My favourite area that we have talked about in class so far is definitely social entrepreneurship. I had no idea that this even existed until class, where we learned about Save on Meats and how they employ homeless people. I was happy to learn that being in business i am not constrained to be a big “soulless” cooperate person, but rather i can make a change somewhere other than the stock market.

I have had experience with volunteering abroad and i have seen the change even a tiny, non-insulated house with no electricity makes. Families can send children to school, save money, or buy food and luxuries. Communities can thrive, going from scarce shacks made of cardboard and sheets with nothing but dirt all around, to small wooden houses with electricity and gardens. The difference in two years is phenomenal.

What i like about social entrepreneurship that is doesn’t just give someone a place to start, it also teaches them to continue on their own and to expand and grow, and to spread that self-sufficiency with their family, friends, and community to grow as a society and improve the well-being of so many.

Jason Sylva blog “How Can Businesses Navigate Asia’s Increasingly Complex Supply Chain Systems?” is about how there are rising difficulty in China’s supply chain. Escalating production and freight costs, government regulations, and trade restrictions all contribute to the “true cost” of products that companies don’t even realize. Companies want to know how they can allocate their resources to better navigate the Chinese supply chain.

What is the consumer effect on the rising costs? Since so many of western products are manufacturing in China, the effect is huge. If companies don’t find a better way to navigate through the supply chain it will mean a rise in costs for western products.

For me, if i’m not going to splurge on a locally-made product i don’t want to spend much on it. Take clothes for example, personally i would rather spend more on a few things then have the basics that i don’t spend much on. But if the rising costs take effect then i will have to choose more wisely (first world problem i know), but still, i’m a “starving student”i don’t have cash overflowing in my pocket. If i’m not buying high quality i don’t want the high-quality price.

In response to Austin Feltham’s blog about social media in the work place, i think that employers cross the line by searching employee’s facebook or other social media website profiles. Everyone has the right to freedom of speech and a social life. The point of social media is to be social with your friends, not to add to your resume. Employees should be able to go out and have a fun weekend with their friends, or post a funny picture with it affecting their job.

Yet there are so many situations where this does happen. Some are understandable, like posting derogatory comments about the employer. or inter-employee feuds. In strict sectors, like government, employees have even been fired for “liking” a comment about the rival.

Is it really fair though? Employees are definitely putting themselves out there on the internet, most times the first thing that comes up on a Google search of a name is a person’s Facebook. So is it the employee’s fault for putting information on the internet? Or should employers not take into account social media when hiring or making cuts in their staff? Or is there no fair way at all?

As a response to Ameera Ladak’s blog post about Target taking over stores like Zellers in Canada. Target is basically just a bigger version of Zellers but the fact that a large American company is coming into Canada and taking over a branch of HBC is unsettling for many Canadians. Having such a powerful neighbor Canada has had to stand its ground many times from intrusion. The fear now of many Canadians is the loss of classic Canadian companies like Tim Hortons being taken over as well.

Of course this is not the case for all. Living next to a Zellers that has recently closed, i am excited to see what everyone is raving about when Target opens. As Ameera said, more people will be attracted to the malls if Target is there but personally i enjoy living by a more “quiet” mall. Target attracting more customers will definitely benefit the rest of the mall (which is also expanding) but will take away from the “quiet residential” areas where many Zellers currently reside.Hopefully the good will outweigh the bad in this expansion and the Canadian economy will benefit from such an influence.

Energy Aware provides a tablet that shows how much energy a power user is consuming as well as how much the energy is costing them. It informs consumers in real-time how much unnecessary energy they are using and encourages them to use less so they can save themselves money, showing that there is an almost instantaneous reduction of 20% when consumers use the energy tablet.

Energy Aware must get the permission of BC Hydro in order to connect to the smart meters used in BC, but from BC Hydro’s point of view, is it a good or bad thing to allow Energy Aware to implement their product? BC Hydro gets money from all the energy consumed, much of it deemed wasteful, but why would they want to let Energy Aware introduce a product could, and most likely would, decrease their profits? Since BC is known as an environmentally friendly province it would be very good marketing for BC Hydro to allow Energy Aware access, they would be putting the environment ahead of their own profits. But they will get business with whatever decision they make, so i don’t see why they would. BC Hydro has not made a final decision on this yet, but when they do we will find out how ethical they really are.

UrtheCast is bringing the world together with their two high-definition video cameras on the international space station. Anyone all over the world can stream this video from their computer or smartphone. The company calls it “a mashup of Google Earth and YouTube” because viewers will be able to “scroll, pan, zoom, and search your way around the Earth video stream, which will reveal everything from natural wonders of the world to buzzing urban centers.”

Not only will this expand knowledge of the earth, but it will also help with humanitarian relief efforts, which is one of my favourite points of this entrepreneurial venture. With the camera  going all over the world constantly, it will be able to catch natural disasters and the damage caused by them or a better quality image of groups of people in need.

Some think that this a an invasion of privacy, but people these days are already putting so much information on places like Facebook, and are letting pictures of themselves or there homes go on the internet on Google and Google Earth that this technology should not be seen as overly intrusive. UrtheCast is using the knowledge and creativity to keep society moving forward.