When the so-called “Singles Day” is approaching, Chinese are getting ready for shopping on Nov. 11 (11.11 which “represents four single people”). Well, what can you do when you are single and alone on Nov. 11? The e-commerce giant Alibaba may say “shopping”. Last year, around $5.8 billion was generated on “Singles Day” on a variety of products offered by Alibaba group online. With such success, this year, Alibaba is aiming to expend its business around the globe.

In the blog posted by John W. Spelich on Alizila, the author states that now product availability has become the main reason that Chinese consumers decide to shop online, in contrast to cheaper prices in previous years. This accounts for one reason that Alibaba has been so successful. Its platform offers a combination of products such as food, apparel, cosmetics, home appliances, electronics and so on. You could imagine, it is like combining Ikea, H&M, sephora, future shop into one big e-store in the wide range of Internet without reducing size of any one.

In addition, taking “triple bottom line” into account, it also portrays why Alibaba is so popular- it situates in the middle of three circles.

People: Alibaba online platform facilitates people shopping in a easy, fast, convenient way. Planet: Online shopping saves energy and land uses (unnecessary to build more shopping malls), lessens the use of  transportation (which causes green gases). Profit: enormous online trading brings greater consumer surplus and seller surplus.

picture: http://www.eoi.es/blogs/carlosomargarcia/files/2013/04/SIA_venn-diagram2.jpg

“If  the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?”

Imagine that your friend has been struggling on a math problem, would you choose to give out your answers or teaches the method to your friend? If your decision is the latter one, then you could be a social entrepreneur! The key difference between the UN and a social entrepreneur is the method they utilize in maximizing welfare.  A social entrepreneur imparts  his expertise and practices his skills to discover innovative solutions that increases total welfare. For instance, Muhammad Yunus uses only $27 to free 42 Bangladesh villagers form poverty and offers loans  for them to draw on their expertise to profit. In such way, both parties gain and the village prospers. Whereas, the United Nations provides resources or plans that can only ease the difficulty temporarily. It is also a problem for UN to fully consider every one’s issues and benefits. Thus, it is not a sustainable strategy because resources are limited. They are not attainable in the long run. This accounts for why we need social entrepreneurs who are capable to raise individuals’ welfare under the condition of scarce resources available.

picture: http://destinationchangemakers.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/social-enterprise-cloud-words.jpg

Here, I want to comment on   Shang Yu (Angela) Liu’s Blog about Tesla’s current pressing issue of lacking in production. As we have discussed in class, Tesla set those car-lovers on fire because its value proposition has convinced them. Being the first major electric car in the auto industry, Tesla has differentiated itself as its products being environmental friendly- non-gas filled cars. The pain comes when the rising demand has not been met with its low-speed production.

I agree with Angela’s opinion on that Tesla still needs to devote more to the project of lowering costs. As in class, our group agreed to that Tesla’s electric cars are designed for wealthy people. Taking a look at the big picture, Tesla’s affordability will become a huge issue in the future if the cost of production stays high throughout. Demand may become Tesla’s issue in the future. Also, once a new, less expensive electric car is introduced, Tesla will lose great advantages to its competitors. Thus, as Angela suggested Tesla should definitely invest and delve into its research in order to achieve prospective success.

picture: http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/tesla-model-s.jpg?w=780

Recently, the auto parts supplier  Takata Corp. has been targeted in the auto industry.  Four deaths and numbers of severe injuries have resulted associating with the faulty airbags Takata offered.

picture: http://bestride.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nhtsa-s-investigation-on-takata-faulty-airbags-expanding-to-more-automakers-82515_1.jpg

https://blogs.ubc.ca/sahirshivji/files/2014/09/Business-Ethics.jpg

Julia Lam’s blog about Coca-Cola starting the Share a Coke campaign caught my attention because I actually learned something new. I wasn’t aware that Coca-Cola took such a smart step to recapture the public’s attention. At first, I thought it would just be a temporary marketing strategy for summer of 2014. I mean once the consumers have already experienced, what difference would it make to have the campaign back next summer.  Every one must have gotten his personal coke bottle right?

However, when I delve into the  research on this campaign, it in fact surprises me. Because the chance that the bottle you bought has your name on it is extremely low. The names on the bottles involve 33 languages, with over a thousand of names released each year. You might not find your personal bottle after you bought 5,10,15… Will customers just give up buying Coke because the process of getting a personal one is time-consuming? No. Consumers must have considered this campaign of getting a personal coke as a fun job. When they got one, they could enjoy the excitement of getting one personal bottle or drinking the coke!

Here, Coca-Cola has differentiated itself from other pop companies.  These personalized coke bottles stand for a point of difference of the company.

picture: http://media.bizj.us/view/img/2902221/share-a-coke-its-coming*1200xx1440-811-0-0.jpg

http://www.actioncoach.com/siteFiles/photos/articles/Your_Unique_Point_of_Difference_1.jpg

Long before Canada was recognized as a country, First Nations have been lived in this territory. They took care of this massive piece of land and made it prosperous. As Canadians settled down here, the Indians saw them as a threat and conflicts regarding rights and properties arose continuously until today.

Recently, a First Nation Tsilhqot’in attempts to declare Chilcotin a tribal park as a regain of their property. Issue rises as once this declaration becomes formal, it creates obstruction to Taseko Mines Ltd.’s $1.1 billion worth New Prosperity mine project in this area. Federal government rejects this project as it destroys the fish habitats in Fish Lake area. I personally agree with the federal, taking business ethics and the ideal of environmental sustainability into consideration. Although enormous money may be achieved out of this project, but their action will definitely cause harm to the valuable resources and attributes this area has attained. Imagine it becomes a piece of wasteland after few years. What will be left for the future generations? By assigning it as a tribal park and restricting the project, it can remind many other companys the significance of sustainability to business. Thus I strongly recommend Taseko to position “sustainability” into one of their business’s goals. To further this mining project, Taseko for sure has to find an environmental friendly way to launch it. For the project to proceed smoothly, it is also important for the business to negotiate with the people that will be affected (Indians in this case) , take their opinions and develop a consensual plan.

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 While the trend of online shopping starts to benefit some online platforms such as taobao, amazon and ebay, it has threatened actual market sells in shopping malls and independent websites such as Zara.cn. As claimed in the news article, online purchasing website Tmall is profiting greatly by enormous sales,  while Zara.cn has failed in the race of top 100,000 most popular websites, regardless it has 456 stores in operation  in mainland China.

Nowadays, network shopping has become increasingly favourable to people in the significance that it is extremely convenient, time-saving, secure and relatively inexpensive. As my personal experience tells me, in China, everyone knows about Taobao(Tmall’s sister site stated by the article) and almost everyone uses it to shop online for clothes, furniture, food etc. Often, you are able to find stuff that isn’t likely to be found in actual markets. In addition, when people shop at private-owned or even some public-owned stores, they often use Alipay(similar to paypal). This eliminates the need of bringing cash or bank card, you simply need your iphone and the deal will be done in 10 seconds.

Because of the popularity of such online platforms, I believe Zara has made a wise decision. And launching its online sell at Tmall will definitely have a greater chance to maximize the benefits of both parties.

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http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486×302/public/2014/10/02/c50f8ef1eeb109d013f8c0877a888d13.jpg?itok=61UII6RP

Since the release of Apple’s latest smartphone iphone 6 and 6 plus, Apple’s customers have responded with an overwhelming demand. Being such a huge thing in the world of smartphone, any flaws regarding to iphone’s design would create a big splash in the public. The question is: Do people comment on this because of the flaw itself or because it is an Apple product?

First comes with the phenomena known as #Bendgate. Within the first few weeks, the discovered iphone6 plus’s bendable feature has been a popular topic in the social media. Then, it shifts to the #Hairgate which is the new discovery of iphone 6’s screen seam being continuously pulling consumers’ hair off when they talk on the phone. This new phenomena has soon been significantly reported and shared in the social media.

To answer the question, I personally prefer the latter explanation. Being a leading smartphone company, Apple has so much impact on its consumers. To them, Apple products seem to be a representation of one the world’s most advanced technology. Owning one of it can add so much pride to a person. And purchasing the latest release of its products has become a popular trend, which can drive people crazy – they were willing to line up 3 days before the release date. Thus, I consider the influence of iphone6’s flaw can be minuscule compared to its popularity, and what drags people’s attentions first is the word “iphone”.

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During the past two weeks, if you have ever noticed, a status update as such “i just signed up for ello? Idk viva la revolcion I guess! Hit me up for an invite! Lol!” has popped up on many Facebook pages. By emphasizing to the audience “[your] Facebook is owned by advertisers ”, Ello, a new ads-free social network has made itself notable to many Facebook users. Within less than an hour, more than 38,000 people inquire to sign up.

In June 2014, the well-known social network Facebook has aroused disaffection among many users due to its manipulation of user information as a part of some researches. With the release of Ello, many anti-Facebook users might approach to give it a shot based on its most attractive and most wanted attribute currently -free of ads.

The question is, how many people would actually abandon Facebook and recreate his/her social network in the new Ello world? Would Ello ultimately be able to replace Facebook? In my opinion, the chance is low. Although Facebook is encountering the loss of loyalty from a portion of users, it is still playing a significant role in our social life. Taking into consideration that recently Facebook has created a new ad platform called Atlas. Basically, what is does is to target you with ads that matches your profile information. For example, if you are a singer, you probably will receive music related advertisements. Without any doubt, every moment, Facebook is trying to improve and make the social network better for all users. Ello may be a wonderful challenger that propels both itself and Facebook to a higher level of social networking.

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picture: http://www.vancouversun.com/cms/binary/10246497.jpg

Eating fast food is bad for health, right? How about eating fast food that’s made of expired meat?

In August 2014, a surveillance video recorded from the meat-production sites in China was released on the Internet. It demonstrated the factory’s processing of products such as nuggets out of expired meat, then the supplier would sell them to restaurant companies. In such a way, it could make enormous profits.

In the perspective of the meat manufacturer, would their business considered as a successful one? One might think that since there hasn’t had any medical issues regarding the meat, why not?  It actually shows that a business in decline according to “Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory”. Consider the meat supplier, McDonald’s itself and its customers as a whole, any of the three’s benefits is neglected, the business would not be referred as a  good one. Reported by the news article, although the meat supplier might have achieved the greatest profits, the ultimate outcome was completely opposite and destructive.  It has in fact violated the regulations and harmed the benefits of  McDonald’s and its consumers, specifically by processing, hiding and selling unqualified products. Those are the products that customers would never want, eventually, no one would pay for the business once the unconscionable business behaviour was released and put up in front of the scene. For a long term, the company would lose its reputation completely. Consequently, the business chain eventually  breaks with lack of support from the customers.