Monthly Archives: November 2013

This one will be contradicting Nicole Poon’s blog post. While most people were all serious in the room when Michael Hallat was giving us a glimpse on his business “Pirate Joe’s”, I couldn’t contain my laughter. My laughter wasn’t because of me making fun of him, but because of how incredible I thought he was. This fact maybe derived because of my culture, which goes back to my hometown, the Dominican Republic. Corruption is a real matter in my country, most people who are successful went against the “business ethics” at some point. In this case, I consider Hallat an unbelievably wise business man.

It’s evident that Canadians follow the line way more than most of us do, but reselling products of a company that is not established near your location at all, is not an unethical action. It is rather an opportunity. I would say that Mike Hallat’s business is instead a bridge that benefits Trader Joe’s. For some reason, after being sued several times, Mike Hallat’s Pirate Joe’s remains alive. What damages is the pirate bringing to society? none. Is he bringing  any benefits? yes, he’s satisfying Trader Joe’s fans needs.

McDonald’s, hasn’t introduced enough variety to keep its customer base. On the other hand, Burger King has been luring business way from McDonald’s by offering a more family-friendly variety of food, which was part of McDonald’s culture.

After reading Eeanne Lee’s blog post on Burger King’s new “Satisfries”, I can reassure that Burger King has been surpassing in the game by introducing not only new menu items, but healthy choices at the same time.  The new “Satisfries” have 30% less calories and 40% less fat. This fact satisfies some consumers’ needs by achieving the detail of being a company of fast food but also getting every time closer to being a health conscious company. By introducing the new  “Satisfries”, Burger King will definitely gain more market share. This could even turn to be a way of dominating the fast food market niche as they are widening their target segment with the new “Satisfries” and without any doubt, their upcoming varieties. I agree with Eeanne, in the sense that Burger King should have the product permanently. Burger King should keep on implementing more health conscious strategies, which would ultimately make the company more profitable.

Video: “Satisfries made me satisfied”

Merging Canada and the United States would fulfill each nation’s thirst: Canada would benefit from the technology and capital that the United States offer; United States would get natural resources, and higher living standards. Nevertheless, it is estimated that Canada would over contribute approximately $17 trillion, which equals the total U.S debt.

A Toronto Star poll asked Canadians if they would agree to a merger with the U.S if they each received $500,000. Not even a 38 percent agreed. Maybe Canadians go along the American’s stereotype, but it is evident that you just couldn’t pay Canadians to be Americans. The merger would solve each nation’s problems, but it is just nearly impossible. Canadian culture can’t compare to the American culture, Canadians are just way more humble and humane. The United States’ national debt  and racial issues would  just create chaos and damage Canada’s social and economic stability.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-13/canadians-you-couldnt-pay-us-to-be-americans#r=most popular

In April 2011 the South Korean Apple sued Samsung for plagiarizing the design of

its iPhone and iPad tablet phones. Samsung responded with a countersuit, accusing Apple of also violating its patents. According to Apple, consumers have bought more iPhone and iPad models if Samsung had not offered a similar aesthetic model and therefore South Korea claimed a compensation of U.S $2500 million in damages. Samsung fought providing internal documents to corroborate phone working on that design before Apple’s launch to the market. The case went to the U.S. courts in 2012 and a jury ended up giving Apple the right.

The South Korean company was ordered to pay compensation to its competitor to U.S $1,000 million, leading to this main comment, which is correct because Samsung’s popularity is based on the theft of Apple’s originality. After reading Badenhausen’s article, I can say that innovation just doesn’t go along with Samsung as they admitted, in other words, that their culture is based on a imitation strategy. Apple is constantly creating new technology, which makes them a real technology company.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/11/06/apple-dominates-list-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-brands/