“If the United Nations was fully funded, why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?”

Social Enterprise’s Vital Role

Social enterprise initiates from innovative individuals of the society who are brave enough to disrupt the status quo and transform this world. Despite of the monetary and social challenges, these individuals experience a first hand encounter with the society and thus are able to cooperate with them more personally. Furthermore, social enterprise is more likely to fill the gap in existing businesses that cannot or will not be provided by the public or private sectors.

Salem Kassahun: Why this Social Enterprise Succeeds

In the case of Salem Kassahun’s challenge to maintain fair trade boutique without alienating customers, I believe that supporting a social entrepreneur like her is worth the time and money, as her business effectively alleviates poverty and improve the standards of living in Ethiopia. Her investment not only equips women with creative skills, but also educates them on the importance of business.

Although social enterprise might not be in an international scale, these projects are extremely effective in combating the ongoing daily problems in our society that are usually ignored by most people. In contrast, the UN takes much more time to organise and create effective movements due to their inevitably large size and endless political and social pressures.

I believe that despite of the success that UN has achieved, we need more of social enterprise to transform our society to the better and to the fullest.

Speed and convenience are two of the most vital factors in the hotel industry. People want to check-in quickly, especially after those long hour flights and when having a tight holiday/business schedule. Nowadays, hotels embrace smartphone technology for check-in process.

As part of their Business Technology Management, some hotels have started to launch a smartphone app for checking in as well as room keys. Marriott Hotels, in particular, has launched a virtual mobile app check-in service that would allow customers to check in the day before arrival and notify them when the room is ready.

Does Technology Comprise Customer Relationship?

This article has enlightened me on how technology is now a rather mandatory asset that every business must invest on if they were to survive in this competitive world.  In fact, research shows that one in every 5 people in the world own a smartphone, one in 17 own a tablet!

However, an issue to be considered is, will technology disrupt customer relationship? How can businesses provide personal and memorable service if everything is via technological mediums? I believe that hotels must thoroughly understand who their target customers are and what they want to decide whether conventional or modern system satisfies their customers better.

In the long run, I believe, competitive advantage for most businesses greatly rely on technological innovation, as we live in a digital era. Information technology goes beyond development of convenient services – it also helps businesses to systematically keep records of customer data and other critical information in the company.

Payment has never been as exciting as before. Shortly after Apple has launched its newest tech-savvy application Apple Pay in October 20, 1 million credit cards are registered in merely 3 days. However, retailers including Rite Aid and CVS started to drop their support and plan to create their own payment system.

Market or Product-Oriented?

Apple’s aim to make customers’ lives easier and simpler might have been achieved, but the BIG question lies in whether they are able to maintain this success and create a shared value. As a customer myself, I do want to get through the line and pay quickly. Nevertheless, privacy and security are my major concerns too. Apple’s iCloud has recently been hacked, so how are we supposed to regain our trust in Apple?

Revamping Value Proposition

Furthermore, in a retailer’s point of view, I would install Apple Pay in my store if it can generate extra benefits by putting loyalty in it and get repeat business, but unfortunately Apply doesn’t provide this. It’s not built to support merchant loyalty programs. Thus, how can Apple attract retailers to support this innovation?

I believe that Apple must reconsider whether this service creates a good enough value proposition for a sustainable innovation. It might seem ‘cool’ at first, yet how long will this product last before it reaches the end of product saturation?

BC Hydro’s $8-billion Site C hydroelectric megaproject has faced an ongoing dispute with First Nations chiefs, as the project is likely to create adverse effects on fishing opportunities and practices for the First Nations.

Threat to BC Hydro’s Key Activities

As an electric utility company, one of BC Hydro’s key activities is to distribute electricity to customers in British Columbia, and the only way they can expand is by constructing more power plants and hydroelectric dams.

Unfortunately, despite of the growing demand from Victoria’s residents, the project conflicts with First Nation’s constitutions acts. Thus, the company is facing a great predicament to satisfy customers’ demands but at the same time comply with the laws.

This social and political pressure puts the company at risk to make the right choice. An erroneous decision can dampen BC Hydro’s corporate image and even charge penalty if the company is unaware of the exact rules and regulations.

To Continue or Not to Continue 

With the ongoing stakeholder conflict between BC Hydro’s managers and First Nations chiefs, it would be difficult to resolve by themselves. The opposing groups can invite an arbitrator to negotiate faster and more fairly. This should be done as soon as possible because time costs money. BC Hydro must immediately satisfy its customers’ demand to build a positive customer relationship.

Drawing from Vanessa’s Olive Garden post, I was engrossed by the restaurant’s unusual focus strategy that is seemingly not working. Yes, it is true that Olive Garden is a well-known Italian restaurant recognised for its nutritious pastas, aiming at health-conscious families. However, its most recent promotion of $100 for 7 weeks of past does not seem to match to its ‘health’ aim.

Counting Calories

Whilst Vanessa argued that Olive Garden’s “everything refillable” strategy might not work due to its pressure on the restaurant’s inventory and table turnover, I inferred that Olive Garden has unfortunately failed in implementing its focus strategy. The restaurants tries to concentrate on a narrow market segment with its unique promotional services – where else can you find an unlimited pasta Italian restaurant?

Nevertheless, this promotion contradicts with the restaurant’s brand image of a ‘healthier-choice’ family restaurant. I mean, why would anyone gorge on carbs on an attempt to get healthy?

Breaking the Buzz 

Well, turns out although this promotion raises many questions and skepticism, Olive Garden has successfully gained customers’ reactions. “If the primary object is to get your money’s worth, it has nothing to do with good nutrition.” Olive Garden might have lost a portion of its health-conscious customers, but they have also gained new customers who give up ‘health’ for getting their money’s worth.

This might only be the restaurant’s short-term marketing strategy, but is it going to have a larger impact on its target market than it initially intended?

Burger King’s Satisfries, the newly innovated, healthier french fries that contain 20% fewer calories and 25% less fat than its classic fries, has been recently taken off menus in less than a year after they made their debut in September 2013.

Failed Positioning

Whilst Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican succeeded to capture a health-conscious market as substitutes for Burger King and MacDonalds, BK once again unsuccessfully tinkered with its fries to cater an additional target market in an attempt to increase sales.

Burger King has been widely known as a fast-food chain, thus providing a cheap and tasty range of unhealthy food. Parallel to Ries and Trout’s view on positioning, BK’s customers have faced information overload with the presence of a myriad fast-food competitors including MacDonalds, KFC, Subway, Domino’s.

It is difficult to change consumers’ perspectives of a brand once it is formed. Health-conscious consumers would not even enter a BK store, and BK’s current consumers, who tend to be more ignorant about healthy eating, would not exchange for its iconic french fries.

“French fries are an indulgence, just like ice-cream” 

Some might claim that first-mover advantage is the most successful to get into the mind of customers. Yet, in reality, consumers’ perception is extremely hard to alter. French fries has been embedded in people’s mind as an indulgence. The big question is, will fast-food chains ever be able to expand to the growing niche market of health-conscious consumers?

Sony chief executive Kazuo Hirai has been struggling to turn around its television and smartphone businesses

With an increasing competition in the television and smartphone industries, Sony has been struggling to generate profits. Apple and Samsung, in particular, have been its major competitors as they are now leading the electronics industry. Consequently, Sony is unable to return dividends to its shareholders and plans to cut staff in the mobile phone unit by 15% to reduce costs.

Sony’s Early Downhill

Using the Ishikawa diagram, we can infer that Sony’s bankruptcy is partly due to local competition and limited distribution in countries with its target market such as China and US. Recently, Sony has culled 5,000 jobs from its computer and television unit. This affects Sony’s key resources and cost structure in its Business Canvas. Although Sony can reduce costs by making its employees redundant, this might also result in a negative corporate image, which can therefore dampen consumer’s confidence in even more.

Recapturing the Market

In conclusion, Sony needs to weigh the consequences in its decision to resolve this issue because of the potential gradual brand deterioration of the company. In the short-term although it seems that Sony’s profit margin is increasing due to lower costs, it will still experience falling market share, as consumers switch to other competitors. Thus, Sony can try improving its competitive advantage through launching new, innovative products to capture the market again.

Cost of business makes it an ‘uphill battle’ for the likes of Belu and One Water aiming to make a dent in the world’s water crisis

source: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/sep/01/ethical-bottled-water-companies-nestle-coke

Ethical bottled water companies such as Belu and One Water struggle to make a dent in the world’s water crisis due to their limited manufacturing capability and investment. Concurrently, big companies like Danone and Starbucks are criticized to contribute only as a marketing play. Danone’s ‘Drink 1, Give 10’ campaign donated only $0.28 per bottle whilst Starbucks gives away a mere $0.05 from the cost of a $1.80 bottle of Ethos water.

According to Friedman’s article, corporate executives would spend someone else’s money for a general social interest. For instance, Starbucks’s Ethos water costs customers more, thus customers (as part of the society) also suffer from a lower proportion of income left after buying the product.Although Freeman’s stakeholder theory emphasizes that a successful business must unify every stakeholder’s interest, it is highly improbable because stakeholders have conflicting interests.

Thus, a third party (e.g. government) can interfere to help the smaller ethical companies through tax exemption or subsidy (which can be obtained through tax revenue from bigger companies) so that they can expand faster and eventually compete in the market, thereby leading to help those without clean drinking water. In conclusion, with government’s assistance, corporate social responsibility can succeed given that resources are now allocated more efficiently.