Monthly Archives: November 2014

Carol Goar from TheStar Commentary blog tells her users about the tradeoff between economic growth and the environment in her article, “Christopher Ragan of McGill University recruited some of Canada’s highest profile statesmen to stand behind his new Ecofiscal Commission”(Goar). This list includes a former Prime Minister, former opposition leaders and former Quebec, Ontario and B.C. premier’s. Carol Goar illustrates to the reader the notion that a healthy environment does not come at the price of economic growth. I personally believe that to sustain a healthy environment, especially in our dire times, it is crucial to have a healthy economy. Historically, it can be noted that this battle between the environment and the economy is controlled primarily by the governments incentive – with Harpers conservative government presently holding a majority the presence of these NGO’s is critical. Through reading on this commission I believe that this could be the spark for Canada to increase economic and environmental prosperity. These kinds of organizations have been shut down in the past although Ecofiscal “[is] immune to government interference [and] it is financed entirely by private and non-profit donors”(Goar). Our earth is truly our most valuable resource and convincing Canadians there is a better way to acheive this is key. 

Sources

Canada Can Be Green without Sacrificing Growth: Goar | Toronto Star.” Thestar.com. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2

“The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation”(Google). This organization attends to large scale world problems that society faces. If this intergovernmental organization was fully funded it would not be able to address problems like Arc and other social enterprise’s do. While the UN is a large scale organization, Arc initiative and social enterprises pin point issues in small third world communities and strategically find ways to help these people flourish and become self sufficient. I feel that Arc initiative and Social enterprise facilitates a genuine exchange of knowledge and skills from their project to allow these businesses to succeed. This exchange is mutually beneficial for all involved parties while the UN primarily acts to provide goods or services over time. After learning about the Arc initiative I can see that this allows Sauder students to gain hands on experience and be in an environment which allows them to think critically and demonstrate the skills and values that Sauder encapsulates.                                                                                                                I spoke with Scott Henry, who attended the Rwanda Arc initiative session. He told me that “Rwanda has a very vibrant entrepreneur culture” and felt it was necessary to go back. Scott was working in Kenya and Jeff asked if Scott wanted to pilot an Arc initiative in Rwanda. He told me that it really changed their prospective on their business plans especially with developing their point of parity and points of differences. It was amazing to talk face to face with a student who had attended one of these projects and it really makes me want to get involved. Arc Initiative and social enterprise facilitate individual third world country businesses which makes it an essential tool for Sauder students. Furthermore, it is imperative that these small scale, hands-on social enterprises exist even while the UN is fully funded.

Sources

“Sauder School of Business.” The Arc Initiative. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative>

“Student Experience: Ethiopia | Arc Initiative | Sauder School of Business at UBC.” YouTube. YouTube. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSa7yUSlgX8>.

 “Google.” Google. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=united nations definition>.

One of the leading companies in the tobacco industry,Philip Morris International (PMI), took a stand against child labour in the production of their products. In class three we were taught about ethics in business and the importance of conducting ethics to be successful throughout a company. PMI exemplifies ethics in an outstanding way. PMI is now obtaining supply from “third-party leaf supply companies instead of purchasing directly from tobacco farms that disregard child labor standards”(C.Jose). The tobacco industry is not usually known for its ethical production methods, so I feel that this is the initial stepping stone which will create this industry to be conscious about were its tobacco comes from.

 Americans who smoke will not promote the use of child labour where “Many of the children working on the farms were as young as 7″(C.Jose). Being forces to work “50 to 60 hours each week” to support families at the age of 7, as well, in hazardous conditions is unacceptable and I am quite concerned why this was not dealt with several years ago. The PMI name itself will be given a stronger brand position. The value proposition which gives the consumer knowledge and value that the tobacco being bought is not being produced by children. Furthermore, this will therefore negatively shed light onto its competitors causing PMI to obtain a better position over its rivals.

Sources

“Eliminating Child Labor.” Press Releases RSS. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://www.pmi.com/eng/sustainability/good_agricultural_practices/agricultural_labor_practices/pages/eliminating_child_labor.aspx>.

“An Unexpected Company Just Took a Major Stand Against Child Labor.” Mic. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://mic.com/articles/103580/an-unexpected-company-just-took-a-major-stand-against-child-labor>.

UBC is building a “$127 million [school], but Canadian students need not apply. The college [UBC Vantage] will house only high-paying international students, most of them from China”(Rankin). Personally I know quite a few friends who are on the enormous “5,200” person wait list. While they are kept waiting, UBC caters to the “wealthy overseas Asian students”(Rankin) which is extremely unfair and will therefore. We have been notified through the upcoming year housing and tuition fees will increase. 200 students who are intended to attend Vantage are already living in first year accommodations.  This raises the question, will the number of  students admitted per faculty increase from a result of this? Or, are we to assume that this building resembles that UBC is flooding the already small number of students that are admitted first year with international students. In my personal opinion this creates more of a segregated culture of people who do their own thing and support their own beliefs. With my understanding, most locals who attend UBC such as myself, are looking to create a unionized school who support and interact with each other. A larger language barrier will be created though this school which enforces this feeling of “separation” from fellow students. I do realize that UBC may be in a financial dilemma. UBC is spending $127 million on this project and an international student who attends vantage is paying $50,000 (1000*$50,000)) which will create  a revenue of $50,000,000 yearly. Financially, this may be a great idea which could potentially generate large sums of revenue which could or could not be recycled back to the non-international student. Through my eyes its really matters where the revenue generated from this project is put.

Sources

“UBC’s Vantage College: Canadians Need Not Apply – British Columbia – CBC News.”CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 7 Nov. 2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-s-vantage-college-canadians-need-not-apply-1.2826142>.

In Will Latu‘s post about Blockbuster, he truly exploits the largest mistake that Blockbuster has ever made. In 2000 blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflixs for $50 Million; and “ The company is now worth $28 billion … slightly less than the $30 billion market value for television network owner CBS“(La Monica)  Personally I believe that this failure of a decision that Blockbuster made was because of the lack of technology innovation at this time. Although now, we see in the very long run of scales, technology has widely swept modern society and adjusting consumer behaviour creating Netflix to trump Blockbuster. Latu illustrates that this is a “Prime example of the consequences of failing to adapt to consumer trends”(W.Latu). This mistakes caused Blockbuster to close 300 corporate stores. This time line shows how Blockbuster’s ignorance caused the company to plummet at an exponential rate over the past 12 years. I feel if Blockbuster had not of foolishly made a deal with Enron in 2000 for a “20-year deal to deliver on-demand movies”(Carr) this declination of the company would have been less exponential. Reluctantly for Blockbuster… Enron files for bankruptcy because of an accounting scandal in 2001. 2002 was the inflection point of the companies demise when Block buster “posts a $1.6 billion loss”(La Monica). I completely agree on Will opinion on blockbuster and to add to what Will brought to us I did some external research to emphasize his point.

Sources

“Vive Le Streaming! Netflix Enters France.”CNNMoney. Cable News Network. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2014/09/15/netflix-takes-over-france.cnnmoney>.

Jacqueline Traide, a brave young 24 year old women is the extremist of protester who has put her own health on the line to prove how cruel animal testing is. She was force-fed and given injections at the Lush’s Regent St store. Personally I believe that this sends one of the most powerful and eye opening messages that lush could give us. The site of this picture above makes me extremely uncomfortable that this is how we treat animals. This act of heroism, exploits the malevolence and sinister treatments that cosmetic companies present on animals. Truly, Jacqueline exemplifying the meaning of equality(between animals and human). The message that is shown was intended for a globalization scale to reach places like china, which produces a majority of the worlds cosmetics and has no regulation on animal testing. “I hope it will plant the seed of a new awareness in people to really start thinking about what they go out and buy and what goes into producing it“(Jacqueline Traide). This experiment will ultimately alter consumer behaviour and drastically effect companies that use animal testing. Therefore, altering the value proposition on the cosmetic industries consumer, which gives lush an advantage over its competition. 

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