Traditional “cheque book philanthropy” is no longer enough for organizations to rise to the top of the corporate citizenship ladder. Businesses need to find ways to engage their employees and ‘make a difference’ beyond that which comes from a monetary donation.  Jim Gibbon’s Goodwill Industries (Goodwill) provides an interesting model for businesses who are serious about corporate citizenship. In a Harvard Business Review Blog, Gibbons highlights the importance of his company’s business model and how others can leverage, or learn from it.

Jim Gibbons

Goodwill believes that a strong economy is based on employment.  Goodwill provides job training for those who are challenged in finding work thereby “empowering individuals in the community [they] serve”.  Goodwill sells donated goods through its retail outlets “and uses the revenues to fund job-training and placement programs in communities”.  Gibbons says that this model “[puts] social good at the center” of its business.

Engaging with Goodwill through employee driven goods donations, volunteering and monetary support, a company can reduce goods going to landfills, help support a respected charity and at the same time provide job training at a community level. This kind of commitment could take a company from a valued ‘donor’, to a true corporate citizen.

How Goodwill helps the community:

Blog Reference: Harvard Business Review Blog 

Picture Reference: Jim Gibbons

Are major sporting events about sport or about something else? Sporting events are business:  big business:  “Over the years, one of the great economic boons to any major town or city has been major sporting events”.

The Olympic Games, the World Cup or the Super Bowl bring massive economic opportunities to an economy. Sporting events “infuse some much-needed vitality into local markets”. But how does this happen and why?

Sporting events are a popular place for businesses to advertise

Sporting events leverage millions, or multi-millions of dollars into an economy through “hotel reservations, bar and restaurant sales, snack and party supplies” etc.  Big brand events such as the Olympics or World Cup, can attract tourists, infrastructure investment and raise the profile of a community. These benefits incite massive competition for hosting and sponsorship rights for most major sporting events.  In professional sports such as the NBA and NHL, athletes become superstars with major commercial value.

So the next time you are watching the Olympic Games or the NHL, think about what is happening behind the scenes. The athletes and their teams are delivering far more than competition on the field: they are a prized economic engine for business, governments and communities.

Article Reference: Business Opportunities 

Picture Reference: Sporting Event

When you hear the word “entrepreneur”,  the words ‘innovation’, ‘wealth’, ‘success’ and ‘risk’ may come to mind.  Entrepreneurs often start as a small business, but their entrepreneurial talent propels them to realize remarkable achievements. Facebook is a perfect example of an entrepreneurial venture that grew to become a phenomenon.

Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO and founder of Facebook

In 2004, 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg was a sophomore at Harvard. Out of boredom, Zuckerberg created what would become the largest social network device the world has ever seen. Seven years after Zuckerberg’s creation, 550 million people connect through his venture and Facebook is growing “at a rate of about 700,000 people a day”. When Facebook went public, Zuckerberg became one of the youngest billionaires ever.  His entrepreneurial innovation created success and wealth for himself and many others. How did he do this?

Zuckerberg once said: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… in a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that’s guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

While hard work and luck influence an entrepreneur’s success, for Zuckerberg, his entrepreneurial spirit and innovative genius were also combined with a high degree of risk taking, and through this, he both realized incredible wealth and changed the way we communicate….likely forever.

Reference: Mark Zuckerberg Article 

Picture Reference: Mark Zuckerberg 

‘Bad’ customer service turns customers away and ‘good’ customer service builds loyalty.  Articles, a blog post, and class discussion support this idea. The key to ‘bad’ and ‘good’ service is how service is defined in the context of an organization’s brand and whether that service is delivered consistently.

If service is ‘bad’ (ie inconsistent with the brand), customers will respond negatively. They may even send their thoughts to ‘the world’ through social media, as discussed in a CBC article.

As noted in Rachel’s blog, some companies, such as Wal-Mart, intentionally downplay customer service. While this may seem strange, it is consistent with Wal-Mart’s brand: namely that customers shop at Wal-Mart for price and selection, not for customer service.  Wal-Mart customers expect low prices, not high customer service.

The Zappos brand is known for providing 'good' customer service to its customers.

Consistency of service is fundamental in defining whether service is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  The risks of call centers were examined in a recent COMM class. Zappos’ service reflects consistent customer service, driving customer loyalty.  However, the Dell example, presented an angry customer most likely due to inconsistencies in Dell’s service.

Customer service is important.  However, defining and delivering service that is consistent with the organization’s brand is key to organizational success.

Photo Reference: Zappos Team