The link to Yuwei Wei’s post: https://blogs.ubc.ca/yuweiwei/

Businesses tend not to care about the environmental impact of their actions. Some businesses go so far as to dump their waste materials into rivers or lakes, thus contaminating and degrading the surrounding environment. The Earth’s resources are limited. If businesses do not consider the external costs of production and take steps to reduce their ecological footprint now, we will have to bear the dire consequences of their actions in the future. Not only will we face a shortage of resources for the production of goods and services, but also changing weather patterns due to increased pollution from industrial exhaust fumes.

I agree with Yuwei that businesses should be required to calculate their environmental footprints annually. It will provide businesses with information about the extent of the damage they are causing to the environment and give them reason to improve in this sector. Consumers will also be provided with a useful indicator of the environmental impacts of their purchases. Businesses should learn to be sustainable, that is, develop the goal of managing and conserving the Earth’s resources in ways that meet the needs of the people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. They must come up with innovative ways of doing this, creating products that are environmentally friendly as well as finding ways to get rid of industrial waste without harming the environment.

Dr Muhammad Yunus

The fundamental concept underlying a conventional business enterprise is that of maximizing revenues and profits. However, a social business or enterprise is designed to solve social problems. “Social Business”, the term now commonly used, was first defined by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh in his books “Building Social Business” and “Creating a World without Poverty”. Like the social organization formed by him, called Grameen, the idea is gaining wide acceptability around the world.

In recent months, Dr. Yunus has been very active promoting his concept all over the world.  In November 2012, at the Global Business Summit in Vienna, Dr. Yunus called on the European Governments to involve the new generation in coming up with new ideas and incorporate them into the social business concept. Yunus has also invited President Holland of France to champion the cause of social business and become the global social business ambassador.

Although radically different in concept, a social business and a conventional enterprise are not mutually exclusive. A social business is distinct from a non-profit because the business should seek to generate a modest profit but this will be used to expand the company’s reach, improve the product or service or in other ways to subsidize the social mission.

The central theme of the social business concept of subsidizing the poor instead of adopting the profit motive is still in infancy. We all have a responsibility, as the business leaders of the future, to model our ideas and activities in the framework of the concept and make social business the engine for growth.

Sources:

‘The Daily Star, Bangladesh. ‘Yunus Spurs students on social business’ June 13, 2012;

‘Professor Yunus, Grameen and social business’ July 13, 2012;

‘Yunus urges French president to promote social business’ November 1, 2012;

‘Yunus spurs Europe on social business’ November 11, 2012

The increasing use of information technology in today’s modern, globalized world is changing the way we perceive business and communicate with one another. Typically, Information Technology relates to the hardware and software that businesses use to manage and operate a range of business processes. (businesscasestudies.co.uk)

IT has dramatically changed traditional businesses, enabling them to provide faster, more efficient and better services than ever before. Consumers demand efficient services and rapid communication. In order to meet the demands of the consumers and survive in this highly competitive world, businesses must make use of IT. Technological innovation will not only get businesses ahead of competitors but also help to bring about cost-effectiveness by computerizing businesses processes, leading to more profits for businesses. Businesses are able to communicate more effectively with their customers through not only their websites but also use of social media. These can act as promotional and informational tools and they enable businesses to receive instant feedback about their products from customers. Managers are also benefited in that they are able to track significant trends in business and make better planning decisions with the help of IT tools.

Without IT, business today would not exist. According to Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Computers ‘technology is no longer the tool that enables business, but rather it’s actually embedded inside the business function itself.’

Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/list_6364393_business-benefits-information-technology.html

Today, qualitative and quantitative marketing research is essential before a product or a project is launched. Marketing research originated from consumer product markets, where the final purchasers were far removed from the manufacturer and  it was necessary to get close to them to get their views on their products. These days research is done on new products to understand acceptability,  as well as on old products to ensure their long term continued existence.

Marketing research is essential in new product launch as any variables that affect sales need to be tested. But new product research requires a very different approach to researching existing products.

Through marketing research, we attempt to arrive at certain conclusions. As we deal with human behavior, there are many different behavior patterns, and it is very difficult to identify each and every one of these and quantify them. We use marketing research to reduce the area of uncertainty. Research findings attempt to quantify the unknown and make educated guesses.

Useful links:

http://upandrunning.bplans.com/2012/01/23/the-benefit-of-market-research/

Even a decade ago long established multinational companies were flourishing. They had a strong R&D department, patents, unique high quality products, no competition and money was flowing in. This was more prevalent in the large multinational chemical companies like Dow, Dupont & BASF.  But in this era, times have changed. Many specialty chemicals have become commodities, today, and now smaller, nimbler companies in Asia have come up copying and producing better products, and giving the customer a better value, creating intense competition for these MNC’s. These firms now face tremendous pressure in protecting margins and price in the midst of new competition from these smaller companies. Creating and developing a superior and unique product with a value proposition is an integral part of business strategy, but sustaining it for long term is much more difficult.

Today, the large chemical MNC’s are experiencing increasing instability in an industry where regulatory compliance, globalization, economic volatility, and consolidation are headlines. They need to adopt new measures to address these issues.

Taking into account core competencies along their whole value chain, chemical companies must effectively communicate their differential value to their customer base, otherwise their existence will be at stake.

James Anderson, James Narus, and Wouter Van Rossum, Harvard Business Review March 2006,  Customer Value Proposition in Business Markets

http://www.businessmarketingblog.org/top-iphone-apps-for-online-marketing/

I came across this blog by Vinny La Barbera which I believe makes an interesting point. A key marketing strategy for any business is getting into the mind of the customer. With technology evolving day-by-day, a business must market its products online, otherwise it will become obsolete. If people cannot find information that is of value to them regarding the products of the business online, they will switch to competitors that have already established their reputation on the internet.

Nowadays, it has become relatively easy for a company to market their business, sell to their potential and retain customers. Smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy tabs and Google’s Android, with their thousands of applications, enable firms to carry out marketing and advertising quite effectively. It has become quite a convenient way for businesses to communicate with prospective buyers, thus increasing sales. Applications such as Facebook allow businesses to make fan pages that keep potential buyers up-to-date about new and existing products, retailer stores, etc. There are also many twitter applications, that enable companies to post videos and pictures advertising products and engage in conversation with users through ‘tweets’. The Linked-In application has also become vastly popular for users who want to establish new business contacts.

What is the future for online marketing? With the ever-increasing advancements in technology, it is likely to be positive. Businesses must take advantage of the increasing use of technology by the younger generation, many of whom will be their target market in the near future, in order to promote their brand image.

Just in a matter of a few years, fast-food has become increasingly popular in Bangladesh. Is it because of increased globalization? Maybe. What is certain is that consumer preferences are changing. People want food that’s cheap, convenient, filling, and tasty – that’s exactly what fast-food is.

Wimpy was one of the first international fast-food franchises established in Bangladesh. Then came Pizza Hut, A&W, KFC and all the rest. Fast food restaurants are now spread all over Dhaka, the capital city as well as many other cities in the country. Competition between the restaurants is intense. During the month of Ramadan, Pizza Hut gives special all-you can eat offers for iftar which prove to be quite popular. Pizza Inn, a franchise recently introduced to Bangladesh, has started to copy this tactic. Consumers show an overall positive attitude towards these chains because of quick and efficient service, quality of food, low prices and cleanliness of environment. Consuming fast-food has become a growing trend amongst the upper class society, teenagers and adults alike.

What does this mean for society? As fast-food chains are becoming more and more numerous, it is a growing concern that this will lead to increased ill health and child obesity. It is a well-known fact that fast-foods are high on starch, sugar and fat – the more you eat, the more calories you gain, the higher chances you have of getting diabetes and heart disease.

http://www.wbiaus.org/2.%20Ayesha.pdf

Union Carbide India Limited was a chemical company established in the year 1934.

On December 3rd, 1984, toxic chemical gases leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. As a result of this, thousands of people had died. Even years after the gas leak occurred, toxic chemicals continue to pollute the groundwater, thus affecting the lives of the people who depend on it. It had also resulted in creating numerous problems for the residents of Bhopal, who faced chronic illness, growth retardation, weakened immune systems, high miscarriage rates, etc.

Following the tragedy, the government took control of the plant and the rest of the company’s assets. The Union Carbide corporation was compelled to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation as a result of its negligence with regard to safety measures.

The lack of business ethics is a major issue in India. The business corporations tend to have poor environmental practices, polluting surroundings by dumping waste materials at the risk of the health of society.  Firms should be responsible for how the use of their products affects society around them and try to minimize the negative externalities of their business activities. In the words of Edward Freeman, unless a business pays attention to the quality of life in the community and issues that have corporate responsibility it cannot be successful.

http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/63797/excerpt/9780521863797_excerpt.pdf

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1980s/qt/bhopal.htm

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