Flora Sun's Blog

      To combine the programs with mobile devices is an idea that came out recently. After Google came up with their own cell phone, many other companies, including Firefox, consider this idea as a chance to make more profit and attract more consumers. However, they ignore the risk of entering a new market.

     As the cellphone market becomes more and more saturated, it is really hard to step into the field. Also, while two companies, Apple and Samsung, are dominated in the market, it is really difficult for other companies, such as Firefox, to compete with them. My suggestion for Firefox is that it can attract more customers by first partnering with some major cellphone companies and use Firefox as the name of the product. The company can add all the features of the original Firefox phone to the partnered phone so that consumers will be informed about the uniqueness of the phone. Also, Firefox can ask the partnered company to share their apps with Firefox. Once Firefox gets into the market and has the chance to share the app pool with Android or Apple, it can then start to produce its own phones.

Blog Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/sauderfan/2013/10/07/will-firefox-phone-rock-the-world/

Starbucks has long been a symbol of western luxurious life in China, and many cities in China currently do not have any Starbucks stores since Starbucks went into Chinese market fairly late. Because of the different reputation of the company itself in China, Starbucks uses price discrimination strategy because definitely Chinese people value Starbucks more than North Americans.

I agree with Doris that, in short run, this strategy can help Starbucks maintain its high position in Chinese market. However, in long run, as Tim Hortons is thinking about expanding their business into other countries, the price discrimination strategy may actually make Starbucks less competitive. My suggestion is that Starbucks can keep offering higher price coffee in China, however, they may think about lowering their price once the market gets more competitive and saturated. Also, the company needs to come up with some unique products only provided to Chinese consumers in order to keep their high position in the consumers’ minds.

     Lululemon is now trying to variate their products in order to satisfy different consumer needs. The company has been focusing on Yoga pants since it was established and since last year, many customers complained their Yoga pants have low quality and are see-through.

     One of the reason for the company to start thinking about variating their products, from my point of view, is that the position of their Yoga pants in the whole industry dropped and the negative feedback from their customers harmed reputation of their company as a whole. The industry is changing all the time and is getting more and more competitive.

     Lululemon increases their variety of products will offer them a point of difference from other competitors and also they now have chance to attract customers who have different needs. The main value proposition of the company does not change, however, they widens their customer segment by increasing some key activities. This decision will help the company to change their image in the perspective consumer’s mind and help the company recover from the complaints.

News Link:

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/designers-lululemon-lab-store-beyond-yoga-exercise-clothes-175508137.html

As online shopping is getting more and more popular, consumers choose to purchase many products online instead of going to the store. Although it sounds more convenient to most people, in my opinion, it causes many more problems.
First of all, when purchasing online, consumer loses the chance to actually feel and touch the product, the picture posted online always has some differences with the real products and some of these differences will upset the consumers after they receive the products. Secondly, not all businesses run their companies ethically, some companies sell knockoffs. Usually, consumers are not one hundred percent sure whether they are buying the original products or the knockoffs from the online sellers. Lastly, the quality of the products cannot be checked before the consumers receive the products. Because of these reasons, consumers end up with spending more time to return the products, which increases the opportunity cost of buying the product.

From the business point of view, the company can choose to charge more shipping fees to make more profit and use price discrimination, which means that they can raise the prices showed online since usually consumers will not do research before buying the products.

News link: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-reasons-shop-store-electronics-213100062.html

When I first arrived in Canada, I had difficulty when choosing cell phone servers not only because there were so many choices, but also because I heard from my friends all companies treated their customers toughly. The bad reputation of the whole market has been an issue and the government tried to interfere to end the unfairness between customers and cell phone servers. One example will be that the time period of the contract decreases from three years to two years. In the third quarter of 2013, Telus has attracted more customers and, I think, the main reason will be that the company becomes more customer-oriented and by providing good customer services, more consumers are willing to choose them rather than any other companies. Telus has a very unique company culture. They are passion for growth and open to change. After they realized that what the customers really demand is better services, they adjust their company to satisfy consumers and in this case, more customers notice the differences between Telus and other companies, which provide them a chance to differentiate themselves in the competitive industry.

News Link: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/telus-reports-13-per-cent-increase-adjusted-q3-144703375.html

http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2012/09/TELUS-Reveals-Its-Secret-to-Success

Tim Hortons has become the most effective coffee shop in Canada and the reason for that is mainly because Tim Hortons is a Canadian company, it attracts more domestic customers than many American companies, including Starbucks and McCafe. Now they are thinking about to expand the company and without being a local company, there are a lot of ways they can keep their leading position. First of all, my suggestion will be that they need to differentiate themselves from other competitors. They can do that by providing unique beverage and food. Secondly, since customers in other countries already have a top brand in their mind, Tim Hortons needs to relate their company to the top brand. Therefor, consumers can familiarize with the new coming brand more quickly. Lastly, Tim Hortons needs to carefully select countries, since some of the countries are already dominated by other coffee shops. Also, using different ingredients for different countries in order to satisfy specific needs is another strategy the company can use when they think about expansion.

News Link: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-hortons-increases-q3-profit-113-9-million-132644617.html

Apple has announced their new Iphone 5C and Iphone 5S last month and the Best Buy is now selling Iphone 5C for fifty dollars with a two-year contract. Compared to Iphone 5S, the demand for 5C is fairly low and this is the major reason why Best Buy put Iphone 5C on sale. Apple has always been the top smart phone producer with almost the highest price in the market and compared to Samsung and other smartphone producers, Apple offers limited kinds of smartphones in one season. Apple always puts their phones onto a high position, however, in order to expand their market, Apple comes out with Iphone 5C which can help them attract more customers who cannot afford Iphone before. However, this behavior also loses the original position of Apple products. This is the reason for the high demand of Iphone 5S and low demand for Iphone 5C. Another reason is that Samsung has already been producing various smartphones with lower price for a lone time and occupied the position. Apple, which comes later than Samsung, has difficulties to attract consumers.

News Link: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/iphone-5cs-price-cut-half-121700062.html

T-Mobile announced to stop stocking BlackBerry phones in its stores. While they still endorse up to twenty different kinds of BlackBerry smartphones in their retail stores, the smartphone will be delivered to the customers directly from BlackBerry instead of being delivered from the retail stores.

After losing one billion dollars, BlackBerry faces another problem, now they are losing channels to distribute their products. We know that the smart phone market is extremely competitive and this year Apple introduced iphone 5S and 5C to the market followed with Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Note III. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile definitely want these new smartphones to be available in their stores first rather than filling in their warehouse with BlackBerry.

From the operation point of view, sending phones directly to the customers can get rid of the “middlemen”, thus save money. However, losing T-Mobile means that BlackBerry needs to cover the shipping fees from its own pocket. Also, since the demand of BlackBerry is declining, BlackBerry probably needs to send their products individually rather than collectively. This means that shipping fees can be doubled for BlackBerry.

Bibliography:

1. “BlackBerry announces $1 billion loss, plans to cut 4,500 workers.” . TULSA WORLD, 21 Seotember 2013. Web. 29 Sep 2013. <http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/BlackBerry_announces_1_billion_loss_plans_to_cut_4500/20130921_52_E2_TORONT14525?subj=52>.

2. Zacks Equity Research, . “T-Mobile U.S. Stops BlackBerry Retail.” Yahoo Finance. YAHOO, 27 Sep 2013. Web. 29 Sep 2013. <http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/t-mobile-u-stops-blackberry-181555757.html>.

The business ethics can be defined differently under different culture background.

In the western world, a full-time employee works forty to fifty hours, however, in the eastern world,

especially in China, a full-time employee is expected to work more than sixty hours.

Does it necessarily mean that the employers in China do not believe in business ethics?

The answer is obviously no. The managers in China are not aware that the employees are overloaded.

For instance, as a doctor in China, you need to work ten hours per day and six days per week including a

twenty-four-hour shift. It is considered an ethical behavior to most people in China(including my parents who are doctors themselves)

because patients can come at any time and there must be a doctor in the hospital to handle any emergency.

If a hospital in Canada requires its employees to be in the hospital for more than sixty hours per week1,

the hospital will be considered not ethical and does not believe in business ethic because it ignores the personal feeling of the individuals.

Thus, business ethic can be interpreted differently based on one’s background, experience and many other factors.

1. “We should be worried about China’s health – Chinese doctors speak out.” Seeing Red in China. N.p., 02 Apr 2012. Web. 11 Sep 2013.

<http://seeingredinchina.com/2012/04/02/we-should-be-worried-about-chinas-health-chinese-doctors-speak-out/>.