Jared Wong's Blog

Recently our Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, refused to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This was a surprising development especially with the consistence support the TPP had gotten from Canada in the previous years. In a recent interview, Trudeau stated that “Canada will not be rushed into a deal that is not in the best interest of Canada and Canadians.” (2017, John Paul Tasker, p.2) With Donal

Picture from Adrian Wyld from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-mexico-tpp-1.4399224

d Trump stepping out alongside Canada in the TPP, the future of this agreement is become very unsure.

It’s a little troubling to see Canada stepping out of this agreement. Whether or not this is the best interest for Canada, some negative side effects are already being shown. Areas like Japan and New Zealand have been quoted “expressing disappointment at Trudeau supposedly screwing and sabotaging a final agreement by being a no-show.” (2017, John Paul Tasker, p. 6) As such, Trudeau didn’t show up for the TPP meeting the signing for the TPP didn’t happen. This makes me worried for the Canadian reputation and backlash that this country is receiving for temporary stepping out. It’s a hard line between being a pushover as a country while keeping the reputation in tact.

I also fear that by Canada not signing this agreement, it could be completely abolished. With the United States of America already not participating, this TPP agreement is losing a big player. Mexico is also stepping out because they made an agreement that if “Canada didn’t sign on to the TPP, Mexico wouldn’t either.” (2017, Andy Blatchford, p.12) It seems that this decision is affecting external sources besides Canada which might cause a chain reaction of the main players of the agreement stepping out.

The reason why Canada has not supported the TPP as of late is that they have been pressing for “autos, cultural industries and the suspension of IP provisions” (2017, Andy Blatchford, p.26) that was present in the previous TPP. It is bold for Canada to step away and have the conviction to stand up for the support of these issues but it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Overall, I am not on either side of the controversy with this agreement. I believe that both sides can yield good and disastrous results. Since this is a decision that has happened extremely recently, it is hard to take full grasp of the situation without a proper explanation. Therefore, I hope that whatever path is chosen, it is in the best interest for Canada.

Picture from Minh Hoang from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-canada-not-rushed-tpp-1.4392439

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References:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-canada-not-rushed-tpp-1.4392439

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-mexico-tpp-1.4399224

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-tpp-canada-not-ready-apec-1.4398824

What do a car service and a soft drink manufacturer have in common? There is a surprisingly large amount of similarities that between the two when it comes down to business practices. Recently, “Uber Technologies Inc said on Friday it hired a new chief legal officer to guide the company through its many legal quandaries.” (2017, Heather Somerville, p. 1) The person that is set to replace the previous chief legal officer, currently Salle Yoo, is Tony West. Tony West is the chief legal officer for Pepsi and he is now stepping into the area of Uber to help deal with “a long list of legal tangles.” (2017, Robert Gallbraith, p. 6)

When I first saw this article, I was extremely confused. Why would a car service want a representative from a soda drink manufacturer company? It then occurred to me how versatile

Picture by Darryl Dyck from: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/uber-hires-pepsis-tony-west-as-new-chief-legal-officer/article36754901/

and how quick at adaptation people need to be to prosper in a business field. Even though both Uber and Pepsi provide a completely different service to one another, the baseline and guidelines of running a business is still there. This has really made me consider all the factors and precautions I would have to be aware of if I continue down this career path in business.

I am astonished at the risk that Tony West is about to take with Uber. As of late, Uber has not had the greatest reputation in terms of service. Even Tony West himself realizes “that the company over-indexed on growth without putting in the appropriate guardrails.” (2017, Hamza Shaban, p. 4) There is a lot of work that needs to be done for Uber to continue its’ success and West decided to take the mantle with his name and reputation on the line. Uber is still “reeling from high profile sexual harassment complaints, executive departures, a significant trade secrets lawsuit from Alphabet” (2017, Hamza Shaban, p. 9) and many more issues that West will have to tackle head on.

Picture by Jerry Seper from: http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/tony-west/

Of all the articles I went through about this topic, I can’t seem to find the reason why Tony West took this job besides satisfying Uber’s self interest of survival. I have no idea if he was bribed or forced to but whatever the reason is, West has a lot on his plate. I am interested to see how this will play out for West as he will have to really show his skills of being versatile in this field if he hopes to be the man that can save Uber from itself.

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References:

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/uber-hires-pepsis-tony-west-as-new-chief-legal-officer/article36754901/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/10/27/uber-hires-pepsicos-tony-west-as-general-counsel/?utm_term=.97bd917bf872

http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-hires-a-new-chief-legal-officer-to-replace-salle-yoo-2017-10

Is all money good money? This question is one that I wondered about for a long time and has recently come back to me upon entering UBC. Simply put, I have come to a conclusion to my long-awaited answer. No, it’s not.

I recently found an article on Dailymail which described that actions that card sharks were involved in to steal money from a variety of the population. It truly astonished me to see the various amount of techniques used such as card cloning, interception, social engineering, etc. What scared me the most was how successful these attempts were. In fact, “Card fraud accounted for 7.5p in every £100 of plastic spending in the first half of this year” (2017, Sally Hamilton, p. 5) in the UK. I used to think attempts like these were futile acts of desperation to catch the

Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/beatthescammers/article-4958296/Card-sharks-1-5m-day-spree-cash.html
By: Shuttershock

most gullible people on the earth, but it turned out to be more sophisticated than I original thought.

A big example of fraud happened last year where a “massive alleged scam helped wealthy health-care operator Philip Esformes, 47, fund a lifestyle that included private jets, a $600,000 watch, meetings with escorts in hotel rooms, and a private basketball coach for his son”. (2017, Dan Mangan, p. 3) The total of fraud money added up to 1 billion dollars. How did something like this go unnoticed for so long? The Esformers built up the cash flow by billing hospitals and medical institutions with extra charges. These charges “were disguised as payments to charitable donations, payments for services and sham lease payments.” (2017, Dan Mangan, p. 17) A huge lesson I learned from this was that even the most innocent things could be cash scams and you wouldn’t even know it. By trying to be a nice person and helping a charity, you could unwillingly be paying for a private basketball coach for someone else. Not to say that donating money is bad idea, but it’s important to follow up where your investments are going.

Picture from: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/22/1-billion-alleged-medicare-fraud-money-laundering-scheme-leads-to-florida-arrests.html
By: Getty Images

These scammers seem to also know how to intrigue the general community to falling for their scam by promising “high returns and low risk with the pressure to buy now.” (2017, Ontario Securities Commission, p. 8)

So where do we draw the line between making money and being ethical about it? What exactly is considered good money? It seems like a simple answer of just seeing the difference between good and bad and acting on good, however, with these scammers existing and being successful, who knows anymore? These are questions left in the air that can be only answered by the individual along with their own sense of morality.

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References:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/beatthescammers/article-4958296/Card-sharks-1-5m-day-spree-cash.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/22/1-billion-alleged-medicare-fraud-money-laundering-scheme-leads-to-florida-arrests.html

https://www.getsmarteraboutmoney.ca/protect-your-money/fraud/protecting-against-fraud/7-common-investment-scams/

Being a huge fan of the concept of Artificial Intelligent, I was surprised to hear of a Canadian born institute starting up in this area of interest. It is called the Vector AI institute and it is set to launch in 2018. The Vector AI institute has received a lot of prior funding “from more than 30 companies” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p.2) and soon Garth Gibson will be at their helm as CEO.

Photo by: Matthew Plexman https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/new-vector-ai-institute-ceo-garth-gibson-facing-tough-decisions/article36393422/?arc404=true?ord=1%20

Reading this article provided by “The Globe and Mail”, I really started to see the value of proper teamwork. To my surprise, the CEO’s only quote throughout the article was about trying to get all these different groups to work together. From my past group experiences, it was hard to grasp how important this skill was until I noticed that it was the only nail holding this entire enterprise together.

According to the article, the Vector AI institute’s “key to success will be a clear focus and ruthless prioritization” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 9) which will be carried out by the brand-new CEO. Since the project has attracted the attention of many “foreign technology giants,” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 7) it is crucial that Dr. Gibson is able to bring all the minds together. Dr. Gibson is currently facing the dilemma of completely “supporting the academics in choosing research areas” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 8) or showing respect to their investors. There is an inherit fear in the article that supporting these investors will cause the employees to choose a different area to work. Depending on the ethics that Dr. Gibson chooses to follow, he could either appeal to the face of Canada or make real advances towards the success of AIs in our everyday lives.

It is astonishing to see how many decisions and factors are needed to run an enterprise. Every little decision that Dr. Gibson chooses to make must be calculated with pros and cons weighted at each level. Not only will he have to pursue all the good opportunities to find advancements in AI technology, but he will also have to choose “which good opportunities not to pursue.” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 9)

Overall, I think that giving the CEO job to Garth Gibson is and will be a good idea for the advancement of AIs in Canada. The article portrays Dr. Gibson in a good light in terms of understanding the obstacles that he will need overcome to find success in this area. He also seems to understand the core issue that will help all the groups synergy to find a solution together. With his immense experience, I believe that he will be a great step forward for Canada’s progression into AI technology.

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References:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/new-vector-ai-institute-ceo-garth-gibson-facing-tough-decisions/article36393422/?arc404=true?ord=1

It is probably not unknown to some of you the stress and anxiety that is felt when a personal and precious baggage of yours is lost. I myself know the agonizing pain of losing luggage as you count and recount exactly what you lost. Luckily for the unlucky victims of poor airport handling, a solution has slowly been put in place. The “International Air Transport Association’s Resolution 753” (G.G. ,2017, p.2) is the answer to the wails of those unfortunate travelers.

Image From: https://trackimo.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-find-lost-luggage/

As stated in a recent “The Economist” article, these issues of lost luggage “cost the airline industry $2.1 billion a year and cause untold stress and inconvenience to passengers. (G.G ,2017, p.1) As a consumer, I am overjoyed at the direction the airline is taking to resolve such an issue. The integrity shown in this decision is a prime example of this association having smart business practices in helping themselves and their consumers. In addition of not losing $2.1 billion, the direction of Resolution 753 seems to be a step towards the peoples’ sake. An example of this in practice was first seen at Qatar Airlines where the airline had “gone the extra mile by enabling its passengers to track their luggage themselves through an app.” (G.G. ,2017, p.5) Creating such a complicated system to ease passengers’ uncertainty proves that Qatar Airlines shows some duty towards their consumers. It could be argued that they are doing this just to save themselves money which I would partially agree with, however that being said, there are cheaper ways of achieving that goal. Letting passengers track their bags is an additional feature that benefits the passengers more than the airlines themselves. Furthermore, the “Resolution 753” system implements a “mandatory tracking system at four stages of a baggage’s journey” (G.G. ,2017, p.2) that almost guarantees the safe arrival of ones’ personal belongings.

Overall, I think that the approach taken by the airlines has a strong grip in the integrity of business ethics. “Resolution 753” is a wonderful countermeasure to the ongoing problem of passengers losing baggage. Along with helping themselves, these airlines are also helping passengers deal with one less worry during air travel by supporting their customers emotionally during a time of relaxation or pleasure of a vacation.

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References:

https://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2017/08/emotional-baggage

https://trackimo.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-find-lost-luggage/

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