The First Nations of B.C. have rights to many large areas of land in their local communities. Their desire to maintain their ways and traditions on their native land has posed numerous problems for companies that hope to develop aboriginal land. In this article, the First Nations have agreed to a deal with the federal government to begin a phase of development on local land in the Vancouver region of Jericho. This is a great opportunity  for companies as a large region of land has become available for development. This includes the 21-hectare Jericho Garrison region where the popular beach is. First Nations are also looking to building malls and housing on its land. By themselves, neither the First Nations nor development companies can begin development on aboriginal land. Companies did not have the rights, and First Nations did not have the capital. Partnered up, the two parties can make full use of the land. Previous disagreements with the First Nations have always been against developer’s business model; First Nations are important stakeholders who must be convinced to allow any development to take place. Partnering up with the developers will allow First Nations to share the development profit. The agreement is in general beneficial for both parties.

In the midst of the hype surrounding the release of the iPhone 6, Blackberry began selling its new flagship smartphone, the BlackBerry Passport. As mentioned in the article, the phone does not follow conventional designs one may expect from a smartphone. This is what BlackBerry is going for; BlackBerry is trying to appeal to a niche market for business people. I think this is all part of a focus differentiation strategy, and perhaps this is one of the only strategies that can work to BlackBerry’s advantage. In a market dominated by iPhones and Android phones, there is almost no place for BlackBerry phones. There is no incentive for the average phone user to switch from iPhone or Android to BlackBerry when iPhone and Android are seen as being superior. However the BlackBerry Passport can have a market in the among business people who, as the article mentioned, can view spreadsheets  and other productivity functions on the BlackBerry passport which has a wider screen than other smartphones. The wider design is BlackBerry’s way of differentiating from its competitors in order to focus on a niche market. There are always risks that come with differentiation since the unique product may not sell well. For BlackBerry, which is in a bad financial situation, the risks are especially high because should the product fail to sell, the company’s financial situation will further worsen. It seems premature for BlackBerry to plan to release an unconventional device each year when the company is still suffering losses every quarter.

More and more TV companies are at risk of suffering heavy losses as internet media becomes increasingly popular. Companies begin to cancel their TV services due to losses in customers as well as rising costs of carrying programs from larger media companies. Larger TV companies like Comcast will not be affected as much as small cable companies who can no longer sustain their business. The market is shifting towards internet users, so instead of trying to salvage business from the TV market, the small companies should look to create and provide a variety of broadband internet services that tailor to the needs of various people. They can attempt the focus strategy of low cost, so instead of providing both TV and internet services, companies can focus on improving their internet services. Customer loyalty is highly important in this industry, and using a focus strategy allows the company to have this customer loyalty. I think the most important factor in the internet service competition between companies is low cost. Majority of the market is composed of regular households that do not necessarily need customized internet service, so offering a variety of services may not be effective. However, those households put emphasis on having very low cost and stable internet service; customers often switch from one service provider to another not because of better service, but better deals and lower costs. Companies with a larger capital can even give out electronic devices as an incentive to attract new customers or take customers from its competition.