Are wars cyclical and related to economic crises? Washington’s blog suggests that wars are indeed cyclical and based on economic crises supporting his thoughts with historical facts. In Washington’s blog he uses several sources including former Goldman Sachs technical analyst Charles Nenner who predicts that there will be a major war starting at the end of 2012 to 2013. Additionally, Rogers said that “trade wars always lead to wars,” and he believes that if Europe continues to bailout, it could potentially start another world war.

In Washington’s blog he also uses Larry Edelson’s email to his subscribers saying:

“Since the 1980s, I’ve been studying the so-called “cycles of war” — the natural rhythms that predispose societies to descent into chaos, into hatred, into civil and even international war. I’m certainly not the first person to examine these very distinctive patterns in history. There have been many before me, notably, Raymond Wheeler, who published the most authoritative chronicle of war ever, covering a period of 2,600 years of data. However, there are very few people who are willing to even discuss the issue right now. And based on what I’m seeing, the implications could be absolutely huge in 2013.”

As the tension is rising between countries and their falling economies, many analysts, economic forecasters, and people believe that this will cause another major or even world war. The economy is continuing to decline and many question if this is really an economic crisis or if it is just a transformation of the worlds economy. Could it just be a natural human pattern? Another question to consider is who or what caused the worlds economic downfall? I believe that there are more factors rather than just the economy that go into causing a world war, but I find their reasonings interesting and based off their reasonings it can be possible.

source: http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-11-18/real-reason-assault-gaza

It was a smart marketing strategy for Nike to advertise on social media websites. The internet is where anyone can find information about anything and more people view and discover new things on the internet than they do by reading the newspaper or by watching television. I agree that the internet and social media websites are the new market and it is an effective and efficient way to reach out to potential customers while cutting costs. Most social networking websites have no cost to make an account so it is cheap and free to advertise through this. Not only is advertising online generally cheaper, but it is more sustainable. Instead of having to advertise through prints which many people dispose and do not even look at anyway, they can advertise online where it will draw the viewer’s attention and even if it fails to draw the viewer’s attention, nothing is being wasted. As technology advances and as social media websites become more popular and accessible to everyone, it will be more effective for companies to advertise online.

Nike’s Marketing Strategy in Social Networks

One of America’s most popular snack brands, Hostess, has declared bankruptcy on the 16^th of November. Considering it is one of the most popular snack brands in the states and that it is famous for its most valued snack “Twinkies,” it is shocking to hear that the company has come to an end. There were signs indicating that the company was not doing well earlier in the year, but the company announced that they would liquidate the company and lay off around 19,000 workers (Kaplan). The cause of this was the strike by the members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

The CEO, Greg Rayburn, said “We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we don’t have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike.” Rayburn took position as the CEO of Hostess after its formal CEO, Brian Driscoll, quit unexpectedly. Rayburn plans on selling the company’s assets to its highest bidders and he acknowledged that there was no easy way of saying that Hostess Brands employees will be hurt, but there is nothing that the company can do because they are in bankruptcy (Rayburn).

The company had to make this decision because the Union went on strike for their pay. It is very possible that the company could have survived if the union did not go on strike. Although the Union may have been right that the company was being unethical for not giving them fair pay or working conditions was it worth it so that the company comes to an end? They are now left jobless and one of America’s most popular snacks will not be sold anymore. How can we determine who is right in this situation? The answer to that question is up in the air and it will vary from person to person, but I believe that a lesson was learned in this company’s failure. The Union and Hostess should have come to a compromise and should have learned to work better with each other from the start to prevent failure.

sources:

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/16/the-end-of-hostess/?iid=SF_F_River

Is it true that ambitious male MBA graduates will get better and higher-paying jobs than ambitious female MBA graduates? Sexism has been an issue since the beginning of history where men have the more powerful and dominant roles whereas the women are more passive. However in modern days most people in North America do not consider sexism as an issue and believe that women have an equal opportunity to succeed as men.

According to a Catalyst study of 1660 female MBA graduates worldwide, the women are not getting the powerful, high-paying jobs. Instead, men are assigned projects where they have more than twice the budget and three times the staff as projects run by women. In addition, women receive less profitable jobs and a smaller budget for projects, regardless if they have the same achievements or ambition as men.

Catalyst has studied on how to expand opportunities for corporate business women for the past 50 years and found that women only hold 3.8 percent of Fortune 500 CEO positions and 4 percent of Fortune 1000 CEO positions (Brady). It is indeed difficult for women to climb the corporate ladder when it is primarily a male dominated job market. Concerns with women in business are that if the woman gets married or starts a family and puts her career second. Corporations are looking for employees who put their job first and some feel more inclined to hire men over women because they know that generally men will not leave their job to start a family.

Is it fair though for companies to assume that if a woman finds a partner that she will put the partner or family first and not focus on her business career? Although a woman’s role is generalized as staying at home to take care of children and complete house tasks, it is unfair to assume that every woman is like this. Some women put their career first and some women can make a balance between their family life and their career while being just as successful as men. After all, women who have the same determination as men and who have an MBA degree can be just as equally experienced and intelligent as men. Thus, I believe that women should have a more equal chance in getting the hot jobs in the business world because women should not be judged for sexist characteristics when they have the potential to be equally or even more successful than men.

Sources:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-14/catalyst-study-finds-women-fall-back-as-men-get-the-hot-jobs#r=nav-f-story

Who would think that an airline that offers fantastic entertainment, comfort, and quality flights would be at the bottom of the airlines list for making money? Virgin America Airlines is known for its great service and entertainment proven by being voted at the top of the “best airline” lists (Tuttle). Virgin America has won several travel awards in the past years for having the best in-flight entertainment, best cabin staff, best cabin ambience, best overall passenger experience and so on, so wouldn’t it be logical to think that Virgin America is making the most money? Instead the airline is not making money they need and by the year of 2013 the company will cut back on flights and dismiss some employees.

One of the primary issues with Virgin America Airlines is that their main customers are business travellers and they hardly attract any leisure travellers. Leisure travellers usually want the most cheap and convenient flight rather than an extra nice in-flight experience although most flights aren’t necessarily fun or relaxing for anyone. Also its business travellers always have the option to go to first class or business class for a perhaps cheaper price on any other airline, so why should they choose Virgin America? The airline tries to attract travellers for the overall quality of the in-flight experience, but not many people find that any flight experience is great, so why should they pay the extra money? It is questionable as to whether or not Virgin America Airlines will improve or become more profitable, but first they should change their strategies because they are not attracting the travellers they need to.

soucres: http://business.time.com/2012/10/25/why-an-airline-that-travelers-love-is-failing/?iid=biz-main-belt

After reading this blog and article, I agree that it is unethical for companies to be making profit from prison labour. Not only is it unfair to law abiding citizens who are unemployed, but I believe that it is wrong to be paying a prisoner 60 cents per hour for their work. This makes a company look unethical because they are not giving those searching for a job with full determination and potential a chance and they are taking advantage of prisoners. Although many people may assume that all prisoners are bad and do not deserve to have jobs that law-abiding citizens are fighting for, not everyone knows why or how that person got into prison or if they could be truly innocent. I believe that this is highly unethical of the business because they are taking advantage of prisoners and making it unfair to law abiding citizens searching for a job.

sources: https://blogs.ubc.ca/akankshakapil/2012/10/09/re-profiting-from-prison-labour/

As L’Oreal is trying to become cruelty-free by 2013 , activists feel as if the company is doing so to boost the company’s image. It is difficult to determine whether or not the company is attempting to become cruelty-free for ethical, unethical reasons, or even a combination of both. L’Oreal is a well known company and they want to sustain their strong image, so they will do anything to eliminate negative feedback. It is important for a company to keep a positive image. For companies like L’Oreal, it is difficult to avoid being attacked as to how their products are tested because people will always find flaws. For example, if L’Oreal were to stop testing their products on animals, some people might question how safe it is to use the product if it was not tested properly. L’Oreal does indeed have the power to eliminate animal testing completely, but by donating money to end it they are improving their image and seeing how consumers will react. This may be the most beneficial option for L’Oreal because they are not completely eliminating their primary source of testing, but seeing how it will affect their company and how consumers will respond. Testing on animals is still unethical, but the company probably decided that by taking slow action, it would be most beneficial to the consumers and the company itself.  Although L’Oreal’s goal is to become cruelty-free by 2013, how will they test their products to make sure that they are safe for their consumers to use?

https://blogs.ubc.ca/arielliu/2012/09/12/loreal-donates-money-to-help-abolish-animal-testing/

As the competition intensifies with Apple and other companies, Apple continues to search for new points of difference. The company attempted to do so by creating a new feature called Apple Maps on the iPhone rather than Google Maps. I agree with this post that iPhone users will continue to use Google maps, especially if Apple Maps is not efficient. Users are accustomed to using Google Maps and that is one of Google’s points of difference. Unless Apple fixes its imperfect map application, users will continue to use Google maps, a more clear and recognizable application.  Although the Apple Map application will be installed on the iPhone, users will still go out of their way to use a more efficient map application. For applications such as maps, people are not necessarily looking for significant updates. People just want a map that is efficient and that can give them the most accurate, descriptive, and precise way of getting from point A to point B in a short period of time. Google Maps is known to providing consumers with this service and their consumers are accustomed to using their maps. If a consumer is accustomed to using a certain service, especially Google Maps, then it is unlikely that they will switch over to another service unless it has a significant change that makes things more efficient for them.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/katyasen/2012/10/03/if-you-need-directions-use-google-maps/

Facebook is the world’s most renowned social networking website, but will it always be? Facebook is constantly seeking ways to contain their consumers interest and it does this by creating new features and by updating the profile layout. Facebook’s product manager, Naomi Gleit, has a key goal to eliminate barriers preventing people from joining Facebook. She says that the company is trying to expand so that people from anywhere in the world can have access to join Facebook and so there will be no reason for anyone not to join the social networking site. Gleit believes that Facebook’s next billions of people are going to come through mobile. She assisted the company in buying out Snaptu, which designs software to make accessibility easier for people who use Facebook on their mobile phone. Essentially, Facebook’s primary goal is to make the website available to everyone and to make it efficient and easy to use.

Gleit uses strategic marketing to sustain the interest of Facebook’s users and to gain more users.Eliminating any barriers preventing people from joining the social networking site is a great goal because it will not be too difficult to bring down these barriers. For users who do not own a Facebook account, it is usually because they do not have access to the site or they are concerned with the privacy policies. Facebook is constantly trying to adjust their privacy settings so that all users’ information remains confidential and it is not released to any third parties. As to giving access to Facebook for those who don’t have access, by implementing Facebook applications onto mobile phones will increase the amount of users. Facebook already has 800 million users and it is very possible for the corporation to gain more millions through strategic marketing.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-25/chasing-facebooks-next-billion-users

http://newsroom.fb.com

Recently, Bank of America settled litigation that had claimed the bank was guilty of deceiving investors of Merrill Lynch. The bank settled the litigation by paying $2.43 billion to alleviate one of its heaviest burdens from the financial crisis in 2008. Back in 2008, John Thain, the chief executive of Merrill Lynch, and Ken Lewis, the head of Bank of America, impulsively merged their firms because the banks were in critical condition and to save them from having a downfall. Both firms suffered significantly and ended up losing billions of dollars. Mr. Thain and Mr. Lewis were both fired at for failing to sustain their firms during the financial crisis, for lying, and for cheating, leading to lawsuits. Should people with power in firms be able to take advantage of their power by lying or cheating to improve their company? Unfortunately some managers or executives of companies commit unethical actions to save or improve their company, but as shown with Thain and Lewis’ mistake, their actions backfired at them.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/bank-of-america-to-pay-2-43-billion-to-settle-class-action-over-merrill-deal/?ref=global