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To me, social entrepreneurs are those who “give a lot for a better world without making themselves poorer”. Some of them co-exist with the nature. They make money without polluting the environment or misusing natural resources. Some of them aim to make the poor better-off. They give fresh food to the starving crowd. They teach the jobless people skills which help them make a living. They should always be praised for generating huge shared values.

To be a successful entrepreneur is not easy. Personally, I think the following building blocks are extremely important for a social enterprise:

1. Value Proposition. Social entrepreneurs consider more than economic profit. They have to be innovative when positioning their social enterprises. The VP should be so creative but so great that no one has ever thought of in the past. That helps the enterprise to differentiate.

2. Key Resources. Social entrepreneurs need them to lay a solid foundation. They need funds and materials to start up. They need platforms to expose themselves. But since they are often solitary, they might not have the access to these resources. They need supports from all walks of life. see A New Platform for Social Enterprise Startups in the U.S.

Peer’s Blog: AIRBNB-THE SMARTUP

I agree with my peer that being a community-based company that creates shared values has led Airbnb to great success. I appreciate the idea of being eco-friendly because this shared value links directly to our sustainability. I also think that this company encourages people to be more trustful. By bringing people all over the world together, the company is creating a harmonious atmosphere which is indeed socially beneficial. (extra link) Airbnb is more than a profitable company. It also cares about its external environment and makes contributions.

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Personally, I think Airbnb is also a disruptive innovator in the industry. Instead of building more luxurious hotels that meet the needs of the highest end, the company has introduced a brand new way for people to accommodate–a way that makes the best of resources and brings cultural integration. Booking accommodations is more than just looking for rooms with basic necessities now. One has the chance to stay in a warm house of a complete stranger. What’s more, the price is pretty low, which appeals to the lower class, and to those who used to be bystanders. In a word, the company’s success is not surprising. Future development can be expected by the crowd.

Christmas Music in Stores: When Is It Too Early?

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It’s true that starting playing Christmas music at a so early time is not necessary at all. Doing so makes customers complain and turns their shopping experience into a disaster. Not just playing Christmas music, sellers tend to fill their stores with different music throughout the year. Personally, I am sometimes annoyed by the loud music because I can’t even hear the assistants talk. So is MUSIC a necessary part? I won’t say that everyone feels irritated, but it’s possible that most of them are indifferent. Shopping in stores with or without music may generate the same result. So why not turn off those music which makes no difference or even anger people? Stores don’t have to stick to this so-called “tradition” if it only incurs higher expenses. Same for advertisements. Overwhelmed by the annoying ads, people complain all the time and hardly ever take a look at them. We often forget what ads are actually for.

To conclude, there’s no such thing as a “must” in business. Actions should be in the pursuit of more profitable sellers as well as happier customers.

peer’s blog: KIA Falling Off the Ladder

supportive link: Tesla Motors’ Success Gives Electric Car Market a Charge

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After reading my peer’s blog post, I agree with his analysis of KIA introducing its new luxury model. It is very clear that KIA is at a very vulnerable position of this branch. It’s hard even for BMW(who ranks second in this branch) to compete with Mercedes, so it is almost impossible for KIA to climb up to the top of the ladder within a certain time period. It is necessary for companies to look for unoccupied ladders, where they have the most potential to become the leading role.

For those existing already in the industry and being dominant, it is important to have sustainable advantages. Tesla sets an example. After it first introduced a fully electric model, it also has exerted great efforts to develop its charging technologies. The company has signed up contracts with many power suppliers. These are activities that create fits to enhance the company’s business model. And they help the company to stay competitive because their strategy cannot be imitated easily by rivals.  To conclude, companies should be competitive enough to avoid being threatened by new entrants.

external blog: Milkshake Marketing

supportive link: How to Make People Say”I want your product!”

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Both articles have stated clearly that it is important for firms to think about what jobs need to be done when positioning their products. Either “thinking about what customers hire a milkshake to do” or “positioning the outcomes instead of positioning the products” asks firms to think from a customer’s perspective. I agree with the practice of customization because selling products is the process of realizing and solving the problems of customers and finally bringing them gains. Firms should well understand the needs of their customer segments in order to become more profitable.

What’s more, to keep a healthy and lifelong relationship between producers and customers, the latter should also play their parts. They should care more about their true needs. They should understand themselves better. Firms caring more about customers won’t make a difference unless customers also understand what they really want. Firms will never have the chance to truly “crawl into the skin of the customers” if their customers are indifferent and neither side of the relationship gets benefits. In a word, it is the best when firms provide products to solve real problems of the customers who know themselves very well.

“There Will Be No Pipeline.”

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Using the PEST analysis tool, I personally think that the disagreement to the constructions of Northern Gateway from First Nations are mostly because of social and environmental concerns. Firstly, the aboriginals regard the territory where pipelines will be buried as a sense of belonging. This self-identity gives them the mind to reserve what’s historic and be against modern actions. Besides, the possible devastation to aboriginal environment is their rationale for opposition. They strongly oppose to the constructions in the fear that they no longer have those natural resources to rely on.

Jim Prentice Says Some Alberta First Nations Are Behind New Pipeline Projects

Though the project of Northern Gateway is opposed by some aboriginal groups, it has gained some support from others and the authority. The future for this project is still uncertain. Personally, I think that Enbridge should step back and consider again this question: is this project really in social interest and provide what is in great need? If the answer is yes and it decides to continue, the company should take the voices of First Nations seriously, but not be fully constrained by them. A solution can be worked out to reconcile the conflict without stopping the company from making profits.

No More Working Late: At the End of Each Day, This Office Disappears.

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An office like this in which you can both work and relax is really attractive. Personally, I like the concept of automatic work-life balance. It is obvious that keeping employees working all day long will trigger inefficiency. No shifting between places for work and entertainment makes staff more willing to combine entertainment into their work. In addition, workers can build personal relationships with their co-workers other than just discussing business issues when they are doing activities together. Closer relationships within employees bring about better co-operation in future work.

However, I think that building and maintaining this kind of working place are not easy jobs. This will cost a company a lot, to some extent casting more stress on the company to earn more profits to cover higher expenses. With a fixed budget in the short run, it is inevitable that expenses on others will be reduced, for example, wages paid to workers might decrease for some periods. For those that will rather get higher salary than relax, they might choose to leave the company, which may affect the company negatively. If this is a trend for offices to transform in the future, more should be considered by managers besides all advantages.

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search more for MIUI

MI Phone is a Chinese cell phone company that succeeds in the market in China. With a fairly inexpensive price per phone–about $365 and outstanding performances, this brand appeals to a lot of smart phone “fans”. At first I thought that low price was the major reason for the company’s success, but afterwards I found something far beyond this.

This company has a well defined target: Chinese smart phone users with limited budget. Besides setting the price low, the company exert great efforts in providing what Chinese want. This gave birth to MIUI, a system ROM operated specially for MI Phone users. Its performance caters with Chinese people’s preferences in using cell phones. The company realizes the importance of “crawling into the skin of their customers” (Clay Christensen). Personally, I would say that the company does have a price advantage over its rival, but the truth of its success is customization. Most of the cell phone companies can probably work out a solution to provide inexpensive phones after research, but only the one who gives what buyers NEED will stand out.

Besides the release of IPhone 6 and IPhone 6 Plus, the new iOS 8 has captured almost every “Iproduct” user’s attention. However, customers have been continuously complaining about the new OS after their updating, reporting problems in Wi-Fi connections, battery consumption and other performances.

link: iOS 8 Problems

Since the release of Apple’s new IPhone, the company has been selling an enormous amount of IPhone 6. This large sales number may somehow assure some users or the suppliers that flaws in the OS will not be something serious–as long as that more profits will be generated for sure in the next few months. Personally, this is absolutely a mistake, especially for Apple. The power of the brand is so strong that some customers may just consume “Iproducts” blindly, indicating that the big sales number may indeed be an illusion. This isn’t an excuse for Apple to set aside the problems that have appeared so far. From my perspective, instead of releasing new technologies on a regular basis to just “get the job done”, the big company should focus more on producing something with true values and with less glitches, even if this slows down its pace. Customers want to shell out money for something worthwhile. Otherwise, the magic of Apple will run over eventually.

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Title: Temporary Foreign Worker Dies in Freak Accident, Leaves Chilling Testimony

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Workers Protesting on the Street

        Given that some workers are not being well treated in their work, I think it’s a basic moral for employers to provide employees with at least standard working conditions (e.g. safe working environment, appropriate wages, etc) that make them happy to work and give them more care. Business leaders can more easily achieve their target, which is to be as profitable as possible, because of employees’ potentials being given full play. This can be inferred from Stakeholders Theory that all parties are important in making a business successful. However, what Milton Friedman tried to say in his article was that it is not necessary for business leaders to hire whoever it is in order to reduce the unemployment rate in the market. He emphasized that the first priority of business leaders is to do things directly related to generating more profit in its own business in decent and legal manners. In conclusion, selecting appropriate employees and then treating them as valuable workforce is what business leaders can do to demonstrate their business ethics.