Monthly Archives: October 2014

The Walt Disney Company – A Leader in Corporate Social Responsibility

 

disneyland_prod_pano_768x264Disney_Conservation_Logo

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment. The Walt Disney Company embodies and heavily incorporates CSR in their business model. How does Disney merge the Triple Bottom Line of people, planet, and profit to increase sustainable profitability? For one, Disney constantly shows appreciation towards their valued employees by giving them amazing benefits such as seasonal passes to the amusement parks and opportunities to attend movie premieres. Volunteerism is also major focus for Disney which led them to starting a program where Disney would offer “free tickets to a million people in exchange for a day of volunteer service from an organization of their choice” (USA Business Review).  This encouraged over one million people in the United States to commit to service efforts to volunteer in their communities. As for the planet aspect, Disney encourages environmental education through its Disneynature documentary films. A portion of the profits from the Disneynature films helped over three million trees in Brazil’s threatened Atlantic Forest and conserved 50,000 acres of savanna wildlife in Africa. Now, it is increasingly more important for companies to incorporate CSR because of the competitive evolving market. Having CSR incorporates a differentiation factor that adds a unique value in a business leading to a successful sustainable profitability for the long-run. In essence, corporate social responsibility is good for the environment, society, and profit so what is stopping other companies from doing the same?

Source:

http://www.businessreviewusa.com/leadership/3827/The-Walt-Disney-Company-A-Leader-In-Corporate-Social-Responsibility

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

First Nations Delay Upcoming BC Hydro Project

IMG_0306

 

bchg_logo_col [Converted2]

 

B.C. Hydro, a Canadian electric utility company, plans to construct a hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northern British Columbia. Although BC Hydro proposes that the new generating station is necessary for the region’s growing population, the First Nations residing in the area strongly disagree. The First Nations argues that the new infrastructure on the river will affect their traditional everyday practices such as fishing or religious ceremonies.

Relating to a PESTLE analysis, the dominant aspects in this scenario are the environmental, political, legal, and economic factors. The environmental factor is within the eco-sustainability of the Peace River for the First Nations to continuing practicing their nature-bound traditions. The political factor is the B.C. government’s ability to build an efficient hydroelectric generating station while compromising with the First Nations Laws and Treaties. Lastly, the economic factor is the the opportunity to provide new jobs to the residents of Peace River while generating revenue for the government.

However, these cases of the First Nations people intruding on corporation projects are not new. Another significant and recent example of First Nations practices blocking corporation growth is the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, where they protested against the potential damage the project would have on the environment. As I see it, the First Nations will continue to protest against all projects that may negatively affect the environment which in the end, will stunt Canada’s economic growth since most of our key resources lay within the environment.

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html

http://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis/

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Social Media and Business Positioning

40306_01_samsung_advertises_galaxy_note_edge_as_curved_not_bent_on_twitter

Samsung is one of many technology companies that is ridiculing Apple’s new iPhone 6 bending controversy. Samsung is taking advantage of this opportunity and is avidly using social media to post viral campaigns jabbing at Apple’s new product and their overall brand image. On September 25, 2014, Samsung posted an image that went viral on social media; this Twitter post had an image of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Phone with the slogan text “Curved. Not Bent. #GALAXYNoteEdge”.

When I saw this image, I immediately thought of the Pepsi vs. Coke campaign that Professor Paul Cubbon discussed in Class 8. To restate Paul Cubbon’s lecture, he showed the class how Pepsi is diminishing Coke’s position through viral marketing campaigns such as the Pepsi Taste Challenge and humorous commercials to emphasize Pepsi stepping over Coke. To apply the Pepsi vs. Coke scenario to the Samsung vs. Apple situation, we can see that Samsung is doing the exact same repositioning of the iPhone through social media. The point of difference that Samsung has is that their products are very technologically advanced while Apple has a point of difference of brand innovativeness and a simple cool factor. Although it is usually extremely difficult for a company to compete against a leading company in the same industry, Samsung is definitely catching up to Apple in the cellphone category.

Article Source:

http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-jabs-at-bendgate-to-tout-its-galaxy-note-edge/

Photo Source:

http://www.ibtimes.com/new-samsung-ad-capitalizes-apples-iphone-6-plus-bending-problem-1694861

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/40306/samsung-advertises-galaxy-note-edge-as-curved-not-bent-on-twitter/index.html

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized