Month: November 2012

The post is about how a good organizational culture within a workplace can enhance teamwork, trust and ingenuity between employees. According to a study by Harvard Business Review, the more communication a team has outside of formal meetings, the more productive it is likely to be. This is because as employees start to build connections with each other on any level, professional or not, it can help build a collaborative culture that is based on trust, thus will directly impact collaborative efforts.

The post reminded me of the class ‘People, Culture and Teams’ from COMM 101 about how the positive organizational culture of Zappos, the online shoe retailer increases the productivity of the workers. Zappos provides a comfortable atmosphere in its workplace, and Tony Heish, the CEO of Zappos only has an office corner, and does not place himself higher than employees that are lower in power than him. The concept the post brought up also relates to our everyday lives but in a smaller scale such as working on group projects. As a team is well bonded with each other, the team will know how to work with each other and thus can enhance productivity within the team.

(Source: Why Work Should Be A Little More Fun)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a mail subscription service called “Goodies” last Wednesday. For a monthly fee of $7 that includes tax and shipping, customers will get a box of five to eight sample-size food items. The food items range from organic to ethnic products that are not currently carried on Wal-Mart’s shelves. Customers can sign up through the Goodies website, and customers can even post reviews on the website to earn loyalty points, which the points in turn can be redeemed for items in store.

 “Goodies” not only gives customers the privilege to try the newest products before they are in stores, but also allows customers to tastes products in sample sizes without having the need to purchase the full-size versions, not knowing if they will enjoy it or not. The “Goodies” service of Wal-Mart is an effective marketing strategy as it differentiates itself from competitors that only deliver flyers to households in advertising products. Customers can also review products online to earn loyalty points that can later be redeemed for items in stores. The reviews will be valuable information for Wal-Mart as it will allow them to identify popular products, and to reduce the inventory of products with bad reviews, thus catering its customers.

(Source: Wal-Mart Is Rolling Out A Subscription Food Service Called ‘Goodies’, Goodies)

Sharon’s blog is about how brand appearances are important to consumers, and that companies should do a brand research before rebranding of a product, as it will affect consumers’ behavior. PepsiCo rebranded the packaging of Tropicana orange juice, however, there was a bad reaction from customers that it looked like an own-store discount brand.  PepsiCo quickly returned to its original packaging carton image, and within two months, the sales were increased by 20%.

I agree with Sharon that doing a brand research before rebranding is important as an ineffective rebranding will not only confuse consumer with its product, but may also lead to a decrease in sales.  The blog post reminded me of an ineffective rebranding of Coke last December. In supporting of World Wildlife Fund to help save polar bears, Coca-Cola rebranded the classic red can into a white can with polar bears on it. Even though the approach of changing its cans to raise awareness of the cause was encouraging, the white can received complaints from customers as they felt it looked too similar to the Diet Coke can. As Coca-Cola realized the rebranding created confusions to customers, the recognizable red can was returned to the market a month after.

Sources: Sharon’s Blog Post, http://money.uk.msn.com/investing/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=157654000&page=3)

Janice Cheam shared her experiences of what it is like to be an entrepreneur last Thursday.

Janice Cheam is a Sauder BCom grad with a specialization in Marketing. During her fourth year in UBC, she along with five teammates came up with a project idea and developed a business plan for it. As the business plan was successful and won cash prize from Enterprize Canada, Janice decided to put her project idea into action. She presented her business idea to Angel Investor, hoping to seek funds to start her own company. Angel Investors supported her idea, and that is when Janice started to think about the value of her company!

Energy Aware is based in Vancouver and was founded in 2005, with a vision to connect people to resource conversation. Janice Cheam introduced us the Power Tab, which is an in-home energy display that gives a simple reminder of our everyday use of energy and resources. It tells us how much energy we are using, and how much it is costing us.

Energy Aware works with a number of big utilities such as BC Hydro, which will sell the Power Tabs to consumers on behalf of Energy Aware. Janice said that customers can soon order online, however, there are several concerns such as ways of delivery and inventories problems for online ordering.

Currently, Energy Aware manufacturers Power Tab based on order demanded by big utilities. If Energy Aware were to sell products online, it will be more risky for the company as it will have to manufacture products first, then hoping for orders after.

Energy Aware Homepage:
http://www.energy-aware.com/