If the United Nations were fully funded, social enterprise and the Arc would still be extremely relevant to the world.

The UN is an organization created to promote international co-operation between countries. As of now, the UN has 193 members. The main goal of the United Nations is to establish peace, promote human rights, and in addition, economic and social development. Social enterprise is an organization that is focused on maximizing human well-being instead of focusing explicitly on profits. Both the Arc and social enterprise target smaller areas and are thus able to be more effective than the UN. Furthermore, it can be noticed that the United Nations leans more towards macromanagement, whereas social enterprise is more related to micromanagement.

Social enterprises and the Arc still add a lot of value to the world because of the way these organizations are structured. Social enterprises tend to favor consumer’s wants and ultimately fills their needs. It is ultimately up to organizations like the Arc to resolve the smaller details in larger scenarios in which the UN cannot fully grasp. Thus it is notorious that these organizations are extremely important to the overall society and local communities.

References:

http://www.connectingcapacity.co.uk/dev/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SE_Business_Identifier_RGB.jpg

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

Much has been said about LeBron James’ return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The media has been filled with news regarding the superstar’s return to his home club ever since the pre-season. His homecoming game against the New York Knicks was played in front of a sell-out crowd in downtown Cleveland on October 30th. The fans who were lucky enough to buy a ticket had to face absurd prices of over $10,000 on the secondary market.

It is evident that the impact of the NBA’s best player is tremendous. According to the Cavaliers’s ticketing website, the average ticket for a Cleveland home game is $386, which translates into a 222% increase from last year. In addition, the Cavaliers’ merchandise is up 700%, as the Cavs are the top-selling NBA team. LeBron James’ jersey is also a top-seller in the market. Due to that, restaurants and cafes have come up with marketing strategies in order to exploit LeBron’s image to its full capacity. On game days, it is impossible to dine in the Arena’s surroundings without prior reservation. Finally, economists predict that LeBron’s presence will add hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy on an annual basis.

The scene has been setup. Now, it is up to LeBron James and his team to live up to the expectations and repay their passionate fans.

References:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000326166

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11792855/lebron-james-makes-cleveland-cavaliers-homecoming-official-season-opener

http://localtvkdvr.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/lebron.jpg?w=400&h=225&crop=1

http://dy.snimg.com/story-image/6/74/276233/276233-330-0.jpg

Zippy Courses is essentially a WordPress plugin online that was invented by blogger Derek Halpern. The idea was to launch a new, innovative product that would facilitate the creation of courses online. However, Derek was unsure on how to go about debuting this product.

Derek actually used one of Porter’s Generic strategies in order to differentiate his product from other competitors’. By implementing a focus strategy on his product, Derek was able to create a competitive advantage over other similar products on the market. Through a video demonstration of how Zippy Courses actually works, Derek was able to demonstrate why his product is perhaps the easiest and fastest way of creating modules for online courses. In addition, he also focused on keeping his product availability small. That way, there would be a large demand for a limited supply of licenses. By doing so, he could keep consumers constantly intrigued. His idea was to prioritize consumer happiness over revenue and profit.

After analyzing Derek’s software, I can conclude that in order for a new product to be recognized in the market, it needs to be slightly different than others in at least one way. A product’s uniqueness is what ultimately makes it appealing for customers, and that is exactly what blogger Derek Halpern was able to implement in his software.

References:

http://socialtriggers.com/zippy-courses/

https://zippycourses.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/zcourse.png

When discussing the idea of maximizing “happiness”, I often think of my Econ 101 class with professor Robert Gateman. According to him, maximizing happiness is fulfilling a person’s level of satisfaction to the most. Essentially, it means that a person can only be completely content when achieving the maximum amount of satisfaction there is for an output.

In the business world, this idea can be applied to companies when dealing with employees. Victoria George’s post suggests that the happier the employee is, the more output he or she will produce. Thus, the level of efficiency would increase as employees would be able to produce a higher amount of output given the same amount of time. I highly agree with this approach, because I believe that when employees have to endure less stress and working hours, they are undeniably more productive. By treating employees with respect and genuine care, a company is bound to make larger profits. Employees ultimately create a connection with the company in which they make it a personal motive to see the company succeed. Unhappy and stressed employees definitely have a much lower chance of actually wanting to make a difference. Maximizing employees’ happiness is actually an effective strategy that should be implemented by companies in order to amplify total profit.

Alejandra’s blog post discusses the creation of a newly developed social network that incorporates Facebook-like features. Ello, invented by Paul Budnitz, is perhaps a better version of Facebook. Two of the most unique characteristics of Ello include allowing users to pick whatever name they want to go by (doesn’t necessarily need to be your birth name), and permitting users to generate unique personal profiles.

As it is mentioned in the post, Ello was not created to directly compete with Facebook. It simply modified some factors that have notoriously failed in social medias. Given that idea, I agree with Alejandra’s point of view in which she claims that there is a bright future for Ello.

In my opinion, customer satisfaction is one of the most important aspects to consider when running a business. Zappos for instance, is a shoe and clothing shop that implements customer satisfaction as one of its most important value proposition. Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh believes in satisfying both employees and customers, thus creating a healthy organizational culture within the company. This strategy can be compared to Budnitz’s, in the sense that they are both targeting to obtain consumer approval in order to increase demand and efficiency.

In conclusion, it is obvious that Ello has potential to succeed but in order to do so, it will need to overcome the errors that Facebook made.

The Nak’azdli are one of many First Nations that make up the indigenous population of Canada. Throughout several years, they have been trying to achieve a status in which they can have legal rights and authority over their land. The people living in the Nak’azdli territory, located in northern British Columbia, have already been clear: “There will be no pipeline.” This statement is referring to Enbridge Incorporation’s idea of constructing an oil pipeline that would extend nearly 1,177 kilometers on the coast of B.C., thus overstepping Nak’azdli territory. The Nak’azdli are one of many First Nations that make up the indigenous population of Canada. Throughout several years, they have been trying to achieve a status in which they can have legal rights and authority over their land. Can the indigenous people living in the Nak’azdli territory and Enbridge come up with some sort of agreement on the issue? Can a balance be established?

As a matter of fact, an example of a country that has demonstrated that such balance can occur is Norway. Known to be one of the world’s largest exporter of unprocessed oil, Norway strictly enforces safety measures that must be met by oil companies. Because of that, the risks of oil spills are highly minimized, and subsequently, waterways are preserved and kept mostly clean.

References:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/26/northern-gateway-christy-clark_n_1707434.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/There+will+pipeline/10122968/story.html

http://img.src.ca/2012/08/01/635×357/120801_ne0gp_pipeline_northern_gateway_sn635.jpg

Hewlett-Packard Company, more commonly known as HP, is a multinational technology corporation that provides software and hardware services for its customers. Due to HP’s struggle to compete in the new market of mobile and online computing, It has been announced that the company plans to split into two sections: computer business and services operations. According to a Wall Street Journal, the split is being enforced in order for the company to allocate more of its focus towards corporate services.

In present-day, HP has over 300,000 employees, so this separation would significantly reshape the company’s structure. HP will need to innovate its products in order to compete against companies selling smartphones and tablets like Apple and Blackberry. The low demand for products like personal computers and printers has highly affect Hewlett-Packard’s sales. By splitting into two different sections, it will be able to specialize and target one specific market. Furthermore, the company announced that it will release between 11,000 to 16,000 employees before separation. HP’s inconsistency has been illustrated through their CEO’s, which have all either been fired or resigned since 2011.

In my opinion, this is a bold, and rather risky move. HP may end up shutting off one of their sections due to lack of customer interest. This might just be another example of IBM, when the multinational company inexplicably shut off their PC operations. On the other hand, targeting one specific market might help HP re-focus on certain products that customers are growing exceedingly interested in.

References:

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_26668203/report-hewlett-packard-break-into-two-companies

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/silicon-valley-giant-hewlett-packard-to-split-in-two-report/article20938032/

http://blogs-images.forbes.com/ericsavitz/files/2012/12/hp-logo-divided.jpg

The unemployment rate in the United States of America has fallen considerably. Due to the opening of nearly 248,000 new job spots, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% by the end of September, the best since 2008. In addition, the U6 unemployment rate, which takes into account “marginally attached workers” and workers seeking part-time jobs for economic reasons, has also significantly decreased. It’s the first time since October 2008 that the U6 unemployment rate reaches anything below 12%. Because of that, the number of people looking for jobs has fallen to 62.8%, the lowest since 1978. However, there is much more to these numbers. Part of the reason why the unemployment rate decreased is the fact that many workers actually left the labor force, and are thus unaccounted for. On top of that, the Federal Reserve Bank has mentioned that it is worried about the relatively low inflation rate, which means that the economic market is still idle and inactive.

As an international student, I applied to several universities in the United States. One of the reasons that persuaded me to move away from the U.S. was the on-going economic recession that limits the amount of jobs being offered. The weak economy in the U.S. has been going on for a while, and it is evident that even though the elderly retire and thus create more job openings, the population is unmotivated to look for work. Although the minimum wage has increased by 2% in comparison to September 2013, it is rather insufficient to encourage workers to seek for jobs.

References:

http://g1.globo.com/economia/noticia/2014/10/desemprego-nos-eua-cai-59-menor-taxa-desde-2008.html

http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp

http://mahoneygps.com/unemployment-rate-affect-market/

iPhone 6 Plus users have been experiencing a unique, if not abnormal, feature on their new phone. Although claimed to be the “most durable smartphones ever”, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are receiving harsh complaints on its ability to bend as pressure is applied to the center of the phone. Since they are well-known for weighing relatively less than most smartphones, one would expect its design quality to have limited flaws. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The iPhone 6 Plus is made of aluminum, a material that is naturally flexible. Not only that, it is also significantly thinner than the standard iPhone, so it’s not surprising that it is bendable.

Generally speaking, customers expect that, the newer the phone, the better quality it should have. Due to that, Apple fans have been extremely disappointed, and many tweets with the hash-tag “Bend Gate” have been posted with ironic comments about iPhone 6 Plus’ ability to bend. Every single feature of the new iPhone has been made in order to satisfy and improve customers’ satisfaction. Thus, this flaw can possibly represent a setback on the sales of iPhone 6 in the near future. The recent release of the BlackBerry Passport as a business-centric smartphone further challenges the iPhone 6. It seems that from this point on, Apple will definitely need to improve the weak metal shell featured on the iPhone 6 Plus in order to regain prestige on the market. Innovating has been Apple’s strongest marketing strategy, and once again they will need to think of “something new” to recover from this setback.

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2014/09/23/the-bendable-iphone-6-plus-may-be-too-thin-for-its-own-good/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/blackberry-passport-why-it-represents-the-crux-of-ceo-john-chen-s-strategy-1.2776759

Apparel companies had to face a complicated situation due to a fire that killed 400 workers in a factory in Bangladesh on April 2013. The question they faced was whether they should stay in Bangladesh and improve working conditions or simply leave and look for another low-cost manufacturer.

Having one of the lowest wages in the world, Bangladesh exports apparel to several different companies and retailers. Although after the incident, Disney pulled away. They opted-out for at least a one-year term until everything was re-established and fully running again. It is true that finding a new and cheap labor supplier is not necessarily a huge loss in terms of quality for Disney. Unless otherwise looking to change their supplier every now and then, companies not only need low-cost production, but also suppliers who are willing to produce quality apparels in quality and safe conditions.

Should companies practice ethical business? Business ethics is a way to handle problems that arise within the business environment. Companies and managers should respect both customers and employees. According to research and witnesses, the workers in Rana Plaza factory were tempted not to work on April 24th, 2013. However, the staff in charge apparently threatened to fire the workers, leaving them no choice. It seems like they were suspecting the worst. Less than an hour into work, the electricity of the building went out, and tragedy inevitably occurred. Are companies solely responsible for this? What actions should they take in order to deal with the situation? Are they expected to take blame and improve working conditions? Are they ultimately tied in to their manufacturers? Confront or retreat?

References:

http://www.scu.edu/r/ethics-center/ethicsblog/business-ethics-news/16120/DISNEY:-Should-Retailers-Cut-and-Run-from-Bangladesh?

http://www.newsweek.com/year-after-bangladeshs-deadly-factory-collapse-western-companies-slow-compensate-248506

http://www.serdef.org/archives/2900