“Strengthen your network by making meaningful connection” – Response to External Blogs

After having taken part in Jumpstart, one of our very first lectures had been about discussing the importance of networking in the world of Business. Although I have been informed since the very beginning of my middle school and was constantly reminded, I had moments when I thought the concept was a bit too exaggerated. Its most likely due to my introverted personality that makes it difficult for me to be a social butterfly, hoever I’ve come to realize just how important it is as I learn each day.

The blog written by Dõna Storey highlighted exactly that, why networking is relevant in every aspect of a business. Opportunities arise from the more people you know, conferences allows you to share your ideas and get to know others who may or may not be of help later in the future, and they opens up customer loyalties and marketing and many others.

I’ve come across a phrase that I thought was astonishing to me personally, it was something along the lines of ‘you’re only 6 people away from knowing anyone in the world’, which stresses out even more of it’s importance in business. Not only does it bring great benefits to the business, it can also develop social skills, one that will come in handy as its mentioned in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ‘Love/Belonging, also known as Social’ is one of the factors that drives motivation in an individual.

With its clear, precise goals and objectives, the United Nations managed a steady line of operations for Social, Economical and Security worldwide. So the real question here is, why do we need Social Enterprise or initiatives like ‘The Arc’ if we can simply get funding from the UN?

The answer is simple; Social Entrepreneurship is society’s means for an innovative and revolutionary world, whereas the Arc initiative is a form of collaboration between Sauder, South Africa, Rwanda and several others as a means of gaining experiences and developing the economy. For example, in the case of Salem Kassahun who needed to expand her production to meet the growing demands for her baskets known for their designs, funding from the UN could’ve been sufficient to rent out a factory, but does not consider the long-term costs and effect, thus leaves out the possibility for them to innovate and explore different scenarios. Having said that, joining the Arc initiative then allowed her to dwell into the world of management, marketing and finance, which resulted in finding the best alternate course of action.

In other words, The Arc initiative and social entrepreneurship create pathways to different possibilities for small businesses to grow and develop. Not only are they beneficial to the businesses they work with, they benefit the economy significantly. On the other hand, UN funding will only be assistance in the short term and will not be a lasting solution.

Cecilia Wu’s blog regarding Airbnb, “Airbnb: Finding a Unique Place to Stay” caught my attention as it talks about the easy and quick service as well as a trustworthy ‘platform between hosts and customers’. I’d like to add my opinion on the matter, as I believe that in the 21^st century, convenience is key to a successful product and services.

As time moves forward, more and more are being invented in order to ease societal life, as a result, demands for ‘something new’ and ‘innovative’ keeps increasing in such a rapid scale that its nearly a gamble whether starting up a business, or launching a product will be a success or not. Hence, Airbnb is in fact, one of the services which innovated itself in a way that allow society for an easy access to vacation or temporary living spaces.

Similar to online shopping, one only needs to simply go to their website, create an account, find a suitable spot and communicate with the host whether the unit is available or not. This can also be said as a new and less costly way for the hosts to advertise their units, as an alternate to posting ads on the newspaper or magazines.

Response to Hui Lai’s “Successful Advertising Can Be More Than Advertising”.

After reading Hui Lai (Stella)’s article, I looked up this Deaf Violinist advertisement and I have to admit, it is one of the most touching advertisements I’ve ever seen. I agree with Stella regarding the matter that advertisements that have a connection with society are a lot more memorable and effective. The number one goal in marketing is to attract customers either from a specific customer segment or a wider range of audience, thus it comes down to how well can they strategize their advertisings.

To add on to the idea: Save The Children released a video “Most Shocking Second a Day Video” to spread awareness and save the innocent children who became victims in Syria. As a non-profit organization, their main goal is to have as many people to donate and help, thus the spread of information needs to be clear, concise and memorable to their viewers. The video clip for example, allowed their audience to indirectly experienced the events and by being able to relate, may feel the sense of obligation and responsibility to help.

According to this article, the Taylors’ Pacifica makes the perfect example of an innovative movement that hits the mark with their products, goals and target segments. The whole idea of innovation is to introduce something new to the market and get the ‘upper hand’; this is exactly what the Taylors did by launching their all-natural cosmetics.

By simply adding to what they do best, instead of turning away from their original business goals gave them the integrity and innovative spirit to launch the cosmetics, targeting a new yet similar customer segment. Adding that they only partner up and work with others who share the same vision and goals as they do, such as the widely popular Wholes Food to become one of Pacifica’s retailers, gave them more advantage in terms of reputation and marketing.

Aside from focusing on minimalizing waste and using more organic materials, they believe in building a better community by working with and donating to local charities and women’s shelters. CSR is in general, highly doubted by many due to the nature of businesses typically looking for ‘reputation’ by doing ‘good deeds’, but Pacifica differentiated itself by making environment the center of their business, which in this case, proves to be a success for them.

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.

Fast-food chains have come under fire many times for the unethical treatments of their employees, productions of goods and more. Expired meat was added in the list of problems during the summer of 2014. Shangai Husi is part of a bigger company known as OSI, who wrote in a statement regarding the scandal that they prioritize their customers. Which I agree businesses, such as a fast-food chain should do, in this case, thinking ethically for both internal and external relations.

OSI’s first statement included an apology and talks of taking full responsibilities, but the question that I have in mind would probably be whether they would’ve caught on to what was happening in China without the TV reports and what actions they would’ve taken. If they put their food quality and customer’s needs first, then generally speaking this issue shouldn’t have existed in the first place, for example, conducting annual (maybe more) inspections. Most businesses and companies aim to make a profit and thus may lose track of the responsibilities that comes with running one but does not excuse them from neglecting their ethical duties and social responsibilities.