The Arc and social enterprise are extremely important as they focus on long-term development and internal growth of underprivileged countries. Unlike many other charity organizations, the Arc creates change in these countries that starts internally from business development that leads to overall social benefit. The knowledge brought to these countries by The Arc initiative will contribute to the long-term prosperity and self-sustainability of the countries. . Although the UN is necessary to help provide funding and political assistance to help stabilize and support underprivileged countries, it is extremely beneficial to have organizations like the Arc enterprise to address the micro problems. Even a fully funded United Nations would not have the ability to address all the small problems and issues that are contributing to the overall poverty of these countries.

Picture from Sauder School of Business on South Africa mission

The Arc Initiative is a program that interests me greatly. When I was researching universities to decide which one I should apply for, Sauder and the Arc Initiative was something that stood out and sparked an interest in me. Not only do I find it important for everyone in the world to have access to education, I also think it is a great experience for the Sauder students to be able to share their business knowledge and immerse themselves in a business setting with a foreign culture.

Sources:

http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/can-fair-trade-boutique-expand-without-alienating-customers/article4405520/

Upward Arc

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html

A blog post by Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic in the Harvard Business review sparked an interest in me after listening to the presentations from the two Sauder alumni in class 18. The blog discusses the discrepancies between men and women entrepreneurs and the hardships that women face in the field. Thomas answers many of the questions about why there are so many more male entrepreneurs than women. He believes that many characteristics that women naturally possess, such as patience, put them at a disadvantage to starting their own company and seeking out the resources necessary. However, he also says that “many typically “feminine” personality characteristics are essential for successful entrepreneurship” and notes that many female entrepreneurs are not only more successful than men and also have higher job satisfaction once they have started.

Amielle Lake of Tagga Media Inc.

I found this very interesting after listening to both female entrepreneur Sauder graduates talk in the last class and wondered if either Amielle or Emma had ever encountered gender discrimination in their entrepreneurial journeys. I found the passion that both women had to be inspirational and believe that their determination and creativity were essential factors in their success. Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic believes that many feminine traits are helpful in becoming a successful entrepreneur and after hearing Amielle talk I would agree with him. Her belief in the statement “I have greed before I have pride” makes a lot of sense to me and I don’t think as many men would take this approach as women would. Her success can be partially contributed to this belief and therefore may be at an advantage to many men.

Sources:

Chamorro-Premuzic, Thomas. “The Unnatural Selection of Male Entrepreneurs.” Harvard Business Review. N.p., 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/03/the-unnatural-selection-of-male-entrepreneurs/>

Netflix: official logo

Adding to fellow classmate Wesley Wen’s blog post on Netflix and their success in recent years, I would like to go further in depth into HOW exactly Netflix made their way to the top of the movie/video industry. During the class on innovation we were asked to brainstorm companies that were disruptive innovators and the first company that came to my mind was indeed, Netflix. While other companies such as Blockbuster and Video Express were trying to offer their customers a better product at a higher price, such as the move from VCR’s to DVD’s to Blue Ray discs, Netflix came in to the industry as a disruptive innovator and targeted a whole new market as well as the already current market. Netflix discovered that there was a customer segment that was unable to afford the pricey video rentals from Blockbuster and other chains and created their product to be much cheaper, simpler, and easier to access than that of their competitors.

I also noticed that Wesley talked about how streaming online for free was an option. Unlike Wesley, I disagree that Netflix has a big advantage over online free streaming. As technology gets better, it is getting easier and easier to find movies and TV shows available for free as online streaming. I believe that Netflix will soon need to make a strategic move before online streaming websites take the company out as they disrupt the industry just like Netflix once did.

Sources:

Wesley Wen’s blog : https://blogs.ubc.ca/wesleywen/2014/10/12/netflix-takeover/

After class 15 I was very interested in the idea of “shared value” and how it can benefit multiple parties involved in a business issue. After researching and reading many external blog posts on shared values, there was one in particular that stood out to me that talked about the relationships between oil companies, the community of Fort McMurray, and the environment. I found it fascinating that a shared value business decision can be made with an industry that for the most part could be considered a burden on the environment and community.

Clearcutting. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., 7 Oct. 2008. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.

Reading about the shared value in Fort McMurray led me to think about the main industries in my hometown of Revelstoke, BC, and what shared value business decisions had been made there. It occurred to me that within the last few decades, there have been changes to the logging and timber industry that involve new values to all involved parties. Most timber companies are now forced to replant the areas they have clear-cut. I always thought that this would be an inconvenient and profit decreasing requirement for the companies but now realize that the new rule actually brings value to everyone. It is a clear advantage for the environment as the forests are restored, a benefit to the economy in Revelstoke as more people are hired to do the tree planting work, and a long term advantage for the timber companies as they will be able to re-harvest the forests in the future.

This idea of helping companies, communities, and the environment is very exciting for me and is certainly something I would be interested in pursuing in the future!

Sources (external blog):

Wendel, Carina. “Collaboration in the Canadian Oil Sands.” Reimagining Social Change. N.p., 16 June 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.

http://www.fsg.org/KnowledgeExchange/Blogs/CreatingSharedValue/PostID/492.aspx

I recently came across an article in the Vancouver Sun from last summer as I was doing research on possible housing for myself next year when I am not able to live on residence. The article focuses on the extremely tight and high priced rental housing market in Vancouver which has “grown dramatically” in recent years. The city of Vancouver is aware of the unhealthy 1.9% vacancy rate (a vacancy rate in a healthy market would be around 5%) and plans to build more rental housing to reduce the problem but many realtors, such as Mark Goodman, say it is “still not adequate”.

This issue effects me as well as most other UBC students greatly as we are dependent on finding affordable and available rental housing in the UBC area which is just as tight of a market as the rest of Vancouver. I think that it is UBC’s responsibility as well as in their best interest to build more residences and rental units on campus to accommodate the large number of students that they accept into their university every year. At the moment, the high rental prices is likely restricting many people from being able to study at the University as they cannot afford a place to live. This should concern UBC as it means that their incoming students may not be the “best” or most intellectual but may just be the richest kids that can afford to live in the area around the university. This will effect UBC’s overall prestigious reputation and diminish their point of difference that they have against competing universities across Canada.

Picture source: http://blog.besthomesbc.com/2012/02/

Vancouver Sun article: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Barbara+Yaffe+Vancouver+high+house+costs+heat+rental+market/10076227/story.html

Reading through Jason Chow’s blog , his article on Nike and their branding power caught my interest. Similarly to Jason, I have always been attracted to Nike for a reason that didn’t really occur to me until I was older. Nike’s “brand power” persuaded me, as well as millions of other people, into believing that the

ir products were superior to their competitor’s products. I find it amazing just how far a strong brand name can take a company. Thinking back to Porter’s generic strategies and his theory that a firms strengths fall into either a cost leadership or differentiation strategy, I started to question if Nike falls into one of these categories. Other than the power of branding and advertising that Nike has, they do not have a particular cost or differentiation advantage in the industry. Their products are often more expensive than competing companies products such as Adidas or Reebok and although Nike does have some new technology and slight differentiation to their products, they really aren’t that unique. As Jason said, “Nike has a strong image that psychologically draws people to them” and I believe this is their main advantage and reason for their success.

After the much to early deterioration of my last THREE pairs of Nike soccer cleats, I have finally switched over to Adidas. Farewell Nike, your brand name trap won’t catch me anymore!

Link to Jason’s blog post : https://blogs.ubc.ca/jasonchow/2014/09/28/nikes-moat/

Sources:

“How Nike Wins.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2014/09/28/how-nike-wins/>.

Reading the Vancouver Sun’s business article, “First Nations chiefs to stage Site C showdown”, I find myself with a conflicted point of view on the issue. Relating the article to the PEST analysis tool (or PESTLE) in our latest class prep, you can see that BC Hydro is encountering a Legal and Environmental issue leading to political involvement that may restrict them from building their “$8-billion Site C hydroelectric megaproject”. These issues are external from their company. As BC Hydro is a crown corporation, it makes the issue even more complicated. As read in the “To the Tsilhqot’in, with gloves” article, first nations people have long been trying to protect their native land and have been interfering with the business plans of many Canadian companies.

My hometown of Revelstoke, BC, is home to one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Canada and my whole life I have been told what a fantastic, huge, and clean source of electricity it provides. This leads me to the slightly biased opinion that BC Hydro’s projected new dam is necessary as “B.C. will need new energy and new capacity at some point.” However, I do realize that the first nations are also stakeholders in the issue and it is unethical for the government to allow for the destruction of their land by BC Hydro.

Revelstoke Dam
Image credit:
BC Hydro. Digital image. BC Hydro. N.p., n.d. Web

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html

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

Image source: Ana Homayoun – Changing the Teen Lingerie Scene: My Q&A with Yellowberry Founder Megan Grassell

For the last year or so I have been following news stories and articles that have been posted on Facebook by my friend, Megan Grassell. I met Megan while ski racing in Oregon, USA, and have been amazed to watch her develop her own company that designs and sells age appropriate bras aimed at pre-teen girls because of her disapproval of other bras on the market. Recently appearing in Forbes online, Megan has now hit it in the big leagues and has established a unique brand name for herself. I find it interesting when comparing the business strategies we have learned about in class with the path that Megan chose to follow in creating her business. Megan has targeted a narrow market segment with an advantage of product uniqueness to have a focus strategy of differentiation. There are no other companies at the moment that are creating products that compete with Megan’s specialized target scope and this is why she has become so successful in such a quick amount of time. However, as we learned in class, for a company to remain successful they must constantly revamp and re-evaluate their products to stay at an advantage to up and coming competition from other companies. It’s my hope that I will be able to continue to follow Megan’s success and watch her company grow!

Sources :

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/09/20/teen-entrepreneur-megan-grassell-used-her-frustration-to-fuel-a-business/

Changing the Teen Lingerie Scene: My Q&A with Yellowberry Founder Megan Grassell

This past week I came across an article in my local newspaper from back home that I found very interesting. Tesla Motors, has decided to install a Supercharger station in my home town of Revelstoke, B.C. This is big news for a small town with a population of only 7000 people. Tesla chose to install a station in Revelstoke because it is directly on the Trans-Canada Highway and in an ideal location for their customers who are travelling from the West Coast into the interior of BC and Alberta. I think it is a very smart move for Tesla to begin to install these stations on the Trans-Canada as it will attract many customers that are seeking a vehicle that is capable of travelling long distances without having to stop for long, charging breaks. Tesla is beginning to focus on expanding their market outside of the US, which I believe is necessary for company growth. Tesla is also helping to market themselves by building a Supercharger station right along the Trans-Canada where thousands of people drive by daily. Tesla has plans to build more charging stations throughout BC and Alberta along the Trans-Canada which I believe is a very strategic move and will help them exploit the opportunities of growing their business.

http://www.revelstoketimesreview.com/news/275379751.html

Image Credit : Tesla Motors

After learning this week about SWOT’s and earning a greater understanding of potential business growth, an article on Apple’s new September 2014 products caught my eye. Steven Milunovice, a technology analyst believes that Apple’s new Apple Watch and Apple Pay “are the products to watch in the long run.” In reference to company development that we touched on while creating our SWOT’s, I believe that Apple is unbelievably good at using the strengths that they have to exploit their opportunities and grow as a company. Although the Apple Watch is not the biggest news of the September Apple products, they have planned ahead for the future and created technology that no other competitor has touched on yet. Apple is already the leader in the industry, but have used the strengths that they have such as a strong brand name, marketing skills, good reputation, and media coverage to further engage themselves into new opportunities, such as the Apple Watch. Apple has come out with the Iphone 6 to please today’s consumers, but they have also come out with the Apple Watch that they believe will please the consumers of the future and place them at an advantage to their competitors. Steven Milunovice is “betting the watch alone will bring in one third of the company’s revenue and gross profit in fiscal 2015.” This is an optimal example of using your strengths to take advantage of an opportunity or new market . Apple, you’ve done it again.

Apple Watch. Digital image. Apple (Canada). N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2014/9/16/Apple-Watch-good-for-one-third-of-company-revenue-in-2015-UBS.aspx