Monthly Archives: November 2013

November 17, 2013 · 8:31 pm

Controversy Looms as Keystone XL Pipeline Awaits U.S. Approval

In 2010 the Keystone Pipeline that stretches from Hardisty, Alberta to Patoka Illinois. The pipeline’s sole purpose is to transport crude oil from the oil sands in Alberta to refineries in the United States. Keystone XL on the other hand is a proposed extension of the initial Keystone Pipeline and it would extend the present pipeline from Nebraska down to larger oil refineries in Texas, where it would be able to be easily distributed to the rest of the United States and shipped worldwide. Those within both the Canadian and American governments tout the project for its economic potential, its potential to create jobs and to increase trade between the United States and Canada. However, on the other hand, given that the Keystone XL extension would increase usage of the pipeline there have been many environmental activists who staunchly oppose the extension.

It is their belief that the environmental hardships that would result with the creation of the extension, such as the increase in risk of oil spill as a result of increased usage as well as the ecosystems that will be damaged as a result of creation of the extension of the pipe, will not outweigh the highly touted potential economic benefits. At this point that calculus is what President Barack Obama must consider as he holds the power to finalize the agreement that would allow the creation of the Keystone XL extension. Canadian and American government officials expect him to approve the agreement, but given how long he has taken to make the decision there is still some question as to whether or not he’ll approve it.

Ultimately the decision comes down to environmental ethics and whether or not the potential to further hurt the environment should outweigh the potential economic benefits. There is those who argue for both sides, but given the current lingering state of despair that the U.S. finds itself in, it would seem that the opportunity of increased employment and trade is too good for the U.S. government to pass up.

Sources:
Globe & Mail – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-senator-touts-keystone-xl-in-meeting-with-redford-but-obamas-stand-on-pipeline-elusive/article15401038/
TransCanada – http://www.transcanada.com/keystone.html

Picture Courtesy of Ankakay via Flickr

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

November 15, 2013 · 2:04 pm

Motivating and Incentivizing Better Public School Teaching: Response to Madison (Maddie) Ladner’s Blog Post

In the past, incentivizing better public school teaching has been an issue as a result of the strength of teaching unions. Often pay-rate is standardized, benefits are standardized…almost all variables that are usually used for the purposes of incentivization are generally standardized for public school teachers. However, as Maddie Ladner wrote about in her blog post, the the Board of District of Columbia Boarding Schools (DCPS) is trying to change the way teachers are evaluated with something called IMPACT. Through IMPACT, teachers will be evaluated not only on the grades of their students, but more so on how well students understand what is being taught as well as the teachers’ involvement in the school and overall professionalism.

The new system represents a stark contrast from both the previous system within the DCPS as well as the generally accepted norms for public schools across North America. As Maddie mentioned, as a result of the introduction of the new system teachers who are generally thought less of are choosing to quit as they expect to be fired as a result of the new system. In that way the system is seeing immediate results through the loss of some of the lesser teachers.

What makes the IMPACT initiative so interesting is not necessarily that it’s revolutionary in terms of incentivization of workers on the whole, but instead that it’s applying business motivation tactics to teachers. That is something that has not been previously explored in North American public schools. As has been discussed in class in terms of organizational culture, motivation is key. There is no benefit to having an absentee workforce, which is why companies are constantly trying to find new and better ways to motivate their employees. Now that same process can be applied to the public school system and increase education on the whole.

Sources:
Maddie Ladner’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/maddieladner/2013/11/15/teacher-evaluations/
Standford News – http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/october/dee-teacher-assessments-101713.html

Picture Courtesy of www.audio-luci-store.it via Flickr

Leave a Comment

Filed under COMM 101

Tagged as ,

November 14, 2013 · 4:46 pm

U.S. GDP Growth Might Be On the Decline: Response to a Business Insider Blog Post

In a blog for Business Insider, Matthew Boesler went over the state of the U.S. economy, both now and going forward. Based on research, the current economic projection for the United States economy is certainly that of a declining GDP growth rate, but there is some question as to the credibility of that projection. Economists cannot seem to agree on whether or not the residual effects of the global economic crash should be accounted for in projection. Essentially, whether or not the residual effects are now part of the U.S. economy going forward or whether they will be something that will go away. The effects that Boesler references are poor technological implementation, unsuitable labour matches, and an overall absence of business investment. Some researches believe that the U.S. economy should be able to quickly revert itself back to its former structure, but others believe that the aforementioned problems might be recurring  themes for the foreseeable future.

As someone on the outside it’s nearly impossible to tell where exactly the U.S. economy will fall. However, one can still look at the feasibility of the economic concerns as a whole. With that said, as Boesler seemed to indicate at the end of his piece, the faults of the current U.S. economy are not eternal. As we know, in business, nothing is stagnant…the markets will rise and they will fall. The same can be said for the projected U.S. GDP. The projections were fairly rosy prior to the economic collapse and are only pessimistic now as a result of fear in the market, fear to spend. As we move on from the economic collapse that fear should subside and the markets will adjust themselves accordingly.

Sources:
Business Insider – http://www.businessinsider.com/is-us-potential-gdp-in-structural-decline-2013-11

Picture Courtesy of Ben Schueddekopf via Flickr

Leave a Comment

Filed under COMM 101

Tagged as , ,

November 13, 2013 · 3:08 pm

Bitcoins’ Growing Popularity Becoming Increasingly Evident

Bitcoin, an online ‘cryptocurrency’ that was launched in late 2008 has recently been growing in popularity; as evidenced by Canadian mining company Alix Resources Corp. agreeing to pay contractor Ridge Resources Ltd. in Bitcoins as opposed to any other traditional currency such as the Canadian or American dollar. Alix Resources Corp.’s CEO noted that his company has been accumulating Bitcoins as the online currency has become more popular and in turn raised in value. If this first test operation goes successfully then Alix may make a permanent switch to Bitcoins as a means of payment. There has been a lot of skepticism with regards to this transaction, both on part of Alix as an accumulator of the currency and Ridge as an acceptor of the currency; many still don’t trust the stability of Bitcoins on the whole.

Despite the skepticism, there is still those who see a lot of opportunity in the online currency. Just last week a Bitcoin ATM opened up in downtown Vancouver, where one can use a debit or credit card to purchase Bitcoins for their online wallet. As well, two Toronto entrepreneurs are working to make Bitcoins available as an accepted form of currency in retail stores across North America through use of their new ‘digital wallets’ for retailers, Coinkite.

The chart below is the price of Bitcoins in Canadian Dollars over the past 6 months.

Chart Courtesy of Bitcoin Charts via Creative Commons

As the chart shows, just over the last month Bitcoins have more than doubled in value and while some who are in the know are still skeptical, others expect the online currency to continue to rise with this new rise in popularity.

The Bitcoin situation is rather unique as it’s quite a bit more open source than anything the banking world has seen in the past and therefore has substantially lower transaction costs. Though the open source-ness of the currency is also concerning to some in the mainstream. That mainstream criticism will be hard for Bitcoin to overcome, but with so many innovators backing it it’s certainly possible. It looks like it may come down to how all these new Bitcoin related products will be marketed to the general public and whether the general  public will be accepting of them.

Sources:
National Post – http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/13/canadian-miner-to-pay-contractor-in-bitcoins/
National Post – http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/28/bitcoin-atm-canada-this-week/?__lsa=177a-cca5
Toronto Star – http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/12/bitcoin_entrepreneurs_want_to_put_virtual_coins_in_your_wallet.html
Coinkite – https://coinkite.com

Leave a Comment

Filed under COMM 101

Tagged as , ,

November 12, 2013 · 11:08 pm

U.S. Government Comes to Terms with Airline Merger

Early in 2013, two of the world’s largest airlines, U.S. Airways and American Airlines, came to terms on a merger deal that would combine the two to create a “premiere global airline“. The merger between the two U.S. companies would make their combined airline the largest in the world. The merger was expected to be completed in early September, but on August 13th the United States Justice Department filed a lawsuit set to block the proposed merger on the basis of anti-trust and the higher airline ticket prices that they expected to come with it; as per the lawsuit. On November 12th, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Airways/American merger came to terms that would allow the completion of the merger, but would force the merged airline to give up “take off and landing slots and gates at seven U.S. airports“. The Department of Justice stated a good level of satisfaction with what was ultimately agreed upon between the two parties citing that the agreement adequately addressed their antitrust concerns. The belief on part of the U.S. government, is that the vacated spots at those seven U.S. airports will be able to be filled with lower ‘budget’ airlines thereby counteracting the overall effect of the merger on the U.S. airline ticket price market.

As we’ve learned, each and every piece of the larger market has an effect on the strength and pricing of the market as a whole as in business no one move is isolated from the rest of the business world. Will the agreement that the U.S. government and the merger have come to solve the government’s earlier issues with the merger? Perhaps, but there’s also those who argue that the government did not get enough back to justify allowing the merger to go through and for the two merged airlines to combine into the world’s largest airline. There’s multiple angles to the merger itself as well as this new agreement and only time will tell how the airline market will be effected.

Sources:
Reuters – http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/13/us-usa-antitrust-airlines-idUSBRE9AC02120131113
USA Today – http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2013/08/13/justice-american-us-airways/2647545/
U.S. Airways – http://www.usairways.com/en-US/aboutus/pressroom/newamerican.html?c=glmus_21132&re=1
The Globe & Mail – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/in-us-airline-antitrust-spat-lobbyists-come-out-on-top/article15397996/

Photo Courtesy of James Willamor via Flickr and Creative Commons

Leave a Comment

Filed under COMM 101

Tagged as , , ,