Thoughts – W.Z.

Canadian government has long controlled the aboriginal peoples through The Indian Act since 1876. Also, there have always been contradictions and divergences of views between them. In this blog, I’m going to introduce one contradiction, which is related to BC Hydro, between the federal government and the First Nations people. In this case, the opposition from the First Nations can be considered as an external force that has an effect on the company’s business plan.

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BC Hydro’s Site C Project aims at generating enough electricity for 450,000 households a year by using hydro power. From my perspective, this project is definitely beneficial. According to Information Sheet – Need and Alternatives, here are some advantages of this dam:

1. Cite C is the best option over all of its alternatives (financially, technically, environmentally, and economically)
2. Large capacity
3. Cheaper
4. Environmental friendly
5. GDP growth

However, First Nations people want to stop this project, because the dam may destroy their fishing and hunting sites. If we link this situation to PESTLE Analysis, then the oppositions from the First Nations would be the Legal and Environment conditions that affect BC Hydro’s business plan. First Nations stop BC Hydro from launching this project, as a result, it decreases the income of the company.

Avis is a well-known American car rental company, which was created in 1948. It gives service to many countries around the world, except Sierra Leone in Africa. The cars that Avis rents are of various brands.

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In contrast, Flash Vehicle Rentals is a newly emerging car rental company, with only 2 years history. It operates only in Sierra Leone, and only provides Toyota cars.

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As The Economist: The heart of the motor indicates – running car rental business in poor and unstable countries, such as Sierra Leone, is not easy. The reasons are:

1. Sierra Leone does not have access to unleaded petrol
2. Compared to others, Sierra Leone is a country of lacked services

One reason for Flash Vehicle Rental’s success is that it is the first and only car rental company in Sierra Leone, so it doesn’t have any competitor. Secondly, Sierra Leone is a country with mines, so automobiles are needed for transportation. Besides, Flash Vehicle Rentals provide comprehensive and efficient breakdown services. Finally, it is easier for a newly emerged, small-scaled company, such as Flash Vehicle Rentals, to be successful in Sierra Leone than for a worldwide company, such as Avis. This is because Sierra Leone is poor, unstable, and rugged, as a result, extra effort is needed here than in other countries around the world. Flash Vehicle Rentals is relatively narrow and focused than Avis, so it’s easier for Flash Vehicle Rentals to do the job.

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Toronto’s subway system is not merely for transportation, but it can also be considered as an economic activity. Subway system is especially practical and economical where land is expensive. According to Lawrence Solomon, the benefits of a subway system are:

1. Citizens can have larger surface land area
2. When traffic is busy on the surface, subway is a great way of traveling
3. Underground retail stores emerged as the subway system developed, and these stores really make subway system profitable.

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However, I noticed that Vancouver only has Skytrain, instead of subways. According to Amanda Briney and Yahoo Answers, the reasons are:

–       Vancouver is close to ocean and rivers, such as the Fraser River

–       Part of Vancouver is actually on hills, such as Burnaby

–       Vancouver usually has earthquakes that are too small to be sensed by humans, but are serious enough to cause unstable ground

–       It costs more to build subways than to build Skytrains

Unlike Toronto, maybe Vancouver cannot build a subway system that goes through and around the whole city, but Vancouver can at least build subways at some parts of the city. This would be beneficial to Vancouver’s economy.

Jell-O is one of many brands under Kraft, which was created at the end of the 19^th century. It was once very popular among consumers.source of image

Recently, sales began to fall continuously. Thus, Kraft tried to reposition Jell-O, in order to promote sales. Jell-O’s old target audiences were adults, who tried to lose weight by reducing carbohydrate intake; but now their new target is “food for fun”. Unfortunately, the repositioning fails.

In my opinion, Jell-O’s new position is not effective. As I mentioned above, the new position of Jell-O is “food for fun”, but the problem that caused declining sales was not that the products were not fun enough. According to Candice Choi’s “Jell-O can’t stop slippery sales slide”, the real problems are:

1. Consumers nowadays focus more on the nutritional value and natural ingredients of the product. However, in consumers’ impression, Jell-O produces fun jelly with eye-catching colors, which implies that the jelly is made of artificial chemical ingredients.source of image
2. Nowadays, fewer people eat desserts after dinner, because desserts are time-consuming. As a result, disserts are replaced by snacks. But in consumers’ impressions, Jell-O only sells different kinds of desserts.

I suggest Jell-O publishing advertisements on the topic of natural ingredients and nutritional value of the product. However, consumers may not want to buy Jell-O products based on their impression of the brand. Thus, to break through consumers’ stereotype of the brand, voucher could be used to attract consumers.