Tesco has overstated its half-year profit margin by around 250 million pounds, and has now launched an internal investigation to find the root cause for this case of fraudulent financial reporting. This has caused their stocks to fall by around 10%, most likely due to a loss in trust from external stakeholders. Fraudulent reporting is a big problem in financial accounting, and unfortunately occurs far too often. In the article, it states that analysts’ have criticized Tesco in the past for “taking money from suppliers’ trading accounts” or “extending payments without notice”. In my opinion, this seems to be a classic case of a company thinking that they can conceal their fraudulent operations, and we can infer from the fact that the chairman himself released a statement saying “things are always unnoticed until they are noticed” that Tesco did not have strong internal controls prior to this fiasco. The company should have closely monitored the statistics that they were releasing for the stakeholders and making sure that they were trustworthy. The management of Tesco has evidently been operating unethically, valuing their extra income over providing their shareholders with the correct information, and I think that under the circumstances Tesco has acted well in suspending their 4 executives.

Although gaining back the trust of their shareholders will be difficult, it is certainly still possible. The first step will be hiring new management and accountants that will not be tempted by greed but rather follow the path of honesty.

Article:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29306444

Image sources:

http://www.logoeps.net/tesco-logo-eps-pdf-files.html

With the launch of the new Blackberry phone “Blackberry Passport”, it’s clear that they are very focused on not directly competing with behemoths such as Apple’s iPhone, but rather to win back their old niche segment of consumers. The new phone is heavily targeted towards businessmen and women, with the key features being the physical keyboard, wide screen, as well as a strong emphasis on security. I think that this is a very smart business strategy, because they are not only offering a cheaper smartphone (at only $700), but also a differentiated product that separates Blackberry from other phones that will appeal to a different segment of consumers.

Furthermore, security in the digital age has become an increasingly pressing issue, especially recently in light of the hacking of Apple’s iCloud system. Therefore, I think that it is a wise decision for Blackberry to come out and make a statement out of putting an emphasis on security, which will appeal not only to businesses and professionals, but might also entice more of the mainstream market to seek a more secure smartphone option. The launch of the Passport could be the catalyst to allow Blackberry to bounce back from their recent woes and become innovators once again.

Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/blackberrys-chen-on-new-passport-big-screen-lower-cost-than-iphone/article20718050/

Images:

http://blogs.which.co.uk/technology/smartphones/blackberry-q20-classic-blackberry-phone/

http://www.phonearena.com/news/BlackBerry-Passport-first-look_id58749

I stumbled upon an article in the Globe and Mail regarding a “projected billion dollar” industry that surrounds a new, and rather innovative form of marketing. This new technique would be using scent to entice customers, and to associate a specific fragrance to the company or brand. This business of “emotional transport”, as put by the article has received a lot of critical feedback saying that it is unethical for companies to alter the consumer’s mood and emotions through scent. However, I would tend to disagree with these statements because I think that this type of marketing is no different from any other form, be it billboards or advertisements on television. I think if you are to deem this “scent marketing” unethical then you are also condemning the entire industry of marketing as being unethical. All forms of marketing aim to activate our senses in some way and I don’t think that our sense of smell should be treated any different.  I actually believe that this form of subtle marketing is preferable to nauseously bright billboards, loud video advertisements or constantly thrusting sexual imagery in our faces.

The article in question is linked here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/beauty/when-scent-crosses-the-ethical-line/article20517586/

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