Monthly Archives: October 2014

First Nation Chiefs to Stage Site C Showdown

BC Hydro is planning on constructing a dam and a 1 100 watt hydroelectric generator in the Peace River, called Site C. This will create more sustainable and environmentally friendly energy for the province of British Columbia.  However, BC Hydro neglected to consider the effects that this project will have on the First Nations groups of the Peace River Valley, one of the key stakeholders in this industry. The local First Nations groups are extremely concerned about the safety of their land that is used for hunting, fishing, and ceremonial practices, because the construction of this dam will cause eighty three kilometers of the Peace River Valley to flood. This is an example of the industry forces that have affected their business model because as stated above, one of the main stakeholders in site C are the local First Nations people. Therefore, they should be able to voice their opinions or concerns they may have regarding the development of this project, and they must be taken into account.

On the other hand, it is understandable how BC Hydro neglected to consider the First Nations due to the appeal of market forces, the factor that most heavily influence their business plan. For instance, BC’s growing population is forcing the province to look into alternative methods of producing energy to match the current and more importantly, the future demand of the citizens. Also, this addition of clean and renewable energy will help the province become more environmentally friendly, thus improving their sustainability and quality of life. The growing concern for the environment is forcing the idea of sustainability to become more and more attractive to the consumer. This will cause the demand for hydroelectric energy to increase, and eventually the province will become more reliant on this new form of energy; thus bringing great economic prosperity to the province of British Columbia.

When creating a business model, a company must consider all external factors that will, in one way or another, affect it’s development.

Keurig’s Coffee Supremacy Challenged by Canadian Firm

The above article states how the single-serve coffee market is becoming increasingly competitive and challenging, specifically for the well-known company of Keurig . Keurig’s first coffee maker was innovative, convenient, and loved by many coffee drinkers, causing their sales to skyrocket. However, their extremely high profit was mostly due to the sale of K-cups, the coffee pods that allow consumers to create different drinks when using the machine. Eventually, competitors began to take notice and created their own coffee pods, which were cheaper and could all function in the Keurig machine.  Therefore, in order to take control of the self-serve coffee market, Keurig created a new point of difference to draw consumers back to their products. They designed a new model which is only capable of reading the ultraviolet ink of the K-cup.  If consumers wanted to purchase the new model, they would only be able to use K-cups to make their coffee, allowing Keurig to generate a larger profit. However, this would cause a huge inconvenience to consumers because they would only be allowed to purchase one single brand, even if they desired otherwise. Also, Keurig is currently facing a lawsuit for “anti-competitive behaviour” because they are preventing competitors from making a profit and contributing to the self-serve coffee market. As stated in the article, Club Coffee, a Canadian-made self-serve coffee company discovered the use of ultraviolet ink and distributed that information to all of Keurig’s other competitors.  This made Keurigs new point of difference completely irrelevant, and transformed it into a point of parity that is shared between it’s competitors. If Keurig wants to keep it’s profits constant and be number one in the self-serve coffee market, they must come up with a new value proposition, one that is fair to it’s competitors and consumers, while also making them unique.

Ford Adds 1,000 jobs at retooled Oakville plant

The above article describes how Ford is adding 1,000 new jobs to their production plant in Oakville, Ontario. These new positions are available because Ford is planning on redesigning the Edge crossover, and eventually distributing them within the global market. This new goal will ultimately force Ford to rethink and remodel their operations strategy.

The addition of these new jobs will be very beneficial to Ford and it’s employees for several reasons.  First of all, many of the recently laid off employees from two other Ford plants in Ontario, will have the chance to continue working with the same company, while also giving a great opportunity to those who are new to Ford and are currently unemployed. Eventually, Ford wants to distribute the new Edge to 100 different countries, including those that drive on the right-hand side, causing them to rethink the operations strategy within their company. In order to deliver the Edge to more countries, Ford will have the improve the efficiency of the transformation process, in which they design and produce each vehicle. This can be a difficult task for Ford as there are a few factors that can lead to a decrease in productivity such as, training the new employees, and redesigning the new model of the Edge, especially for the right-hand side drivers of the world.  However, with the addition of at least 1,000 new employees, Ford will hopefully reach their goal of redesigning and expanding the market for the Edge crossover.