How to pick the right university? How are universities reaching out to students?

Over the recent years, it has been clear that social media has been vastly increasing. Universities began using Facebook and Twitter to get in touch with prospective students and anyone interested in the school.

According to a recent study, universities’ use of social media to communicate with students has increased from 61% to 100% in the past 4 years.

“The younger generation has grown up with social media, they expect it to exist”. As we learned in class, being able to adapt or restructure the company to fit the preferences and needs of the customers is a priority in marketing research. 10 years ago, colleges would send representatives or letters to students but with this new technology, they are able to reach out to millions of students in an instant.

98% of colleges now have a Facebook page and 84% has a twitter account, with current students commenting about their life in the school. Students can now take a tour of their possibly new campus without even having to leave their house. Prospective students will view the brochures and Facebook pages similarly to school propaganda.

As we discussed in the previous class about apps to improve business strategy for certain companies, I will focus this blog on new airplane apps.

Checking-in flights, downloading boarding passes, selecting a seat or choosing an upgrade for the flight are already available options for airplane companies, what could be the next one?

Delta Air Lines has been spending time on improving their mobile functionality since Airline IT trends survey shows that more than 90% of companies are doing it and it is also a way to generate more revenue and better customer loyalty.

Being able to rebook a different flight and download the new boarding pass while in the air for passengers who missed their connections would make life a lot easier and surely increase customer benefits.

Tired of always having to deal with lost luggage? Travelers can now track checked-in luggage from their mobile devices and efficiently retriever their possessions.

The hope with this new app for Delta Air Lines is to generate new revenue streams AND giving passengers customized experience. These apps will offer a new level of customer service and convenience, which has never before been possible in the airline industry.

Related articles:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/travel/smartphones-air-travel/index.html?hpt=tr_c2

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/09/19/flight.time.itinerary.changes/?iref=obnetwork

There could be 40 million extra deaths from TB from 2010 to 2050 due to smoking. How can Tobacco companies keep continuing aggressive promotion of smoking in many parts of the world when they know the consequences?

Nearly a fifth of people in the world are smokers; many in countries with high rates of Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a contagious infection that mainly affects the lungs but could potentially spread to other parts of the body. If not treated it can damage the lungs or even be fatal.

All the research and efforts done on many health problems caused by smoking are greatly undermined by the continuous publicity of tobacco industries. One way of fighting this upcoming tragedy would be to aggressively try to decrease the supply of tobacco or greatly increase the tax on the sale of tobacco, which could avert millions of deaths.

How can this problem be diverted if the government undertakes no measures to stop it or companies keep promoting their deadly products? Although taxing or aggressively trying to control tobacco industries would cause problems in the economy, it could possibly save the lives of millions. Which is more important?

More on this topic:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15164170

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12193602

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4638449.stm

As you all know, Steve jobs, co-founder and figurehead of apple, passed away a few days ago due to a long-term illness. If you look for example in our COMM 101 class and calculate how many people have an iphone or even just a touch screen mobile, statistics would reveal that a majority of us possess one of these amazing gadgets. Apple was the first company to come up with a touch screen phone, which soon after took over the phone market.

Can Apple survive without Steve jobs’ guiding and vision?

Many apple fans have high expectations about apple’s new iphone 5 and hoping for yet “another technological leap by the nimble giant”.  Instead of impressing their fans, apple introduced their “new” model, which was virtually indistinguishable from the previous model.

Apple’s share price dropped 5% right after the announcement of the new iphone and it became clear that Apple is struggling without Mr. Jobs. Apple is one of most known companies in the world, and this incident will not affect them in short term but in the long wrong, Mr. Job’s absence and Apple’s lack of imagination for new products may become a problem.

Related articles about Apple and Steve Jobs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15195448

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15197037

11 March 2011 is a day that will never be forgotten in Japan. That day Japan experienced the most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan (9.0 magnitude) and cause millions of dollars in damage and over 20,000 casualties.

How can Japan’s economy recover after this tragedy?

Due to the natural disasters, Japan’s tourism has greatly decreased in the past year. According to the “World Travel & Tourism Council”, it was estimated that in April, the visitor numbers fell 62% compared to the previous years.

Japan has been working hard towards recovering after the disaster, Japan’s tourism and travel industry was expected to provide nearly “1.5 million jobs in 2011 and contribute to 2.2% of its GDP”.

Due to this natural disaster, other countries that rely on Japan to manufacture products will be expecting a shortage in the supply. Econ concept: shortage in supply will cause price to rise thus affecting the economy.

Although it appeared as Japan took a critical hit, they have been struggling for the past 6 months to recover and “while a full recovery is still some way off, the situation has improved significantly”, said the WTTC.

For more information:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15199815