Nowadays, the aboriginal title has been recognized by a Supreme Court of Canada, which means no exploitation on that territory without the permission of First Nation.

Recently, the project of BC Hydro, establishing dam and hydroelectric generating station on Peace River in British Columbia, was rejected by First Nation chiefs, since it will significantly effect on fishing opportunities and practices for the First Nations.

However, I do not agree with that opposition. The population of B.C. is keeping increasing, so it will need much more new energy in the future. Things cannot be both satisfied, so First Nation has to choose one which has lower opportunity cost.

In addition, I also do not think aboriginal title can bring economic benefits for First Nation. Under this situation, companies must ask permission from chiefs to do exploitation. However, chiefs are not gods, so they cannot predict the future accurately. As a result, the economy of B.C may be limited because of chiefs’ wrong decisions.

 

Reference: O’Neil, Peter.  First Nations chiefs to stage Site C showdown.  Vancouver Sun.  September 18, 2014.  Newspaper Article.http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html

On the first day of October, Hong Kong university students were holding  demonstration for democracy, when Chineses were celebrating the national day.  I do not want to judge the right and wrong between Hong Kong university students and Chinese government. I just want to analyze how does this politic action influence the economy.

According to Chinese national regulation, Chinese people can get seven-day holiday in oder to celebrate the national day. Since this is a rare holiday for most of people with jobs, many people choose traveling and shopping with their family members.

Formerly, many people would choose traveling to Hong Kong because of its duty-free goods. However, the demonstration stop  this travelers. Recently, the central Hon Kong such as Mongkok, a bustling shopping and residential district across the harbor in Kowloon has been occupied by thousands of pro-democracy supporters. Now it is even difficult for inhabitant to pass through, how can travelers go shopping here. Moreover, travelers would give up this great tourist spot because they are also afraid of the tension between students and the police. After all, nobody want to expose themselves to danger.

 

By prediction this week’s protests will cost retailers about $ 280 million in lost sales. Although just a golden week will not make a significant effect on Hong Kong’s economy, a persistent “Occupy” movement may cause a far-reaching influence.

 

 

Reference:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/481ce604-4ad0-11e4-839a-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3FCVT0H5D

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/598a7152-4ab4-11e4-bc07-00144feab7de.html#axzz3FCVT0H5D

In 2011, Sher-Wood Hockey Inc. Canada’s hockey stick manufacturer move its stick production to China in order to cut its cost. Certainly, it is not an exception.Nowadays, China has become a global manufactory. Many countries move their factories into China because of its cheap labour and resources. From my view point, Chinese Government should set standards for foreign factories in order to prevent them rushing into China.

For the society, although introduction of foreign production can help Chinese Government to solve unemployment problem, using cheap labour to do mass production is a kind of exploitation for Chinese workers. Additionally, the foreign factories will grabbed off the  limited resources from domestic manufactories. They will bring more competition.

For the environment, more massive exploitation from foreign factories will make the ecological environment become worse. Moreover, factories will cause pollution including foreign factories, so introducing too many factories will cause serious environment problem.

For this reasons, Chinese Government should stop the increase of foreign factories in the domestic market. I think Government can increase charge of foreign foreign factories and select them more carefully. I also hope one day, China can not only be a maker but also be a designer.

Reference:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/courseblogcl_ubc_comm_101_101_2014w1_44739-cl_ubc_comm_101_101_2014w1_44739_2045960_1/files/2014/04/Sher-wood-follows-rivals-to-China.pdf

 

Positioning is a kind of marketing strategies which can make a brand occupy a distinct position in customers’ mind. In order to attract more customers or get one more customer segment, businesses may choose repositioning. Blackberry is one of examples.

As a corporate-workhorse devices, Blackberry is know for its security and reliability. However, it became no longer competitive in a consumer market with the fast developing technology. Nowadays, customers do not want an affordable corporate mobile phone anymore, they want a popular and high-technic one like iPhone. However, when Blackberry position in a mass market, it diluted its value and lost its elite image. As a result, it cannot compete against mass market mobile phone brands and also loss its own customer segment.

In fact, repositioning is a high-risky strategy. It’s a common sense that companies are quite difficult to change a consumer’s impression once it is formed. Moreover, firms which has been the first to claim a unique position in the mind of customers are difficult to be substituted by other competitors. In this case, Blackberry’s repositioning not only fail to change customers’ opinions, but also cannot turn the tables on leaders of mass market. Therefore, managers should think seriously before repositioning.

 

 

Reference:

http://marketingstall.blogspot.ca/2011/05/blackberry-boys-repositioning.html