The UN’s job is to maintain peace among countries and solve world problems. A social entrepreneur is someone who invents a product or business designed to tackle a social problem and create positive change. The UN cannot solve all world problems on its own. The world needs social entrepreneurs to come up with reliable, cost efficient, and easy methods to solve the billions of problems that occur around the world. For example, the ARC initiative helped educate Ms. Tesfaye in how she could turn her business around and make a greater profit to provide for herself. She learned how to reorganize her business strategy by differentiating her business and attracting a larger market. We need ARC and social enterprise to stregthen the economies of impoverished areas and to educate people on how best to run their business and maximize their profits.

Is it possible for Uber to take over the taxi industry? If Uber successfully raises enough money to expand internationally this could be the result. Uber is a service that enables a customer to be picked up and dropped off at the ease of a phone call or request through the app. Taxis are not always easily accessible, take longer to call for, and are expensive. Uber is meant to be a fast, easy, and safe method of transportation when one doesn’t have a method of transportation to get to their destination. If Uber expands internationally, it could destroy the taxi industry because it provides a cheaper service. In addition, Uber is utilized not only in busy areas where taxis patrol, but also in urban settings where there are not usually taxis around. Uber has revolutionized easy transportation when one doesn’t have a car accessible in all kinds of environments, including the city and the suburban areas.

Snapchat became a popular app among young adults for sending photos and videos to friends quickly, and easily. Now, snapchat is expanding their target market and adapting to a form of social media businesses can utilize. Just how companies post ads on Facebook and it shows in the newsfeed, snapchat can be used to target certain consumers by sending snapchats of their product. Snapchat is a social media platform currently underutilized by companies, so the potential to use snapchat as a point of difference is huge. Taco Bell has taken full advantage of snapchat. By sending snapchats of food to consumers, they are more likely to attract customers who are hungry and see a picture of a taco from their phone. As Sujan Patel explains, Taco Bell has a “80% open rate on the snaps they send”, meaning that they advertising is directly being seen by the consumer. This method of advertising is more personal and fast, both of which significantly strengthen a companies marketing strategy.

The demand for oil is continually decreasing, as alternative forms of energy become more popular. “Demand for crude from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may fall to a 14-year low of 28.2 million barrels a day in 2017” causing the price of oil to decrease in order to account for the surplus. Many people are looking towards alternative energy sources to save the environment as well as long term payoff. If the demand for oil becomes to low, many countries whose main export is oil will suffer. The U.S is the largest oil consumer in the world, and still is increasing their consumption, however as people switch to hybrid vehicles such as the Nisaan Leaf and Tesla oil consumption will begin to decrease. How can the oil industry save itself? Oil is eventually going to run out and harms the environment, so it is likely consumer habits will change to protect the environment by using safer forms of energy.

Berkley, California has voted on taxing sugary drinks by 1 cent per ounce. The tax will be paid by the consumers, forcing them to rethink if they want to pay more for a sugary drink verses a more healthy alternative. This initiative may bring awareness to increasing rates of obesity and diabetes in the states as well as in the rest of the world. As Michael Robert states, other cities may follow Berkley in voting to tax sugary drinks. If that happens, the tax will significantly effect the soda/sugary drink industry because less people will be inclined to buy their product. Could this tax potentially destroy the soda industry, if enough people understand the harms of obesity and begin to change their eating habits? Many companies may have to rethink how to reformulate their product to make it healthier to avoid the tax and loss of consumption. Companies with a more health conscious outlook, such as Whole Foods, may begin to take over the food industry in coming years.

L’oréal is extending their product line to include women of color, as it is a market that has not been successfully reached. This will increase their competitive advantage because currently most beauty products do not specifically target different ethnicities. Will other brands such as Revlon, Maybelline, NYC follow? Loreal already spends twice the industry standard on research and development, which means the quality of products for colored women will be better than other brands. Acquiring Carol’s Daughter will potentially be the new ladder L’oréal dominates, because colored women are in an untapped market of the beauty product industry. In addition to encompassing all skin colors, L’oréal is relatively inexpensive and is affordable by most average consumers. Ultimately, L’oréal has found a domain to tremendously increase growth in consumers and revenue.

Enbridge wants to run an oil pipeline in the heart of the Nak’azdli territory, but the Yinka Dene Alliance will not allow it. The possibility of an oil spill would destroy much of their wildlife, which is a source of food for their community. The need and demand for oil is increasing so this project could make a lot of revenue. In order to prevent any damange, Enbridge promises to install shut off valves to minimize any spillage that could occur. However, even with precaution the First Nations are still opposed to the idea of sacrificing their land. This is how an example of how Enbridge has barriers to entry because they cannot begin work without the Nak’azdli support. The risk of loosing their land due to an oil spill is too high to let Enbridge expand their company and build a pipeline.

Is it fair that the internet isn’t taxed, but offline services have to pay more to produce their content? The CRTC is loosing viewers to online services such as Netflix and Youtube, because they are able to provide cheaper services. Although the CRTC is loosing revenue, taxing the internet may not necessarily cause consumers to switch to watching television offline. This would lead to many angry users who would find other ways to access watching television, such as pirating shows and movies. The market for online television is increasing, as it is convenient and inexpensive. The CRTC needs to reshape their business structure, rather than trying to force their competition to pay taxes. This article brings about an interesting point about taxing the internet; should consumers have to pay taxes to use online services? Would this decrease internet use or has the internet become such a necessity that people would agree to pay taxes?

In response to the Toyota Tacoma recall, I think the multiple safety hazards that Toyota has been identified with is slowly degrading their image. As Ellie stated, safety is of high importance when buying a vehicle, so the more news stories that show Toyota isn’t safe will decrease consumers demand for Toyota vehicles. In addition, Toyota customer service was not helpful when people came in with complaints about their vehicle. Relating to value propositions, Toyota should focus on promoting other aspects of the Tacoma vehicle, because their safety image has already been damaged multiple times. Currently Volvo is perceived by the market to have the number one vehicle in safety, so there is no benefit for Toyota trying to compete for that category. Choosing a different ladder is the best option for Toyota to regain lost customers. In addition, if Toyota could control a new ladder they would gain more customers who are focused on innovation rather than the negative qualities of Toyota.

Polaroid has recently been making a come back because of the return of 1980’s fashion. With the new GoPro becoming popular, Polaroid has released a less expensive cube that functions in a similar way to the GoPro. Because of the lower cost and strong brand name of Polaroid, the cube may become more popular than the GoPro. Considering value propositions, Polaroid is a known brand that is releasing a new product to their line. They don’t need to change their brand or differentiate the cube from the GoPro very much because they already have such a strong reputation. In addition, Polaroid cameras are becoming increasingly popular again, so the cube will automatically gain attention when people are looking to buy other Polaroid products. The cube offers practicality, low cost, and strong brand reputation which may put GoPro in a tough spot since they have less of a name, a higher price, and only one major product to offer.