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