America ‘s department of justice has dropped its opposition to the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. This will be a big relief for whole air-transportation industry. American Airlines and US Airways planed to create the biggest airline in the world by carrying out the $11 billion merger.

From my perspective,  the merger is not a wise decision. The merger will cause the merged company to bulky to operate. The organizational structure will be too complicated; thus, the decision making will be inefficient.

What’s more, both the two company will lose customers due to merger. Some customers choose either American Airlines or US Airways instead of another because they do not like the service or culture of the company. If the merger is carried out, these customers may choose other smaller carriers.

The merger seems like to limit the competition, making it harder for the start-ups to enter into the industry. In fact, without regulations and special quota given by the government, the only way that the merger can create barrier to entry is the lower price. Lowering price will make it much more difficult for American Airlines and US Airways to increase their revenue.

Reference: http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/11/american-airlines-and-us-airways

Fewer U.S. homeowners are falling behind on their mortgage payment. The trend brought down the national late-payment rate on home loans in the third quarter to 4.09 percent, a five-year low. It is estimated that the national mortgage delinquency rate will continuously drop to under 4 percent.

In my opinion, lower  late-payment rate on mortgages shows that U.S. economy is recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. The bank is slightly lowering the credit requirement of loan. This is beneficial to the people who have the rigid demand for housing.

What’s more, the lowering the credit requirement of loan caused by the dropping mortgage delinquency  rate will also benefit the business. More company is likely to invest in real estate, making it easier for people who are not so rich  to buy a house. Also, the fundraisers of the start-ups will feel less challenging when applying for a bank loan. More start-ups will provide more jobs, pushing higher the employment rate. Thus, more and more people are able to afford a house or pay off the debt.

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Reference: http://finance-commerce.com/2013/11/late-payment-rate-on-mortgages-down-in-3q/

I agree with Catherine’s view that Google is a great example of how technology is embedded into business. What’s more Google shows the world how innovation is combined with business.

According to my analysis, Google is able to make innovation and technology profitable because it has a great culture that encourages risk-taking. From Catherine’s blog, we know that Google is developing some futuristic projects like self-driving cars, Google Glass, and the WiFi balloons. Google has many intrapreneurs in it because of its encouraging risk-taking. Risk-taking is the basic requirement for the entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, innovation is not restrained by cost and risk. Some of the projects may fail in the end, but some of them will be the future treasure of Google.  Google may not be as profitable as it supposed to be now due to its investment in developing futuristic technology, but it will definitely more profitable in the future, for Google is not wasting any new idea and innovation.

Reference: https://blogs.ubc.ca/yihsiuchang/2013/11/12/google-researches-into-technology/

Picture: http://designpublic.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/innovation.jpg

http://adpu.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/risk.jpg?w=500

http://i.haymarket.net.au/News/Google-Glasses.jpg

BlackBerry is a fallen star of the smartphone industry, while thing go from bad to worse for it. BlackBerry’s share price went down to less than $10 per share in 2013, the lowest since BlackBerry came into the market.

What can be the alternative strategy for BlackBerry?

Clearly, the operating system developed by BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, is a delayed operating system. BlackBerry 10 is not strong enough to compete with Android and IOS.

Smartphone users don’t buy BlackBerry anymore. The demand for BlackBerry is so low that BlackBerry should find other ways to cover its fixed cost rather than producing smartphones.

From my perspective, one way is to sell BlackBerry to large company in the software area, such as Microsoft, Google and Apple. BlackBerry can provide technology support to these large companies. Applications and services provided by BlackBerry is necessary for these large companies because communication security is extremely important for them.

Another way by which BlackBerry can survive is that continue to produce smartphones when the revenue can cover the variable cost until the  machinery wears out. And then, BlackBerry concentrates on developing software instead of developing hardware.

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Reference:http://www.economist.com/news/business/21589445-fallen-star-smartphone-industry-things-go-bad-worse-only-thorns

From the article, we can have a knowledge of how Zappos establish and practice its corporate culture. Christoper’s blog is extremely for managers of different companies and business students to understand how a corporate’s culture benefit the corporate itself.

Zappos offers customers with tour around its headquarters in Las Vegas 16 times a week. It holds seminars to discuss the essence of its corporate culture.  Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos,  regales 1.6 million fans with inspirational quotes, riffs on news, and whatever else in his mind.

From my perspective, organizational culture or corporate culture is not only the pattern of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an organization, but also what can be used to engage customers.

Customers who shared the same value with a corporate may not have sufficient skills and knowledge to work for the corporate, but they are still able and willing to be part of the corporate by purchasing more goods and share their excellent buying experience with friends or on the internet. Zappos knows this. The online shoe retailer is retailing fashionable shoes as well as its culture. Their family-like environment is not only for employees but also for existing customers and potential customers. Just like Hsieh says, “We only get one chance to emotionally connect they when they call.”

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References: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_02/b4162057120453.htm

Pictures: http://abovethelaw.com/2012/01/zappos-suffers-a-data-breach-and-the-other-shoe-drops-with-a-lawsuit/zappos-logo/

http://www.ffusa.com/news/business-news/

I partly agree with Yukang’s opinion that BlackBerry should establish a point of difference to have a share in the smartphone market occupied by Apple and Samsung.  According to what we have learnt in class, a strong, favorable, and  unique point of difference that distinguish a brand from others in the same frame of reference are fundamental to successful brand positioning.

However, only having a point of difference is not enough. BlackBerry still has to ask itself, “Are the points of difference compelling?”  I disagree with Yukang’s idea that BlackBerry should take cellphones with key-board as its point of difference. According to my research, touch screen, instead of keyboard, is what  customers of smartphones favor. Developing smartphones with keyboard is not a wise decision.

From my point of view, BlackBerry should distinguish its brand by developing smartphones that have fast data transmission and have longer stand-by time, for slow and costly data transmission as well as the short stand-by time are what iPhones and Samsung smartphones lack .

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Resources: https://blogs.ubc.ca/yukangzhang1/2013/10/05/blackberrys-great-loss/

Pictures: http://gdgt.com/blackberry/curve/9300/

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-245345/stock-photo-data-transmission-graphic-in-blue.html

Source: http://finance-commerce.com/2013/09/tech-toolkit-how-to-select-tools-for-training-employees/

Employees, or the major part of the human resources, are key resource of a business. They are the intangible asset of a company.The significance of employee training is obvious because to some extent employee’s ability and potential decide the destiny of a business. You may enter into a industry at the right time by applying Poster’s 5 Force Theorem, but your company won’t survive the competition without skilled staff. Your employee determine how different it is between what you planned and what happened.This cannot be computed out by management accounting. If a manager ignore employee training, his/her business is doomed to failure.

Here comes the question, how to train employees?

In the article, determining company’s outcome, focusing on engagement, and considering your employee base are mentioned to among the toolkit of employee training. From my perspective, making employees realize where are they going is important. To say in a academic way, give them creative tension, a personal vision. Employees with personal vision are working with a purpose and their daily progress toward their vision builds confidence and leads to a belief that anything is possible. (Creative Tension, Personal Excellence, Volume 18, Issue 7, 2013, Mark Hopkins).The mentally stronger are the employees, the profitably stronger is the business.

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source:http://www.economist.com/news/business/21586344-xiaomi-often-described-chinas-answer-apple-actually-quite-different-taking-bite-out

（picture from yesky.com）

Xiaomi, a new smartphone manufacturer emerging in China several years ago, is gaining a larger and larger market share in China. In the second quarter of 2013 Xiaomi’s market share in China was 5%, exceeding Apple ‘s 4.8% share for the first time.

How can Xiaomi boost its sales?

My analysis shows that there are two main reasons.

First of all,  Xiaomi build a close relationship with customers.Applying a co-creation strategy, Xiaomi is going beyond the traditional customer-vendar relationship to co-create value with customers.（Business Model Generation, Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur）Users give feedback and suggestions by app or weibo, the Chinese twitter. People will be more willing to purchase a certain product if they feel involved in the developing process.

Furthermore, Xiaomi caters to the need and self-respect of Chinese customers.China has been entitled for a long time a country with abundant labor force but no innovation. People criticize that ‘made in China’ cannot become ‘created in China’. Xiaomi and its products are strong strike-back. “If a product is not going to be first, it then must find an unoccupied position in which it can be first. “(Positioning,  The Battle for Your Mind, AI Ries and Jack Trout) Although Xiaomi isn’t the first smartphone brand in China, but it becomes the first smartphone that be able to concentrate on serving Chinese customers ad represent the technology development of  China.

（picture from huodongpingxuan.zt.brandcn.com）

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http://finance-commerce.com/2013/09/sustainable-entrepreneur-sees-opportunity-in-food-waste/

This is an article about food-waste composting industry. Max Milinkovich, the CEO of Full Circle Organics LLC, is a man having strategic thinking focusing on the industry of  food-waste composting which is an environment-related issue being and more concerned with by the world.

Strengths of a company includes exclusive access to high grade natural resouces and favorable access to distribution networks.（Bradford, Robert W., Duncan, Peter J, Tarcy, Brian, Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nosecse Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast! (SWOT Analysis)）

Full Circle has its strengths. First, as a new industry field food-waste composting is,the company has little competition in the field. Second, food-waste from local institutions and restaurants provides Full Circle an exclusive access to resources to produce its products. Third, the company have favorable access to distribution networks by cooperate with commercial haulers and local landscapers.

(picture form www.biocycle.net)

Opportunities for profit and growth include: loosening of regulations and arrival of new technologies.（Bradford, Robert W., Duncan, Peter J, Tarcy, Brian, Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nosecse Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast! (SWOT Analysis)）

Compared with current regulation, the proposed rules lower the requirement of food composting :under the proposed food composting rules, no liner will be required. The loosening of regulations makes it an opportunity for Full Circle to develop and enhance itself.

However, the six-month-turning-into-compost process seems too long to make  short-term profits for the company. Advanced technology should be introduced.

(picture from www.uwstout.com)

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Source：http://finance-commerce.com/2013/09/worker-killed-at-saints-ballpark-site-osha-to-investigate/

This is an article about a tragedy happened in workplace of demolition. The tragedy arouse my attention to business ethics.

(picture from finance-commerce.com)

This is an article about a tragedy happened in workplace of demolition. The victim was Johnny Valek, 61,. He was killed when a 30-foot-by-10-foot piece of concrete fell onto the cab of his backhoe. His employer – Rachel Contracting declined to comment.

Profit or Safety?

Rachel Contracting, as well as other company in all fields, has to balance profit and the safety of workers. As an experienced worker he was, Valek was more efficient than regular or younger workers. Meanwhile, efficiency of a experienced worker means more profits to a demolition company than hiring a less experienced one. That ‘s the reason why Rachel Contracting still hired Valek to do demolition work even though he was over 60. However, Rachel Contracting neglected an important rule of  business ethics: to keep worker safe to the greatest extent. This rule of business ethics should be considered before the profits. In the case, if a younger worker who responses quickly to accident is hired to do the same job and face the same accident, he will have much higher probability to escape the accident and survive. After all,  the social responsibility of business is not only to increase its profits.

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