Monthly Archives: September 2013

Blackberry is attempting to diminish its extreme losses by cutting off 4,500 jobs which equals to 40% of its workforce. The company anticipated a loss of around 995 million dollars for its second-quarter earnings reports next week. The losses were essentially attributed to the unsuccessful sales of its new  Z10 model smartphone. Only 2.7 million Z10 phones out of 6.8 million had shipped. Blackberry’s incapability of following today’s necessities and wants has made itself sailed down a cliff.

Its marketing techniques, which ultimately targets business men, has failed to drive the company into stable profitability. One of the methods of recovery would be reducing the Z10’s price, about a 20%, to resume its sales. It is a better idea to gain less profit from a product than having a complete loss. Hence, the phone’s sales would be directed to a different customer segment, and there would be a higher chance for Blackberry to ship more of its Z10s. Blackberry should instead cut off only 25% of its job, and invest the other 15% in hiring advisors that specialize in innovation.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323808204579083250005557232

This article highlights how Wal-Mart used bribery in Mexico. Wal-Mart saw Elda Pineda’s alfalfa field, a place next to the town’s main entrance and pyramids, as an ideal location as they predicted it would attract 250 customers per hour. However, the town’s elected leaders created a new zoning map which prohibited commercial development near the pyramids. A $52,000 bribe took place to overcome the obstacle. The zoning map doesn’t become effective until it’s been published and the bribe prevented this from happening. This violation affected traditional public markets, which ultimately drove to hunger strikes.

Wal-Mart has become a threat to local businesses and the entire community has been affected by it. It should relocate itself since it wouldn’t be much of a difference as it is most of people’s preference to shop at big companies. Mexico could create a slightly higher tax rate for international large retailers to support Mexico’s local businesses. This additional taxation would be for the purpose of providing resources to Mexicans living below the poverty rate. The government should expel the officials involved in the bribery and prevent this from happening again by enforcing anti-bribery policies.

http://www.nytimes.co\m/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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