The best lesson i have been taught, was through playing basketball, by my coach. His name is Steve Anderson, and to this day he is still my mentor, just as he was all throughout high school. Coach had always told us to put the team before anything else, as it was our responsibility, and mine more so as captain, to ensure that we were successful in our season. While always trying to listen to his words, i often didn’t give them as much meaning as i should have. The night came before a big tournament game, and coach pulled me aside to talk to me. He was aware that there was a party happening that night, and this was supposed to be the party of the year; the party that all the grads had looked forward to since the beginning. As captain, he asked me to ensure the safety of the team, and set the example so that the others may follow, and realize that our commitment to the basketball program and the team was far more significant than some party. While listening to his words and nodding along, my mind drifted and all i could think about was how amazing this party was going to be, and all the people that were going to come. While he put his trust in me, i didn’t fullfil his wishes, but instead set the opposite of the example, and partied more enthusiastically than the rest of the team, which only encouraged them to do the same. The next day we lost that game, and coach noticed the decrease in performance and could only guess why. He specifically noticed how my intensity had significantly dropped and took me aside once again. He looked at me, but no words came out, he shook his head and simply walked away. I was devastated. It was that day i learnt the true meaning of leadership, of responsibility and setting the example for those around me, who look up to me for guidance.

Bell has established itself as one of the commanding telecommunications companies in Canada, and while this wasn’t the case before, it is evident due to Bell’s advancement into GSM technology during the 2010 Winter Olympics has helped them in achieving this. While using CDMA (no sim card), customers were not as attracted to Bell’s network, me being one of these customers; one of the main reasons I signed my first phone contract with Rogers instead. Using CDMA also drove away international consumers from making use of Bell services while in Canada. Bell expanding their infrastructure to incorporate GSM network technology has allowed those coming from abroad to make use of their services. The initial impact of this is described on this website,

http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/iphone-news/bell-releases-2010-vancouver-olympics-network-usage/

While in the case discussed in class, to most it seemed that the Olympics were a huge waste of money, but after realizing facts like this, and how Bell was able to expand its image and become the massive company they are today. Because of the Olympics Bell was forced to make these advancements, and who knows how long it would have taken them to do this otherwise. As a result Bell was able to expand its brand to accommodate more people. I was shocked after looking into it at how much the Olympics helped Bell, despite the $200M investment, I believe it would not be as expanded and advanced as it is today without the pressure the Olympics put on it.

With the iPad’s evident success, other companies have realized the benefits of releasing such a product in the market. A company that capitalized on this is Samsung, with their recent release of the Samsung Galaxy S Tab as their version of a tablet on the market, but has Samsung made a worthy competitor to battle the iPad? There is no simple answer to this question, yet. The Samsung Galaxy S Tab annihilates the iPad in certain specs such as having double the RAM, and allowing up to 32 GB of expandable storage. Along with this, Android software supports many features the OS for the iPad does not, including full Adobe flash support, multitasking, and the most important being unrestricted access to applications; Apple is known for harshly censoring apps. But even with these features, the simplicity the iPad operating system offers seems to be attractive to those who aren’t tech savvy yet want to own a tablet. Apple has seized the non-tech people in the market with their attractive and user-friendly product, leaving them oblivious to the benefits offered by the more complex Android tablet. They have positioned their brand to those going for style and simplicity (which happens to be a vast majority), and have done it successfully. Apple has taken over this market, for other tablets to be successful, they need to position their brand to other consumers, or find a way to overtake Apple’s target, which is unlikely considering the time advantage they’ve had.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/204779/samsung_galaxy_tab_vs_the_ipad_compare_for_yourself.html

During class, in particular the Zappo’s example, I have learnt the importance of Customer Service. While it seems that its more common sense than anything that customer service is essential, it amazed that it can play on customer loyalty. The outstanding customer service provided by Zappo’s has allowed them to excel as a business and attain an ample amount of satisfied customers. A specific example, is when the lady called trying to haggle a discount out of Zappo’s claiming she had found the product cheaper elsewhere, while she had in fact already placed the order for her item. The lady had shopped at Zappo’s before and while they may not have given her the discount she desired, she ordered with them nonetheless. Having worked in the customer service industry (fast food chain), even then I never realized the extent to which extraordinary customer service can affect your customer service count.

In my opinion, the class on entrepreneurship happened to be one of the most important classes of the year. As soon as I left this class, my head was filled with different ideas I could implement into a brilliant business idea. This class was unbelievably inspirational to me and got me thinking about all the other entrepreneurs in the world. Two of the most successful entrepreneurs that had incredible success because they believed in their ideas, are Walt Disney and Mark Zuckerberg. These two geniuses managed to make something out of absolutely nothing while dropping out of school, which have resulted in two of the most well known businesses in history. I’m not saying that an education isn’t necessary to achieve success, but this class changed my direction and path I had previously set for myself before coming to Sauder; it has inspired me to possibly take up entrepreneurship as my specialization, which I had not even considered previously. Although implementing your own idea often results in failure, the guest speakers made clear to not let this de-motivate your ambitions. I learned that being an entrepreneur is learning from your mistakes, and brainstorming new and intuitive ideas to correct these mistakes. Entrepreneurship involves challenges, but possible payoffs from these challenges make it worth the effort.

Recently, North Korea issued an attack on their South Korean neighbors, making it the first act of violence in years. When thinking this article, many of us seem to focus on the hatred between the two nations themselves as opposed to the economic impact this can have on the world. With Seoul being the second highest populated city in the world, and controlling the corporate headquarters of some of the largest companies in the world, consumers in North America have much to worry about. Samsung, Hyundai, and LG are just a few companies based in Korea. Retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart will suffer significantly, ultimately resulting in an economic disaster.

When you investigate deeper into the issue you realize another potential threat in this battle, China. I thought about it and realized with China as a communist supporter of North Korea, this could result in the US going to war with China. The economic impact of this can be catastrophic as trade with China is colossal all over the world; the result of this will especially have substantial effects on North American consumers. I believe its essential that this issue be solved or businesses and consumers will suffer significantly.

This link further explains this issue:

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010/05/how-a-new-korean-war-would-affect-u-s-business/

Unbelievable! Subway is currently known as the most successful fast-food chain! The article posted on HowStuffWorks,

http://money.howstuffworks.com/9-most-successful-fast-food-chains1.htm

named Subway at the top of the list. This being unexpected, as McDonald’s is probably the first name that comes to mind when it the the leader in the fast-food market is discussed, it goes to show the colossal leap Subway has made over the years. Focusing on a low-fat diet, symbolized by world renown weight-loss icon Jared Fogle, Subway has stormed past competition and its selling technique has proven incredibly effective. As research on unhealthy foods emerges, those willing to spend a little more than they would at places like McDonalds, have shifted there attention to the heavily advertised, healthier alternative. I found it interesting to read that even though McDonalds does have a higher annual sales value, Subway is now known the as the most successful. It will be interesting to see if Subway can maintain this title and continue to expand its already enormous franchise. Eat fresh!

Have you ever wondered why, inspite of all the movies, news articles, and research; McDonald’s continues to be one of the leading giants in the fast-food market? This article seems to have the answer.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37129588/Speed_Key_to_McDonald_s_Success_CEO_Skinner

I was impressed with explanation of McDonald’s CEO, James Skinner, on the drive-thru issues and the truth it held. No matter how quick the service is supposed to be, I know if i saw 7-8 cars at a drive-thru, 30 seconds per car or not i would drive away. It’s amazing the difference 6 seconds off each car, according to Skinner, could make per hour. With McDonald’s emphasizing speed, it’s evident that they know how to keep their customer’s happy and satisfied, despite the facts provided against the fast-food giant. Keeping their food affordable and quick has kept McDonald’s as a leader in the market, and if they continue in this manner, there is no stopping them.

http://www.canadianimmigrant.ca/careers/article/765

The article above addresses a very serious issue over the past few decades, and clearly shows the advancements made by those battling the problem at hand. The question of diversity has been a large issue in North America in the past years, as companies and major organizations found it difficult to adjust to the abundance of diverse groups that happened to enter the workforce. But as the article states, organizations in Canada are beginning to realize the importance of adapting to the inevitable. The vast majority of people entering the the Canadian workplace nowadays is either an immigrant, visible minorities, gays and lesbians, etc. The talents of this new coming workforce cannot be ignored, and certain Canadian companies have quickly taken the opportunity to hire these talents (HSBC Bank, Enbridge Inc.,Boeing Canada Technology etc). This goes to show the colossal advancement of these diverse groups of people and their success in establishing a secure spot in the some North American workforce; well earned after the hardships they have had (and sometimes still do) endure.

When a child watches sports, like basketball for instance, they often are amazed by the skill level of the athletes. They think “wow i wish i could do that” when they see a fancy move or a dunk. What if there was a cereal that could allow that to happen?! According to Kelloggs, there is. Introducing the Frosted Flakes, which according to this commercial, can make that happen,

deceiving cereal commercials such as these allow children to believe that they can do something that they currently cannot, and eating the cereal is the way to do this. Most big cereal corporations are advertising in this way, convincing the easily manipulated minds of children that they want some of their sugary product. This sort of advertising is far from right, and plays a significant role in the steadily rising childhood obesity rate in North America. Although it can be thought of as effective marketing, taking advantage of the minds of children and convincing them to eat these cereals; which then lead to childhood obesity, is incredibly unethical.