An article by the BBC announced that Google and Microsoft have agreed to measured to block over 100,00 abusive images. This will also include returning no search results of illegal material or actions. This aims to eliminate illegal images such as child abuse images shared over the image and promote help services for those searching these titles. However, the question remains; do search engines have the right to block certain content?

The automatic image that comes to mind is the child locks on cars, child settings on tv channels etc. In some ways this is a form of an adult lock for search engines in which if the comparison applies, the search engine knows better and its protecting adults. Although, this may be a social mission to raise awareness and an attempt to create a legal internet, it violates the trust between search engine users and their consumers. Search engines are designed to be a place to search anything, creating restrictions shows that the companies have a bias and aren’t solely provided a service to its customers. Although, this may be an excellent idea to discourage illegal activity, the search engines should’ve considered adopting some change management techniques including market research surrounding opinions and communication.

The power of blogging is demonstrated by the start up www.change.org entitled the world’s platform for change. A site with over 50,00,000 people taking action by expressing their thoughts and opinions on various ideas. The site allows anyone to start a petition surrounding an issue in Canada and blog about the issue with others. This allows the petition to gather support and be recognised by authorities such as the Government of Canada.

This intriguing start up has recently proposed a petition to the Canadian Government to Incorporate Women on Canadian Bank Notes. The petition includes a history of canadian women on bills within in Canada, potential women to incorporate on bills and general ideas and thoughts on the proposal. The petition has already gathered over 25,000 supporters and provides a constructive medium for people to learn more about issues within Canada.

This is an incredible idea as it allows people across Canada to share ideas in a way that is both constructive and also can have an impact and result in real victories. This is a type of pressure group that illustrates the real opinions of the Canadian people and is an effective medium of communication between the government and canadians.

As Snapchat takes the world by surprise by turning down a $3 billion dollar offer when it has yet to make a dollar, it could be considered the loser.  However the CEO of Snap chat expects with its increasing number of users, it should be worth far more than the initial offer in the future. As even within a three-month period, the snap chat usage expanded to over 200 million snap chats per day. Snap chat may revisit acquisition in early 2014. The question remains of whether Snap chat will become the winner or the loser.

Snapchat has made a bold move based on the number of users it currently has and the rate at which its popularity is progressing. Although, this may be the strange decision in the eyes of some, it took a strange person to come off with Snap chat. The business world is excited as am I to see the future of snap chat and how it will continue to raise the value of the innovative venture. The article illustrates the power of a small company despite attractive offers from big giants such as Facebook.

This contrasts sharply with opinion exhibited by Connor Wilson’s blog which suggests the CEO thinks Snapchat has no future potential and it is being overvalued by Facebook.

As the Federal Drug Administration approves a new weight-loss drug for the first time in over a decade, it is questioned whether this approval can be trusted. The introduction of these drugs is due to an overwhelming demand from the USA with over ‘36% of American adults now classified as obese and rising’.  With this introduction, consumers reflect back on the rocky past of diet drugs approved by the FDA, which have resulted in negative side effects and serious health risks. As seen with amphetamines in the 1950’s which became highly addictive with critical side effects and Redux in 1996 which were linked to heart valve defects, fatal lung conditions and sudden death.

As a result of this negative past history, the FDA implemented a minimum of five years of pre testing, no cardiovascular risk, constant retesting and monitoring. This demonstrates the importance in responding to negative events in a company’s history and implementing systems to avoid further negative events. This is crucial in organisations such as the FDA in which the consumers need to be able to trust the products provided by them.

As the divide between middle and upper class begins to widen within  Canada, the effect can be seen on the diminishing number of unionised  workers. The unionised works who were ensured a sufficient wage,  working conditions and a guaranteed pension. As Canada tries to remain  competitive and retain it’s ranking of 14^th in the World Economic Forum  competitiveness index, it adopts cost cutting measures such as cutting  jobs, improving efficiency and adopting lean methods.  The result of this  is a significant decrease in the number of unionised jobs at companies                                                            such as CP, Ford Motor Co., McMaster University, Canadian Auto                                                                    Workers etc.

It can be questioned whether improved efficiency is a bad thing. Some consider these cost cutting methods a way for Canada to catch up with the rest of the world.  The effect of unionised workers hasn’t resulted in higher productivity per person in comparison with other countries. Therefore, the implementation of lean companies may motivate companies to keep production within Canada as opposed to outsourcing to non-unionised countries. This change makes the pathway to unionised position more difficult and increased the number of unemployed people within Canada exceeding.  This article shows the effects of the race for efficiency in the competitive global market.

Electronic cars are very expensive, time consuming to charge and difficult to find a charging location. Yet, the results of passenger car sales in Norway show that the all-electric Nissan Leaf is the leader of the pack, with tesla shares up 300 percent this year and with a market value of almost $17 billion (U.S.). According to taxpayers, this is a case of reverse revolution as the success of the Nissan Leaf is a “direct result of lavish tax breaks and perks awarded to its buyers”. It can’t be disputed that these cars are an innovative mastery, however the majority of its success cant be attributed to it.

Nissan spins a story of success within Norway due to specific tax benefits, however there are underlying flaws within its business model, which inhibits it from progressing further within the market.  The advantages of Nissan are created solely from the government incentives placed around the purchase of Nissan including free parking, use of bus lanes etc. However, the fundamental reason that Nissan’s business plan is successful is due to the monopolisation of taxpayer funds transferred to the wealthy. This article illustrates that a company can be successful in more than one way than just its value propositions, at least in the short term.

Forbes reports on the symbiotic relationship formed between Twitter and Television, that could help them save each other. This is encouraged by the rise  in smart phones, A new IDC Research Report suggests that “79% of people 18-44 have their smartphones with them 22 hours a day” and “49% of the U.S. population uses a smartphone”.  This use of smartphones allows  access to applications such as Twitter on a more regular basis.

Twitter allows events such as television programmes to be transformed into participatory events in which users can share opinions, jokes, discuss, etc. Twitter and Television are considered complements and act as ‘force multipliers’. This is due to the social connections twitter allows users to make regarding television programs which promote the television programs as well as twitter as a communication medium. This symbiotic relationship is successful for the following reasons:

• Effective marketing tool (advertising platform)
• Large customer base (According to Nielsen in 2013, 32 million Americans tweeted about TV)
• Integration of Social Media

This article illustrates how different industries in the market place can act as complements and  encourage growth of each other. This demonstrates the importance of strategic partnerships and relationships, social media and reaching consumers in new innovative ways. As suggested in Keenan Manhas’ Blog, the Twitter IPO could see huge rewards due its value propositions aswell as interaction with television.

The market is a volatile force, changing directions quickly and destroying those not quick enough to adapt or withstand the pressure. As seen in the Wall Streets Journal’s description of the once market leader in photography, Kodak, the market changes rapidly due to factors such as technology. The failure to evolve through diversification of product range, investment in innovative ideas, etc can have detrimental on the survival of a business. The Economist compares the Kodak moment to the introduction of E-cigaretttes in the tobacco industry.

Tobacco firms are in competition to a new substitute, which poses a large threat with over 7m people estimated to be using e-cigarettes in Europe alone. The key mistakes of Kodak can be compared to the E-cigarette epidemic in the tobacco industry.

1. Recognise the change in the industry and the potential obsoleting of non e-cigarette products.
2. Innovate to remain current and appealing to consumers such as through branding.
3. Change with the market, refrain from prolonging life of existing product lines.
4. Design strategy based on the consumers changing demands.

These articles demonstrate the power of the monster of volatility in every industry in the marketplace and that the challenges faced in each can be similar.

On September 30th 2013, the Globe and Mail questions “whether Fairfax can raise the money… to whether BlackBerry is worth that much to begin with”.

The worth of a company is critical to companies such as BlackBerry, guiding investors such as Fairfax in their decision making procces. Static valuation includes the use of balance sheets, current value of assets to illustrate its liquidation value. According to the Financial Times, BlackBerry has “a collection of patents that could be worth US$2 billion to $3 billion. These factors of valuation don’t give a full picture of the value of BlackBerry to a future investor. It demonstrates the importance of looking at the value of a company from a forward looking approach including technical and fundamental value.

• Technical Value: market place value
• Fundamental Value: expected rate of growth, degree of risk

In the case of Blackberry, the technichal value is $4.7 billion (US) as that is what Fairfax is willing to pay for the company. The Fundamental value is constantly changing as share prices fluctuate, positive/negative media rises and suspense over the future of blackberry heightens. This article illustrates the application of valuation and its fundamentality in the business world.

In 1961, the controversial experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram explored obedience to authority. According to Milgram’s Obedience to Authority Test (BBC TV), “the experiment illustrated whether ordinary law abiding people would give a stranger a lethal electric shock in the name of science”. The experiment showed that the majority of the participants would give lethal shocks under the name of authority.

In September 2013, UBC Sauder  “Frosh” authoritative figures (leaders) introduced chants of an inappropriate nature and were known to be not acceptable in public. The majority of Sauder students, you talk to about the rape chant will give rationalisations such as ‘the leaders told us to’, ‘I felt left out if I didn’t join’, ‘peer pressure’, etc. Ultimately, that it was ‘okay’ to sing due to the fact that the responsibility was with an authority figure.

This demonstrates a fundamental ethical question of whether the media should blame Sauder School of Business for encouraging a ‘rape culture’ or to address a fundamental societal dilemma in which people don’t think critically about what they are doing. It can be compared to the Nazis, to Milgrams experiment to mobs, which illustrate the evident lack of conscious decision making involved in ‘joining the crowd’ or ‘obeying an authoritative figure’.