” If  the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise”?

Before addressing this statement, I’d first like to point out United Nations’ goals in comparison to Arc. United Nations current goals, known as the Millennium Development Goals, are a list of eight international development goals . These goals include:

1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. To achieve universal primary education
3. To promote gender equality and empower women
4. To reduce child mortality
5. To improve maternal health
6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. To ensure environmental sustainability
8. To develop a global partnership for development

Whereas, the Arc initiative goal is to “foster ‘bridge building’ with organizations and entities that create a sharing of ideas and knowledge between communities”. This initiative is promoted by unique partnerships with business leaders, faculty members, and young professionals and students, looking to empower other individuals. positively impacting them for the purpose of personal and organizational growth. The powerful impact ultimately becomes a ripple effect, spreading good from one to another, for the betterment of the society.

Unlike United Nations, the Arc initiative promotes positive individualism- for it is a “two-way flow of learning and sharing” of ideas and passion, converging to the goal of developing sustainable business management and leadership capacity. Therefore, creating a ripple effect for individuals to positively impact their local communities, becoming great social entrepreneurs.

“United Nations Millennium Development Goals.” UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/>.

My classmate, Amy Du, recently wrote about the reasons for Abercrombie and Fitch Co. and Hollister Co’s significant decline in sales, particularly in Europe. Amy claims that the dimly lit, yet strongly scented stores are a few reasons for the company’s decline in sales traffic. But those reasons hold true, according to the Business Insider as Amy has cited.

She believes that by removing all logos, creating a more inviting atmosphere, and turning into a fast fashion retailer will tailor to the changing consumer preferences.

In fact, I think Amy nailed it. Abercrombie needs to reconfigure and reshape the store experience, and potentially changing its value proposition. The company initially targets teens and young adults, but due to the sluggish sales, it has transitioned to appeal to an older audience. 

Because the clothing retail industry is extremely competitive, with no sustainable competitive advantages (cost advantage & differentiation advantage) as Michael Porter identified, the company will have no value created, thus soon to experience challenges.

Abercrombie and Hollister need to redefine their target market, as they have fallen out of favor among teens in recent years. Their revamp should feature new assortments, marketing and pricing to target to their original target market- college-aged consumers. In which Amy has suggested in her post, for removing logos, changing the customer experience, and making products more affordable for their target market. 

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In Hye Rin (Juliet) Choi’s blog post, “Future Employees Shape Organizational Culture” , she discusses the impact millennials will have in reshaping the definition of organizational culture in future years  based on Ray William’s article. The definition for organizational culture, “a pattern of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an organization” will soon become beliefs and patterns based on the trends set by the millennials. Juliet believes that as the millennial group become the dominant group in the workforce, this group will soon have more authority in dictating a more effective culture within an organization.

I agree with Juliet and Williams to a certain extent. Based on my previous blog post on William Craig’s views on company culture, it won’t be soon for the millennial group to promote change in the workplace. As what Craig claims, culture is currency, and a currency that not every individual can afford. Not only do most individuals accept work where they can find, corporate culture is something that pre-exists even before the company hires any employees. Craig argues corporate culture is a genetic code that the sole proprietor brings originally. For this reason, it is an extremely challenging task for both parties, the employer and employees to find an equilibrium point where both parties are satisfied. At most times, the employer will  require prospective employees to conform simply because of the nature of economics. Therefore, it is improbable for organizational culture to reflect on the employee’s values and customs as Juliet claims.

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During my visit to the mall today, I realized something was different. Most retailers and stores now stock a range of Christmas decorations, and some even decorated the store. Retailers like Target and Canadian Tire offer Christmas products just recently, but Costco was first to have Christmas trees readily available to  purchase as early as before Halloween.  But what’s the hurry? Why are retailers racing to fill their shelves with Christmas products when November just began?

Linking to a few classes ago, I can imagine this race is a response to results based on market research. My assumption, in response to the results of the resarch done, retailers are trying to match consumer demands for early Christmas shopping. In fact, it is true that there is demand for retailers to begin early. Based on the survey done by National Retailers Federation, 40.4% begin Christmas shopping before Halloween and 40.9% start in November. The reasons for shopping early: 61.9% agree that early shopping helps spread spending, 51.7% avoid holiday crowds, and 51% want to avoid stress of last minute shopping.

I understand that retailers are responding to consumer demands, but is it truly demands raised by consumers? It is debatable whether early Christmas shopping is influenced by retailers, promoting the sense of urgency for  consumers to conform. I consider November as a month for remembrance, for Remembrance Day is on the eleventh of November. I strongly believe that retailers should display Christmas products only after Remembrance Day as a tribute to remember and respect the brave soldiers who fought for our freedom. Brett Wilson (ex Dragon on Dragon’s Den) also strongly believes that retailers should hold off putting Christmas decorations before Remembrance Day.

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