Apple in it’s last quarter released two large new product. First of all, it released the Ipad mini. This was a hit, although it is over priced for the highly competitive market it is in. Secondly, it released the Iphone 5. The Iphone 5 was less of a hit and more a dramatic failure that did not meet the expectations of buyers. Even worse, the Samsung Galaxy S3 had sold in mass amounts that add up to enough sales to call it the new best-selling phone of all time.

Peter Nowak wrote this blog with the key idea that success for apple in the future may be hard to come by. There is very little progress being made by the company, or at least what their products show us. The mix of bad production or lack of innovation in their new products and the rise of threat from competitors is lethal mix for Apple. People questioned how the company would work fair with the loss of the beloved Steve Jobs and regrettably it’s going the way that some speculators believed it would. Apple needs a spark, a creative mind, a point of difference to again take precedence again in the media industry.

Newly re-elected President Obama has plans to raise taxes for the upper class of Americans. This plan is in attempt to cut 1 trillion dollars out of the American deficit. These plans were not welcomed by all especially the upper class who would feel the full cost of this, but also by the middle class who have fears that they too will see effects to their levels of income as a result.

The American deficit is too large currently, plain and simple. There have been mass expenditures on military that are fortunately being cut, this paired with the money being raised from the taxes should cut nicely into the deficit.

Most economies of today have been both failing and, or, in steep decline. America is a country that does not stray from the long list of suffering countries. President Obama is making a proper choice in collecting extra funds from those who can afford it. As many countries should be, America is taking steps in the proper direction by implementing policy and attempting to tap funds that had been protected in the past. Tax increases, bills of health or drastic economic changes are all things that countries need to begin to attempt in  order to reverse or slow the downturn that many of them face.

Article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20333066

For the last 25-30 years Ikea has had continual incidences with forced labour. Ikea had opened factories in the former East Germany where there are now claims from the prisoner group the UOKG that they were forced to work against there will. These claims are currently being investigated by Ernst and Young with the help and funding of Ikea.

Respectably, Ikea realizes the mistakes that it has made and is doing what is necessary to fix it’s wrong doings. The incidence ultimately occurred as a result of placing the labour contract in the hands of the East German Government. The question is though, why did it take about 30 years to catch this?

There are and will be many more disputes over labour as people seek to have the lowest cost of production and most efficient production. Many steps have been taking in the western world to combat disputes such as child labour, proper working conditions, and adequate treatment of workers. Unfortunately though, there are a mass amount of not only third world but first world countries with lower standards of working conditions where employees are exploited.

It takes proper government regulation and inspection to ensure that working conditions for their fellow country men and women are adequate. This is a task requiring large amounts of money, labour and commitment, all of which are things many governments are not willing to sacrifice and until they do little can be changed.

Gangnam style. The first thing that comes to my mind after hearing this is “woop woop” the “Canadianized” version of the chorus in Psy’s song. Louis Landolt blogged about the relatively new artist Psy and his hit song, Gangnam Style. Louis commented on the rise of Psy and the affect it is having and the effect it will have on Korea, another country in racked by an economic slump.

Psy is a Korean artist who has a unique “swag”, if you will, to himself and his music. With one song he has created a following of millions. He is widely recognized for his clothing choices, his iconic dance and of course his infectious music. There are many musicians who can claim these feats as well but the point of difference that is important here is the fact that he is Korean. There have been an underlying tone in the relationship between North America and Korea that is not one of distaste but certainly not one of greatness. That mixed with the economic slump that Korea is in is what makes this hit song even more important. Psy has directly bridged a gap between Korea and much of the world, a point that cannot be understated in it’s importance to Korea.

Music has a unique way of connecting the world, it breaks down the barriers between languages and allows people to relate to each other. Psy is a great example of this and will hopefully relay into prosperity for Korea.

Rupinder’s blog is with regards to the expansion of Starbucks into India through a joint-venture with Tata Global. Rupinder’s poses questions that refer to brand recognition and issues of consumer power.

The Starbucks brand is recognized world wide and is a successful. Starbucks is known to be a luxury brand coffee in comparison to some of it’s competitors. The Starbucks brand name allows the company to sell it’s products for a much higher price compared to competitors. The “fancy” drinks and seasonal specials are points of difference for the company that define the brand, this helps it’s profitability.

The strong Starbucks brand has been successful all over the globe but with the increasing decline of the European economy I strongly support the companies choice to expand. Rupinder questioned in his blog whether or not the it would be Starbucks or Tata Global that would be more recognized through this joint-venture. As I previously stated I believe that the global recognition of the Starbucks brand will allow it to shine through its cohorts. Brand recognition is one way of selling products and the Starbucks brand is too strong to not advertise or predominantly use.

Rupinder also proposed the question of buyer power and whether or not the current companies will retain a monopoly on the market. I believe that Starbucks has creatively approached this expansion using an already prominent company to create it’s joint-venture with, Tata Global. This will allow for an understanding, by both parties, of the target market and allow for Starbucks to become a force in the coffee market of India.

BP PLC, a multinational British oil and gas company, is set to face a series of fines, lawsuits and criminal charges after the explosion of one of their oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. This explosion led to the releasing of about 57,500 barrels of oil per day while the well was exposed.

BP has is facing lawsuits from from a multitude of governmental and non-governmental organizations including: The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The National Academy of Science, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. BP is also facing criminal charges and possible incarceration of one of it’s employees who oversaw BP‘s project in the gulf. He faces 5 years in jail as a result of lying, about how much oil was being expelled from the well, in congress.

As a result of this catastrophic event, BP is faced with $4.5 billion dollars of fines and a slap on the wrist. The company faces little deficit or real signs of struggle as in it’s last quarter alone reported profits of about $5.5 billion.

This is the reality of our current economy, we need petroleum and will pay extreme costs to get it. As a scarce and highly valuable resource countries will battle to control as much oil as possible. There needs to be more regulation and higher punishment for oil extracting and transporting companies to prevent and lower the risk of the destruction of vulnerable ecosystems.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/bp-to-plead-guilty-in-gulf-spill-pay-extra-45-billion/article5327648/

The key to any successful business is a well developed business plan and a well planned strategy. Steve Jobs was one of the co-founders of Apple Inc. as well as one of the leading innovators of the company. Jobs had a plan that was developed around a hockey phrase he acquired, “[Apple] will skate to where the puck will be”. Jobs used this phrase and related it to Apple’s plan as a company, it means that apple will not be looking to provide products to satisfy current trends, rather, create new trends and products people didn’t even know they “needed”. This plan provided the company with an advantage, their advantage came from their thirst for innovation. The innovations Apple created, changed and shifted in markets. These shifts gave Apple the edge in portable music players, laptops, smartphones and tablets. Sam Gustin reports in his article that Apple is on a monthly average producing $4 million in profit. Apple’s key to success came with Steve Jobs and his business plan for the company. Jobs’ business plan led to the development of a strategy, innovate. This strategy created a share price that is now over $600. A strong business plan and an effective strategy are the keys to a successful business and are exhibited by Apple Inc.

Over the last fifteen years Google Inc. has taken control and now holds a monopoly over all other internet search engines. People have become so accustomed to the usage of Google  that it now has its own place in the Websters Dictionary. Google is now a verb as well as a company. Society use Google for almost every instance where curiosity and knowledge need to be bridged. As well with the expansion of Google to create services for e-mail, mapping, translation, calendars, images and much more we are also turning to it for entertainment purposes. With all of these services though, Google has recently created a privacy setting that allows for your information to be stored and centralized. Should we agree with this? Or is Google becoming a little too involved with our lives?

Janet Vertesi writer of Give Apple Maps a Chance has had enough of Google and states, “I [Janet Vertesi] broke up with Google.” Janet explains that Google has too much of a monopoly and receives too much information from all of it’s sites about the individual user. Google’s strategy to help sponsorship and optimize search efficiency is to accumulate personal information. The information they gather across it’s services inform companies of what people search for. As well, Google benefits by understanding what certain individuals  tend to look for, creating a convenience through a specialized search feature that only Google users will find. Is that right though? At what point does there need to be a line drawn?

Running a business correlates, very directly, to how one runs his or her life. In your life you attempt to maximize your efficiency while also attempting to maximize your utility, or happiness. As a business, you try to also maximize your efficiency as well as your utility. There is one difference though, the utility many are looking to optimize in a business is their utility as a result of profit. Sometimes we lose sight of what creates a successfully optimized business: successful workers, happy workers and workers who believe they are trusted.

The Right Way to Respond to Failure discusses how in life as well as business the way company leaders respond to a shortfall is not the most efficient. Most times people fail, they know what they have done wrong and understand their downfall. With that said, it does and will not help a worker to stab at an issue with advice or guidance. Peter Bregman discuss’ in his article that the proper way to approach a humiliated or discouraged employee is with empathy and understanding. To offer expressions that identify with understanding rather than advice will create trust between your team and reduce the likelihood of a defensive, distraught and ultimately unproductive employee.

Ethics, Dictionary.com defines ethics as “the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.”. “Ethics”, can be understood by all types of people: athletes, artists, students, business people, and business’ alike. Nike inc., publicly endorses and pays a large amounts of people to represent them because they have exhibited exemplary work ethic. Does that not mean that Nike inc. should also display proper ethics? Or, does paying those that do have respectable ethics enough?

Nike inc. has been found guilty of not paying over 1 million dollars of overtime compensation to Indonesian factory workers. An out of court settlement, earlier in 2012, was reached between factory workers and Nike inc.. This settlement see’s that 4,500 employees receive proper payment for their many hours of unpaid, mandatory, labour. This settlement opens up the doors for many other factory workers and unions to protest their working conditions as the chairman of Serikat Pekerja National labour union, Bambang Wirahyoso, states “This has the potential to send shockwaves through the Indonesian labour movement”. Wirahyoso further adresses the problem’s severity explaining, “There are more than 100,000 factory workers in Serang, and those who are most prone to overwork are labourers for branded merchandise, since they have to achieve certain targets,”.

Ethics, Morals, and Rights; I capitalize these words as they are words that need to establish a place in every human being’s life. This article is not intended to take away from the integrity of Nike inc, rather, intended to create questioning. Questioning of your Ethics,  your Morals and your Rights. As students looking to enter the daunting world of business we need to establish what we want to do with the power we may have one day.

Be Ethical, live by proper Morals, and understand the Rights you are given. Together we can make a change and create a world of business we are proud to be apart of.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/12/nike-1m-indonesian-workers-overtime