http://tinyfootprintcoffee.com/2011/04/18/building-sustainability-from-scratch/

One thing that caught my attention in our recent social enterprise class was when James Taney mentioned coffee’s enormous carbon footprint.  I was astounded that such an insignificant item could compete with the carbon footprint of, say transportation.  For instance in the Green Living Blog, the author claims that if you were to drink three large lattes a day over a year this would produce as much carbon as flying half way across Europe.  One social enterprise that has made it their mission to reduce carbon in our atmosphere by providing delicious coffee is Tiny Footprint Coffee.  This may seem counter productive, but for every pound of coffee someone buys from this business, they are helping replant the Mindo Cloudforestin Ecuador – trees that remove 54 pounds of carbon from the atmosphere per year.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Mindo-Cloud-Forest-05.jpg

 According to The EcoSpheric Blog, if you take into account the four pounds of carbon it takes to produce and transport Tiny Footprint Coffee and the 54 pounds of carbon that the new planted tree absorbs, you are  actually removing 50 pounds of carbon a year by purchasing this coffee!

Although, Tiny Footprint Coffee’s social contribution doesn’t end there.  In addition, the development of the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation– the organization responsible for tree-planting- provides jobs for people in the local communities; therefore, improving their quality of life.  This is an unbelievable example of a social enterprise that is able to make a profit through

http://www.mindocloudforest.org/reforestation-habitat-restoration/

the sale of their coffee, but also have a huge impact on the environmental and social issues in a developing community.  Contrary to popular belief, this company proves that business and environment aren’t always  in opposition.

Before I had decided to apply for business school, I met with various different people working in the field of commerce: some in marketing, some in real estates and even some

http://www.rennie.com/

entrepreneurs.  One of the people that I met with that unquestionably solidified my desire to go into marketing was Tracie McTavish, President of Rennie Marketing Systems.  After speaking with him in Rennie’s Vancouver headquarters, the Wing Sang building, I was blown away by, not only his incredible charisma, but also the unbelievable working atmosphere his company had attained.  After this meeting, my desire to become a part of what Rennie Marketing was all about skyrocketed.

I was astonished how the organizational culture of this company truly had an impact on not just the employees, but also potential customer and anyone who simply entered the building.  For a marketing company that revolves around the creative and out-of-box thinking of their employees, their working environment is key to success.  From the location of the building, to its history, to the display Bob Rennie’s infamous art collections inside the headquarters, their atmosphere is inspirational.

http://intracorp.ca/mc2living/team/rennie-marketing/

But most importantly to the organizational culture of any company is the leadership that sets the tone.  In this case, Tracie McTavish creates an unprecedented tone of laid-back but hard work, of creativity but discipline.  He pushes his employees towards exploration, teamwork, and enthusiasm.

If a boss that claims, “real estate is like a sport here” doesn’t inspire you, I’m not sure what does.

This is the organizational culture that I long to work in.  This is why I am taking a Bachelor of Commerce.

http://pulse2.com/2012/07/19/33across-raises-13-1-million-in-series-c-funding/

After reading Rachel von Hahn’s post, I immediately thought back on the first blog post we wrote about business ethics.  Even though Rachel is directly referencing the class we had on IT systems in her post about 33Across and their use of social networking, I can’t help but wonder how this new technology might not be an ethical way of conducting business.  This company is “compounding real-time data about how individuals respond to what is read, purchased, shared, and recommended online”.

The ethical question here is whether or not the access to this private information should be allowed.  So my question is have these people agreed to release their personal information for the use of this company?  33Across is fully aware about the privacy issuesof their

http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/19/33across-raises-13-1m-series-c/

marketing technology, SocialDNA™ Targeting.  They claim that they only collect data from clients who use their services and it cannot be traced to any specific individuals.  Unfortunately, further reading show that this is not the end of the story.  When entering into interactions with 33Across, one has the option to agree to the release of one’s private, traceable information or not.  If you choose the later, your involvement with the program will be limited.  Meaning that if you wish to fully participate with this company, you must surrender your private information.  It seems that 33Across is aware of the concerns clients have regarding privacy, but are unethically restricted services to those without any.