what the job entails and it ended up with him working alone.

“Immigrants working in America” has been a heavily debated topic. Americans often complain about people from other countries taking their jobs, but that is clearly not the case. As we can see from the case above, people don’t want the job even if it pays well enough. The generation nowadays just cannot stand boring, assembly-line jobs. Unless people are desperate for money, they’ll generally opt for a job that requires brain power.