Lack of competition leads to lack of innovation. With few competitors in a small market, Canadian companies are being criticized for their lack of innovation and creativity. According to an article from The Globe and Mail, our companies don’t invest enough in R&D and low competition allows for weak companies to exist in markets. This is allowing for a gap in productivty to appear with Canada’s largest trading partner, the U.S. Canada’s labour productivity rate has been growing at a rate of 0.7 percent per year since 2000, compared with 2.7 percent from the States. What this means for us is that we need to find ways to stay competitive in a global market that is becoming fragile with potential European markets collapsing. With the emergence of new markets in Asia, Canada will need to find ways to capitalize on their development. Diversifying their trade would be a good first step; I believe Canada is too heavily reliant on the U.S for trade and that beginning new trade agreements with foreign countries would be beneficial. This may seem like a escape for our lack of productivity, but the fact is that if Canada wants to continue to be a player in the world market we will need to take down our barriers and be prepared to embrace new ideas.

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According to Larry MacDonald of canadianbusiness.com don’t listen to anyone, trust no one and never buy “hot tips”. MacDonald’s post stated that through his year’s of experience as a business book author and economist, advise from friends and unknown sources have never served him well when buying stocks. Frequently asked to analyze “hot tips” (rumours about stocks) by friends and colleagues, Macdonald says these tips are unreliable and almost always leave you worse off with a negative ROI. Most of the tips are created to start a buzz about a company that may have no ability to follow up with the grandiose claims of “HUGE returns”. It is possible that these stocks could take off, but MacDonald says it is way too risky to invest for the most part. For the Average Joe trying to develop a stock portfolio, it is recommended that they never heed the advise from hot tips by sticking to more stable sources such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to Hannah Skurnik, there’s a new player in the premium coffee world. Although no one considers Tim Hortons to be a new company, they are beginning to reconstruct their bushiness model away from the “fast-food coffee” ways they’ve been using in the past. Long associated with quick service and delicious food and beverages, Tim Hortons will be looking to clean up their brand image by redesigning stores and adding more luxury goods to their menus come early 2012. Hannah referred to the statement “a brand is the way a product makes you feel.” Tim Horton’s believes that by adding a new motif and new products, they will be able to make their customers feel more at home, and they will spend more time in the store therefore boosting sales. Of course like most strategies implemented by companies, Tim’s will be using small tactics to accomplish their goals. Free wifi, relaxed seating environment and premium beverages  are a few examples of these tactics that will hopefully transform Tim Horton’s into a competitor of the coffee giants such as Starbucks and Second Cup.

Claudia Lau really got me thinking about Business Technology Management (BTM) and the effects it can have on a company, their industry and the environment. Claudia referred to the new ways in which fashion companies are using online retail instead of boutiques and stores to sell their products. Not only can this been seen in the fashion industry but sporting goods, technology and even food retailers are using this more efficient selling method. BTM is streamlining businesses, removing the need of a complicated supply chain, and cutting down costs across the board. The effects of a direct, online business model can have an impact on the environment as well. As Claudia mentioned in her post, Chanel won an award for innovation in package in design; they did so by cutting down waste and minimizing transportation distances which reduced their carbon footprint. As more companies use BTM and direct business models the transition from the street corner to the internet will provide customers with a customizable experience, and give businesses a way to cut down on costs and their impact on the environment.

Do you think you have what it takes to start a business with $100? Jeff Swedarsky did when he started Food Tour Corp. in 2007. Purchasing a filing licence and an online domain name all for $110, Jeff was prepared to put in a lot of work to start up his food tour company, which toured customers around the many local restaurants and bars in Washington, D.C. He set up a deal with the restaurants, giving them a cut of his ticket price for every tour. Jeff’s only qualification for a company such as this was a powerful love for food; this has proved to be enough. From giving only a handful of tours in his first year, Jeff now has to limit his daily tours to 14 people and is hoping to break $300,000 in sales by the end of this year. He employs 23 part time staff and never gives tours himself anymore. Jeff defied the stereotype that entrepreneurs need a large amount of capital to start up a business, instead choosing to invest a substantial amount of time and effort, truly embodying what it means to be an entrepreneur.

“I began with $100 and 100,000 hours of work”-Jeff Swedarsky

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The Globe and Mail released an article today for small businesses discussing the best tactics for keeping employees from leaving their company. The article claims that the cost of hiring a new employee after losing one (factoring in things such as severance pay and recruitment fees) can be 200 percent of the original employee’s salary. It is stated that the main reason companies lose employees is because they hired them for the wrong job in the first place. One of the questions that companies should ask themselves is “Can you tie significant changes in the (employee turnover) rate to the workplace’s physical environment?” The environment that the company creates can be a huge factor in why an employee would want to leave.

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/human-resources/how-to-keep-talent-from-wandering/article2183431/

In January of 2011, Zellers Inc, a canadian retail superstore, was purchased by the American giant, Target Corp. Zellers will have to turnover all of its inventory within the next year and a half when the acquisition takes place. For Zellers, this means mass liquidation of all of its assets. They are cutting costs and stocking higher yielding goods such as apparel to boost profits before handing the business over to their new owner, Target. They have also decided to get rid of their television marketing campaign by replacing it with an unusual and unprecedented Facebook campaign. With the presence of a giant like Target in Canada’s market, it is only a matter of time before other superstores feel the pinch of severe competition.

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/zellers-ceo-rewrites-the-book-on-liquidation/article2220296/

As an owner of Apple shares…I have reason to be concerned. Two large events took place today in the world of tech : Apple unveiled the iPhone 4s and more importantly, ex-CEO Steve Jobs died. The former is not very important; the 4s was just another product in the long line of iPhone’s and there is sure to be a new update coming within a quarter or two. The interesting thing is that the news of Jobs’ death did not hit the media until after the unveiling of the iPhone 4s; mere coincidence or a cunning ploy by Apple to not hurt the release of their most innovative product? I think I’m going to hold onto my shares: a company as powerful and innovative as Apple will surely know how to turn a tragedy such as this into a profit.

As investors, brokers, analysts and economists alike fear for the default of the Greek economy and the potential of a European meltdown, the markets at home are suffering. The expectations of what will happen with Europe’s debt crisis are making investors put away their wallets and this stall is hitting the North American economy hard. The Toronto Stock Exchange dipped 372 points today; a 13 month low. Neil Matheson, a president of an investment firm in Montreal, says “It has nothing to do with Canada”.

This is just a isolated event too; markets all around the world are suffering from mere speculation of a crash. Things will get much worse before they get any better…

Article on the TSX dip:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/the-bear-market-is-back-tsx-swoon-tops-20/article2189668/

Small business’ can suffer greatly from an inappropriate manager. Recently in pop culture there have been many movies and TV shows that have dealt with what can go wrong to a business under poor management. The Office and Horrible Bosses are two comedic examples. But according to an audit by Cisco Systems, a network and communication company based in California, the loss of productivity resulting from bad bosses in their corporation costs them roughly $12 million annually. This audit claimed that employees who suffered from inappropriate talk or did not recieve the promotional they deserved, decided it was no longer worth it to work hard and the firm suffered. Although displayed in a comical way in the movies, the ethics issue here is innapropriate or unjust behaviour by a manager. Stated in Professor R. Edward Freeman’s  Stakeholder Theory a firm must be fair to their employees in order to be a successful business. In Cisco Systems’ case, the result of poor management has cost them greatly. For a lighter view on a bad boss, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG54HSGuidQ&feature=related