B.C Hydro’s project plan to construct a dam is mainly to generate clean hydroelectric to cater to the growing population in Canada. Yet in order to do this, part of the First Nation lands must be used with a consequence of flooding and destroying part of their farmlands and wildlife habitat. Of course, the First Nation resisted and opposed the idea, not only will this project plan destroy their land, part of their daily traditions and cultural norms will also be disrupted, such as fishing, hunting and traditional ceremonies which are highly valued within tribes and First Nation communities.

The resistance to change is an example of external factor affecting the planned change, in this case, the First Nation resisting changes to B.C Hydro’s plans due to their strong societal and cultural trends. Though issues regarding land are not uncommon, this particular dispute is regarding the destruction of the environment and a key trend, thus both sides of the debate proposes equally valid arguments. Granted, B.C Hydro’s project plan is arguable to be ‘for the greater good’, yet the people who are greatly affected happens to be the people who have been living in the very same land for generations dating back a complete history of traditions and culture and to suddenly impose a project plan on their land will definitely generate negative responses and strong oppositions.

Sources

• http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html?__federated=1
• http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Premier+urges+cooperation+more+litigation+government+natives+reach+fork+road/10194776/story.html

One of a business’s most important asset are their employees, such as the case with Apple who relies on (to name a few) their engineers, software developers and top quality services. “Here’s Why Working At Apple Is A Dream Job” mentions some of the benefits Apple employees receive such as health or financial reimbursement. But working in an Apple company comes with perks other than benefits they receive from the company. The article talks about how their employees are constantly surrounded by intelligent individuals, which brings out their competitive streaks, good food, transportations and a sense of pride.

The pride Apple employees have working for the company increases their drive and motivation to work harder. Another article mentions an experience a former Apple employee had with nearly missing a deadline but received the motivation from Jobs and finished in time.

As a company with branches all over the world, Apple also relies on their customer service in order to increase the positive image on their brand name and reputation. This exemplifies the importance of employees and the working force in a company as one of the main foundations to the company.

Having the weekend off and going out with the family or friends would describe a typical outing. Then there is the occasional trip to the clothing store, bookstores, cafes, supermarkets and the music store. However, with the rapid change in technology, music is accessible online both legally and illegally.

So how should music stores compete against online music sharing sites? People no longer need to step out of their homes to order albums or even save money by buying their digital albums rather than a physical album. Base on my observations, the number of people looking for and buying from local music stores are declining, I’ve seen many closing down due to increasing rent and decreasing revenue.

Taking HMV as an example, ventured out from being only a music store to adding merchandises, games and even clothing products. This is their strategy to survive in a generation where convenience is everything. Thus, the inevitable happened. Despite their attempts to save the retail stores by venturing out with other products, it proves to be less than enough to compensate for the fast changing market. HMV becomes one example of how differentiating themselves from competitors may still not be enough for them to survive.

Based on an article posted on Fitch ratings about the increase of competition in the smartphone business. When people think of smartphones, they are generally more likely to think about Samsung and Apple. Their brand names have made them market leaders and is mostly what people look for when buying smartphones. However, with the high interest in smartphones there are bound to be more and more people interested in becoming part of the market and possibly taking over Samsumg or Apple’s position.

A perfect example would be China’s smartphone Xiaomi. After its release, Xiaomi have successfully become a favorite in China and even surpassing Apple in terms of generated revenue. In an interview with CNN, Lei Jun (founder of Xiaomi), talked about wanting to branch out on a global scale with Google as their first foreign partner. Although it is possible to branch out Internationally, I wonder just how far can they really go. Chinese products may be famous within China, but with Apple, Samsung and other Smartphone companies continuously updating their software and launching new phones, it would be difficult to set themselves apart.

This theory is also based on my experience with Wechat (a social media application). China is known to block social medias such as Facebook and in recent news, Instagram. However, they allow Wechat to be accessed domestically and internationally. Yet there are far too many social media applications to compete with big names such as Facebook, Twitter and many others. Thus the idea of using yet another type of social media (in this case wechat) to people who have access to something like Facebook or Line, would generally discourage them as there are little that they offer to set themselves apart from each other.

Therefore in my opinion, big names such as Apple, Facebook, Samsung have had a huge advantage in terms of branding and reputation that it makes it that much harder for other companies to try and compete with them.