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Celebrity endorsement has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. However, do you know the power of celebrity? What are the benefits Of Using Celebrity Endorsements? According to a blog written by Bekbulatova Kamilla, Celebrity Endorsement would influence consumer purchases for the reason that people would like to be similar to their idols.

She introduced an example about Chanel No.5 perfume and Brad Pitt and also mentioned the importance of the level of celebrity. Therefor celebrity endorsements is too significant to ignore. I totally agree with her. Here are some reasons.

For one thing, it is important to build brand awareness. Brand awareness is a measure of how well your brand is known within its target markets. Celebrity endorsement is a great brand awareness creation tool. However, the company needs to pay attention to the celebrities they choose. The celebrity must be credible. This means that he or she must have a high level of expertise and talent in their field. For another, celebrities with worldwide popularity can help companies avoid cultural ‘roadblocks’ such as time, space,  and language. Samantha Thavasa global ad campaign with the celebrities Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton is a good example.

All in all, celebrity endorsements have proven very successful in many brands. But remember, they are a long-term tactics.

Blog link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/kamabek/2014/11/09/celebrity-endorsements/

What will the consequence be if the housing price in Canada keep rising? Will it lead to an economic downfall in the Canadian society? According to a blog written by Angelica deBonis, there will be less people being able to live in these cities with higher housing price, like Toronto and Vancouver. In addition, it may cause an economic downfall in the Canadian society leaving us “Homeless and Jobless in Vancouver.” However, I am not totally agree with Angelica.

Admittedly, as the housing price going up, people have to pay more money to get a house. But, it does not mean less people can live in these cities. Where there is demand, there is supply. The only reason why the price of housing keeps rising is that the demand exceeds the supply. If less and less people live in these cities, the price will definitely go down. Therefore, maybe you and me have to move out because we could not afford the price. However, there are still plenty of buyers who are planning to purchase some houses in first－tire cities.

Also, The effect of increasing the minimum wage for youth on unemployment is uncertain. The structure of the labor market is very important. For example, if the labor market is a monopsony, a minimum wage may not cause unemployment.

One thing I agree with is that for those young adults who just starting out in the work force are having trouble finding jobs with sufficient salary to pay back their student loans, never mind buy a house in a major city. It really add stress for the youth.

Blog link: http://www.economicshelp.org/labour-markets/disadvantages-minimum-wages/

Nowadays, it is businesses that have great power and great responsibilities for the world we have today and for the world we have tomorrow.

It is universal acknowledged that one could not make money if he or she has no money. To solve this problem, Grameen Bank and microfinace emerge as the times require. The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank founded in Bangladesh by  Muhammad Yunus in 1976. The purpose of this bank is to make small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral. At the same time, giving them a community of peer support among other borrowers and allowing them to review each other’s loans.The results surprised everyone. With the help of microfinance, more than half of Garmeen’s members have move their families out of poverty.

In my opinion, poor people could never be the bank’s shareholders. They always refuse to lend money to them because they are afraid of not paying it back. However, if the poor could not get the first dollar, how can they make the next dollar. It would be a vicious cycle in the end. Grameen Bank offers everybody a chance, especially the poor, to be an entrepreneur. As a result, they run small business to survive and support our economy. The pressing social problem would still be left unsolved  without these kind of social businesses. They are the one that finding new ways of helping to solve society’s problems. In addition, social businesses are much more better than charities. It could be financially self-sustaining as long as it get the first investment repaid.

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Work Cited: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7252825/Ashoka_studentkit_12-15-12_final.pdf 

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To be honest, I was really moved after watching the prep 20 video “What is Social Entrepreneurship?” I started looking for articles about Ashoka in order to get more information about it. Then, I read this post which I think is very useful for better understanding Ashoka.

Here is the blog that I recommended. Nowadays, it is uncommon to see an organization’s purpose is to save the world rather than gain more profit. However, Ashoka is an exception.

What is Ashoka? It is a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs –individuals with innovative and practical ideas for solving social problems.

What does Ashoka aim for? It offers an platform where the best entrepreneurs can work togethere to solve the world’s most pressing social challenges. By building this kind of peer network, their impact can be much larger.

Also, Ashoka Fellows inspire others to adopt and spread their innovations – demonstrating to all citizens that they too have the potential to be powerful changemakers.

“Most important about Ashoka doing is that they make people believe that change is possible. That belief can go viral.”

-Anne Wojcicki, CEO and Co-Founder, 23andMe

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Someone argued that if the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise. From my point of view, the arc and social enterprise are as important as the United Nations. As the proverb goes “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime. The relationship between the UN and social enterprise is just like “a fish” and “fish”.

The United Nations helped plenty of countries to faster their economic development in the past few decades. However, we seldom take the results, efficiency and impact of the United Nation into consideration. Uwonkunda mentioned that the donation from UN did not have a lasting impact to the citizens of Rwanda. Many of them did not know how to do with the money for the simple reason that they lack knowledge and experience. Just like what Gatete said, “You need to know how to manage your money, manage your staff and manage your ideas.”  That is why we need Arc and social enterprise. With the help of these programs and social entrepreneurs, local enterprises could have opportunities to learn the latest business skills, tools and leadership tactics. Only in this way can they run their business for a long time. In other words, they can build sustainable business.

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BC Hydro have decided to construct and operate a dam and 1,100-megawatt hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeastern British Columbia. It is said that the dam would flood some part of the Peace River Valley and destroying farmland and wildlife habitat.  As a result, their normal activities would be stopped, like fishing and hunting.

According to the PESTLE analysis, the most significant factors in this situation are politics, environment and social. Among all of the factors, social element come to my mind firstly. From my point of view, their purposes never conflict for the simple reason that both of them want to create a better living condition. The government argued that as the development in this region, they need the relatively clean hydroelectric. On the other hand, the chiefs are welcome and interested in supporting smaller projects such as wind and solar power in areas. The only thing they are afraid of is that the dam would influence their daily activities and traditional ceremonies.

I believe the situation would have a better perspective if the government can ensure the right of the first nation to be effectively consulted, in accordance with their traditions and customs. In addition, they should pay more attention to development or investment projects that may affect their territory. Last, it is necessary to share the benefits of projects with the members of the first nation.

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Work Cited: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/saramaka-people-v-suriname-human-rights-victory-and-its-messy-aftermath

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Samsung is rushing its device out the door. The company will launch its Galaxy Note 4 smartphone in China and South Korea ahead of schedule in order to steal some thunder from Apple’s device.

Samsung has lost market share in China and India over the past two years to local cheap phones. The reason why Samsung has given China priority over other export markets this time is that they find China exists massive untapped base.They believe the Note 4 would “far outsell its predecessor” by using this chance. However, I hold the opposite opinion. I think most customers would like to wait for iPhone 6 rather than purchase Note 4. For one thing, the prices of those two devices are similar. If they cannot afford Note 4, they will choose the cheaper homegrown brands. For another, some consumers in China are described as disciples of an “Apple Cult”.  In fact, many buyers lining up at Apple stores around the world are from China itself—they just couldn’t wait for the new product to be launched later at home. That is why I do not think that it really matters if iPhone 6 arrive a little bit late than Note 4. Because the fans would not care about it at all.

Also, Samsung has always been the world’s leading smartphone producer by sales, especially in “phablet” area.  People chose Samsung just for the simple reason that it is bigger than iPhone sometimes. The screen size of iPhone 6 plus is as same as Note 4, which is 4.7 inch. So what will happen when iPhone 6 plus meets Note 4?

Welcome to the biggest smartphone battle of 2014.

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Work Cited: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/25/samsung_tries_to_head_off_apple_pushes_up_asian_release_of_galaxy_note_4/

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In the 19th of September, founder and chairman Jack Ma rang the opening bell in The New York Stock Exchange. Alibaba is now valued at $231.4bn – making it significantly larger than Amazon and Facebook.Yet Alibaba remains a mystery and an unknown quantity to most  investors, business people and consumers located outside of China.

Firstly, what Alibaba is and what it does. Alibaba is the largest e-commerce company on Earth– bigger than Amazon and eBay combined. Alibaba’s two largest and best known platforms are T-Mall and Tao Bao. It is the platform where people go to sell things and where people go to buy things. The company itself has no desire to sell products. In other words, all the sales are down through Alibaba, not by Alibaba. That is the biggest difference between Amazon, eBay and Alibaba.They make money by advertising selling advertising to the merchants who are selling on their market places and other e-commerce services.

How can Alibaba be so successful in fifteen years? For one thing, they created Alipay. Alipay has been called the Paypal of the East, but I think that it is more than this. I would say that Alipay provides a wider service than PayPal. My mom is a Alipay user.  She uses it to transfer money, pay her bills, check her bank balance and add money to her phone account. However, it seems like she only use Paypal when she goes shopping on ebay. For another, nobody can ignores the power and influence that Jack Ma gives to the Alibaba Group. He has revolution eyes how retailing is done in China and how economy recovery in China. That is the reason why he created the company. His colleagues described him as an idealistic, optmistic, competitive, innovative and resilient. He measures his life by how positive an effect he has on the lives of others.
Work Cited: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29282407

The 2007-2009 recession was long and deep, and according to several indicators, it was the most severe economic contraction since the 1930s. Unemployment Rate in the United States was extremely high in 2009 almost 10 percent. However, it decreased to 5.90 percent in September of 2014 from 6.10 percent in August of 2014, the lowest rate since July of 2008. In a addition, 69,000 more jobs were created in July and August than previously estimated.

This report is very important cause we can use it to estimate the health of the economy. The strength in hiring this year has been one of the clearest indications that the country is finally escaping the long shadow of the Great Recession. The lower unemployment rate is not only good for the government, but also has a lot of impacts to the citizens. Their living situation and satisfaction will improved and the rate of crime will decrease for the reason that the society are harmonious than before. Still, one thing need to be mentioned. Most of the new jobs in this recovery have been low wage jobs and part time jobs. Wages have been basically stagnant for several decades. So the economy in US still need a little time to recover.

Resource: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/03/us-usa-economy-idUSKCN0HS09020141003

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29479533

Picture: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/business/economy/monthly-jobs-report-september.html?_r=0

http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2014/10/03/jobs-report-u-s-economy-added-248000-jobs-in-september-unemployment-down-to-5-9/

Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £14.5 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for “serious failings” in its mortgage sales business. According to the city watchdog, RBS did not ensure that it offered suitable mortgage advice to customers. In addition, two reviews of sales from 2012 had found that “in over half the cases the suitability of the advice was not clear.” In 2012, RBS was the UK’s sixth largest mortgage lender. That means there advice has already affected a large amount of customers.

As we all know, taking out a mortgage is one of the biggest moments in one’s lives, customers have the right to get the most suitable and affordable advice before they taking out a mortgage. Someone said that only the child want to know what is right and what is wrong, the adult only care about how much benefit can they get. However, I still believe trust is the foundation in an healthy and harmonic relationship between customers and companies. Customers are a company’s future. If a company’s purpose is only to maximize shareholder returns by sacrificing profits to customers, it will lead to a vicious circle and finally kill your business.

Pictures:http://www.ianfraser.org/thousands-of-staff-line-up-to-sue-rbs/ http://hackcartoonsdiary.com/wp-       content/uploads/2012/06/RBS_NatWest_Bank_Hack_Cartoon.jpg

News:http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28948518

Another useful website: http://www.serdef.org/