Read Heidi’s blog post here

Read the original article here

Upon Heidi Leung’s post on the issue of part-time jobs, I had have the chance to read a great article called “The 15 Hour Work Week: Canada’s Part-Time Problem.” The article argued that on a financial scale, most companies prefer hiring part-time employers as this form of employment helps to save up labour cost such as compensation, health care, and much other benefit. Therefore, in Canada’s market, “part-time work accounted for 80 percent of net job creation.” Indeed, whether to work part-time or full-time is a decision made by the employees; however, due to the low full-time job offers, many employees faces financial struggle as their part-time working hours are too flexible to be secured. In the blog post, Heidi came up with the great solution in response to the issue as she claims the necessity to set regulations on minimum part-time hours that could benefit the employees for fixed hours. However, in my opinion, I don’t believe this form of regulation would be enough as not every part-time employee face the same financial issues and wish to have more hours. In fact, for employees facing financial struggle, I do believe that this is the area that the government should intervene on. Due to the fast advancement of technology and globalization, the need for pure labour has been highly deducted; however, the mechanism in technology could never replace humanity. These employees, ones who are in need with financial support, rather of getting financial funds by the government of NGO, should rather use the money as investment and educate themselves. While financial support and regulations could be a short-time solution, company’s training program and educating these workers with a higher set of skills are eventually the long-term solution that could spark a light upon the labour market.

Sources:

“How Do I Survive If I Can Only Find Part-time Work?” About. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

“Heidi Leung.” Heidi Leung. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

“The 15-hour Workweek: Canada’s Part-time Problem.” The Globe and Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder of Acumen fund, an impact-investing firm, has once stated, “my dream is to find individuals who take financial resources and convert them into changing the world in the most positive ways.”

Perhaps, this marks the main point of differentiation between the UN fund and the social entrepreneurs. Where United Nations tends to raise fund and simply donate them to where it’s need, social entrepreneurs are the ones who use the money and create something that’s even more ever-lasting to the locals. For instance, in the video, “Social Entrepreneur: Pioneering Social Change,” Muhammad Yunus by lending small amount of money to those who are unable to start-up a business on their own. Not only Yunus has created a movement called microfinance, Yunus were able to help the local village to prosper as these borrowers have use the money to create business that help to sustain the village. Therefore, indeed the UN through its funding have provided communities a short-run solution with financial support; however, without social enterprise, the communities would never learn how to be self-sufficient, and these are the areas where the social entrepreneur help to develop. Unlike UN, social entrepreneurs often have a deeper knowledge of the local communities and strategies of improvements, which UN could never achieved with specific investments. Hence, social entrepreneurs are essentially the major forces that drives communities into better efficiency with suitable approach. Perhaps, the major differentiation between UN funding and social enterprise is the degree of influence. Just as Yunus’ contribution with his Grameen Bank, it’s not solely lending money, but rather creating a movement that paves the village to a better lifestyle.

Sources:

“Announcing Another Social Enterprise Discovery Workshop!” The Zugunruhe Project RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

“What Is Social Entrepreneurship?” Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

“10 Social Entrepreneurship Quotes That Will Leave You Inspired.”SocialStory. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Read Chealsea’s Blog Here

Read the Original Article Here 

Recently I have came across my classmate Chealsea Choi’s blog post upon Chipotle’s restaurateur program and rewarding system. Instead of rewarding employers for the number of sales, Chipotle measures the effectiveness of employer’s positive influence upon others.

As Steven Kerr, in his article “On the Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping for B,” has stated, sometimes what the company want to promote may not be accurate according to its rewarding system, and a false rewarding system might lead to an ineffective and unsatisfied working environment. Therefore, Chipotle’s rewarding system could be seen as a break-through, as it aims to promote the working force internally that encourages genuine team work. This form of rewarding system that promotes brand culture and values are worthwhile as it establishes a much stronger working force. A similar example would be the company Zappos, in which its CEO in the article “Happy Feet,” published by the New Yorker, has stated that rather of being passionate in shoes, he is in fact more interested in creating a working force that brings a sense of gatherers in the company. Moreover, the past experience of working in Starbucks has led me to believe the importance for a company to establish its cultural value. Even though the job content of a barista is repetitive and simple, the working environment is rather abundant and worthwhile. I’ve been motivated everyday by my colleagues or customers through the conversations I have with them. Indeed, some may argue that having conversations is solely a store policy, a marketing strategy, the company aims to establish. However, as each employer strive to share a little bit of themselves to the customers, and vice versa, a genuine friendship, a shared contentment, and the nourishment of human culture have been created. Hence, indeed, the best way to advertise a company is by developing its culture value as it not only create brand recognition, it promotes a sense of unity inside the working force where all employers share the same value of making the company better.

Sources:

“Check out What’s Crossing the Bridge.” Brand and Culture: ‘Two Sides of the Same Coin’ N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Lutz, Ashley. “A Chipotle Manager Worked Her Way Up To Be The Company’s Top FemaleExecutive.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 04 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

“CHELSEA CHOI’S BLOG.” CHELSEA CHOIS BLOG. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Kerr, Steven. “On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B.” Academy of Management Journal 18.4 (1975): 769-83. Web.

“Happy Feet – The New Yorker.” The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Read James Altucher’s Blogpost Here

Through browsing an entrepreneur adviser James Altucher’s blog, called The Altucher Confidential, I have came across this interesting blog post: “How to Persuade Anyone of Anything in Ten Seconds.” Even though James interestingly uses the approach of elevator pitch as an example, the advices and tips he portrayed substantially outlined the main business marketing strategies that help to provide companies to create brand value for their products.

James has stated, these methods aren’t just about “persuasion,” but rather, “its about connection.” Indeed, through different forms of advertisements, not only companies are trying to persuade the consumers in buying their products, they are also a form of connection, a mutual bridge, inside the consumer’s mind that connects the companies’ core brand image with consumers’ expectations and desires. Hence, James tips of persuading others are not only valid for an everyday use, it is also suitable for all business models as their advertising tactics.

Here are the short takeaways from James’ blog:

1.)   Who are you?

Here, James advocates the importance of politely introduce oneself to others as it deliver a very genuine, honest, and trust-worthy image.

Therefore, before launching product that companies thought that would appeal in the eyes of the consumers, perhaps it’s more important to identify the company’s own image as it best outline the company’s core value. With a distinct value, the brand is no longer persuading consumers with solely its physical product, but rather a concept.

2.) Relax

Indeed, as individuals are more relaxing and expressing their truest state of mind, this not only gives others a more sincere image, the persuader as well becomes more practical and easy to relate to. The same concept could be applied to business models, in which by providing a more sincere brand, consumers will more likely to be engaging and inclined. Especially in this over-communicated world, as Trout has stated in the article Positioning, a simplified and clear message is simply enough to grab the consumers’ interest.

3.)   Use of Language (Avoid Um/mm-hmm/yeah)

James stated that by using intellectual words and language, it gives the persuader a very intelligent and straightforward image. This could as well as applied in a business world as it gives the consumers a sense of security knowing that the company is the lead in the industry.

4.)   The Six U’s

Urgency

Unique

Useful

Ultra-Specific

User-Friendly

Unquestionably Proof

Here, James outline the six U’s, which could be seen as the points of differentiation in the business world. These points outlined the important approaches in developing brand image that could perhaps drive customer incentives in purchasing the product.

5.)   Desire

James stated that in effort to persuade others, it is important to know their desires first and act accordingly. He outline the individual’s desires which includes：

• recognition
• rejuvenation
• relaxation
• relief
• religion
• remuneration
• results
• revenge
• romance

Hence, perhaps, these points could give the companies a direction in targeting customer segmensts and to meet their needs and desires.

6.) Objection

James expressed that there will always be objections. Just as Jack Trout in his article Positioning, has stated “it’s a mistake to build a brand by trying to appeal to everyone.” Perhaps, what makes a brand image ever stronger is the fact that it has a very distinct and identified customer segment the company targets and able to meet these targeted customers’ need accordingly.

Indeed, in the business world, the core objection is always to be persuading the customers, and even the society that certain products are worth buying. Hence, by evaluating James tips of how to persuade others, these tips as well outlined the important marketing strategies that helps companies in identifying their positions in the market.

Sources:

“How to Persuade Anyone of Anything in Ten Seconds.” Altucher Confidential RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

“Product Positioning.” Product Positioning. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Read Article Here  Just as Jack Trout has stated in the article Positioning, he has indicated the importance for companies to portray simplified and clear messages into the consumer’s mind that correspond to their belief in the product, especially in today’s environment where the market has been over-communicated with advertisements. Indeed, through the use of polar bear as its icon, Coca-Cola has successfully advertised their product through this fun and cute image that attracts all ages of consumers. As the issue of animal extinction rises, one of Coca Cola’s admirable and intelligent tactics is not to avoid this arising issue; instead, the company uses the issue as their point of differentiation for their advertising campaign. Unlike most brands would rather create a new brand images, as it helps to minimize the cost of re-shaping the original brand. Coca-Cola emphasizes on their brand recognition by adding social value into their brand through the cooperation with the WWF. This method not only re-build the Coca-Cola image, it provides a point of differentiation from other soft drinks brand as consumers feel a sense of contribution to the world when consuming the product. Just like the Dove’s The Movement of Self-Esteem campaign, and Tom’s One for One campaign, both companies have successfully created a sustainable and social valuable brand image in the consumer’s mind, in which this form of brand recognition drives customer incentive for purchase and therefore could lead to customer loyalty. Hence, instead of donating funds into WWF, perhaps, Coca-cola could further build on their campaign by donating small amount of money to the organization for each purchase as this approach has could create a better customer relationship throughout the market. Sources: “The Dove Movement for Self-Esteem.” The Dove Movement for Self-Esteem. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. “Should the Polar Bear Still Sell Coca-Cola? – The New Yorker.” The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. “Product Positioning.” Product Positioning. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.