This is a response to an external business blog.

The blog I have chosen to respond to, is Amy Porterfeild’s blog on “how to attract leads on Instagram.” Her blogs are generally about breaking down how to attract attention on social media sites, specifically Facebook, and how these can generate extra revenue for your company. In this blog/podcast she discusses how to gain popularity on Instagram. She discusses how taking meaningful and informative pictures can be an effective tool to gain success. She always mentions how is is important to be established on Instagram before it hits “critical mass.” She also talks about making your posts interactive almost like a magazine spread to showcase your business. Taking advantage of the 15 second video is also an effective tool. Making the video concise, entertaining and informative can be a challenge but if done correctly can be great tool to help grow and expand your business. This blog is intended to help out small business achieve and I found it informative and engaging.

http://www.amyporterfield.com/2014/10/how-to-attract-leads-on-instagram/

One of the hottest topics in Vancouver recently has been Uber. The ride sharing company, founded in San Francisco, has been growing substantially since 2009 and has received great success worldwide but particularly in the US. The company is valued at 18 billion dollars. That is insane. Uber first entered Canada through Toronto but has hit a hiccup since trying to enter other major Canadian cities. I want to focus on Vancouver.

Recently, Uber has started an online petition and has received over 10 000 signatures. The problem is the Taxi companies. They do not appreciate the competition that Uber will bring and are preparing to file a lawsuit if need be. My issue is this. Vancouver has a shortage of taxis and part of that is due to city bylaws and with the addition of Uber I do not believe it will hurt the taxi business. I believe that it alleviate the strain on them and more importantly, alleviate the congestion in Vancouver. Vancouver is most congested city in North America and Uber can help cut the traffic down and have a positive affect on the environment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/11/07/uber-petition-vancouver_n_6124740.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2014/06/09/are-investors-nuts-to-value-uber-at-18-billion-in-a-few-years-thatll-seem-like-a-bargain/

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/taxi-companies-start-national-anti-uber-campaign

This is a response to Mark Graham’s blog post about “Big Brother Marketing”

I agree with what he is saying and wanted to dig a little deeper into the topic. To sum it up, Mark is saying that large companies, such as Google or Facebook, monitor our use and device marketing schemes that are personally catered toward the consumer. I personally am fine with that. Some people may disagree and argue that it is against our rights to privacy. The fact of the matter is that Internet is not a private place, your Google searches are not private, your Facebook wall is not private. In my opinion, people should be more educated in the fact that these are not their sites and that there are consequences in using them. Personally i prefer advertisements that are catered toward me and for the companies it is a more efficient way of marketing

“If you look at the difference between spending $300,000 to buy a 30-second spot on “Dancing with the Stars’ vs. spending $300,000 on very targeted and measurable digital campaigns — given the proliferation of data and what you know about your customers — I think you have a much greater shot of doing the latter,”

http://adage.com/article/news/marketers-big-brother-bad/234290/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/markgraham/2014/10/05/big-brother-marketing/

This blog post will relate to what I learned about entrepreneurship and relate it to someone I look up to, Chip Wilson. He was born in Calgary and started his own retail company in 1979. He then endeavored on starting the company Lululemon Athletica in 1998. He grew this business exponentially until selling a majority in the company in 2005 and eventually going public in 2007. He is an icon in Vancouver. He set out and accomplished a feat that few others have, and all be it in the retail industry. I admire the growth of the company and the legacy that the brand is. After hearing Nolan Watson and Ian Crosby speak to our class, it motivated me to want to start my own company and achieve the success of having your business grow and thrive. I know that it will not be easy but I am prepared to put in the work.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/lululemon-founder-to-sell-half-his-stake-to-private-equity-firm/article19961793/

This blog post will relate first nations issues to the world of business, particularly sports. The sports world at times has not been the most politically correct. But this time, there is a public outcry. The well know National Football League Team, the Washington Redskins, have received numerous messages ordering them to change their name. Some first nations groups consider the term “redskin” offensive, similar to the n-word. And the public has responded as well. There has been numerous protests and even a commercial that aired during a prominent Redskins game early in the season. How does this relate to business? According to Forbes.com, the NFL’s revenue is about 9 billion dollars per year, the Washington Redskins team is valued at 2.4 billion dollars, and the owner, Dan Snyder’s net worth is 20 million dollars. Money rules the sports world today. And if the owner believes that the name change will have an adverse affect on the team’s value, then it is up to him to decide whether to change the name or not. There is a lot at stake. Although the name is unethical and I also believe that they should change their name, the owner is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/nfl/washington-redskins-controversy-3-things-you-need-to-know-1.2784255

http://www.forbes.com/teams/washington-redskins/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/producers/dan-schneider-net-worth/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/monteburke/2013/08/17/how-the-national-football-league-can-reach-25-billion-in-annual-revenues/

Class 20: Social Enterprise and The Arc Initiative

“If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the arc or social enterprise”

This is a valid question to ask, but i believe that we would still need these initiatives. To ask this question, one would have to fully trust and believe not only in the UN but just in the simple fact that one organization can change the world. I believe that this thinking is flawed.

Although the UN is a global organization that has the support of many countries, it cannot solve every problem by itself. But with initiatives such as the Arc and social enterprise in general, it can be one step closer. Call me pessimistic but i believe that there will always be injustice, a divide between the rich and the poor and problems such as poverty. This is beyond the control of the these initiatives and even the UN. This is how the world has been since the beginning of time. Some people are more fortunate than others and we should be grateful for that. But i do believe that the Arc and social enterprise do very good work. They help supply the resources and knowledge for people to succeed and end the circle of poverty.

This post is a response to Jeremy Chan’s post on the aviation industry. In his post he discusses the supply chain crunch that both Boeing and Airbus face. With the increasing demand for planes, Boeing and Airbus face shortages for manufacturing resources. I agree with him in the fact that they cannot satisfy the demand, but I do not agree with the fact that there is no foreseeable change in the supply chain. The two companies must change their supply chain, otherwise they will lose millions of dollars. One option that I conceived was maybe a merger between the two companies. Because the two companies are in vulnerable situation, a new competitor could enter the market and thrive but if they merge they can eliminate that. If the merge they could also streamline they’re supply chain and operations and make it more efficient. The two companies could produce the best quality planes and keep the trust instilled within both companies from the airline companies. It is a win-win situation for both companies.

Sources:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/jdchan/

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21621851-fixing-one-supply-chain-problem-planemakers-may-be-creating-another-good-parts

http://www.freudenberg.com/en/Press/Pressereleases/Pages/Auftrieb-für-den-Airbus-A350.aspx

What effect will it have on the economy?

By now most people know the situation in Hong Kong. Thousands are protesting for greater democratic rights. The protests have been going on for almost a week and  I wanted to know how it has affected or will affect the economy. The protests have certainly affected the local economy because of the blockage of roads which is causing major delays in traffic. As a result, the protests have lost the support of some local business owners. Another immediate impact of the protests is the decline in the tourism industry which combined with the retail industry makes up to 10% of they’re gross domestic product. The fact that most businesses in Hong Kong have close relations with the mainland is causing adverse affects as well. With the mainland cracking down on corruption and the property market slowing down, the retail industry in Hong Kong is suffering. Combine that with the protests and it has been a sharp decline the past week. If the mainland were to intervene, then China’s economy would suffer. They would be seen as unstable therefore losing foreign investment in the country. Although the protests are for good reason, they are not without consequence.

Sources:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-04/economic-cost-spurs-some-in-hong-kong-to-oppose-student-protests.html

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-30/hong-kong-protests-trigger-new-worries-for-chinas-economy

Tesco’s Accounting Scandal

It has recently been reporting that Britain’s largest grocer, Tesco, was involved in a massive accounting scandal. The company had overstated its first half expected profits by 250 million euros. The FCA is now investigating the matter to determine whether this was genuine mistake or a deliberate cover up. Tesco’s shares also dropped by 3%, marking they’re lowest stock level since 2003. This all happening under new CEO David Lewis who was forced to suspend four senior managers. This matter involves both managerial and financial accounting. As we learned in class, there are certain standards that must be adhered to with regards to financial accounting. These are standards are the same for all companies and are clearly outlined. I’m assuming that if Tesco deliberately overstated, it was because they’re sales must have been diminishing and in order to keep they’re stakeholders happy, they had no choice but to overstate. If FCA concludes that this was done on purpose, then some people could be in some serious trouble and face either hefty fines or jail time. This has an adverse affect on Britain’s economy because Tesco has almost 500 000 employees and is a blue chip stock.

Sources:

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21620227-booking-revenues-comedy-all-about-timing-not-so-funny

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/01/uk-tesco-probe-idUKKCN0HQ33L20141001

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/01/tesco-investigated-fca-accounting-scandal

Hey everyone! This is my first blog post on business ethics. The main point that i took away from the reading, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profit”,  is that companies are now responsible for the ecological and social side affects of their economic activities. They  should not be solely driven by the pursuit of profit but rather stand for something greater than themselves. Companies now have responsibilities to fulfill to show that they care about issues other than profits. This is evident in the article “CVS Vows to Quit Selling Tobacco Products”. CVS, America’s largest drugstore chain in overall sales, announced that by October they were going to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products.

This is in direct correlation with business ethics because CVS wanted its brand to promote health and wellness and could not accomplish that by selling tobacco. Tobacco is known to cause high blood pressure and heart disease and CVS did not want to be connected with that. They forecast that they will lose about 2 billion dollars in sales but that in hindsight is a minor loss in protecting their brand name. CVS is a primary example in merging business and ethics.