I truly enjoyed a recent lecture in class, where as a class we talked about the success of Snapchat. This topic got me curious about the company, so I was able to find an article that talks about the recent success of the company. However, the article mainly criticizes the recent success of the company because the author feels that the youth are not a reliable judges of companies like this. Personally, I feel that I have to agree with the author’s analysis to a certain extent. In my opinion, his statement about how the youth constantly having fads is a possible reason why the youth are not suitable judges. I feel that most of the people in my generation and younger fall prey to following the cool thing, not the best thing. I even have to admit that this is one of my flaws because I too follow trends.

However, I feel that this should not tarnish the success that the company Snapchat has established. I feel that the company simply adjusted to the norms of society that we see today. They understood their market and appealed to them. In my opinion, the company should still be praised for their achievement

source: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303559504579202623459037550

I truly enjoyed reading the blog if Bozhen(Cap), where he talked about the recent decline of blackberry. He suggested different options that the company could take to help them achieve success once again. I will have to agree with the first suggestion, but not agree with his second suggestion. The first strategy that he recommended was the company could sell Blackberry to large software companies. I feel that this will be very advantageous for the company because they could recover the recent losses that they have incurred. This will also help the company improve their technology for their phones because giant software companies have the latest technology. The improvements in the specs of the phone from the high quality of the technology could help the company re-establish a customer base, thus may be restoring the brand to its former glory. I feel that this strategy, if done carefully and thoroughly will truly be advantageous for the brand.

However, I do not agree that they should still produce the same type of phones, until their machinery wares out. I feel that there is no longer a demand for their phones, so they should start innovating. These may help revive the company.

source:https://blogs.ubc.ca/libozhen/2013/11/09/blackberry-only-thorns/

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/files/2013/09/blackberry-logo1.jpg(image)

Reading through different blogs, one of the blogs that caught my attention is Shing’s blog about ethics in India. He talked about how tourism in India is significantly low compared to its asian neighbours. This is mainly because businesses in India have been cheating tourists. I agree that this is a very unethical practice done by both the small and big businesses in India. I also agree that poverty is one the reasons for these practices. Coming from the Philippines, I see unethical business practices everyday. This is something that needs to be changes because in all honesty no one likes to be cheated. I really feel that countries like India and the Philippines needs more discipline, so I agree that the government has to make a move. I feel that all types of businesses have more power than their consumers, but none of these businesses will have more power than the government. With the government imposing stricter laws and monitoring each business, I feel that companies will have to use fairer practices. I also feel that the government could help improve poverty by giving more opportunities for the less fortunate. I really hope that the government takes action.

Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/shingtzewoo/2013/09/11/business-in-india-lacks-ethics/

http://nicolekraft414.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ethics.jpg (image)

Recently, I have came across a blog that talks about Amazon.com, one of the most profitable companies that we know today. They talk about how the recent change in Amazon’s business model, and how Amazon has been constantly changing over the years. Then, they commented on how this strategy of Amazon is one of the many reasons why the company has built such a strong brand. I could not agree more with the statement that the bloggers have made. I feel that companies should follow this strategy because this allows them to stay a cut above the rest. In my opinion, the constant changes of Amazon has kept them up to date with technological changes, and has kept them interesting in the views of their consumers. However, the blog also mentions that the company had to pay “close to $14billion” for this change in strategy. I agree that changing one’s company will be very risky and costly, but personally I feel it is worth the risk. This will help the company have a longer life cycle and establish itself in the long-run. There is no doubt that this type of risk-taking is what separates the “Amazons” with the “Kodaks”.

source: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/11/amazon-constantly-audits-its-business-model/

http://scm-l3.technorati.com/13/01/29/74795/amazon.jpg?t=20130129232715 (image)

Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke6ureLcpkk

(Please pray for the victims of this calamity)

Recently, I strong typhoon has devastated the country of the Philippines. This violent storm left nothing but destruction in its path. Plenty of lives have been affected by the recent natural calamity, lost of lives, houses and belongings were the end result. This is truly saddening, especially for me because I am Filipino. It was truly difficult to hear the news about the typhoon, and even more difficult to see videos of its destruction. This being the case, it was nice to see articles that talk about different people trying to help the victims of this event. In the article, I was able to read companies, such as the NBA, HSBC, JP Morgan and many more, are trying to do what they could to help. Personally, I feel that with their help, we will see the victims bounce back from this deadly storm. However, I am also proud to see that companies give more importance to social responsibility. I feel that this is truly an important responsibility for each company because it shows that they do care more than just profits. In my opinion, it is really a beautiful sight to see companies give back to the society.

Sources: (HBC), Global, and JP (JPMPRD). “Companies pledge millions to Philippines.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. <http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/12/news/philippines-typhoon-donations/>.

The past few lectures in my Comm 101 class, we had pleasure to of getting to know more about stocks. This is why this particular article from the New York times website was very interesting for me. The article talks about the increase in value for Asian shares this past week, especially with Japan, as shares have increased by a total of 7.6% this week. However, the article did not mention which companies have been preforming better as of late. This brings me to the next article, which I found in Reuturs.com. In this article, it was mentioned that 67% of the Nikkei companies have either exceeded or met expectations. This is truly remarkable because it shows that majority of Japanese companies have been operating in a profitable and efficient manner. This is why I truly admire this multi-national companies from Japan. However, the most interesting point of both articles is that the companies were able to use the fall of the Yen to increase value in their shares. This just proves that values of shares of companies will not only be based on internal, but external factors as well. Thus, helping me realize that stocks are a lot more complicated as I thought.

Articles:

Reuturs. “Japanese Shares Lead Asia Charge as Yellen Sounds All Clear.” The New York Times 13 Nov. 2013: n. pag.http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/11/15/business/15reuters-markets-global.html?src=busln. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.

” Nikkei scales 6-mth high, heads for best weekly rise in 4 years.” Nikkei scales 6-mth high, heads for best weekly rise in 4 years. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/15/markets-japan-stocks-idUSL4N0J006R20131115>.

http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/Stock_Market_Rise.jpg (image)

Just a quick video of the Philippines!
Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6qZx85sqrE

Being a Filipino, I am honestly so proud to see the news that Japanese companies want to invest in the Philippines. The article says that at least 5 companies from Japan plan to invest their IT in the Philippines. This is great news for the Philippines because being a third world country, it is nice to see that more companies want to invest in the country. This means that the current situation in the Philippines is getting more stable. Hopefully, we will see this improvement increase in the next few years. Next, I am excited to see the different effects that this will cause. Running a country is like running a business, you have to appeal to investors to earn more money. Having more investors will lead to further improvement in many aspects of the country, as well as attract other investors. Next, we see that having a more IT companies in the Philippines, will improve our technology. Looking at the business aspects, the better the technology will make operations cheaper and more efficient.  Hopefully, when I return to the Philippines after my studies here in Canada, I will see different great innovations in the Philippine business scene.

Source: Desiderio, Louella . “5 Japanese firms looking to invest in IT here | Business, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com.”philstar.com | Philippine News for the Filipino Global Community. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/10/08/1242602/5-japanese-firms-looking-invest-it-here>.

Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc

As I was going through a site, I stumbled upon a very interesting article. The article talks about how the workers (labour union) are complaining about how the management of Nissan is treating them. It says that the company does not include the employees in the union-organizing activities, as well as have not followed the international labour standards. The first thing that popped up in my mind as I read this article is the term stakeholders. This has been discussed in class, and it is nice to see a real life example on how important the stakeholders are to a company. I personally feel that one of the most important stakeholders that a company has is their employees. Knowing that I feel that it is very important that they do treat their workers properly. The main reason is seen in the article, which is how the production of Nissan has been effected by this movement. I am really happy to see that employees are voicing out their concerns. Hopefully, in the coming days, I will get to see an article showing how management changed in favour of the employees.

Source: Rogers, Christina, and Neal E. Boudette. ” Nissan’s Union Battle is About to Heat Up – Corporate Intelligence – WSJ.” WSJ Blogs – WSJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/10/07/nissans-union-battle-is-about-to-heat-up/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_corp_intel>.

I recently came across an article that says that Twitter is planning to go public. This is such big news in the business world because Twitter, being a company with its reputation, going public may have so many effects to the industry. I am very excited to see what the company plans to do with the extra amount of money for further improvement of their company. It will also be nice to see the reaction of their competitors based on their changes. The possibilities to the effects of Twitter going public is limitless to the business world. Not only will it change the landscape of the social networking industry, but it will change the landscape of many other industries. Who knows, the possible improvements to the company, may be the improvements that we will see in technology, or maybe be gateways to possible innovations to new technology. I can’t tell the future, but I personally feel that great innovations are no longer as distant as before. This type of news just brings me goosebumps, and I am anxious to see how all of this will play out. I just hope this won’t be another Facebook incident.

Source: Scaggs , Alexandra. ” And They’re Off! The First ‘Buy’ Rating on Twitter Is Out – Digits – WSJ.” WSJ Blogs – WSJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/07/and-theyre-off-the-first-buy-rating-on-twitter-is-out/?KEYWORDS=twitter+goes+public>.

http://scm-l3.technorati.com/13/11/04/77503/twitter-icon.png?t=20131104100612 (picture)

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!