Kevin Li Blog

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2014/07/26/Tsilhqotin-With-Gloves/

What happens when a indigenous population sitting on a heap of gold crosses a multinational organization that attempts to do whatever it takes to extract it? The result is what happens in Canada in the Nemiah valley in the region known as the Tsilhoqt’in region. The indigenous populations that live there have been known for its protection of the natural environment in which it depends on for the sake of survival resulting in multiple conflicts. An example would be in the late 1800s where the construction of a road leading to the Cariboo Goldfields was stopped by the murder of several road workers. The level of social unrest eventually led to the road not being developed in the end.

A deal was set when a declaration was signed in 1989 which basically said that no form of construction or extraction of minerals can take place on any major lakes in the area. This rule was reinforced later on when huge deposits of copper and gold were discovered near a fish lake, it was also announced that companies want to completely destroy the lake in order to obtain the minerals. After aggressive protests, the Canadian high court decided that from that point on, if any organization wants to perform any construction of any kind on their land they will need legal consent from the Tsilhoqt’in people.

The fact that the copper and gold can’t be mined has no negative impact on the current market for both those metals; however what they lose are the potential benefits they may receive if that wasn’t the case. The firms that are heavily impacted the most by this may be jewelry and metal work firms where suppliers may have difficulties in providing demanded quantity of resources. This can potentially affects a firm’s output hence its ability to compete with other competitions.

Both gold hand copper are highly valued in the global market for function and other criteria. Gold in particular is pretty rare in terms of being to excavate in large quantities including the processes required to obtain it. Many organizations need gold leading to its high demand. From an economics point of view, the decrease in supply will lead to an increase in price and costs. There may be a sudden increase in supply of gold if the fish lake were to be exploited which may have the effect of alleviating pressures on prices which multiple firms can benefit from.

Overall, the restriction on both these metals may have the most significant impact on the local industry which do not rely on foreign imports as heavily. In the assumption that the gold were to be obtained and passed onto them, it will lead to increased output which can be vital in terms of their ability to compete with foreign competition.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/60000-redmi-1s-phones-go-out-of-stock-in-139-seconds-says-xiaomi-600044

Xiaomi is a phone producing firm that produces primarily smart phones. The article refers to their sales in India where they rack up some amazing numbers from flash sales including selling 40,000 phones in a mere 4.5 seconds.

Their success in the form of their sales can be classified into two separate business strategies Porters generic strategies including cost leadership and focus strategy. For the functions the Xiaomi phone has, its performance/specs and visuals are similar to iphones. Using the latest iphone 6 (6000HKD) as an example, the Xiaomi sells for almost half its price(~3000HKD) for nearly the same features which is one of its attractive qualities. Comparable to other major phone companies such as Samsung and LG, Xiaomi’s low price serves as a great alternative to a expensive luxury smart phone which will be one of the main reasoning behinds its successes in India as stated in the article.

As for focus strategy,unlike major phone companies, Xiaomi is only purely aimed at the Asian market. This is supported by the fact that apart from online ordering, Xiaomi is only available in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. Since the market is so focused within a specific region, it means it will be easier for developers to receive better feedback from the target market consumers and be able to make changes based on that, making it more appealing for them.

My views on this is that there are many negatives of the method in which they are using. The negatives of their cost leadership strategy is that because their price is so much lower. Their revenue gain per unit sold will be less compared to other phone companies. Despite this, the quantities they are able to sell within a short span of time may be able to compensate for this. Another disadvantage of this lies in the fact is that they only sell within Asian markets. If xiaomi were to expand its territories and sell in western countries, the low cost may appeal to more consumers hence increasing revenues as a whole.

As for the advantages, the opposite side of the coin for focusing on an Asian market is that they will be able to receive better quality advice and suggestions from the target market so developers will know what the general populous wants. This way they will be able to sell more in their target market.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-02/7-eleven-sells-cold-pressed-juice-and-other-healthy-foods-in-la

Competition between firms have never been more intense than now, today even convenient stores are trying to rise up to the challenge trying to obtain any advantage over other convenient store brands. Living through a busy lifestyle simply means that personal hygiene and nutrition is more important than ever, 711 in Los Angeles decided to join in the fray and began to provide healthier foods including salad, fresh fruits and sandwiches in addition to its current selection of goods. As of now, over 100 711 stores have begun to sell these products in the ultimate goal of healthy eating.

711’s improvements in product variety is an example of a business strategy specifically a focus strategy in product differentiation. As a pose to selling slurpees, coffee and other goods, 711 is aims their new products at consumers who wish to pursue a healthy eating style diversifying the amount of consumer markets they can satisfy. Even though 711 has its successes in producing and promoting healthy eating, it appears that slurpees are more attractive than the new products leaving a taste of bitterness in its owners.

My view on this matter is that 711 were responding to the demands of the consumer. Through the 711 app, introduction of healthy food was a demand often put forward leading to this eventuality. However, other convenient stores and super markets already provide these kind of products already for a similar price. So i would say that 711 where slow in this instance to finally achieving this stage in the market. However as 711 is so easy to find, they may have the ability to sell more healthy foods as a while compared to its current competition.

Is that really beef in your lasagna?

The context of the blog to which I am responding to is a situation in which a super store otherwise known as Aldi has been lying to customers in regards to the composition of the food product. Where instead of pure beef, there is also an addition of horse meat with the ratio ranging from 30-100%. Cecilia specifically commented on the lasagna. It was also mentioned that the Aldi refused to accept its undoings and push all the blames to its supplier Comigel into supplying horse meat without their consent. In addition to the dishonesty Aldi and Comigel has presented to its consumers, there are other points in which I would like to put forward.

As far as hygiene issues go, there have not been any cases in which horse meat has any negative health effects. And potentially the reasoning behind his act may root from a desire to reduce costs or maximize profits.

The biggest breach of ethics performed in the whole scandal is the dishonesty and lack of responsibility. The suppliers from France and Ireland were the ones that chose to supply horse meat instead of beef., they would think that as long as the label on the final product labels “pure beef” they would be able to rid of the problems. But now that the truth has been revealed, not only has the reputation of the super store been affected but the trust between retailer and supplier. This can result in trust issues in future which can affect transactions. This also has a negative impact on the trust of the consumer for the brand. With this information disclosed, consumers may find it hard again to purchase the same good when there is still the distinct possibility that they are not buying what they truly think they are buying. This level of dishonesty is sure to give current consumers an incentive to try other goods. The fact that some companies already knew of this scandal and chose to keep quiet about is a deceptive to retailers and consumers. The level of trust has been diminished so much that it was stated in the article that “this does not affect school catering” as an attempt to maintain loyalty.

Finally there is deception. Keeping company secrets and refusing to accept responsibility is more of a cowardly act which ones again all comes down to reputation as a whole.

My personal opinion on this matter is that there was a certain level of acceptance of the events that happened, mainly because as far as hygiene goes the food was still safe to consumer and would not provide any harmful affect. However there is more wrong than right, deceit and dishonesty is severely harmful in the loyalty and trust in the company which can affect potential sales in the future. The fact that the company knew and chose to keep quiet about it only adds insult to injury.