http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303289904579197253153734432 – Wolkswagen Issues Global Recall by Wall Street Journal

Volkswagen AG is the third biggest motor vehicle company and the biggest European car manufacturer. It consists of many marques: Audi, Volkswagen, Seat, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Skoda, Ducati, MAN and Scania.

On Thursday, Volkswagen AG announced a recall of about 2.6 million cars worldwide. 640,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars are recalled in China because of a problem with new synthetic oil used in their gearboxes. Earlier this year, the company recalled about 400,000 cars to fix the issue with the same model of gearboxes. However, a cost of the recall is estimated to be relatively low.

All these issues may damage Volkswagen’s reputation on Chinese market which is crucial for it being its largest market. Despite current problems, company’s stocks keep on rising. Company’s shareholders believe in the company and are optimistic about its future.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/christiannoel/2013/10/07/e-cigarettes-treated-as-medical/ – Christian Noel’s post

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/10/22/dr-aw-e-cigarettes-are-a-public-health-disaster-waiting-to-happen-for-young-people-and-existing-nicotine-addicts-alike/ – Dr. Aw: E-cigarettes are a public health disaster waiting to happen for young people and existing nicotine addicts alike by National Post

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/17/us-tobacco-britain-ecigarettes-idUSBRE9AG08O20131117 – First air airport e-cigarette zone to open at London’s Heathrow by Reuters

Being a smoker, I was highly interested by Christian Noel’s post about rising popularity of electronic cigarettes. Moreover, one of the biggest European airports has opened a smoking lounge for electronic cigarettes smokers, as they became trendy.

Personally, I am convinced that e-cigs are more dangerous for public health than tobacco cigarettes. Firstly, e-cigs manufacturers are looking to create a positive image of an e-cigarette smoker in their ads. As a result it may cause growth of percentage of smokers in population. Secondly, e-cigs are not age-restricted, so underage high school or even middle school students are able to buy them in convenience stores. Number of e-cigs smokers in high schools has already doubled between 2011 and 2012.

And finally, are e-cigs as safe as it is advertised? Not at all. A study has proven that e-cigs contain carcinogens and toxic chemical, diethylene glycol, in their mist.

So why should we distinguish one slow killer from another?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnclarke/2013/10/28/gay-rights-protesters-target-sochi-olympic-sponsors-coke-mcdonalds-and-samsung/ – Gay Rights Protesters Target Sochi Olympic Sponsors Coke, McDonald’s and Samsung by Forbes

https://blogs.ubc.ca/shomasmah/2013/10/28/coca-cola-being-put-to-an-ethical-test/#comments – Shomas Mah’s blog

Olympic Games, Russia, Sochi… Sports fans’ impatience is increasing significantly day by day; unfortunately, this excitement is far from uniting all the people from different countries.

While those who intend to visit this grandiose event are feverishly looking for extra tickets, the gay rights protesters are reaching for help of Olympic Games’ sponsors to abolish Russian anti-gay laws. They claim that Russians’ and fans’ dignity is in danger as long as these laws are valid. Yet before launching any debates, one should pose themselves a question: Does Russia actually prohibit the existence of non-traditional sexual adherence itself? In fact, the goal of these laws is to keep underage population unaware of the unorthodox sexual orientation. Hence, the following question should be considered: can these laws prevent sports fans (including gays and lesbians) from coming and watching Games in Russia? Why should politics intervene in this international sports holiday?

Olympic Games are supposed to be free of politics and celebrate the joy of sport and unity. Unfortunately, Olympic Games often become a field for political confrontation or disagreement. I believe, we all should enjoy the biggest sport spectacle with no respect to race, sexual orientation or political situation in the country hosting the event.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303460004579194150724298162 – Ballmer on Ballmer: His Exit From Microsoft by Wall Street Journal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8M6S8EKbnU – compilation of best videos with Steve Ballmer

On August 13th it was announced that one of the most remarkable CEOs of all time, Steve Ballmer will leave the post of the CEO of Microsoft. Personally that was a disappointing news because Steve was one of my favorite businessmen for his energy and candor. So I decided to dedicate this post to this wonderful man and his long career in Microsoft.

Steve joined Microsoft in 1980 after being invited by Bill Gates. In 2000, he was names as the CEO of the company. However he  was the second man in the company after Gates until 2006 when Bill left the post of the chief software architect.

His era in Microsoft was full of brilliant victories as well as disappointing failures. He initiated a launch Windows 7, extremely successful Microsoft OS but he didn’t expect success of Apple and development of markets of smartphones and tablets, which caused a delay in entrance of Microsoft to these markets.

Despite his big mistakes which caused huge financial losses to Microsoft, he is remarkable for other activities as CEO. His corporate meetings and team building activities created an exceptional atmosphere in Microsoft which made the company one of the best workplaces in the world. His energetic speeches helped a lot in making employees committed to their workplace.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/11/15/snapchat-and-the-path-to-the-personal/ – Snapchat and the Path to the personal by Forbes

A very successful mobile app Snapchat was released in September 2013 by a group of Stanford students. It’s a social app used to exchange images with short commentaries which can be viewed by a recipient for a limited amount of time chosen by a sender (from 3 to 10 seconds) and get deleted from both devices and servers of the company after they were opened. Now it’s in the top 10 apps in Android Google Play and Apple AppStore. It became one of the most successful mobile apps of all time. Many youngsters have this app on their smartphones now.

The whole world’s attention was caught by Snapchat when its owners rejected Facebook’s buyout offer of $3B. Then, they rejected Google’s offer of $4B. But why is this app so special?

Firstly, its users don’t want their information to be stored anywhere which makes them feel more free in communication with their friends. Secondly, Snapchat follows current trend of replacement of written to visual communication.

And the final question: “Will Snapchat replace Facebook?” I think, no. Not in the nearest  future. These 2 social networks were created for different audience. Facebook is still more flexible in terms of types of data which can be sent while Snapchat is restricted to photos with really short comments.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/best-and-worst/most-underachieving-ceos – List of most underarchieving CEOs by Bloomberg

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/23/hp_ceo_whitman_weve_built_the_pc_that_god_wants/ – Meg Whitman: “We’ve built the PC that GOD wants” by TheRegister.co.uk

Meg Whitman joined HP in January 2011. In September, she obtained a post of the CEO of the company. Since that moment, company’s stocks have decreased by 30 percent, which made Bloomberg choose Meg as the most underarchieving CEO of all companies in 2013.

However, since the beginning of the year 2013 company’s stocks have grown by 66.5%. Meg have refocused HP on PC production, which was considered declining by Leo Apotheker, previous HP CEO.

.The plan of Meg Whitman of coming back into PC business seems working. A trusted IT blog geekbeat.tv named the new HP Z1 workstation as “PC God would build”. Apart from Z1, HP released a number of new laptops and tablets operating on MS Windows 8. Clearly, HP is looking to regain its strong position on PC market.

Whitman’s strategy is focused mostly on innovation and technology research to eliminate  a gap between HP and its competitors by spending more money on technology research. HP is looking to protect its employees from threat of layoffs which occured in 2012 and stabilize the business. Despite an unsuccessful beginning of her career in HP, now the company seems developing and promising.

Sony’s PS4 tops Xbox One as gamers’ holiday choice: Reuters/Ipsos poll – Reuters

PlayStation 4 tops Xbox One on gamers’ holiday wish lists according to Reuters poll – bgr.com

November will be remarkable in gamers’ world by the beginning of sales of 2 new consoles: PlayStation 4 by Sony and Xbox One by Microsoft. PS4 is starting its sales on November 15th, Xbox One will be available on November 22nd. However, both consoles have already been presented to public. According to a Reuters / Ipsos poll, 26% of gamers would like to buy a PS4 , while only 15% would prefer Xbox One.

Xbox One’s presentation caused many discussions about new features of the console. Firstly, Microsoft Xbox One is not compatible with Xbox 360 games. Secondly, Microsoft announced that they would set restrictions on used games. Moreover, Xbox One will require internet connection to play. Those novelties were not enjoyed by customers. On the contrary, PS4 release was more successful. PS4 was created in a traditional way, in has some new features but it is not as innovative as Xbox. In addition, PS4 is 100$ cheaper that  its main competitor.

As a result, it is probable that Sony would win the competition, at least it would be more successful during its first period of sales than Microsoft.

Ford Motor (F) Is Almost Tied With General Motors (GM) In US Auto Sales; It Has Only Beat GM Four Times In The Past Two Decades – International Business Times

Sales race: GM reigns but Ford gains – Automotive News

2 biggest american automobiles producers, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Company, are competing on cars market for almost a century. In recent years, GM has always been bigger and had higher sales than Ford. Since 1991, Ford has outsold GM only 3 times.

Now, the gap in sales of 2 companies has narrowed to 25,000 units (in 2007, it was 105,000 units). In this post, I would like to present my vision of reasons of success of Ford in last 5 years and of failure of GM.

Specialists affirm, that main reason of success of Ford lies in its new line of models: Focus, Fiesta, Fusion and Escape. By creating those models, Ford has adapted to changing tastes of its customers. New models are smaller, have smaller engines, which consume less fuel and are more environment-friendly. Growing prices for fuel and change in consumers’s view on cars have brought success to those models. People are not looking for a big car with a powerful engine anymore, they prefer smaller cars that would be easier to park and that would save their money by having lower fuel consumption. GM is still living in age of dinosaurs, that’s why it’s suffering from a decrease in sales.

Google, Cisco Could Make Offers For BlackBerry – WebProNews

The key to BlackBerry’s survival may lie in security, not smartphones – Financial Post

The Bankruptcy Question for BlackBerry – NY Times

Few years ago, BlackBerry was one of the most powerful smartphone producers in the world. Now, BlackBerry’s hard financial situation is one of the most discussed topics in business world. Moreover, I bought a BB10 smartphone 2 weeks before the company announced its willingness to be sold and I’m really interested in the future of the company.

BlackBerry’s situation is pitiful now. The company launched a new OS, BB10, which could not compete with such monsters as Apple iOS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows Phone. It was its last chance to escape from a complete financial collapse. Now, BlackBerry has turned into a private company and is now for sale. Its possible buyers are Google, Cisco, Intel and SAP.

Another possibility is that the company leaves smartphones market and start working in information security industry, where its situation is way better. Its servers and patents are worth billions of dollars.

According to specialists, bankruptcy will not happen now or anytime soon. However, it is probable, that the company would be sold soon.