After reading article, it made me realize how important organizational behavior is in a firm. While reading through the article, it started to make me think what are the key elements that make an organization successful and what I have realized is that communication between colleagues attributed a lot to an organization’s success. What I have learned from the article is that there is a lot to do with how one presents one’s ideas and opinions to one’s colleagues. It seems to me communication between colleagues has something to do with psychology – speaking and presenting in ways that people are more likely to accept your opinions.

An important lesson that I have learned is that successful communication between people not only creates a healthier environment for people to work in, but also improves efficiency in an organization – people are more intrinsically motivated instead of extrinsically motivated – hence, it creates a positive cycle within an organization.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/business/seth-besmertnik-of-conductor-on-employee-interaction.html?pagewanted=2&ref=technology

Image: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/photos/organizational-behavior-637.jpg

Apple has once again stormed the tablet market with its introduction of iPad mini. According to the article, Apple currently owns 50% of the tablet market share and Samsung, Amazon, and Google share the rest. Unsurprisingly, Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Google all introduced their new tablets before the upcoming holiday.

An interesting point brought up by the article was that not many people would do research before buying tablets and it has come to my attention that not many of my friends have conducted research before buying tablets.

“The Tablet Market Grows Cluttered” has made me realize that what really matters is not the functionality of the tablet, but the marketing strategies that the company has used to sell its products. For instance, there is an obvious reason why Apple has larger customer base than those of any other firms in the industry – comparing to other firms’ marketing strategies and design of their products, Apple always has the biggest press release when it comes to introducing its new products – every time this has not only caught Apple fans’ attention, but also brought the media and public’s attention. Ultimately, I think marketing strategy is most important part of a company.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/technology/which-tablet-to-buy-among-dozens-confuses-shoppers.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=business

Image: http://images.gizmag.com/hero/tablet-comparison-guide.jpg

Long distance travel perhaps emits the most carbon dioxide and creates the largest carbon footprints out of all the other contributing factors. Rising fuel costs has caused two of the largest airplane makers, Boeing and Airbus, to search for other opportunities to minimize their costs and maximize their profits. Ultimately, Boeing and Airbus are looking for airplanes that are more fuel efficient.

WIth the limited amount of resources we have, sustainability is essentially what everyone looks for. How exactly should we approach our limited amount of resources without compromising the resources of future generations? Sustainability may sound easy when one talks about it, but the difficult part is how do we use current technology we have now to solve problems that scientists and researchers have been searching for years. From my point of view, rising oil price is essentially a warning for all of us who seek to continue living the way we now live – it is not the responsibilities of people who work in the science field, but the responsibility of all of us who are slowly depleting the amount of resources we have.

Source (response to blog): https://blogs.ubc.ca/fergusarnold/2012/11/14/the-battle-for-effeciency/

Image: http://www.mybeartown.co.uk/Sustainability-LargeR_600x435.jpg

It was until recently that I truly understood the meaning behind social entrepreneur – before then social entrepreneur was like this vague idea that we have discussed in class.

“The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur” specifically goes into details of how to find the potential social entrepreneurs who may change the world in one day. From my point of view, the best ideas often come from spontaneity – no one could actually predict what acts, ideas, values, or plans may possibly change the world.

However, if we were able to spot these ideas, it would be so useful not only for the general public who benefits it, but also for policy and decision makers.Social entrepreneurs not only see the social problems arise in the society, but they also seek to make use of the entrepreneurial principles to achieve influential social changes. Particularly, the author pointed out how the media in nowadays only focuses on problems and not innovative response to them – this seems to impede and hamper our creative problem-solving skills, which may be the reason why it seems so hard to find future social entrepreneurs in today’s world. Perhaps, creative problem-solving skill is what people in today’s world are lacking.

Image: http://www.barbecuejoe.com/images/The%20Creative%20Process.JPG

External blog source: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/the-rise-of-social-entrepreneur/

It surprised me when I first heard of the story of Janice, a Sauder grad who owns energyaware. From what I have heard, Janice started off from scratch – a plan that she didn’t know where it may lead – to an establishment of energyaware. What amazed me the most was her idea of connecting people to resource conservation. With the increasing awareness of global warming, Janice came up with such a brilliant idea to connect people to energy sustainability. Starting off from a business plan that she didn’t even know where it may end up, Janice and her friend managed to find investors to investe her company. Her story really made me thought about the materials that we have discussed in class – entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. The social value of energyaware is more than what one would think – it not only helps its customers to keep track of its energy bills, but also brings awareness of sustainability to people – studies have shown it helps to reduce energy consumption up to 20%. Janice’s story has not only taught me the ideas behind entrepreneurship in practice, but has also helped me realize the limitless possibilities of entrepreneurship that it could bring to the society.

Image: http://www.trilliantinc.com/library-files/partners/EnergyAware-01.png

Have you ever imagined seeing the world through watching high-definition videos, streamed from space, at home? Neither have I. UrtheCast has been one of the coolest ideas that I have ever heard of. Streaming Earth from space and getting the views that only astronauts experienced before are ideas that have surpassed and are way beyond my imagination. However, few questions arise from the way UrtheCast broadcast its images through space. In nowadays, people see the importance of privacy more than anything else – the way that UrtheCast broadcast its videos might raise the awareness of certain group of people. Looking back in history, advancements in technological changes always come along with issues such as privacy and it seems to me that most of the time it is the only subject that people care about. Nonetheless, I believe there is a big tradeoff between technological advancements and privacy – if we want to be better at something, privacy is always that one element we need to give up in order to enjoy the benefits of technological advancements or in the possible future, people may come up with better ideas that help to cope with this big tradeoff that we cannot possibly solve now.

Image: http://www.urthecast.com/img/logo-large.png 

YouTube is now bringing more high quality videos online to attract more viewers. Remember the times when there’s no advertisements when you load your YouTube videos? Now, whenever you load a video on YouTube, an ad always comes with it before it starts to load. Exactly, that is one the marketing strategies that YouTube uses to make profits. Now, YouTube introduces a new marketing strategy – partnering with viewers and advertisers to produce high quality videos to serve niche interest. With that, YouTube is taking it to the next level – attract more viewers by producing high quality videos. Personally, I think YouTube has done a great done in both its marketing research and market research, which have successfully helped the company build a firm foundation in the market. However, one thing that came to my mind is that how should YouTube secure its spot in the market with its newly marketing strategy. Something YouTube should take into account is that how will its new marketing strategy bring profit, growth, and values to the company as a whole. Is this new marketing strategy that will make an impact in the short run or a significant influence in the long run?

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/business/media/youtube-to-serve-niche-tastes-by-adding-channels.html?ref=technology

Images: http://s.ytimg.com/yt/img/logos/youtube_logo_standard_againstwhite-vflKoO81_.png

Doctors had been on call for 24 hr and they are exhausted. Sometimes the situation is  not that bad for doctors to be in their office 24 hr. With the introduction of an app called MedCalc, people are able to inject the right amount of supplements into their bodies. Technology has transformed our lives tremendously. The introduction of this new technology increases accessibility of the patients and reduce the work that doctors need to be in the office, which they can allocate their time to other areas of work. This app sets a milestone in medical field and is bringing lots of benefits to the patients in hospitals. MedCalc has helped itself build a great reputation in the medical field, which may be a great sign for profitability because consumers tend to remember the very first kind of new products introduce to the market.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/science/redefining-medicine-with-apps-and-ipads-the-digital-doctor.html?pagewanted=1&ref=health&_r=0

Image: http://studentdoctor.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/medical-iphone-apps.jpg

There have been some heated patent wars between Apple and Samsung in recent years. After reading Spencer Wei’s blog post: Patent Wars between Companies May Improve Brand Image, I think he has a really good point – patent wars may be another brand new marketing strategy that helps companies to establish their points of differences. The patent wars between Apple and Samsung may be another marketing strategy that these two companies sue to attract public’s attention. Two of the most profitable companies in the world, Apple and Samsung have successfully grabbed the public’s attention by pointing out their points of differences in their lawsuits. However, I think these patent wars do not improve both Apple and Samsung’s brand image. Rather, these lawsuits gave more opportunities – creation of new market sector – to Apple and Samsung. These lawsuits have opened up new customer base for both companies. Indeed, this may be a novel and an innovative marketing strategy. Moreover, these patent wars also lead companies to a more innovative path as they deal with each other’s ideas in the lawsuits.

Image from: http://www.geek4share.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/apple-samsung-patent-war.jpg

Apple and Samsung’s Brand New Marketing Strategy?

Nike, one of the world’s most glamorous sports brands that everyone looks up to, has been accused of physically and verbally abusing its workers for years. No improvements or solutions have been made. In fact, the situation is getting worse –  workers in the factories making Converse in Indonesia have reported some serious verbal abuse and these are the worst verbal abuses, comparing to other Nike factories around the world. In essence, workers have no basic human rights once they step into their workplace. With no basic rights, workers constantly work under pressure, fear, and anxiety – any minute they may be abused by their managers. The main ethical issue is that corporations should provide their workers a comfortable and safe workplace to work, especially those like Nike, a corporation in the lead. Physical and verbal abuse should be eliminated in order to offer a safe workplace for employees. With these ideas held in mind, employees are more willing to work for the company because it is simply disrespectful, immoral, and unethical for businesses to not provide its workers a carefree working environment. Employees and workers should be and deserve to be treated nicely.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014325/Nike-workers-kicked-slapped-verbally-abused-factories-making-Converse-line-Indonesia.html