After reading more about Research in Motion (RIM), I realized it could be categorized under social enterprise because it created the Blackberry and the corresponding SMS text system which they call BBM to give cell phone and text service to people in poorer countries at a lower price then the normal fees they would have to pay for text. RIM is not a NGO because it does earn profit from the extremely popular Blackberry phones and other things, but since it has an intention to help and create change, I would say it is a social enterprise under the definition we were introduced to in class and class preparation readings. As RIM is losing market share to dominating technology/phone makers such as Apple and Samsung, it has introduced a new function that allows users to call between Blackberry users if wifi is present, therefore no charge.

As Blackberries start to phase out in North America, I really hope RIM will be supported by other companies to keep producing Blackberries for the poor countries because “in countries such as South Africa, where RIM’s smartphones remain incredibly popular, roughly 98 per cent of BlackBerry owners regularly use the messaging service”, which means RIM has allowed many people in poor countries to use cell phones at an affordable price.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/mobile/rim-adds-free-call-feature-to-bbm/article5274314/

Link:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/mobile/rim-adds-free-call-feature-to-bbm/article5274314/

Sinofsky, a Microsoft verteran for 23 years, has a reputation for good management of “large and complex software projects and delivering important products on schedule” while Forstall, an Apple verteran for 15 years, was said to be a possible successor of Steve Jobs and “rose quickly at the company [while earning] a reputation for risk taking”. Both of these two managers with prominent reputations were also said to be difficult to work with by their peers.

With such prominent reputations, good positions, and much potential to rise even higher, they both quit from the two biggest technology companies in the world. Why?This situation brings me to the class discussion about the types of managers, the one who want power and the ones who want money. The two discusses above are probably in between the two extremes with power dominating more because they were excellent at management but the part of them that wanted, not just them but the company, to earn more money was making them difficult to work with. They probably had high expectations for the work produced by the employees under them.

Therefore, I believe the reason the two quit from their jobs was that they were difficult to work with and that created a environment where both weren’t happy. And the only way they will find jobs that will satisfy them now is to change their management strategy to be more power dominating.

http://blogs.ft.com/businessblog/2012/11/microsofts-sinofsky-follows-apples-forstall-to-the-exit/#axzz2CGKLEKJs

Link:

http://blogs.ft.com/businessblog/2012/11/microsofts-sinofsky-follows-apples-forstall-to-the-exit/#axzz2CGKLEKJs

I was amazed by the technology presented by the UrtheCast CEO. UrtheCast is the only company producing HD video shots/streaming of the earth. The level of technology we could reach with the use of outerspace cameras and space stations is incredible. I believe UrtheCast has a bright future ahead because exploring the whole extent of our earth is still something we have not completed yet and improving technology through the use of outerspace is a whole new area we are just starting to make use of. I was also especially surprised to find out how stalker-like social networking sites really are, being able to show up on UrtheCast without having the company go to Facebook and others for permission to enter their databases.

What UrtheCast is doing is not something that such power companies like Google has not thought of before, I believe it is becasue with these large companies like Google, it is not worth it for them to go through getting permission from countries for their camera to span through the whole earth. However, UrtheCast, being an independent company can go and ask for permission without risk. And that is another reason why I believe UrtheCast has a bright future because the big companies like Google will probably not try to compete with it, otherwise, they would have done it a long time ago, having already created Google Earth; they were totally capable of doing what UrtheCast did.

http://www.urthecast.com/

Janice, a Sauder graduate and now CEO of Energyaware, presented about the arduous process she had to go through to start her business and shape it to be what it is now. I have always had ideas for starting a business and after Janice’s presentation, I became inspired and thought maybe I could also start turning these ideas into a business in which my ideas can benefit the world’s consumers.

I have always thought to start a business, you had to already be very skilled and knowlegeable in the whole start-up process and the management afterwards but from Janice’s experiences, it seems like CEOs can start with little knowledge of starting and running businesses and learn through the process and slowly make your way through the gray areas.

Regarding Janice’s company, I believe that after opening up to the individual consumers, the company will not as successful with individual customers as they are with companies. I think the company should focus on expanding company customer market globally, since they already have expanded to Australia, instead of opening their market to individuals. My suggestion is that they team up with security companies and other companies that have similar technology and ideas so they could combine their technologies and mutually increase profits to create better products.

Links:

http://www.energy-aware.com/

Like Maggie, I am also interested in Zara and how it operates. From shopping and my mall hangouts with friends, I was aware the brand, however, having never personally shopped or stepped inside of the store, I had no idea of the unique way the company operates. From the outside, Zara looks like any other clothing store, however, after being introduced to the behind-the-scenes daily operations of the company, my interest in doing further research into the brand has since escalated. I am also planning to visit the store when I get a chance.

The main point of difference that I felt has allowed Zara to thrive in the clothing industry and stood out to me was how fast the company was able to “restock with new designs twice a week“, which comes to show how productive the design and production teams are. By doing this Zara is not only changing the way the whole fashion industry works, but in many ways also dramatically increasing its profits. By changing designs twice a week, Zara, like Maggie mentioned, is “brand positioning” themselves, making themselves the image of scarcity in consumers’ minds. Without even having to advertise their products, consumers’ will willingly go shop at their stores and immediately buy because they know the stock of the certain designs will not last.  And with the profits gaiend through this method, Zara is therefore able to produce in Europe and not in a country with cheap labour.

However, I believe although Zara is thriving by using this unique strategy, the company will have a competitive advantage in the clothing and fashion industries for a long time to come because to copy Zara’s operations and to produce and design at the pace of Zara is not an easy thing.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-zara-is-changing-fashion-forever-2012-11

Links:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/maggiehuang/2012/11/04/shorter-supply-chain-leads-to-higher-profit/

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-zara-is-changing-fashion-forever-2012-11

The discussion of FIFO and LIFO came up in my tutorial when we were reviewing the accounting lecture week.

Just a brief explanation of what they are. FIFO and LIFO are accounting methods and stand for first in first out and last in first out respectively.

Now it would seem pretty obvious to anyone that a company would want to use FIFO to get rid of old inventory first and keep the new inventory, especially with supermarkets who want to keep their produce fresh. However, it is actually the complete opposite, LIFO is what many companies want to use because if an item is bought and then stored in inventory and the wholesaler’s price rises and you buy some more, then sell the last bought, it seems like you have earned less profit by doing that but the company saves a lot more tax than the profit lost, therefore, companies choose to use LIFO. Especially with energy companies, they don’t have a large inventory anyway so they are always purchasing more and therefore will use LIFO. LIFO is getting so popular and a cheap way of paying less tax that governments are starting to ban it and only allow FIFO as the accounting method.

Link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-15/lifo-should-be-first-tax-reducer-to-go-in-a-budget-fix-view.html