United Nations is an organization promoting international cooperation. Although United Nations are devoting themselves in helping people in developing countries, they cannot cover every area in the world. Additionally, every country has different situations, so United Nations cannot guarantee their funds work well. Therefore, we need the help of social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs are those who see opportunities where others see failure. Government or United Nations fails to provide certain services to citizens because of financial limitations or other reasons. Social entrepreneurs can use their own capital to help with the poor. They can give out low-interest loans or no-interest loans. Social entrepreneurs have enough money for themselves, and they how hard it is to make a living. They might start their helping actions out of sympathy. We need social entrepreneurs because they are the bridges connecting the poor people who live in the bottom of the society and those who are in better situation. Social entrepreneurs play an important part in our society, and I believe those people will be more important in the future.

Works Cited

“What is social entrepreneur?” Skoll World Forum.

<http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/>

Comment on Anrui Jiang’s post: Alibaba’s Success

Alibaba Group launched the largest IPO in the world in September 2014, declaring the success of e-commerce in China.

As Anrui wrote in her post, the most significant factors of Alibaba’s success is that Jack Ma has seen the potential power of the Internet and persevered chasing his goals. There is no doubt that the wisdom and perseverance of an entrepreneur is critical to the company. Additionally, Alibaba are good at creating the market. By choosing special days, such as, 11.11 and 12.12, Alibaba hold special events for customers. Sales and discount are always attractive to customers. According to the statistics, Alibaba Group made 35 billion Yuan ($5.75 billion) on Nov. 11th, 2013. In this year, “Alibaba Group even hit $2bn in sales in first hour of ‘Singles’ Day’.” No wonder why Alibaba could achieve making the largest IPO in the world.

Apart from that, Anrui also mentioned the value proposition of the company. Alibaba have successfully differentiated with other online shopping platform by releasing AliPay, which making sure that customers can pay after they check what they bought. Alibaba are delivering their principle that customers can have a more convenient way of shopping. By developing e-commerce, there are many job positions for shipping companies, which is another way to deal with unemployment.

Works Cited

BBC News. “Alibaba hits $2bn in sales in first hour of ‘Singles’ Day’” BBC News. 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29999289>

Driebusch, Corrie, and Alexandra Scaggs “Alibaba IPO Signals Strength in U.S. Stocks”

The Wall Street Journal. 21 Sep, 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

<http://online.wsj.com/articles/alibaba-ipo-signals-strength-in-u-s-stocks-1411328438>

Lin, Liza, and Lulu Yilun Chen. “Alibaba Breaks Sales Record Amid China Singles-Day Rebate.” Bloomberg News. 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-11/alibaba-breaks-sales-record-on-china-singles-day-amid-discounts.html>

Image (URL)

http://img.chinainternetwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/alibaba-logos.jpg

Comment on Canada Business Network’s post: E-commerce in Canada is a billion-dollar industry

Three days ago, we discussed a company called Zappo, which is like Amazon. Online shopping, serving as a brand new way of shopping, is gaining its popularity around the world. At the same time, e-commerce is merging. As is mentioned in the blog post, e-commerce sales in Canada by retailers reached $7.7 billion in 2012. It is predicted that the number can continue to grow in following years.

However, this figure is never competitive to what Alibaba earned in one single day. According to Bloomberg, Alibaba Group made 35 billion Yuan ($5.75 billion) on Nov. 11th, 2013. It is hard to believe that Chinese people have such a strong buyer power.

The advantages of e-commerce are various. For example, customers do not have to carry heavy products all the way; retailers may provide cheaper stuff online; shipping industry is booming, etc.

With the wide spread of the Internet, I believe e-commerce will be more popular. Retailers should seize the opportunity to establish their own platforms to connect with their customers.

In the business model canvas, there is a column called channels. E-commerce, with no doubt, will be a new channel to connect companies and customers.

Works Cited

Lin, Liza, and Lulu Yilun Chen. “Alibaba Breaks Sales Record Amid China Singles-Day Rebate.” Bloomberg News. 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-11/alibaba-breaks-sales-record-on-china-singles-day-amid-discounts.html>

Canada Business Network. “Canada Business Network’s Blog.” Canada Business Network’s Blog. Blogs. 5 Sep. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014. <http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/blog/entry/4778/>

Comment on Tianye Guo’s post: A Huge Jump For International Students’ Tuition

The most popular topic in October around campus was about rising international students’ tuition. I have compared UBC’s tuition to that of other universities, and found that UBC’s tuition is the most students-friendly one. However, Angel has showed us something interesting in different perspectives.

According to Angel, UBC, to some extent, is like a company. Their products are the various degrees, and the customers are students from all over the world. The tuition paid by students is the income. UBC use large portion of the money to construct new campus facilities and residence area, recruit famous professors, and provide students with more services. The reason why UBC charge students more tuition is obvious. They are running out of money. The remaining cash is far from enough to maintain the operation of the whole university. Cash is like oxygen. People need oxygen to survive, and companies depend on certain amount of cash to operate. Angel also used elasticity to explain why the tuition increases, which can be a good point as well.

It is not right or wrong that UBC increase the tuition. When a company makes a decision, the decision maker must consider every aspect and choose the better alternative.

Works Cited

Guo, Tianye. “Tianye Guo’s Blog.” Tianye Guo’s Blog. UBC Blogs. Oct. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

Couple of weeks ago, I received an email from the AMS President about UBC tuition and residence fee increases. According to the email, the university has proposed an increase to international tuition by 10% above the current levels for the incoming cohort of students, and a 20% increase to residence fees applied for those students living in Winter Session housing.

There is no doubt that there will definitely be more family financial pressure if the university increases the tuition and residence fees. Since not all the students have scholarships, many of them have to face the fact that they need to pay more in order to continue their studies.

However, comparing to other universities, UBC has charged much less than others. For example, student A, who is an international student, had been admitted in several business schools by the end of April, 2014, such as Sauder School of Business, Rotman Commerce, and Queen’s School of Business. He is making his decision. All else equal, he only thinks about the tuition. He would absolutely choose Sauder School of Business. Here is the tuition information. In the first year, Sauder may charge $26,890.20; Rotman may charge $35,280; Queen’s may charge $ 32,723. Therefore, UBC may be a good choice for the students who have a tight budget on their tuition.

Works Cited

Queen’s University Bachelor of Commerce

Program Fees. Retrieved from

http://business.queensu.ca/bcom/future_students/costs.php

University of British Colombia Student Service (2014)

Undergraduates Tuition Fees. Retrieved from

http://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/finances/tuition/undergraduate-tuition-fees

University of Toronto Vice-President and Provost. (2014)

Comm/Bus Admin (International Fees). Retrieved from

http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/link/students/fees15/intl_cba.htm

Image (URL)

https://consultations.students.ubc.ca/consultations/international-student-tuition-consultation