Maxwell Ma's Blog

In Peter Bryne’s blog post, Marks No Longer Necessary?, he discusses his concerns about Wharton University’s unwillingness to release marks to potential employers. He criticizes the unfairness of the system that Wharton has established in order to protect their “selective reputation”. In addition, by not releasing information about how well their students perform in their academics, employers must consider students based on their extracurricular activities and the reputation of their school.

Although I agree that academic proficiency is essential to a business student’s profile, I disagree that considering extracurricular involvement in order to determine employment opportunities is unjust to all business students. I believe that the epitome of a well-rounded businessman is one who harbors a combination of both hard and soft skills.

It is important for business students not to hone all their energy into their academics, but to also gain experience from participating in external business related conferences or activities that may add to his/her portfolio. In fact, even if one were to apply to a job completely unrelated to business, employers would be much more inclined to view what they have achieved and what skills they bring, instead of a reported % grade that indicates whether or not they have survived school.

This blog discusses the entrance of Nokia’s new tablet in 2012.

Mo Bader indicates that Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft will help Nokia reel in loyal Microsoft consumers. However,  I believe that  Nokia will still be unable to penetrate into the already saturated tablet market or to “influence the competition for the best tablet”.

According to a IDC press release in September 2011 on the sales of media tablets and eReader, the iPad continues to dominate the market with “68.3% share of the worldwide market” in the second calendar quarter of 2011. Research In Motion’s introduction of their Blackberry Playbook also grabbed 4.9% of tablet market. Even Android-based media tablets, which are experiencing a slip in market share, still manages to maintain a  26.8% of the market share. Microsoft, on the other hand, has yet to release its tablet operating system to the public.

I agree with Mo Bader that Nokia’s main concerns will be “differentiation of the product and their marketing strategy”, but the company must weigh the pros and cons of using Microsoft’s new Windows 8. Nokia must take on the added concern of convincing consumers that Windows 8 is as versatile or significantly better than available operating systems. Nokia must also push Microsoft to encourage application development in order for Nokia to better market and increase the potential of its product.

What are your concerns about Nokia’s new tablet? Should it even introduce a tablet running Windows 8?

A slogan is an integral part to a company’s image. Creating a timeless and memorable slogan is a challenge for most firms, but  L’Oréal Paris’ famous “Because you’re worth it” has been the brand’s sole tag-line for the past forty years. The slogan empowered woman and promoted feminism within society. However, with a change in time, it is essential for brands to remain relevant. They must adapt to changes in tastes and opinions in mainstream society. So is L’Oréal Paris’ slogan due for a renewal? Will a change in slogan indirectly affect sales?

This article discusses L’Oréal Paris’ strategy to appeal to a contemporary society which adopts a much shorter attention span as “consumers zap through unwanted commercials”. Cyril Chapuy, the CEO of L’Oréal Paris, argues that the slogan will remain relevant as it is universal and applies to all emerging markets. L’Oréal’s original slogan “Because I’m worth it” was changed to “Because You’re Worth it” in 1997 and has since been changed to “Because We’re Worth it” 18 months ago. It is interesting to note that even the slightest changes in pronouns may affect the consumer’s ultimate decision.

As a rationale consumer, do you think small changes in slogan really affect our purchasing decisions?

Watch L’Oreal Paris’ 40th anniversary video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u6sbsHI8p8

The Occupy Movement, which was initiate by Adbusters, a Canadian anti-consumerist magazine,  has gained significant speed since its inception in early September. The protesters’ ‘cause’ to raise issues about economic and social equality has spread to, as of November 17th 2011, “2,609 cities and towns worldwide”. Despite legal authorities’ consistent attempts to disseminate protests, the Occupiers are unwilling to relinquish their ‘occupied’ areas of public space.

Although I understand  that raising such issues are integral for forward movement in societal and economic thought, I cannot reason why protesters must ‘occupy’ an area for such an extended period of time. Occupying public space simply impedes working individuals from carrying on their duties and causes the space to become increasingly unsafe and unsanitary.

Mike Tupea, a cab driver who was stuck in traffic caused by Occupy New York says, “I have to make a living. I pay $100 for 12 hours for this cab. I am losing money every minute,” he said. “I have all my sympathies for this movement but let me do my living, let working people make a living.”

In addition,  “Occupy Vancouver protestors lacked a unified message supported by facts”, according to Peak news.

What are your thoughts? Should the ‘occupation’ of public space by Occupy protesters continue?

Sources and Related Articles:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/us-usa-protests-newyork-idUSTRE7AE0CS20111117

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_movement

http://www.peakco.com/tag/occupy-vancouver/

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111108/occupy-wall-st-nanos-poll-111108/

Although prospective employment opportunities in our relevant fields of study may seem far-fetched to many first year Sauder students, it is interesting to take a look at which firms are offering the best employee benefits in the market!

Marlene Habib, a Globe and Mail columnist, reported on firms that are offering “offbeat incentives” to employees. Ceridian Canada, L’Oreal Canada, Molson Coors Canada and RBC, selected out of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, are the few Marlene chose that had the best, but seemingly odd, benefits that may top some of our wildest expectations.

Here is a brief overview of what Marlene reported for each of listed firms:

Ceridian Canada 

• The HR solutions firm offers pet insurance, in which the company will pay up to 80% of employees’ veterinarian fees

L’Oreal Canada 

• Attracts “Generation Y” workforce by sending employees to international development seminars in France and New York
• Offers employees daycare services and short summer Friday hours

Molson Coors Canada 

• Company developed the Molson Beer Academy
• Program that helps foster employees to appreciate the company’s product and brand by hosting events such as Love of Beer Day

Royal Bank of Canada

• Selects 700 employees, who have saved up “points” within the company, to go on a cruise

More on the article here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/top-employers/top-employers-2012/foosball-bah-employers-dangle-offbeat-incentives/article2193170/

Investing. A popular word in business school that many first year students may know how to define, but who may not fully understand how to do. In comm 101, our finance speaker simplified and summed up the complicated system of markets and stocks into a brief lecture. Understanding the market is one side of the our learning, but to actually to feel the risk of potentially making a poor investment or to succeed and earn exponential profits are the experiences that add significance to our academic profile.

In this article, Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew, a business reporter form moneyville.ca, has offered 10 things you need to know before staking your capital.

1. Investor, know thyself
2. Have a plan
3. Buy quality
4. Stocks vs. Bonds
5. Diversify
6. Finding a broker
7. Look at the fees
8. Be informed
9. Gambling vs. Investing
10. Life Happens

For the full explanation of each tip, please visit the moneyville website via the link below:

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/830366–investing-10-things-you-need-to-know

Although Madhavi addresses superficial elements to the risks of investing in the market, the article does offer a simple guideline that may help interested young investors, like first year Sauder students, to make sure that we avoid unwanted risks and to not lose out on our first try.

This article documents Ehje’s, an entrepreneur in the Philippines, who began selling her home-made peanut butter which resulted in “overwhelming financial success”. Her discipline and unwavering optimism coupled with a bit of luck, allowed her to successfully bear “both small and large obstacles”. Instead of succumbing to offers from large firms to purchase and to “upgrade” her recipe, Ehje finds unique ways to raise capital and to market her product.

Read the full article here:

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/21625/from-peanuts-to-riches-a-story-of-hope-and-success

Watch Ejhe’s story on YouTube here:

watch?v=B8t8tfRqi9w

Acquiring our first property may a daunting task that seems far in future for some university students, but having advice, given by Amy Hoak, a Wall Street Journal columnist, may have us saving money when we do decide to look into real estate.

According to Bill Golden, a Remax real-estate agent in Atlanta, anxious sellers, who have listed their houses for the summer, are eager to sell their properties before the holidays come.

In fact, sellers who are unable to sell may simply allow the property listing to expire and wait until the next season to re-list in the market. According to Mr. Carlisle, a Paragon Real Estate market analyst, it is best to make a lowball offer on houses that have been sitting on the market for a long time, thus ensuring that buyers are saving as much as possible.

Here are six tips that Ms. Hoak recommends future home buyers to be aware of before making a lowball offer:

1. Understand the Market

2. Pick the right real-estate agent 

3. Back up your price 

4. Know what you’re willing to pay 

5. Make a clean, easy offer

6. Be smart about a cash deal 

If you’re willing, eager and waiting, and have the necessary finances to invest into a property, read Ms. Hoak’s article and start buying before the season is over!

Full Article 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203476804576619622412494348.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF2#articleTabs%3Darticle 

Related Article

When is the Best Time to Buy a Home?

The hype of tablets has achieved a new high as Amazon announced their new signature color ebook reader, the Kindle Fire. But is this $199 reader really going to cut itself a slice of the tablet market? Even with heavy competition from major firms in the tech industry, such as RIM, HP, Apple, amongst others, Sunil Gupta, a columnist of the Havard Business Review, believes that it WILL succeed.

Here are what I consider as the top five of the ten reasons he suggested:

1. Kindle Fire is more “work” than “play”. It is considered more as a “service than a device”.
2. Good relationships with Google and Adobe
3. “Publishers and other content providers are also keen to see Amazon succeed”
4. Can link related services, like Amazon Plus
5. “Fire will help Amazon leverage its new and growing video streaming business”
6. Rapid growth in Android app development

However, it seems that the Fire lacks significant technologies that major competitors have on their devices. The iPad, which currently dominates the market, is faster, more versatile and has more hardware features. Therefore, does the Fire, even though Amazon claims it to be “different”, have the specifications in order to compete with other brands or is Amazon simply engaging in a price war?

Full Article 

http://blogs.hbr.org/hbsfaculty/2011/10/ten-reasons-amazon-kindle-fire.html

According to Drew Hansen, the Director of Editorial Business Operations at Forbes, Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs do NOT! Mr. Hansen does not see value in business school and has criticized that MBA programs are too concentrated on producing academic works rather than on “educating practitioners”. He argues that top institutions’ goals to produce leaders of the future is just rhetoric.

Hansen identified three main reasons on why this may be true:

1. Leaders understand people. MBAs, on the other hand, boil everything down to numbers
2. Leaders see the big picture. MBAs, unfortunately, learn about business in discrete part
3. Leaders execute. MBAs focus on strategy, divorcing it from implementation

Even though MBA programs may be a distance away from where we stand in our current academics, we may question if Sauder provides us with enough related and comprehensive leadership skills that will assist us in succeeding in the business world rather than to fulfill our academic mandate of writing our next paper.

Full article 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhansen/2011/10/04/why-mba-business-school-not-leaders/2/

Follow Drew Hansen 

http://blogs.forbes.com/drewhansen/