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Monthly Archives: November 2013

RE: Chris Sorensen’s Blog – Sunquest Vacations’ Migration

I came across an interesting blog by Chris Sorensen that caught my eye immediately. It was about a business that moved itself away from Canada and into the US for one sole purpose: to serve Canadians better.

Sunquest Vacations is offering vacation packages in numerous of US airports as they realized that many Canadians go to the US just for cheaper flights as opposed toVancouver. The high air travel prices caused by airport rent policy, forces Canadians to migrate over the border during holiday seasons to travel.  Because of this, Sunquest Vacations moved to the US just like their customers for convenience. As long as the prices are higher than the US, Sunquest Vacations will continue to operate in the US.

I personally find this very thoughtful towards consumers as well as quite efficient. Sunquest Vacations is able to pick up all the lost customers in Canada, increasing their consumer base and segments. Along with operating in the US, their channels significantly increase as well. Not only is this profitable, this is also very convenient for Canadians as they can make travel arrangements through a Canadian company with a lower air travel cost. They will have tough competition; however, being so understanding as well as a Canadian company, Canadians will definitely sign up with Sunquest. Business is a people’s business and as one of them, Sunquest Vacations is following where its people go.

Source: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/14/sunquest-goes-to-u-s-to-better-serve-canadians/

Re: Tim Goes Global

I was interested in what my friend had to write for his blogs and came across a very interesting article about a famous Canadian company, Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons is planning to expand its company over North America, expanding its industry and customer segments. It is about time that the world knows about this Canadian company.

By expanding into North America such as the  United States, Tim Hortons is to be a new competitor in the US industry, causing many US companies to be frustrated. However, this company represents Canadian pride ad helps other countries become more aware of our existence in this industry. However, as compared to companies from the US such as Starbucks, Tim Hortons seems to be lacking in terms of presence as well as technology. Because of this, people might find it hard to accept Tim Hortons’ products and continue to go to Starbucks. Nevertheless, this is a great choice for Tim Hortons towards building a worldwide chain coffee business.

Besides all the things Tim Hortons are lacking, they bring in something that other industries do not have, possibly giving them an advantage over other competitors. They have a wide variety of small bite-sized products such as muffins, donuts, timbits, and scones. Their value proposition is a cheap combination of a drink with a snack. This, alone, attracts many consumers as Starbucks and other companies do not offer this. Best wishes to our Canadian pride, Tim Hortons.
Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/wesleyhong/2013/11/10/tim-goes-global/

Financial Retirement

Many people nowadays are not retiring as planned due to personal reasons, health problems, and employer requests. With the lack of money, people are taking serious measures to solve their situations. How should they cope financially?

First off, retired people can downgrade their homes due to their children growing up. With the children leaving and starting their own separate lives, the empty space left in the home is too costly and inefficient. By downsizing their homes, they can reduce the property tax/rent by a lot which helps leave some money for retirement. Secondly, they can live cheaply which requires a lot of self-pressure and the feeling of a restricted life. However, this can potentially influence a healthy life style as well as a simple life. Even though this is not what retirement is perceived as, this can help retired people to continue to  live their current life without drastic changes being made. Finally, I think that they should sell off some of their assets. The money gained from this can definitely help fund the retirement expenditures such as lifestyle costs and luxury costs. Money is created to be used and not saved forever. Since they are reaching old age, the retired people should sell their assets to get money to enjoy the rest of their lives.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/retirement-not-by-choice-for-41-of-canadians-survey-says-1.2428027

RE: Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Remains World’s Priciest Retail District

While surfing through the different blogs posted by other students, I came across a post that caught my eye. Inside the post, it mentioned about how businesses are creating value through accessibility, which i found very interesting and quite true. I also realized he had not proved why Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay had a very expensive rent.

Business owners nowadays pay for rent, a cost that varies due to primarily one thing, location. For example, rent spaces in the city-centre are much more expensive than the ones in the country side. This is due to the amount of consumers going by the place each day as well as accessibility of the location. When an agreement is settled, business opens and consumers come in. What do they purchase? They purchase the quality, the item, as well as what Aidan mentioned in his blog post, accessibility. Consumers rarely go to another shop further away to purchase from the same store that is close to where they live; hence, they purchase accessibility. Causeway Bay in Hong Kong is the shopping central where most people go to buy luxury items such as clothing etc. With many malls and shops, most of the people come here to relax and enjoy the evening. Since it is in the middle of Hong Kong as well as flowing with consumers, Causeway Bay is forced to have very high rent prices due to these two factors.

Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/aidanlau/2013/11/14/hong-kongs-causeway-bay-remains-worlds-priciest-retail-district/

Ketchup Surprise

The ketchup company, Heinz, acquired a new CEO by the name of Bernardo Hees, who was the former chief executive officer of Burger King. Because Burger King is a rival, McDonald’s is planning to change its ketchup supplier, destroying the 40-years old business relationship with H.J. Heinz Co. This decision by McDonald’s took the whole world, including myself, by surprise.

McDonald’s is not being reasonable nor profitable. A change in the supplier’s CEO, who happened to be from a rival company, does not mean they should change suppliers especially when there is a long history behind it.  It makes no sense whatsoever. Heinz is at the top of the ketchup supplier chain and McDonald’s is simply walking away from them. Just because the CEO used to work for Burger King does not mean he still does. He operates Heinz now and is expected to keep Heinz as number one. Because of McDonald’s stubbornness, they are walking away from a long partnership and potential customers as well. As Heinz has a good reputation, McDonald’s is losing credibility of its food as well as people who expect quality ketchup for fries.

Heinz also loses from the ended partnership with McDonald’s. Without the world’s largest fast food chain buying its products, Heinz is at risk as there will not be a replacement that is just as profitable and beneficial. Being the one affected by McDonald’s poor judgment, Heinz will desperately need to find a new buyer to make up for its major loss. If not, competitors such as Hunt’s will try to overtake the primary position that Heinz held so many years. Perhaps, Burger King will be Heinz’s new partner in a several years.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/new-heinz-ceo-prompts-mcdonalds-to-switch-ketchup-supplier/article15087483/

Is The Trade Between Canada and EU Beneficial?

Recently, Canada made a political deal with the European Union that revolves around free trade. Because of this, the Canadian Federal Government believes that this trade could boost annual income as well as bilateral trade. The Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) will have drastic changes to Canadians such as cheaper goods, more Canadian meats (beef, pork, bison), more European cheese, intellectual property rights and drugs, and Provincial/Municipal Contracts. Is this trade truly beneficial?

I personally think that this trade is beneficial to the Canadian economy as it helps increase the production of meat, create new jobs, and reduce prices. Cheaper goods such as foods, wines, and cars will mean that Canadians spend more as they strive to increase their utility maximization. They get more out of their income as purchasing power increases. Canadian meat markets are exposed to other countries, giving them access to markets. Pharmaceuticals are being less restricted and compensated, which helps innovate medicines and cures that go towards improving the health of Canadians. Provincial/Municipal Contracts help create new jobs which is crucial towards improving the economy.

All these benefits help society as a whole, but the effects from this trade can be damaging as well. The markets for beef, pork, and bison are being stimulated at the cost of dairy markets. Receiving imports of European cheese means that the Canadian dairy products will suffer a huge blow in production, as there is an entrance of a competitor. Also, the dairy section is losing its cultural identity as people expect to buy cheese that is made from their homeland and not imported cheese. The Provincial and Municipal contracts are privatizing things such as hydro. This will cause a dilemma as profits become private while losses are spread out, making it unfair and uneven.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/5-ways-the-canada-eu-trade-deal-will-impact-canadians-1.2125510

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