According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, The United Nations is tasked with maintaining peace, security, and friendly relations amongst participating countries while aiding social and economic development. If the United Nations was fully funded, they could do a lot of positive work around the world that they wouldn’t be able to with budget constraints. More funding would mean a more efficient United Nations overall.

Source: http://images.ssireview.org/sized/images/blog/Social_Enterprise_wordle-640×507.jpg

Even if the United Nations was fully funded, social enterprise and programs such as the Arc Initiative would still be prominent. A huge point of these kinds of institutions is that we may get involved and do our part to work toward something we’re passionate about while bettering the livelihood of those we are trying to help. Just because the United Nations is fully funded, it doesn’t mean they can cover every problem in the world. Social Enterprise and the Arc Initiative give us the opportunity to get involved which is an invaluable experience for us and is invaluable to those being helped.

Recently, North Face Korea released an ad for their company’s jacket. In this ad, unsuspecting customers are surprised when the ground beneath them starts to disappear and they are forced to grab the rock climbing placements along the walls. Following that, a North Face jacket descends from the ceiling and the customer is given 30 seconds to decide whether or not they want to climb the wall and jump for it. If you happen to grab the jacket, you are awarded with it. Here’s the ad: North Face Korea ‘Never Stop Exploring’ Advertisement

Source: https://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/18869603/disp/5c67cc4b8de14d58f12d32aec7c2fc79.jpg

I really enjoyed this because it’s a great brand experience that taps into the brand’s original roots that people tend to forget. North Face is not primarily a fashion statement; it’s an outdoor company. Although their clothing catalogue can be considered quite fashionable, this ad reminds us that North Face is an outdoor company that makes apparel and items tailored toward physical activity and practicality.

In this article, Amazon has just announced that they will be providing same day delivery to Vancouver, a service that was only available in Toronto for Canadian citizens. I, for one, am impatient and I like to get things while exerting minimal effort so this new service really tailors to my preferences. Not only does it appeal to me but, as stated in the aforementioned article, same day delivery is very popular in the united states.

Now this begs the question, “Will we be seeing more of this?” In my opinion, yes! Google and Amazon have been battling it out for delivery service supremacy so they’re in a constant struggle to revolutionize the game. Both companies have plans to utilize drone technology in order to compete with one another.

Unmanned aircraft, which is frequently used by government military, will be delivering your parcels.

This really raises the bar for those looking to enter the industry but it’s truly exciting to see where this goes from here on out.

Most of us are familiar with the fact that Blackberry hasn’t been on top of it’s game in recent years. Sales have fallen and hit record lows but, with the release of the Blackberry Passport, things might be looking up.

Mentioned in Eric Lin’s blogpost, Is Blackberry “Back in Business?”, he says that “[he] believes Blackberry’s traditional selling point, which is the physical keyboard, is no longer a value proposition to most consumers.” I chose to outline this quote because I completely agree with it. In order for Blackberry to compete in this market, they need to evolve beyond  their product’s physical keyboard. They need to think further outside the box and take some risks to stay competitive.

Source: http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2014/06/30/448444-new-blackberry-passport-a-tablet-with-qwerty-keyboard-killer-specifica.jpg

The way I see it, a big problem they should address is their lacking app department. Android and IOS have such a varied catalogue of apps while Blackberry is behind. Apps take such a huge role in our daily lives and, without proper support, Blackberry could fall further behind.

Over the years, online shopping has become a serious competitor to the retail industry. With an immense catalogue of products right at your fingertips that are able to be ordered right to your door, it’s hard to argue with that level of convenience.

Source:http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1121203/thumbs/o-ONLINE-SHOPPING-CART-facebook.jpg

In Sofia Bautista’s Blog post, “In-Store vs. Online Shopping,” she mentions that, “there is still much value in shopping in-stores, so [she] doesn’t consider it outdated at all,” and that, “they are able to co-exist and advance the industry.” Normally, I would agree with both of these points. I do believe that there are benefits to going in stores for shopping, especially when it pertains to clothing. However, with the advancements in technology and delivery, it may be difficult for them to co-exist.

With same day shipping, drone technology, accurate data, etc., online shopping is really becoming a force to be reckoned with. It’s nice to be able to go into the store and see the products but time is valuable and delivery is really cutting down on how much time they need. Although online and in-store shopping co-exist now, I’m not certain they will in the future.

Generally speaking, when we think about Africa’s economic resources, usually natural resources come to mind. However, according to the Director of the University of Cambridge Master of Finance degree, Simon Taylor’s business blog, Africa’s economic potential may greatly lie within it’s people. Africa is in a stage of demographic transition that will soon lead to the continent having a large supply of working age individuals.
According to this diagram found within Taylor’s blog, Africa is in an upward trend of working age population and this could spell great things for Africa’s future economy. However, before the population can be properly utilized, Africa has to fix up the other challenges that the population faces, particularly education.

Source: http://www.childinfo.org/education_secondary.html

Less than 30% of Africans attend secondary school which is an alarmingly low number. If education doesn’t rise with the age trends of the future, Africa won’t be able to fully take advantage of it’s population strength.

Born and raised in British Columbia, I have learned about the rich Aboriginal culture and history that runs through the province’s veins. Because of this, I am no stranger to the positive impact that the aboriginal peoples have on the province, especially pertaining to the environment. Mentioned in this article, the Tsilhqot’in are declaring an area that includes the proposed $1.1 billion Prosperity Mine by Fish Lake a tribal park therefore cancelling the project.

The controversy of this situation lies in the fact that the proposed area is located outside of the Tsilhqot’in titled land. Although the Tsilhqot’in have the intentions of maintaining the environment of this land, the mine project was approved by the provincial government and they should have the right of way in this situation. This relates to an article where the writer is critical of the line, “Existing treaty and aboriginal rights are hereby recognized and affirmed,” in the constitution. The writer feels that the Aboriginal Community has an excessive amount of power when it comes to negating these kinds of projects and that the, “interpretation of those 10 words has become a recipe for investment-killing litigation.” While I don’t fully agree on all of what he says, he does raise some points. British Columbia’s economy relies on utilizing the resources it has and shutting down these projects can negatively affect the economy and minimize the amount of job opportunities. This raises the question: Who is right in this situation? 

I believe we’re all aware of the Ebola epidemic that’s facing Africa. With reports coming in that the death toll has reached over 3,000, it’s safe to say that this outbreak is cause for major concern. Although this sets the stage for a modern day disease-horror film, it’s possible that this could become a different horror all together. Another thing to look at is the economic impact that the outbreak has on Africa. The African economy, especially toward the West, is facing serious problems as the sickness is spreading. According to this article, it’s speculated that the economic impact of the Ebola crises could increase 8 times over in the fragile countries.

Africa’s fast economic growth could be put at a halt if this outbreak continues. Furthermore, the economic effects could become international. Hypothetically, if the disease were to reach some of the more well off areas of Africa, it could spell problems for the nations who depend off Africa’s import and export businesses. Although the international economy will be affected by the Ebola outbreak, the addition of powerful African countries could really turn the heat up. If possible, more countries should definitely consider donating and helping out with the cause or this outbreak could get even worse than it already is.

The Occupy Central Hong Kong protests have been a very hot topic in the news as of recent. It is a well known fact that these protests will affect sales seeing as though the stores in the protest areas aren’t easily accessible any more. However, these protests have the potential to negatively affect sales more than previously expected. According to this article, the protests happen to coincide with the Chinese holiday, “Golden Week.”

Golden week being celebrate in China

During this holiday, many mainland Chinese travel to Hong Kong and engage in exuberant spending. Because of the protests, it is expected that store owners will miss out on $2 billion Hong Kong dollars. However, it is impossible to determine how much this will actually cost the people of Hong Kong. In fact, travel warnings are being issued out to many countries telling them to avoid the protest areas so it’s really hard to tell what the actual economic repercussions will be. Although its unfortunate that the holiday and the protests line up in such a way, it’s rather interesting to see how this will affect the Hong Kong economy. However, it will really hurt store owners in the areas of protest.

ISIS, a terrorist organization wreaking havoc in the Middle East, is unexpectedly hurting companies all over the world. It turns out that, ‘ISIS,’ is a relatively common name or acronym and, not surprisingly, it belongs to more than just the terrorist group.

The name ISIS belongs to an app, as well, and they are changing their name to avoid confusion.

According to this article, “‘Isis’ is part of more than 270 product, service or business names among active federal trademarks, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.” However, there are many more people being affected seeing as though companies do not need to register their names. People are actually returning and avoiding items with the name, “ISIS,” solely because of the association with the terrorist group. It’s interesting how something as simple as a coincidental name can bring such a negative impact onto businesses. In fact, some businesses are changing their names to avoid being associated with the terrorist organization, including the University of British Columbia. The ISIS Research Centre in our own business school has the misfortune of sharing the name with the other ISIS. According to this news article, UBC is dropping the name of it’s research centre because of the negative reputation it holds.

The ISIS Research Centre of UBC is located within the Sauder School of Business