Mike DeLucchi's Blog

If there had to be one thing to say that I learned from Comm299 this past semester, I couldn’t. Because, I didn’t necessarily learn “one thing”,  but in fact a number of things. I’ve been able to grasp the concepts of all the little things an employee must do in order to become  effective in gaining a job, and maintainging it. It is in this class where I see where Sauder students attain their competitive edge among other university students, and why our reputation is so high. It’s because of all the nazi-like attention to detail, and strict handshake rules that are put in place not to discourage 299 students, but to improve them just that little bit more. 299 exploits our flaws, and evolves them into our facets that flourish. I believe the class overall is a great learning tool and found drastic improvements in myself as far as presentation to employers, and networking skills. Thanks to Phillipe and my TA Pia!

Something that inspired me was in fact not something, but someone. In my perspective, Muhammad Ali is the epitome of dilligence, perserverance and courage. Ali once said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’.” This shows that no matter how difficult an obstacle in life may be, it is the end result in which you must focus on to fuel your motivation presently. This form of logic has helped me in ample situations, specifically school, where I have had to concentrate on my goal of a solid future post-university whilst battling through an assignment or a night of studying. I believe that when we drive ourselves to overcome difficult tasks, it helps prepare us mentally for the even more demanding challenges that lie ahead, and Ali is a prime example of someone who did just that.

A new revenue stream has been created in the form of selling advertising space on the Vancouver Canucks practice jerseys. This idea began in the National Football League, and has quickly been adopted by professional sports teams around the globe. As there are many TV stations that cannot reserve the rights to show game footage, the advertising will markedly gain exposure through the abundance of practice video. In such a hockey-crazed city like Vancouver, this is sure to bring success. Although this may make sense financially, what really pains me is the fact that owners of professional sports teams are forgetting the ethics of the decision. Apparently it is not enough that their rink is full of advertisements covering the boards, but they must also drain the tradition of hockey and turn it into a money-grabbing organization. It makes me wonder how long it may be until we start seeing advertising on the players themselves.

Link: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Canucks+enter+with+sweater/3692238/story.html#ixzz12pnXd8C8

Research in Motion has recently announced the release of the Blackberry Playbook; their take on the tablet computer. Its scheduled release is set for early 2011 in North America, and then to Europe in the second quarter. What I found to be most intriguing about the advertising of this product, is how each feature is compared to the Apple iPad. RIM’s main prerogative is to expose what the iPad is lacking, and informing how the Playbook is a better overall option for consumers. The primary areas which they are looking to draw customers in, is with respect to the Playbook’s flash support, enabling more productive web browsing, in addition to the enhanced multitasking camera applications. These three main aspects of the Playbook are the same areas that the iPad was criticized on, in being that the iPad’s web browsing capabilities were mediocre at best, and did not have a camera accessory, contrary to a large portion of other Apple products. Overall, I believe the Blackberry Playbook will be a successful investment for Research in Motion, as it will present consumers with all the iPad offers, and more.

Links:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

http://ca.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/?CPID=KNC-kw286898_p7&HBX_PK=rim|70477b8d-651d-c209-2a3a-00001a02c2e2

Organizational culture is defined as an idea through management which entails attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of an enterprise. When synchronizing with another corporation, it is not guaranteed that employees will adapt favorably to the change in corporate culture, due to the diversity of aspirations, and risk profiles. There are many variables in respect to different aspects of culture; for instance, two corporations may differ through their views on power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism, or masculinity vs. femininity. Neither perspective is necessarily wrong; however, if an original company attracted feminist workers, due to its dominant femininity culture, a merge with another company that does not have a similar structure may make sense financially, but will certainly effect relations and productivity in the work place. Ultimately, this results in the inability to compromise on solutions, or losing the opportunity to agree upon and give closure on deals. Therefore, it is essential that cohesiveness is present between coworkers in both companies. In order to encourage this, management may look to incorporate aspects of both cultures in creating a compromising new culture that both companies can relate to as one unified entity.

Links: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest43708-380676-hp-compaq-merger-analysis-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/

http://chineselanguagestudy.newdatablog.com/mergers-and-acquisitions-a-case-study-and-analysis-of-hp-compaq-merger/

http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/operating/leadership/mergingwisely.html

A subprime mortgage is a particular type of loan granted to individuals with poor credit ratings, whom would not be able to receive a conventional mortgage due to these low credit scores. They work in the sense that borrowers initially pay a lowered interest rate, which is what attracts them, until an eventual reset to a higher, variable rate resulting in significant payment increases. This often led to many subprime foreclosures due to their misleading nature in confusing borrowers. The act of subprime mortgaging is markedly unethical as lenders look to attract and take advantage of those with a lack of or very low credit, and those faced with lower incomes. However, the extreme unethical aspects of this agreement are the predatory techniques banks, like the Lehman Brothers use. For instance, they seek naïve borrowers, and pressure future home owners to re-finance, frequently charging high closing fees and rolling closing cost into mortgage. In addition, they deter clients from shopping for alternate mortgage lenders; convincing them it will hurt their credit score. There is also no disclosure that the broker is being paid by both the lender and borrower.

Link: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/lehman-brothers-collapse.asp

 In the year 1998, Chip Wilson, founder of Lululemon Athletica, completely altered the focus of his organization, changing specialization from a surf, skate and snowboard shop, to one of the most renowned yoga apparel stores in the world. The primary reason which separates Lululemon from the competitors is the innovative techniques it possesses in apparel. Cotton clothing was previously being used for sweaty, stretchy power yoga, which Chip found completely inappropriate. Thus, he introduced a yoga line manufactured entirely of technical athletic fabrics, capable of coinciding with every yoga movement and position, enabling pores to breathe, and contain the ability to absorb perspiration. The result of this action was a tremendous growth in sales and revenue over the inaugural years of operation. To this day, Lululemon is consistently continuing to produce additional revenue each year. This past August, the organizations quarterly revenue rose to $21.8 million (or 30 cents a share) compared to $9.2 million (or 13 cents a share) the previous annum. In my opinion, Chip Wilson is the epitome of a successful entrepreneur in a sense of conquering risk through innovating new ideas to implement in a market, and the dramatic speed and amount of revenue received initially and sustained.

Links:

 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/lululemon-profit-doubles-as-revenue-soars/article1702300/

http://www.lululemon.com/about/history

A record setting stock of $70 billion has been taken up, as of September 24th by Petrobra, despite the large amount of doubt posed by investors regarding this decision. “Of that total, almost $43 billion-worth of the shares will be taken up by the government in return for giving Petrobras the right to develop 5 billion barrels of reserves” (The Economist). The issue derived from the shares is significant, as Petrobra is looking to utilize the capital to exploit newfound oilfields off Brazil’s coast. Petrobra is looking to increase its output to 5.4 billion barrels a day by the year 2020. If this were to occur, the brazilian government will look to use its incoming revenue to contribute in transforming Brazil in to a developed country. This would include the funding to supply education, welfare, and infrastructure. Although, with all the money being outputted towards this massive $224 billion project, investors are becoming skeptical in purchasing shares, as there is a widespread beleif that Petrobra will be facing a large debt in the near future. However, Petrobra believes there are still a greater number of oilfields left to be discovered off shore. Which, is why I believe the most logical decision would be to continue its drilling, while attempting to sell more shares to private investors. Thus, the government cannot invest in a greater amount of stocks, and Petrobra can be its own sole operator. Also, with the continuation of Petrobra’s operations, the brazilian economy will benefit with respect to the growth of its ship-building and oil service enterprizes.

Full article: http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2010/09/petrobrass_record_share_issue

A new, turbocharged german economy is prospering, largely due to the exports in the automobile industry. “Figures released on August 13th showed that the German economy grew by 2.2% (an annualised rate of close to 9%) in the three months to the end of June” (The Economist). Along with the new middle classes emerging from fast-industrializing countries, comes a need for a car with renowned performance and reliability. Germany is the prime candidate to supply these vehicles, and a country like China is the perfect customer for these cars. This is has enabled the sales of Mercedes Benz to triple this past July, and double in India. Also, the sudden surge of business has resulted in newfound job requisites. Prior to the automobile industry crisis, Germany’s unemployment level was rising. To keep employees, firms had to use a short-time working scheme and flexible hour system. However, the need for jobs has required the firms to draw back employees to full time work far earlier than they had hoped. In turn, this has led to a higher unemployment rate than it was previous to the crisis. In my opinion, Germany must continue to increase its focus on Asia and India, which will open up jobs requiring specialization in a model that fits their needs. Hopefully for Germany, this will lead to more spending at home, which will in turn, have a positive effect on the GDP.

See the full article here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/08/europes_economies

Recentley, I watched a TV commercial regarding Axe’s new shampoo product. It begins with a group of girls canvassing a mall in order to find a ‘dirty boy’, which, in this case is referring to a guy with a poor hairstyle. Once they find someone who meets this criteria, the girls (accompanyed by a pig) tackle him, pin him down, and begin scrubbing his hair with the shampoo. Magically, the boy re-enters the picture with a new luscious, feathered, and obviously styled haircut.. from a simple wash? Immediately following, an enormous herd of girls begin to surround the boy, running their fingers through his hair, laughing and flirting. I believe this advertisement is unethical due to the fact that it attempts to persuade young men to buy the shampoo essentially based on the use of multiple sexual references throughout the commercial, as well as creating the deceptive illusion that a man would be flocked by beautiful women if he were to use the shampoo. In my opinion, the media today wrongfully utilizes this same technique, for a variety of products. For instance, why is it that every beer commercial seems to have at least a few half-naked hotties who have absolutely nothing to do with the product marketed. It is wrong for women to be fashioned in this way, and this type of advertisement should be halted from further exposure.

Click here to watch the commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7S_4skpTZQ