US telecom giant AT&T was prepared to buy off the Deutsche telekom’s T-mobile for $39 billion, in order to become the biggest telecom company in USA. However, the US justice department were against the sale at the end of august.

Their argument is that they believe, AT&T will becoming the largest carrier in the USA, which will dominate the market. Thus, becoming a monopoly. Because of the inelastic demand for cell phone uses, AT&T can raise its prices and restrict choices. The US government has requested a court order to block it.

I believe that the government should not allow the merger to happen. In a economic standpoint, having a monopoly is a sign of market power. The users do not have any say of their prices they pay or the plan they wanted. Having a market power will greatly put the market in distress and further worsen US economy!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15883496

As the old NBA collective bargain package expired in July, the 2011-2012 NBA season was in jeopardy. Owners of NBA teams are the players can not reach a new contract. Both sides wants more shares of the “pie”. . Owners believe that the players are taking too much of the money that they should be getting. As for the players, they firmly believe that they “deserve” all the salary that they are getting because of the hard work and efforts that they put in.

Reading through Sekou Smith’s NBA Hang time blogs, he presented a clear insight of what is actually going on in the NBA organization. NBA is worth roughly $4 billion as an organization. However, not everyone makes a profit. So, who should take the bigger part of the pie?

Because of the current economic depression, They stop really stop being so childish. Locking out of the entire season is going to bring more harm than good to both side of the parties. The empty arenas are still be fixed cost and the owners still need to pay for them. For the players, they are simply not earning any salary!

So making some compromises, and lets play ball!

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2011/11/04/labor-talks-here-we-go-again/#more-20166

I was reading Jessica Monney’s blog about Innovation in Canada. During the economic hardship in the recent years, Canada has been doing well compared to other country such as Greece, Italy or the United States. We have a very stable and resourceful government.

Like her said, Canada has “sound finances, boundless resources and an educated workforce.” I strongly believe that there are still potential for Canada to take the advantage to improve. By encouraging young business and companies be innovative through loosening some of the regulation, Canada’s economy will be stronger. I know that loosening regulation is a tough thing to do, however, it is necessary in order to improve. At the moment, Canada’s production level is hurting its chances to  become a wealthier nation.

https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Lululemon Athletica is a company that started off as a small yoga wear business in Vancouver, it has now developed and transformed into a leader of its industry. It possesses many entrepreneurial qualities that a successful company displays.

Innovation is the key for Lululemon’s success. It was the first company that focused its differentiation on yoga wears which back then wasn’t as popular. Furthermore, by incorporating sustainable fabrics with its unique designs. Lululemon has managed to capture a wide range of costumers, from soccer mom to fashionistas. Because Lululemon is the leader in product and marketing, it is able to set the price range. It has built a strong brand reputation that pride itself in being innovative and sustainable. That is why Lululemon can have such huge success.

http://hbr.org/product/leadership-culture-and-transition-at-lululemon-mul/an/410705-MMC-ENG

Sony, as a multi-media manufacturer that was founded in 1946 has became one of the biggest corporate giant in the past decades. However, Sony has lost its power and popularity in the recent years through the economic recessions.  Just like Geoffrey said, Sony has been trying to venture into new markets and trying to become more innovative. The questions that Geoffrey asked are very good questions to be thinking about.

“Was differentiation a bad idea in the first place?” Geoffrey asked, I believe that a falling company such as Sony, should consider a point of differentiation in order to distinguish itself and other industry giants. Be trying to be more innovative with its unique products and gadget, Sony should capture its costumer’s interests. However, Sony has failed to identify its point of differentiation.  Instead of focus on one category, it branded out into more variety that lacked focus and backbone.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/geoffreyyoung/2011/11/22/what-is-sony-now/

In November 2011, Google decided to launch an online music sore in the US market, which will allow android users to buy,store and stream MP3 files. Is this a smart move?

Google’s launch poses a serious challenge to Apple’s dominance of the sector. However, a study has shown that half of the smartphone sold between july and September are Android based, which accounts for more than 60 million devices. I believe Google has made a smart moves simply to interrupt Apple’s monopoly and trying to utilize the resource that Apple cannot reach. Users cell phone devices that are running on Android couldn’t access Apple’s Itune. Google has provided a way for those users to access a MP3 search giant and expand their empire furthermore.

The shares across US and Europe market has closed significantly higher on Novermber 11th. In the mean while, the cost of borrowing facing Italy has dropped down. The US Dow Jones share index closed 2.1% higher and the German stocks raised 3.2% up.

The stock markets have risen mainly due to the fact that Italy’s senate voted to adopt a package of austerity measures. With the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stepping down, Investors are hopeful that a new government system will take the necessary steps to calm the markets. The pass of austerity vote should give Italy a sign of hope and move the country toward a better outcome. Italy has roll over more than 360 billion euros of debt by the end of 2012.

In September, 2011, the online movie company Netflix split their service into two component. Customer wishing to continue receiving DVDs by mail needed another separate account which require them to pay additional $7.99. Members who kept both services saw their monthly bill rise as much as 60%. This decision had upset most of its members. Netflix previously defended the split, stating it would help the company develop its streaming technology without keeping compatible with its delivery business.

However, the two services would not have been integrated well.The company had received many negative comments. By splitting the service and making it harder to use. They had a lot of brand equity tied up in the DVD and movie delivery business. By separating the services, they were tranishing that.  This decision has lost the company 1 million subscribers.

By abandoning the original plan, Netflix gained more than 4% in its shares. However, the firm’s focus is still remain fixed on digital delivery.

In May of 2011, Microsoft made its largest acquisition by buying the Luxembourg-based company called Skype for $8.5 bn. As people know, calls to other Skype users are free, while charges for those made to landline and mobile phones. Under the terms of the deal, Skype will become a new division under Microsoft. Tony Bates, Skype chief executive will continue lead the business and report directly to Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft has spent $8.5 bn to buy an eight-year-old company that is not making a lot of money.However there are a lot of underlaying potential for Microsoft. First of all, Microsoft will take over the 600 million users that Skype has. Secondly, if Microsoft can combine Skype’s software with its Xbox Kinect system, Microsoft would make its way into millions of living rooms.  Xbox Kinect suddenly becomes more useful, such as teleconferencing for the whole family, home schooling or one-on-one training sessions. Lastly, Microsoft can integrate Skype into Window 8 will definitely gives them an advantage for marketing domination.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15220895

Melamine is an industrial chemical that is used in the process of making plastics and fertilizers,however, it was discovered in the milk powder that was used to feed millions of infants in China. In 2008, more than 300,000 infants in China became ill from consuming milk powder that had been tainted by melamine; when melamine is mixed with food products, it disrupt the balance of protein content within the body resulting in kidney stones and kidney failures. Sanlu was China’s largest milk powder producer until the tainited milk news broke out in 2008. It allowed more than 900 tonnes of toxic milk to leave its plants before terminating production.

This series of scandalous events has not only resulted in product recalls around the world, but furthermore caused the downfall of the once prestigious Sanlu milk company which insured the public of safe and reliable products. By using melamine, the company was able to cut down its protein usage, thus creating more profit and productivity of milk powder. The company’s unethical way of maximizing profit has jeopardized the health and safety of the future generation.