This is a response to Anna Baek’s post on soccer companies’ and unprotected workers https://blogs.ubc.ca/annabaek/2013/10/04/soccer-companies-and-unprotected-workers/#comment-2
It is evident through the article that in deed soccer companies have their product made in countries where the workers are mistreated. They include minors and adults who are poor. From an ethical perspective, this highly unacceptable especially in a world where every worker is entitled to fair working conditions and decent salary. However, the issue is more complex than it seems. The soccer balls are outsourced from small companies who act as contractors and in many cases are not answerable to the big companies. Major companies are constantly in a rush to get contractors who can supply them in time. Moreover, majority of the contractors are usually from the home countries .Yes, it is unfair to the poor who are exploited, but I view it as a government responsibility to ensure its people are working in safe environments.

This is in response to Bailey Becker’s post on BBM expansion https://blogs.ubc.ca/baileybecker/2013/11/16/bbm-expansion/
The Black Berry Messenger is an application used for texting and sending of images across phones. With its recent release to android and Iphone smart phones, the application has attracted quite a large attention from the large and growing market for smart phones. Moreover, this enables black berry to penetrate to through its competitors and still make some profits. However, considering the wide variety of applications already in the market, like whatsApp, face book messenger among others, the competition is indeed tough. More interestingly, the release of the application to phones from competing brands makes Black Berry lose its point of difference. Potential customers may therefore not see the point of buying black berry phones if the same application can be accessed in other phones. Although this may be viewed as an insignificant decision, the repercussions may be disastrous to the already struggling black berry brand. I agree with Bailey that this will indeed be harmful for Black Berry.

Video:Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Talks With Neil Cavuto About Controversial Gun Banning Announcement
This is response to AvijitSingh’sblog post, https://blogs.ubc.ca/avijitsingh.The CEO for Starbucks, Mr. Schultz has decided to take a difficult but definitive action in publicly stating the company’s stand for the general public. In a diverse society where people have different cultural backgrounds, values and attitudes; quite often some groups feel threatened or insecure ad thus justify the need to carry firearms in all places they go to. On the other hand, some people may carry guns for vicious purposes, intentionally targeting to attack others. Some people like the police and security agents have to carry guns since they may be called to duty any time. This depicts the complexity of the issue.
However, every organization has to have its own culture and values. These determine how the organization is perceived by the public and affects the customer relations. By banning the possession of guns in all the star bucks’ stores, Mr. Schultz has demonstrated great leadership that need to be embraced by other managers. I therefore agree that this is a definitive move for the CEO but more importantly for the company’s public image

In this article, a South African firm interested in the production of phones plans to produce its smart phones in South Africa. The phones will initially be partly assembled in China and partly in South Africa, and over time the production will fully shift to South Africa. The main target market is the African continent.
Considering the tough competition from the giant firms like Samsung and Apple, the possibility of a new firm to enter the industry and make profits is considerably difficult. Further, the phones do not seem to be coming with any unique features that would be the points of difference from those of competitors. Selling the phones at a considerably cheap price, combined with the strength of being a home-produced commodity might slightly be competitive advantages. However, majority customers usually prefer more expensive phones associated with a strong brand image, and this may greatly lower the sales of the cheaper South African phones.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/african-and-mideast-business/south-african-firms-phones-to-be-made-in-africa-for-africa/article14994205/

Envirofit, a social enterprise company based in the United States has partnered with Business Call to Action (BCTA) to supply cook stoves in Kenya, in an attempt to reduce green house gases. BCTA is an organization which aims at developing business models that have development impacts alongside commercial purposes. Through this move, Envirofit hopes to reduce the pollution levels through the sale of about 150000 cook stoves.
Clearly this move will contribute to a better environment through reduced pollution levels. Moreover, the locals are likely to benefit through the creation of jobs. However, the impact may be short-lived since the project is expected to last for only two years. Furthermore, with a Kenyan population of over 40 million, 150 000 cook stoves will not be sufficient to have a reasonably large impact. If the aim is to minimize the green house gases to a high degree, the two partners need to increase the supply of cook stoves and perhaps lower the cost so that more people can afford them.

With the continually improving technology, businesses have no option but embrace every technological change in order to keep up with the competition. According to this article, Kenya is currently rated the top country globally in embracing the mobile-commerce technology. This is largely the result of easy access to cell phones compared to computers and relatively fewer banking systems. But more importantly is the quick pace with which most Kenyan firms have embraced the mobile payment for their transactions. This indeed gives local (Kenyan) firms a competitive advantage to in the East African as well as sub-Saharan region, which should translate to increased efficiency hence lower costs for the firms. In fact, businesses now do not have to use sales persons in their commercials as majority of the people use handsets to get information about products or services they are interested in buying.

Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayo-rgayDJE

External link: http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Kenya-ranked-top-globally-in-mobile-commerce-revolution/-/1248928/2053614/-/bskj6p/-/index.html

Recently, there has been an emphasis on businesses to practice work ethics. In this article, Jenkins, the
Barclays’ CEO has declared that employees must sign up to practice ethics or leave. But more interestingly, the employees’
Bonuses will also come along with their ethical practices at work. Barclays has about 140,000 employees, each expected to sign
up for the five key values: Respect, Integrity, Purpose, stewardship and excellence. Considering that the C.E.O
is new, these changes bring in a different work culture for the Barclays’ employees . But Jenkins has made it
mandatory for the employees to embrace and commit to these values or leave.
The fact that employees in a world-wide firm like Barclays cannot exercise ethics until threatened to lose their
bonuses demonstrates a dented work culture. The banking industry is one that requires a high level of customer relationship for
the growth of any firm. In fact, it should be made compulsory for employees to uphold these values before they are employed.
Furthermore, such a culture should remain strong in the firm, as it enhances productivity and healthy work environment for the
employees themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21064590

Activist investors destroying companies, costing jobs: Top corporate lawyer
This article is about how Activist investors are destroying companies and causing unemployment. According to Martin Lipton (a US corporate lawyer), the shareholders are ‘becoming too powerful’ and in the long run may result into companies getting weaker. According to Lipton, companies with activist shareholders ‘disappear within 2.5 years’. He adds that management-centric governance focuses on long-term goals of the company compared to the shareholder-centric governance.
However, while the management may focus on the long-term success of the firm, there is no doubt the shareholder centric governance looks at the bigger picture in a company. In most cases, the management will focus on maximizing revenue. This is indeed a good thing since the main objective of every firm is to make profits. However, Lipton seems to overlook the fact that firms need to carry out their social responsibilities like environmental protection and sustainability, among others. If the firm is only able to make profits but cannot create a shared value, then it is of less benefit to society. Therefore, activist shareholders are beneficial to firms.

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/10/8/Activist-investors-destroying-companies-costing-jobs-Top-corporate-lawyer.aspx

Goldman slashes pay as revenue plunges
According to this article, Goldman Sachs has slashed employee compensation following a reduction in the revenue generated by the company. While the estimated returns by financial analysts was $2.43 per share and a higher revenue, the actual share price rose to $2.88 per share while the total revenue dropped by 20%. In response, the company set aside 35% of its revenue as employee compensation rather than the usual 43% of its revenue.
While this move reduces the costs and thus makes sense financially, it however punishes the employees for mistakes they are never responsible for. Therefore, it is unethical for the company to cut the employee payment following only a one-time drop in the revenue. Furthermore, the drop in revenue occurred across the whole industry as rival firms like Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase & Co. as well as City Group also reported similar losses. The pay cut may also result to reduced motivation for work which may harm the productiveness of the firm and possibly lead to further drops in output.

Sharp, an electronics company is shifting to the production of Strawberries.  According to this article, the huge losses incurred by the company in the last three years have propelled it to quit the Electronics Industry and join the Agricultural Industry. With the use of the technology, the company hopes to venture into this new industry and hopefully make high profits by the beginning of the next decade.

However, I see this as another huge risk compared to staying in the Electronics Industry. This is because the company will have to start from the scratch in its agricultural production, in the production of something that it has no experience at all. In addition, such a move will result in a high level of unemployment for its employees. However, with in the Electronics Industry, the firm has stayed there for some time and probably needed to maneuver around things like more research and a few other adjustments to test the possibility of keeping up with the level of competition. Even in the worst case scenario, a merger with another company would probably help the company survive the tough competition.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-27/forget-tvs-dot-sharp-sees-a-future-in-strawberry-farming