The oil industry that allowed massive industrial development in Alberta is now facing an obstacle. The provincial government’s policies regarding the energy development had led controversial issues with First Nations in the region. First Nations have extraordinary connection with nature, and the nature means a lot different to them compare to what the oil companies are thinking. For them, developing nature into an industrial zone is a culturally and spiritually immoral action, and therefore, the concerns and criticism towards the energy development plan by government is rising these days.

Oil industry is definitely the fastest and largest industry developing in Alberta, and it is an enormous business opportunity for many companies. Nevertheless, is it tolerable that one side is earning a large amount of profits from business, while the other side is losing their livelihood that had been preserved from their ancestors? Obviously, it is not fair for the First Nations, and the provincial government must provide more reasonable incentives, such that both sides can be equally satisfied and benefited from the industry.

Reference:

http://aptn.ca/news/2014/10/06/prentice-says-hell-revisit-contentious-alberta-first-nation-policies/

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http://albertaoilsandsjobs.net/

Most of the Asian countries today are criticized for significantly low tobacco price. The tobacco cost between $2 to $3 in South Korea, which is an affordable price for all population. After observing alarming consequences of low tobacco price, the Korean government decided to declare a war against on tobacco. They would push to almost double the price, and eliminate all tobacco-related advertisements by January. The proposed plan, however, would face many oppositions not only from tobacco company, but also from the convenient stores, in which their sales are largely depended on cigarette. Then, is it acceptable to sacrifice the economic gain for those businesses to pass this proposal? Does it worth it? My answer to this question is: yes, it does. The improvement of population’s health condition from reduced smoking rate is an obvious, yet a huge benefit. There can be other indirect benefits as well: if less people suffer from health issue such as lung cancer, more employees would be available, and more capitals would be spent into economy instead of health care services and cigarettes. This would bring positive influence to country’s economy as a whole, thus I strongly support the government’s smart decision.

Reference:

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140911000934

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http://news.busan.go.kr/sub/search_01_view.jsp?arti_sno=201303201033270001

Apple’s brand new Iphone 6 and IOS 8, introduced to the public last month, was not a great deal for its stock price growth.

A company’s stock price usually increases when they introduce a new product because of the potential that investors see from it. However, on September 25^th, Apple experienced 2% fall in its share price due to two different reasons—numerous problems caused from new IOS 8 update, and a video that criticized the structure of easily-bended Iphone 6. Many people, also other companies, made caustic jokes about the product through social network services, referring it to the name “bendgate.”

One of the reasons behind this failure is related to value proposition. Customers these days tend to purchase phones with wider screen, but lighter in weight. Apple, therefore, used aluminum as the main component of the phone, which seemed successful in reducing its thickness and weight. Fulfilling customer’s need was a “gain creator,” except that it was overly excessive, and the gain changed into pain.

Apple is the largest company in entire world, and their shares would eventually go up. However, in order to maintain the position as a leader of technological device market, they must stop risking the consequence from their excessive value propositioning.

Reference:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12892278/1/why-apple-aapl-stock-is-down-today.html

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Bendgate: Apple iPhone 6 bending in pockets news leads to endless internet mocking