The employees of a call centre are going on strike because of their unpleasant working condition. They are complaining that they frequently work overtime, are overly observed, and are responsible for arbitrary goals rather than service-related goals, which is their primary role. The union has asked the managers to be given the power to choose their own work hours. The managers compromised by hesitantly offering them flexibility and additional break times. The managers have also commented that the workers have “Neanderthal-like behavior” which insulted the employees.

This article shows how organizational behavior is not well adhered to in this company. The managers are not willing to comply with their employees and meet their needs. They show they don’t share values and are ignorant to understand each other.

The managers of the call centre should be able to understand the high stress nature of the job due to congested working area and the type of customers they are expected to manage. On the other hand, the managers are also responsible for quick and efficient management and maximum profit. Therefore, they want their employees to be quick in dealing with customers and efficiently carrying out their tasks. These different goals and attitudes account for the disorganization and strike within the company. The managers and the employees need to reconstruct their organization behaviors in order to cooperate.

Weblink: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1377457/Call-centre-civil-servants-strike-dark-satanic-working-conditions.html

Wade and Scott Larson, the founders of an aerospace engineering company called Urthecast, are two brothers who had an innovative concept to create space cameras. Unlike any other camera, however, these specially designed cameras would allow people to view Earth from space in high definition. Although some may say this product is a near mimic of an already existing product called “Google Earth”, Urthecast cameras are far from it. (Probably mention how). The two brothers’ ultimate goal is to launch two cameras to space and attach it to the Russian space station.

When Mr. Larson himself approached our Communications class and explained his vision, it felt as if the concept was solely a concept and nothing more. Along with the seemingly infinitesimal chance of this succeeding, I also believed it had some detrimental effects upon people’s mundane lifestyles. Firstly, it would violate people’s privacy, raise people’s taxes to run the cameras, and cause controversial debates regarding the inception of the cameras. My naïve thoughts, however, were proved wrong by Mr. Larson.

Mr. Larson rebutted my opinions by allowing me to see that the cameras would be incapable of zooming in on people. He also went further to explain the benefits the cameras would bring to the world. Some of the benefits we would gain from this are exploring the nature, recognizing geographical features which would help prepare for natural disasters, and knowing how the world is changing over time in greater detail.

From this experience I have learned that even the seemingly inadequate ideas have the greatest potentials to change the world. Although I still hold that attaining this objective would be difficult, I’ve learned that it is not impossible. With enough support from investors and partners, this tiny seed can flourish and blossom upon this world.

Weblink: http://www.urthecast.com/

Janice Cheam is the President and CEO of a recently launched company called Energy Aware. Janice is a grad student of Sauder School of Business back in 2006 and majored in marketing. When she came into my Comm 101 class, she talked about how Comm 466 “New Venture Design” class gave her an idea that lead to this innovative product. The Energy Aware products focuses on energy efficiency and the recent product, The PowerTab, tells people real time information of how much energy they are using. This positively reinforces households to reduce their energy consumption when they see that their cost in energy has gone up.

Janice shows she made wise choices in order to thrive with her product. She first earned the money from a business plan competition and also got help to refine her pitch. She then succeeded with her product by letting her product represent the athletes in the Olympic athletes village. The athletes wanted to show people they were being sustainable and this was a good way to benefit from each other. Her steps to prosperity indicates people have to take a leap of faith and get out of their comfort zone in order to succeed. Janice got the courage to enter competitions and propose a device to the famous athletes which lead her to become the president of a successful company.

Weblink: http://www.energy-aware.com/

Ashoka, a social entrepreneurship, was established in 2005 and it has nearly three thousand social entrepreneurs who work towards improving the conditions of depraved economic states. Not only does this organization help those in need, but it also helps social entrepreneurs to practice their entrepreneurship and network.

Recently, Ashoka took the challenge to train Europeans to instill entrepreneur skills that will help them acquire a job or build their own business even in an idle economy. With a grant supported by another foundation called Accenture, Ashoka helped 10,000 people improve their employability prospects. Accenture’s grant would also help to create 7,200 jobs.

Social Entrepreneurship really helps to create a difference in the world. I find it incredible how so many people are willing to contribute their skills to help others in depraved states. They want to help support a healthy living standard by making economies thrive and sustain themselves. With assistance from social entrepreneurs, someone who has the potential to succeed can go from barely supporting himself to running a successful business. Social Entrepreneurship offers something beyond temporary solution; it offers effective and permanent solutions. People are able to utilize entrepreneurship to alter their economic situation for long-term benefit.

Weblink: http://canada.ashoka.org/accenture-and-ashoka-france-take-action-help-people-europe-become-job-ready

The arguments proposed my classmate, Emily Chen, demonstrate the relationship between a Starbucks drink and brand positioning and materialism. Although a Starbucks coffee is ridiculously expensive, it is still a popular drink in many places around the world. Emily established that Starbucks cleverly manipulates its brand to stand out among other coffee brands and assertively charge high prices for their merchandise. Purchasing a Starbucks coffee entails more than just grabbing a drink, as the ambiance of the coffee shop is also part of the Starbucks experience. Comfortable couches and comfortable ambiance allow for casual socializing with friends and family. Moreover, carrying a Starbucks beverage can signify a social status because of its high cost. Although a Tim Horton’s coffee may taste better than a Starbucks drink, many would still prefer to buy a Starbucks drink because of the brand. This shows how significant brand positioning is. Emily effectively conveyed the way Starbucks succeeded in becoming a high brand by adjusting their appeal to their customers.

Weblink: https://blogs.ubc.ca/emilychen/2012/10/09/would-you-like-coffee-with-this-experience/

Recently, Samsung has been sued for cloning the designs, graphical user interfaces and touchscreen of an Apple’s IPhone. Apple feels Samsung has taken the credit of being the advanced smartphone with a large touchscreen and other features.  Samsung has been fined one billion dollars for the imitation.

This relates to the class discussion when we talked about Points of Parity VS. Points of Difference. The IPhone used to have POD by being a touchscreen smartphone that is also slim and unique in design. This was the reason why the IPhone was so popular among young and old cell phone users. However, a new competitor, Samsung Galaxy, revealed the same concept as the IPhone making POP. Now neither of the phones is unique and people are more lenient on which phone to buy.

I realized the significance of points of difference and how good it can attract consumers. Products need POD in order to succeed in the market business and without it, it can’t position itself as #1 in consumers’ minds. After the IPhone 5 came out, I can analyze that both companies are now racing to see who can become #1 in consumers’ minds by inventing a slimmer phone with a bigger touchscreen. By next year, we will being carrying around brittle phones with a 10-inch screen.

Weblink:  http://newyork.newsday.com/business/technology/apple-v-samsung-both-sides-unhappy-in-patent-battle-judgment-1.4028805

There had been a warehouse sale opening for Aritzia for just several days and about    40,000 customers were expected to come which the customers were all girls. On the first      day, there was a huge line up full of teens eager to get inside the warehouse to find the clothes they want to buy.

Aritzia is known for its fashionable, trendy clothes targeted towards young females. Unlike other clothing stores, Aritzia carries clothes that attract growing teenagers and has become a popular brand. Despite its high price, some teenagers like to wear its clothing just to carry around its brand.

Aritzia’s target towards females has been proven successful. Its popularity has easily influenced a lot of young girls to buy its clothing and has even attracted older women to make themselves feel younger and “in” with trend.

Weblink:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Thousands+Vancouver+shoppers+swamp+Aritzia+warehouse+sale/7168650/story.html

Since the early 2000’s, Gatorade has gained dominance over all other sports drink in the market. Gatorade emphasizes the point that this specific sports drink is a valuable drink to hard working athletes. Its commercials are of athletes sweating the vibrant coloured gatorades conveying how gatorade is part of athlete’s everyday life. Also, Gatorade has been made famous by many atheletes including Michael Jordan and New York Giants when they are seen drinking it in commercials and in real games.

Gatorade has prevailed its name by using unique commercials and getting famous athletes to drink it which helped position itself as the “number one sports drink.” Also, Gatorade is one of the first sports drink to come out to the market which helped grow its popularity. Since it is an original product, many athletes choose to buy it.

Gatorade reveals how important it is to be positioned in consumers’ minds. Because of its commercials and representatives, it is able to gain a positive perspective from many athletes and normal consumers! Whenever people think of a sports drink, most of them will think of Gatorade.

Weblink: http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=68