The European Debt Crisis, a complex and gigantic web of mess and financial despair in the Euro zone, is at first hard to comprehend and grasp.

Christine Lagarde of the IMF

Introduced on January 1, 1999, the euro became the new currency for the European union. To this day, 17 of the 27 member states of the EU currently use the euro as their shared currency. The shared currency was thought to bring about beneficial trade ties and strengthened economies. Governments were initially restriced to burrowing up to 3% of its their annual economic output in efforts to prevent accumulation of debt.

The problem begins when countries broke these guidelines and burrowed more funds than they could hope to pay back with interest included. As a result of fear of default, the EU and IMF have agreed to bailout the worst culprits of the crisis: the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain). Should defaults of these key members occur, the global economy would undergo a global domino effect producing the equivalent of a financial tsunami. Financial institutions worldwide invested in the debt of these countries would incur immense financial losses. The solution is difficult but it is clear that either Germany would have to come to the rescue, the national currency be reinstalled, or perhaps most likely, the European Stability Mechanism be implemented. Only the future knows what will happen to the Euro Zone.

Referenced Sources:

1) http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/live/banking-investments/2012/02/16/euro-crisis/

2) http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/05/question_the_euro_crisis.html

3) IMF Image: http://eleytheriahthanatos.blogspot.ca/2012/07/imf.html#.UKoSn6mmDzI

Toms Shoes, founded by Blake Myscoskie in 2006, is a for-profit company based in Santa Monica, California. This company also operates non-profit subsidiary Friends of Toms. In the business of selling shoes made based on Argentinian alpargata design, whenever Toms sells a pair, Friends of Toms will donate a pair to child in need. This has given rise to the well-known phrase and slogan “One for One”, literally meaning a pair for a pair.

Now how did Blake Mycoskie, a simple American traveler become the root of this cause? While traveling in Argentina, Mycoskie became what is now popularly termed a “social entrepreneur”. He saw opportunity for change and to do social good. . Touched by children with no shoes to protect their feet, he created TOMS to give shoes. With this small action, Toms has grown into one of shoe retailer’s successful firms and leading social enterprise.

Toms has also used its competitive advantage to do social good and spark a world-wide movement. One such movement is One Day Without Shoes, a day whereby through abandoning shoes for a day, awareness is raised of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child’s life.

Referenced Sources:

1) http://www.toms.ca/our-movement/

2) Image 1:  http://www.tomscampusprograms.com/events/toms-one-for-one-1

3) Image 2:  http://www.inhabitots.com/toms-wants-you-to-go-one-day-without-shoes-on-april-5/

Dell, though long known for its reliable workplace computers and customer service, is not as well recognized for its successful growth strategy. One of the keys to this growth strategy actually lies in the way people are managed within the company. Dell has created within the company a culture where teamwork, learning and excelling are encouraged within each employee. This means that the structure of the company is allowed to be more open-ended and less structured: a broader triangle company structure. Based on the merit-system, Dell aims to develop, retain, and attract the best people in order to encourage talent and leadership and eventual growth of the company.

With part of this growth strategy, Dell provides global talent management programs to develop people who can execute our business strategy and meet customer needs: perhaps the secret to becoming an industry leader. In order to better increase performance of all Dell employees and identify future leaders, the company’s performance management system links individual goals with organizational performance. This means that Dell provides annual formal reviews, opportunities for performance rewards and promotions and throughout the year, feedback, coaching, training and development. The process serves to align individual and company objectives resulting in economic growth and sustainability for Dell in the longrun.

Referenced Sources:

1) http://content.dell.com/us/en/gen/d/corp-comm/cr-diversity-wf-talent-mgmt

2) Image 1: http://www.digitalvidya.com/blog/news/dell-smac-unconference-first-one-in-india/

3) Image 2:  http://www.nettalk.com/blog/2011/04/the-duo-is-now-sold-on-dell-com-2/

Walmart, retail giant of world, has for the past ten years been the largest and powerful retailer earning higher sales per square foot, inventory turnover, and operating profit than any other discount firm. How has Walmart managed to accomplish this economical feat of genius? It’s secrets lie in their successful and effective supply chain management strategy. This has led to lower production costs and competitive market pricing. Lower production costs means lower costs and competitve market pricing means increased revenes in the long run and increased consumer share. Focusing on providing custoers with goods whenever and wherever, Walmart worked on improving logistics to offer low everyday pricing. The key: replenish inventory via a method called cross docking. Products, shipped from suppliers to warehouses and then to stores without a long inventory wait time, reduce costs that are passed on to the consumer in savings. With this competitive advantage, Walmart focused on supply chain integration, the collaboration of suppliers, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution to stores in the supply chain in order to maximize efficiency and produce a lean supply chain. Walmart’s powerful strategy has given the company sustainble competive advantages that have allowed the corporation to stay the giant it is today.

Referenced Sources: 

1) http://www.usanfranonline.com/wal-mart-successful-supply-chain-management/

2) http://www.asaresearch.com/ecommerce/supplychain.htm

3) Image: http://www.thegreenmarketoracle.com/2010/06/walmart-and-hps-sustainable-supply.html

4)Walmart Logo: http://marshall-showmethemoney.blogspot.ca/2009/11/walmart-shifts-to-supply-chain-finance.html

For several decades, Japan has had a unique work culture whereby employees have the opportunity to stay in the same company from the start to the end of their career. These are work models of large companies that have a reputation of long work hours, building company loyalty and strong devotion to one’s company. This model is said to have originated from the 1920s when the major corporations of the rising middle class began to attain the same prestige as those of traditional feudal businesses. These new corporations would recruit and retain the best workers by offering improved benefits and lifetime job security. The 1960s brought the children of the new middle class and pursuit of employment in one of these large prestigious firms. This required the family and the individual to strive perserveringly while allocating family resources to gain the most in Japan’s competitive education system.

Long-term employment security has long been a cornerstone in the country’s corporate culture. However how beneficial has this system of lifetime employment been to the Japanese people? In times of economic recession, perhaps it might be better to shift away from lifetime employment. Should payrolls stay bloated while the country grows poor?

Japanese Employee at Auto Company

Referenced Sources:

1) Image: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/business/global/20zombie.html?_r=0

2) http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/sep2009/ca2009094_141933.htm

Since the discovery of electricity, companies have competed for higher and higher market share. One such company is the BC Hydro and Power Authority utility corporation in British Columbia. They generate most of its electricity from hydroelectric facilities allowing for prices to be very low in comparison to the rest of Canada. As a crown corporation, it holds a virtual monopoly in supplying household electricity making household basically fully dependent on the company. In efforts to reduce greehouse gas emissions, BC Hydro introduced the “Power Smart” program. Part of this program included the implementation of the Smart Meter Program.

New Smart Meter

These new smart meters not only display amount of electricity used but also transmit and receive information in digital form from an in-home feedback device as frequently as 60-minute intervals. Using these new meters basically plugs people into a smart grid whereby BC Hydro can record every ongoing household activity and keep that information. Concern of privacy invasion by the government, many have questioned who exactly has access to that information. Resistance movements to stop the change have sprung up in BC and across North America. Is this simply a natural progression into a digitally computerized world or a cause for concern?

Satirical Cartoon

Watch this video for more info!

Referenced Sources:

1) http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18407340

2) http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-16581812

3) http://www.bchydro.com/energy_in_bc/projects/smart_metering_infrastructure_program.html

4) http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Fear+technology+human+right/7190474/story.html

5) Image 1: http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.ca/html/?page_id=338

6) Satirical Cartoon: http://www.raesidecartoon.com/blog/bc-hydro-smart-meters-3

7) Image 2: http://langleytoday.ca/?p=11605

In this day and age, the Internet and social media is the main mode for firms and individuals alike to market and communicate new information. It is easy to get caught up in the effects that activity on the Internet have on the economy.

Social media, like Selina Ho has previously commented, is home to companies conducting a technique called market affiliation. This technique has allowed firms to easily attract consumers; thus a system of allocating goods and resources is set up via the Internet. Facebook, a prime example, has now merged their threats into strengths by expanding into mobile phones, twitter, youtube, and skype alike. What has served to help this bond? The Internet.

The Internet, like a giant motherboard of technology, holds an immense amount of information and by extenstion has a tremendous impact on the economy. Constantly changing, technology gives way for small firms to enter the market, creating higher levels of specialization and trade, leading to, in affect, higher economic efficiency. Likewise, the Internet also provokes social and political impacts. This raises the question: is the Internet economy really as small as we previously thought or will it someday be referred to as “the economy”?

Referenced Sources:

1. Selina Ho – https://blogs.ubc.ca/selinaho/
2. http://www.economist.com/node/21554532
3. http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/05/american-growth
4. Image –  http://ncrheadlines.com/no-web-censorship-facebook-and-google-cooperating-with-us-govt/ 

The iconic red-headed clown and the golden arches of McDonald’s are two of many symbols which we have all grown up seeing on constant basis. There have been several standpoints and associations and others including Elaine Ho have made comments of this particular fast-food chain. But what I want to find out is the magic behind these multinational conglomerate ‘golden arches’.

What has made McDonalds from small Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California to the global giant it is today?

McDonald’s is known for their fast, cheap service, commercialized unhealthy albeit great tasting food, and HappyMeal toys. Great, these are simply points of parity that McDonald’s has maximum efficient control over but what makes it stand out? McDonald’s has succeeded in identifying and producing target consumer wants and marketing them as needs. Due to the recent health movement, McDonald’s has insured new lines of healthier alternatives and recently created an open forum for consumers to know what exactly makes up the food. Additionally, public criticism for globalization domination has inspired McDonald’s to cater to the individual cultures of host states. In this retrospect, McDonald’s seems to have conquered both strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threaths of their market.

Referenced Sources:

1. Elaine Ho – https://blogs.ubc.ca/elaineho/
2. www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_history_timeline.html
3. http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/06/fast-food-and-cultural-sensitivity
4. Image – http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/amazing_stories/food/catering_to_local_tastes.html

In an age where majority of the world’s communications and information are being transmitted via the internet, there is, as a ripple effect, much controversy over which content becomes available to viewers. This is obvious of course due to the exponential effect a single source on the internet could have on the billions of viewers all over the world. As such, who decides what is allowed, where is it allowed and where is it not?

Let us take Google for example. Recently they refused to bann certain videos from youtube in the defense of free speech. However earlier, Google banned a video trailer within 8 countries due to the ensuing violence of Muslim protestors. This situation brings to light thousands of similar scenarios. How do internet firms deal with public dispute and how do companies based in free-speech countries deal with governments that wish to prohibit free speech?

What about back home? American sites are known for supporting of free speech but most community users prohibit hate langauge and obscenity. Most firms follow the laws of host states for the sake of avoiding offence, in return, the risk of censorship is ignored. So in the end: are these laws beneficial?

Referenced Sources:

1.   http://www.economist.com/node/21564198
2. Image 1: http://libya360.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/live-timeline-of-global-anti-us-riots/
3. Image 2:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/09/27/the-downside-of-being-a-google-executive/

Offshore drilling and their subsequent unavoidable oil spills have continuously been a topic of much controversy and debate. Often times though, we do not raise the question of who exactly holds responsibility of paying the multi-billion dollar cleanup. The answer comes in the form of you and I, the Canadian taxpayer. The Canadian government having decided to maintain our current system of liability needs to adopt the polluter pays principle. Currently, the company responsible has to pay damages of up to $40 million of absolute liability (despite who’s fault/negligence). The rest is up to Canadian taxpayers or the company (dependent on blame). Recent Gulf of Mexico spill in 2010 alone raised $40 billion in damages. Now this pulls into question the existence of public insurance. Does this not create a dangerous dependency on oil drilling companies for them to simply be less prudent in their drilling activities? One option would include raising the strict liability cap but this would discourage competition from smaller independent firms. Another idea proposes that a rainy day fund (collectively built from oil taxes) will provide incentives for oil companies to eliminate more hazards yet not drain the public’s pockets. Though part of Canadian law, the polluter pays principle is not included in current offshore drilling regulations. In moving forward to Arctic territory, the risk is too great to not let the industry hold complete responsibility for drilling activity.  Not only does this make more sense financially but ethically, the government should stop insuring those guilty of future oil spills through public taxation thus relieving firms of any complacency.

References from: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/bud-sambasivam/canadians-pay-oil-spill_b_1869416.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business&ir=Canada%20Business