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