The arc initiative program at Sauder offers a number of rewarding opportunities in developing countries such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Colombia etc. The programs offered bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, different races, communities, and gather many talented, potential candidates whom, in unity will create a better tomorrow. This, like the arc, promotes a two-way flow of learning and sharing.
Personally, I think the UN and Social Enterprise obtain different values and roles. They are not the same, and they cannot replace one another. ENP defines social enterprise as “businesses owned by nonprofit organizations, that are directly involved in the production and/or selling of goods and services for the blended purpose of generating income and achieving social, cultural, and/or environmental aims. Social enterprises are one more tool for non-profits to use to meet their mission to contribute to healthy communities.” Social entrepreneurs take immediate action and initiative regarding social, cultural, political, economic issues rather than taking passive actions. I think that with both the UN and social entrepreneurs in collaboration, more international conflicts or problems could be resolved. Arc’s role is to provide these entrepreneurs the opportunity, resources, motivation to innovate.

Checking different business and fashion blogs occur on an hourly basis for me and it fascinates me every time to see ordinary people reaching out to big comapanies and becoming well-known fashion bloggers. I have came across a blog post titled “Are Bloggers Building Relationships With Brands…or PR Firms?”, learning that it is absolutely important to build relationships with the right departments of a company.

In the blog post, the blogger’s acquaintance has built a relationship with a major brand through their PR team and received an invite to the fashion show. However, keeping in contact with the PR did not exactly help further the relationship with the brand itself. In my opinion, I think it would be more effective to build a healthy relationship with brand employees. Most brands outsource their PR department to firms that specialize in it – One is to cut cost, and another reason would be to focus more on a company’s core activities. Many working with a brand speaks to a firm’s PR first, but since these are not brand employees, building a relationship with a brand through their PR team can be short-lived. By outsourcing the PR department, workers are only obligated to come up with and implement strategy that the brand may not be able to do in-house. Therefore, if the brand disagrees with the representing PR firm or seeks a way to minimize cost , the brand can always switch to a new PR firm. This is why it is necessary to focus on the researching process in order to catch good opportunities and establish long-lasting relations with major firms.

As I was browsing through some business blogs on LinkedIn, I came across a very interesting title that places “marketing” and “sex” side-by-side (rare). I would already be interested knowing that this post talked about marketing, but the title was just so odd that it caught my full attention.

The blog itself is about the essential contents that marketers should consider when devloping approaches. These aspects include the intimacy, atmosphere, recipocrocity, size (etc.) of materials that represent a brand. The way this article is written is very interesting, as the blogger compares each of these marketing characteristics to how people feel towards sexual appeal, or just sex itself.

My thought on this blogpost is that, although many people(including myself) would feel pretty uncomfortable reading the title, many of the expamples actually do make sense and help me relate. For example, the fact that there should be absolute intimacy between an ad and the consumers just like how close a couple would become in order to satisfy certain “immediate needs”; or the best feeling when content becomes a genuine “give or take” and the audience react and express towards a marketing campaign, being just like the reciprocity of couples. All these aspects do emphasize on the importance of marketing and how it is very relevant to human nature, which in turn affects the purchasing power and demand of certain goods and services.

Recently, the huge announcement of the strategic alliance of IBM and Twitter has become a hot topic within the industry. Announcing the deal, both companies has presented their logos side to side, both in blue, to show their “mutual” aspects and its potential growth from this partnership.

Ginni Rometty, the CEO of IBM acknowledges Twitter feeds as a valuable source of growing data, which in collaboration with IBM’s analytic software will benefit the company(IBM) in competing against market leaders including Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

On the other hand, the CEO of Twitter Costolo also finds great potential in this strategic alliance. He believes that this partnership will enable Twitter to expand its target market, and that its data will become useful to greater number of businesses.

The strategic alliance between IBM and Twitter in my opinion, gives both firms a competitive advantage against its rivals. They are of mutual benefits from this partnership; by pooling capital or funds together and making technological improvements, both businesses are able to expand their target market and enhance product development. I think that the strategy to apply data from the network to real-time business decisions is very clever, because the internet has grown to become an essential part of communication and networking in our lives.

The glamour of the fashion industry draws many people into fashion careers, creating a saturated market. In this industry, people who are bold and ambitious compete to be at the iconic top.

Stuart Weitzman, a high-end shoe company founded by American designer Stuart A. Weitzman took advantage of its internal factorial ownership to keep the price at a fraction of what other luxurious shoes would sell at. “We sell a $600 or $650 shoe for $385,” Weitzman said. “I price the product based upon the cost.”; while other luxurious footwear continue to rise in price, Weitzman is virtually alone in offering designer-quality shoes at reasonable prices.

In addition to better pricing strategy, I think the success of Stuart Weitzman also lies upon the vertical integration of its supply chain. This enables the firm to produce what is hot and popular with quicker turnaround times and flexibility. Weitzman has announced that they keep a stock of leather in the factory, and the efficient system allows a new style to be produced and shipped in a matter of days.

Furthermore, I am very impressed with the firm’s marketing strategies. From gifting suites to the firm that offers personalized service for celebrities today, Stuart Weitzman has come a long way and mastered the “mid market glamour”.

source: http://www.fashiontimes.com/articles/13111/20141020/weitzmans-blitz-collaboration-on-his-classic-50-50-boot.htm

Jacob, a Montreal-based clothing company has recently announced that it will no longer attempt to restructure and operate in the fashion industry. The remaining stock will be liquidated in the shortest amount of time possible.

The fashion chain was founded by Joey Basmaji 37 years ago and the business has not done exceptionally well. The attempt to restructure was the result of heartfelt customer response, but unfortunately, the increasingly difficult economic context has further damaged the company’s financial situation and forced it to close its doors.

On a global scale, the apparel industry is highly competitive. It is important that retailers establish solid online sales plan to out-compete traditional sales. However, I think Jacob, or many Canadian retailers in general are unaware of such strategy. The principal competitive factors in the fashion industry include design, brand image, consumer preference, price, quality, marketing and many more…With the addition of price transparency and technological advancement, it is certainly difficult for Jacob to face its rivals without a strong, unique contingency plan.

source: http://www.cp24.com/news/clothing-company-boutique-jacob-to-close-all-stores-liquidating-merchandise-1.2064333

 

The main objective of any treaty signed by both the Aboriginals and the government is to reconcile the two parties’ respective claims and interests. The management of relationships has taken place in the shadow of a long, turbulent history.

An article from the National Post emphasizes on a reoccurring issue- where the government attempts to cross the line while trading with the Aboriginals. The Kwikwetlem First Nations of Vancouver have discovered that their chief collected an $800,000 surplus for agreeing with the government to give away 236 hectares of land.

According to the Indian and Northern Affair Canada guidebook , a claim needs be agreed upon by the chief as well as the people  in order to proceed to in-depth framework agreements.

In this case, the government had not only disappointed its people, but it had also demonstrated a case of unethical business practice. The act of paying the chief a bonus amount in order to achieve its objective destroys the purpose of treaties, agreements and the legal system/process. I think this is a serious issue that should be dealt with in order to prevent similar cases that occur in the future.

source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/06/first-nation-members-suing-chief-who-received-800000-bonus-for-abandoning-aboriginal-land-claim/

Indian and Northern Affair Canada:http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-INTER-HQ/STAGING/texte-text/rul_1100100014175_eng.pdf

 

 

After my last blog post, I’ve decided to do a little more research on electronics. When we think of smart phones, pads, laptops etc., we immediately think of the two most popular brands – APPLE & SAMSUNG. The two firms’ products are always appealing to consumers, high-tech, and obviously…really overrated.

Businesses often try to promote the products’ unique selling points in attempt to differentiate and stand out. At first, Iphones and Androids had distinct features – where apple smartphones were smaller in size and Samsung phones had larger screens.

Recently, Samsung Korea’s newest advertisement contained indirect mockery towards the Iphone6. After Apple has announced its newest implementation on smartphones (yes, familiar large screens), the Korea-based company has snapped back with a satirical ad that fail to deliver the appropriate wit. Samsung US has then gave Samsung Korea a hand by releasing its new ad that also mocks the Iphone6, but with a smoother sense of humor.

This had me think about how competitive and fast-paced the electronics industry must be. Companies are constantly changing their features to catch up, and if they run out of ideas, the concept of “me-too development” seems to be a good way to go, too.

Sources: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blogs-and-comment/ads-mocking-the-competition/

http://www.cnet.com/news/apples-big-iphones-are-a-big-imitation-samsung-says-subtly-in-new-ad/

 

 

I found Lily’s post on business ethics very interesting. After reading it, I could relate to her thoughts that question whether it is necessary and ethical even, for the electronics industry to move at such a quick pace.

In her blog post, she writes, “Technology companies such as Apple fabricate our mindsets by convincing us that the idea of wearing down our electronics is to be ridiculed and that the newest model is the only way to go.” I found myself sharing her sentiments of confusion and, perhaps a little ashamed to realize that people never hesitate to retire what is still usable for a shiny new toy.

Whether the influence comes from social media, or just our surrounding, we often feel the need and desire to update to the “newest”. We have the mindset that this make us the “cooler” ones; yet when we take out stashes of money to pay for these new, luxurious devices, no one could ever stop for a second and think whether it is ethical to chuck away usable resources and allow the shiny new toys to consumer our minds.

(Lily’s blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/lilydu/)

Image – http://infeasible.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2057466281_1359582903.jpg

 

As I was browsing through the list of current events, Jason Chow’s blog post on “Good-Mouthing” had caught my eyes.

In the article, Mr. Weinstein reminds the readers that bad-mouthing is not uncommon in human nature, but “positivity, encouragement, and constructive criticism can yeild immense divends and possibly further the growth of a business.”

This blog post took a very unique approach at business ethics because it is presented in the simplest and most relatable way. People often question the cause and cure of business malpractice, but how do we fix such issues when we cannot handle the simplicity of not being rude and disrespectful?

It hit me how people over-complicate matters, blame others and attempt to find solutions out of the blue in business. Everyone knows the importance of business ethics but nobody truly knows what business ethics essentially symbolizes. It is as simple as loving and trusting your business partners, stakeholders, and one another…

photo: http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb/20090317/Devil-Angel-Pulling-Person-Hands-1115783.jpg

(Jason Chow’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/jasonchow/)