After watching the video of the business workshop in Ethiopia, I realized that people in those developing countries actually have great potential to become successful businessmen. They just do not get enough education in the realm of entrepreneurship, and they are lack of capital to expand their business. According to the video, some business owners in Ethiopia speak perfect English; however, most of them may not have an English tutor or have learned English in School. They have to learn it for themselves. Their learning abilities are impressive and they have the basic concept of running a business.

I found the ARC program amazing because it provides those business people who look for the problems in their firms with business knowledge and improvement plans. This would help them a lot because they now know exactly what goes wrong and how to fix the problems. Moreover, firm owners like Tesfaye really have a brilliant idea about making paper from banana plants. It requires almost minimum cost of production, and the raw materials are easy to access. He currently has the order from a German company, but his products are getting recognized over the world under the help of the ARC. This program will attract some companies from all over the world to come and make deals with local business which will lead to the local economic growth and make people’s life better.

After learned Zappo’s case in class, I found it amazing that a shoe company could have such a close relationship with its customers and have such a high reputation. In my opinion, it is the company’s culture that leads to Zappo’s huge success.

The company’s CEO does not have an office, and he works with his employees in that crowded areas. Does this mean that the company is too poor to build an office for its CEO? No, the CEO of Zappo is willing to work with his employees because it is his principle that they are in the same boat. They are a team and everyone should work together towards one goal; an office is merely a decoration, but working with employees is the key for Tony to understand his employees better. The company provides its employees with life-time dental and eye medical cover; also, it provides employees with free food and party. People who work there will not feel stressed but rather relaxing and happy. The company’s goal is not merely making profits but providing employees with perfect work conditions and positive mood. This is the company’s culture which differentiates itself among other shoe companies.

As long as the company’s employees feel relaxed and grateful about their jobs, they will automatically treat the customers. They will be patient when talking to their customers on the phone; they will try their best to fix customers’ problems. Therefore, the company’s key of success is not good strategy but the united power of all the employees.

From Erik’s speech, he mentions that the general-purpose technology in our era is the computer. Tremendous innovations have been made recent decades and computers become the dominant part of human’s life. Also, from his perspective, online services will dominate the future services because they are digital, exponential and combinatorial.

In my opinion, some goods and services are suitable for online services but some are not. For example, if one decides to watch a movie, he can purchase one online and get the digital version of it. It is good for both producer and consumer because of producer, they do not need to make the actual DVD. All they need to do is to send the data, which is almost zero cost. On the consumer side, he can get the product right away because it is transported by the Internet, and the price is relatively low.

However, if one wants to buy a laptop, online shopping may not be the best method. Though some companies do provide successful online purchasing services like Dell, there still are some problems. Sometimes, people are disappointed because they find the pictures online do not match the actual product. Maybe the screen is too big, or the keyboard is not the style they want. It is always better to go to the store and try the actual product rather than looking at the pictures online because people are able to feel the products themselves and buy exactly what they want.

The video of Erik Brynjolfsson is an excellent one which demonstrates the economic growth in US and some problems behind the increasing productivity. In a long run, the economic growth and productivity increase exponentially not only in US but also in the entire world. Technology plays an important role in this growth; however, as Eric mentioned in the video, when the electric motors were created and used during the production process, productivity did not increase as people expected. This is because people did replace the steam engine with electronic motors, but they didn’t fully innovate their production factories to adopt the new advantage.

In the modern world, as more and more innovative technology has been created, we are facing exactly the same problem. Though it increases productivity and reduces the costs, people are losing their jobs, and their average income has fallen. For example, a tax preparation software can calculate tax fast, accurate and cheaper, but 17% of tax preparers lose their jobs. Then, does it mean that we should stop using new technology? No, in Erik’s words, “Racing with the machine beats racing against the machines, productivity is not our destiny, we shape our destiny” My understanding of this is that human and machines must work together to maximize the efficiency. Machines can do some jobs better than human, but human may be able to do some jobs that machines are not good at. Therefore, race with the machines is the key of growth in the modern society.

Potbelly Sandwich has expanded so rapidly in recent years and will most likely become the next household restaurant name. Also, Potbelly’s success on its IPO revealed its tremendous potential to become a national brand in the world. What is Potbelly’s core value that makes it so successful in the market?

I think the key point of Potbelly Sandwich’s success is the shared value created by the company. Though they have a lot of stores located in U.S and Middle East, the stores are distinctive from each other because it is decorated with items and some funky antiques that match the local culture. This could attract more customers because people in that location will think that Potbelly is unique among all its competitors. Potbelly creates shared value not only by selling sandwich there but also by blending itself into local culture to tie their relationships with local consumers.

Moreover, training for Potbelly’s employees is special as well. After working at a training store, Jacob, hired as Porbelly’s assistant manager, says that they were not just teaching him how to make a sandwich. They taught him skills and values that can apply anywhere he goes in life. Having well-trained employees who know well about the company’s culture and value proposition is probably the second most important reason that Potbelly becomes so successful.

Huge shock was created when Facebook’s stock price fell by half of its initial price (from $38 to $18.75). It is reported that the company lost about $10 billion of the company’s market value at that time. However, the most astonished point was that Facebook was once valued at $100 share when it came to its IPO, which was more than the combined worth of Nike and Golden Sachs. It is ridiculous that a social media company was valued higher than the world’s biggest sports outfits producer.

Similarly, Twitter’s IPO was dined because the highly-evaluated share price of it in term of which category the company belonged to. The revenue stream of Facebook and Twitter both come from large amount of web advertisement. The advantage of online ads is that it is widely seen by tremendous number of people. The drawback is that the revenue is uncertain because not all the companies are willing to pay such a price (usually very expensive) to put their ads on the Internet. They may realize that people get annoyed by thousands pieces of ads in the Internet when they try to focus on their work; since these advertisements are annoying, people tend to pay less attention on them, and thus, they are not that efficient compared with the actual ads on magazines and TVs.

Twitter’s failure on its IPO suggested the company should reevaluate its real value and come up with a more reliable and efficient revenue source.

With the advent of the age of the Internet, many companies choose to set up their online stores rather than build their own real store or find retail stores. In this post, I will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of an online store and a physical store.

First of all, in terms of the companies, online stores give them definite benefits of reducing the costs. Since a physical store require capitals such as land, labor. Rent fees and salaries of the employees could be significant costs in their cost structure. However, online store does not generate these kind of costs since after customers pick the products they want online, the companies only need to go to their warehouses and deliver the products to consumers directly. Without renting a big store and displaying a lot of products in racks, companies save lots of money. Then they are maximizing their profits.

Although online shopping cuts the expenses of companies, it generates other potential problems. In terms of customers, they could get their orders within a few days after they click the mouses; however, many people find that the actual product they receive is different from what is displayed online, or they may realize that they buy the products that do not fit them well. A physical store provides customers the chance to actually touch and examine the products they prefer; moreover, the sales employees will try to help them to choose the best-fit one. Therefore, customers rarely purchase the wrong products or those which have poor qualities. Additionally, if customer does buy the wrong one, they can just go back to the store and return it.

All in all, online shopping and physical store both have advantages and disadvantages, which the advantages are mostly enjoyed by the companies and the disadvantages are mostly experienced by the customers.

A company’s value proposition is as important as a person’s soul. A company without a clear and singular is like an individual without energy and power. Value proposition is a company’s strategy that attracts customers to purchase its products. The value proposition convinces customers that company’s products and service are the best among all the rivals so that they will buy the products. Apple is a company which has such a great brand and a great value proposition. When Iphone 4 came out in 2010, it suddenly occupies the smart phone market. Several months later, people could see Iphone everywhere. Why are Apple’s products so popular that people decide to purchase their phones rather than other brands in that time? Let’s have a detailed look at its value proposition.

First, the Apple company was the first producer who created a powerful and convenient smart phone with touch screens. Generally, consumers tended to think the first company that entered the market would produce the best products in that realm. Plus, the design and ISO operation system of the new Iphone 4 was so unique that made it stand out from its competitors. Moreover, the Apple’s Apps were connected to a lot of businesses such as Air Canada, Nike, Facebook; these relationships certainly render the Apple company a much stronger one in the world. Therefore, more and more people became aware of the company and the strength of it products. That was why the Iphone 4 made such an unbelievable purchase storm in 2010 when it first came out.

As customer, it is not uncommon that we love some of the features of a product but dislike the others. For example, I may find a perfect Alienware laptop which has 17 inch screen, new i7 processor and 1T hard drive, but the price is incredibly high; then  I will not buy that laptop because I think the price does not match the value of it.

After today’s lesson and the information I read from the article which introduced Dell’s highly-customized purchase method and operation system, I decided to go to the Dell online store to experience the superb system I heard.

I pretended myself to be a customer who needed to buy a new laptop of Dell and saw whether I would buy the laptop or not. Firstly, I found the ‘shop and compare’ section which I could build my own laptop by selecting different categories from screen size, processor and hard drive.etc. It was very convenient and clear to choose the model I wanted from the section. Since I could customize my laptop, I was able to choose the processor I prefer, the screen I want and other features. I finally got a model that perfectly fitted my preference, and it had a price which I thought is reasonable because I could choose my price position. I didn’t go any further, but I heard that the average inventory period of Dell is about 4 days which meant I would get my laptop 4 days after I made the order, which is pretty amazing.

All in all, if I really decide to buy a new laptop, I would choose Dell rather than other companies because of its fantastic purchase method and operation system.

A successful business does not only make a huge amount of profits but also has a good reputation among public. Business ethical issue becomes one of the most important determinants of a business’s prestige. However, some businesses in the world frequently violate the principle of the business ethic in order to make more money, even those famous companies like McDonald’s.

According to the article, ‘McDonald’s, despite its global success, remains the target of a vitriolic public backlash owing to what many perceive as bad business ethics in its relationships with employees and other stakeholders.’ Bad ethical activities include exacerbating Third World poverty, selling junk food, exploiting employee (especially the young workers) and destroying the environment of Amazon. The company donated $250,000 to Nixon’s campaign for a legislation that allowed McDonald’s to pay its teenage employees 20% less. This showed the company’s discrimination towards young employees and its action of exploitation.

Moreover, union is not allowed in McDonald’s; for example, when the employees of McDonald’s in Quebec did establish a work union, the company shut down the unit immediately. Employees who work for business should be entitled to form their union to protest when they are mistreated by companies. McDonald’s policy definitely violated this rule and it shows the company’s appalling ethics which are harmful and illegal.

Source: http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/115557.aspx