Since my pursuit of my BCom degree and before, I’ve been considering becoming an entrepreneur so that I can make my own decision and take my company to lengths and further that allow me to support my community. however, I haven’t had the chance to figure out exactly what kind of business, when and where i’d like to open it, but a recent visit by the Sauder alumni ranted me the opportunity to look forward nonetheless.

The owners of Zimt and Tagga were present in our halls and told us of their journey how they got to where they currently are. Many terms that were coined during their presentation, terms that we had learnt in class that ensured me that my education was definitely going to prove worthwhile. They spoke of how they weren’t always on the path they were and ‘pivoting’ (which is the change in business direction) was a normal practice. Yet each decision created a collective to responsibility to allow them to be in the position that the were, making them grateful for their experiences.

So what i’ll ask my readers to do is to not be let down by small failures but to look for intellectual groups with whom innovation is possible.

Reading an optional reading for one of the Comm classes made me realize, as humans, how dependent we are on the technology we develop that enables to conduct our daily activities. The question to really ask is whether or not we have a fail safe or back up in case this technology ceases to function?

As is seen with the case of Hurricane Sandy that destroyed a lot of infrastructure as well as technology, not having a contingency plan can prove to inflict more damage than just what meets the eye. Not only does actual infrastructure make it difficult to conduct business activities but also their online application (such as data storage systems and servers) whose failure can cause issues online as well.

Loss of online information causes delay in orders as well as loss of information such as past records or future strategies. These situations can easily provide competitors with an advantage, so what should firms do in order to be not as affected by tragedies like these. Companies must engage in developing contingency plans to ensure a much safer future.

Reading one of the options for our sustainability class made me very optimistic about our future as I discovered that many companies digging, processing or funding such projects are putting the plug on their extraction of natural gases, oil sands and coal. What I’m concerned with is what are these individuals going to do next especially with the millions they’ve made from exiting the natural resources market?

Rockefeller and a dozen other companies have declared to phase out the use of fossil-fuels addressing to the natural resource consumption issue since it is non-renewable. This is expected to turn into a snowball effect causing many other companies to exit the market. However, as I asked before, what direction to these individuals plan on heading towards? I can only hope that they make use of their experience and knowledge of the market and industry to help innovate and develop other forms of energy. They may consider supporting technology advanced companies such as Tesla and fund their research or initiate their own projects and pursue a different source. It is up to people like us to envision this future and make it possible.

We recently discussed in class the impact that innovators have on businesses and the world but we also hinted the importance of having a partner, co-founder or team to support you on your path to success. This idea lead my curiosity to discover what others had to say on the topic and this blog in particular proved to be worth my time.

Mr. Fox presents his view that innovation is initiated by intellectual circles with each member having a specific characteristic/role. I would agree with him, on the overall general idea that one’s idea must be criticized or encouraged by others for it to improve. As for the detail he goes in to regarding each members participation i wouldn’t say for sure is accurate, but fairly plausible.

Not only does he provide historic examples of such cases but has shown modern intellectual circles actively involving themselves in their peers ideas, but also encourages his readers to develop such groups for the greater good of the community.

If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc and Social Enterprise?

To answer the question above I would first like to introduce the term Social Enterprise. This term refers to projects initiated by entrepreneurs for the the greater good. They help the weak and poor by providing them with the means by which they can further provide themselves. it is similar the the fishing idea where one can be taught to fish to feed themselves multiple times. Social Entrepreneurs are futuristic and strategic, they see opportunity where other see ruble.

Answering the question, there is still a need for organizations such as the Arc and this is because the United Nations is not a Social Entrepreneur. They may be able to fund projects but unlike the Arc, they see the end result of their efforts after they’ve begun the project. This does not mean that the United Nations is incapable of doing the same, but rather their funding is more crucial to the need for organizations such as the Arc as Social Entrepreneurs need financial help in order to achieve success. The United Nations should fund projects initiated by such ambitious individuals who excel in positive directions.

I have heard a lot about the first Nations communities since my arrival in Vancouver, and have grown to appreciate the culture and people for being and letting us be with them on their lands and home. Courses like Anthropology have allowed me to learn a lot about their lives, but a recent lecture in Comm 101 gave me the opportunity to reflect upon my actions.

Miss Amie Wolf gave us an interesting lecture that enlightened me in ways I can contribute to the First Nations community from a business perspective. She displayed some qualities and norms of the local tribes that encourage us to be more ethical, such as reciprocity, holism and gratitude.

I was led to do some research that inclined me to being more supportive towards local communities and one project in particular would be to save their home and land. This article presents a good overview on the situations faced by the First Nations tribes and ways we as BCom students and potential entrepreneurs can make more ethical decisions and reduce our impact on the environment and their lives.

After reading the article on MEC, I was really inspired by their new strategy on approach on their business. Not only have they re-branded themselves by introducing a new logo and campaign but by further and better segmenting their market and targeting their customers. The idea is to let customers pus themselves instead of being pushed.

I am personally impressed at their approach on the market, by segmenting their stores the way they segment their market. They do this by classifying each product in a way that would speak to the customers directly by encouraging their motivations. In my opinion this not only tells me they understand their market bu also that they care about their customers. As yourself now ‘what if multiple businesses approached this strategy?’ wouldn’t customers actually be buying what they want rather than getting unwanted goods, saving the company the hassle to haggle consumers to buy it as well.

However, I wasn’t entirely sure if their change of the logo to MEC was a good move. This is also suggested against by Ries and Trout as they believe it is a No-Name Trap.

Reading Madison’s blog post recently made me think about how we constantly position brands that advertise themselves in the music videos that we see today. It is something that I’ve discussed in a class before but from a psychological perspective and how consumers are secretly targeted by being shown a single image for a few seconds. When looked at from a business perspective, I agree with Madison’s view when she talks about the music industry generating revenues by allowing ads to place themselves in the music videos.

One particular brand that has been doing this for years now is Beats by Dr. Dre. and this link provides an insight into a few of the many videos that the brand has debuted itself in. I see this as an effective strategy by the company whereby they repeatedly position themselves in the consumers minds as one of or rather the best headphones/pioneers in speakers in the industry, by constantly appearing in multiple music videos. They did displayed this skill during this years World Cup by releasing a video consisting of many football players experiencing The Game Before The Game with Beats.

After reading Tanner’s blog, I did some research on Nike’s release of there most expensive shoes yet and the customer’s reaction to it. He asked “Is there a limit to how much people will pay?” and answered NO. However, I would like to contradict this view by highlighting some of the customer’s reactions and my view on Nike’s strategy.

Many customer’s are enraged by the idea of buying a $315 pair of sneakers when unemployment is considerably in effect. The discussion is that if consumers keep supporting such prices there is nothing that will stop Nike from increasing prices for future products as well. Thus the counter measures employed are to exploit the power of social media by spreading the word about such appalling prices and encouraging them to not purchase the product.

Tanner said that consumers would continue buying the product despite the prices since they have positioned themselves as a global leader. However, I feel that Nike in this case is not targeting the mass of consumers but rather a niche such as athletes and professionals. Thus Nike’s reason for releasing a separate pair that does not include the intended technology, making it more affordable to the mass.

I chose this optional article from the class 3 prep specifically because I couldn’t help but realize how the levels of ethics practiced within a firm varied according to the time they faced bad publicity (how earlier on were they caught compared to others).

Nike is known to be one the firms that highly vocalizes its ethical practices as well as aiding in the founding of the FLA. They are constantly used as an example when being compared to other firms such as Apple. However, my argument for this case is that the only reason that Nike is ahead in the game is because they were caught much earlier on and had to take certain actions so as to protect their brand image.

What this tells me is that firms aren’t automatically trying to be ethical be it Nike or Apple, but are rather doing so once they are caught and all in order to maintain their public image. What I would like you to do is ask yourself what the situation would be like if firms practiced being ethical from day one?

Also do check out the article and some of the conclusions made by Richard Locke. They’re pretty interesting.