Kar Hong (Oscar) Hui's Blog

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

To start, let’s take a look at the United Nations. It’s a global, inter-governmental organization working together to combat underlying issues of the world, ranging from peacekeeping and countering terrorism, to promoting human rights and equality, to relieving poverty and disparity. The UN tackles issues so large that not every inhabitant in every corner of the earth can benefit from its governing even though everyone is treated equally.

Digging deeper, how does the UN truly help citizens in rural communities or wealthy countries?

UN Global Outreach Program: uniting social enterprises around the globe that align with UN values to foster a better world for all

Through global outreach programs like UN Global Impact: Social Enterprise and Impact Investing! Not only that, but alongside the United Nations, are programs like the Arc initiative which complement the visions of a better world that the UN is aiming to achieve.

Behind the plethora of global issues lies smaller societal roadblocks. Scaling back from the global scope of things and zooming into a smaller section of the world, the Arc initiative provides budding entrepreneurs the essential skills needed to make their innovative products and ideas flourish. Using these ideas and products, they help to aid themselves and their communities to change; thereby, aiding the UN to create global change, one tiny, yet monumental step at a time. Without social enterprises, the UN will eventually achieve their desired results, but at a great cost: a great cost of time and a great cost of brilliant ideas lost to captivity and lack of support from social enterprises.

Essentially, the United Nations and social enterprises go hand in hand in creating a better world and creating shared value in our society.

A social enterprise based in Rwanda to provide women with the toolkit needed to produce top-of-the-line quality fashion statements for prominent designers

You. The target market. You are the center of it all.

You. The consumer. The target market.

You are the center of it all.

You are the customer segment a company wants to attract and retain. In the past few years, a method to achieve that is through virtual advertising and providing customer support through social media.

A strong social media presents catapults the company to a higher level of success

In class, we recently discussed Zappos‘ strategy to keep employee job satisfaction levels high by providing 100% covered health/dental insurance, free food in the office, and maintaining high office morale. In an external blog, this topic is explored in a different perspective. Instead of boosting employee morale, the idea is to boost consumer happiness.

I wholeheartedly agree with the blog. Companies around the world are creating regularly maintained Twitter handles, Facebook pages, and LinkedIn groups to keep the customer well-informed and satisfied. Zappos is no different than other companies; they have their very own twitter handle monitored by an employee to reply to customer complaints and promote their products. Their organizational culture transudes into the customer through personalized tweets and constant interaction. It also applies to universities and companies who are trying to engage prospective students and employees. KPMG, Nike, and even UBC, are just one of many organizations honing in on this valuable tool.

Market Research can be implemented via Social Media

Social media is also an outlet for market research. By personalizing interactions with consumers, companies can evaluate the thought processes of consumers at its core. By utilizing social media platforms, corporations can gather data on attitudes, demographics, lifestyle characteristics, and brand awareness. Virtual customer support and advertising has become just as, if not more, effective than alternative methods.

A fellow classmate, Hayley Moeller, delved deep into Pantene’s brand marketing and the true culprit behind the success — CSR — in a recent blog post. She mentioned how consumers are beginning to see through the thin veil of “CSR-based marketing stunts and move towards companies with CSR engrained in their business model.” I disagree with her standpoint. I believe Pantene is not just utilizing the altruism of consumers as a marketing scheme; there’s more to it behind the scenes.

Pantene must try to cover all three bases to achieve true CSR

Pantene currently has a perfect short-run based marketing strategy to improve their social image and economic return. However, to be fully sustainable and have a competitive advantage, all three criteria of the Triple Bottom Line must be met. In an online article, Pantene (under P&G), is now producing shampoo bottles created out of sugar cane for recyclability. This showcases that they are aware of the environment and are looking for ways to alter their environmental footprint whilst boosting their social image and profit margins. As a consumer, I feel that Pantene needs to emphasize the importance of their Breast Cancer awareness campaign by doing more than just labelling a shampoo bottle. It would help me understand the scope of Pantene’s progression towards a more sustainable business model and reel me in as a consumer. It would help me realize there’s more to it than just a marketing ploy. It would help me help Pantene grow their business.

ISIS. Terrorism. Al-Qaeda. Three words most people would stray far away from. The two companies in this article by the Dailymail and this article by TVNZ are no different and doing exactly that. A Florida condo development named Isis is looking to alter its name in an effort to disaffiliate itself with the the terrorist group.

Isis – a condo development in Florida

ISSIS, a talent and event agency based in Auckland, fearing ISIS links is also looking to rename itself.

ISSIS events: based in Auckland

Companies with a broad customer base and brand recognition are capable of shortening the company name to an acronym. Ries and Trout’s views on company positioning err on the side of avoiding abbreviating company names on the basis that it can reflect multiple meanings and that it gives larger, more established companies the upper hand. ISIS reflects just that but in a different sense. Instead of competing for customers and the market position, companies are now forced to defend their image and reputation. Losing clientele is just a side effect of the presupposed “links” to ISIS, the terrorist group. It’s extremely difficult to reposition the perception of a company in the consumer’s mind after the seed of thought is implanted.

This idea of “name-sharing” parallels that to a prospective undergraduate looking for post-university employment. Having a commonly used name could hinder an applicant’s image when employers search for them and someone else’s profile appears. A more established profile would appear first and hinder the applicant’s chances of recognition — much like the case with the aforementioned companies.

internet.org — making internet affordable for all

Disruptive innovations are new introductions to the market that disrupt the current market and existing value propositions/network. Internet.org, partnering with Facebook and multiple telecommunication giants, aims to provide affordable access to internet throughout impoverished nations — one of them being India. A prime example is detailed in the article by BBC News regarding the introduction of a program to provide laptops/smartphones (combined with internet accessibility) to the less fortunate communities in rural India. Albeit, this campaign is not exactly a disruptive “innovation”, it’s more along the lines of a disruptive “initiative”. At its core, it aims to open doors to “a new population of consumers at the bottom of the market (ClaytonChristensen)” To existing internet providers, it seems unwise expanding into third-world countries due to low profit margins. If successful, this massive global campaign will disrupt the current technology and communications market framework in India and forces other companies to alter their cost structure. At the same time, it expands Facebook’s image of corporate social responsibility and customer segments due to expansion with this Internet.org campaign. The bottom line: it’s a win-win situation for the majority of people due to this initiative — much like a disruptive innovation would achieve.

internet.org – value propositions

In a recent article published by CTV News, it seems as if an innovative idea, the Air Umbrella,  is about to be brought to life with the backing of anonymous donors. After learning about the time value of money and how a company is financed either through debt or equity in class, this Air Umbrella campaign and article intrigued me.

The prototype Air Umbrella – set to be manufactured in 2015 with enough financial support

Through the Canadian-based site, Kickstarter, a project called “the Air Umbrella” has been garnering attention from people across the nation — with some even donating (a total of $28,000 thus far) to the project to get it started. Usually, start-up companies are financed by the owner’s self-equity or through family members (aka “love  money”). However, this site allows users to take that to another level by asking citizens around Canada for financial support to get the company started. As Bench Co.’s co-founder Mr. Menashy stated when he was raising money for his start-up, “raising this sum enable[s] [you] to move out of the beta phase of [y]our company and focus on product market fit before scaling up.” 

KickStarter – an avenue to fund your company with another method

Instead of going through the process of scrambling for cash, asking your family, or going to the bank — which is highly unlikely to lend you money without a proven track record –this website gives users an alternative outlet to follow their dreams and pursue their interest in entrepreneurship by an alternative method known as crowd-funding.

The Vancouver Sun recently published this article and this article discussing the First Nation communities banding together to protest against implementation of new environmental pipelines/hydroelectric projects. Both stories display the effects of external factors impacting the business model of a company (eg. BC Hydro and Site C megaproject plans) including political, technological, and environmental factors.

Traditional territory is something that First Nation communities value; it’s a source of food, a source of spirituality, and a source of life. Rallying against BC Hydro in the “Site C Showdown” forces the company into the public eye and bathe in negative press due to the controversy. Environmental issues that need to be addressed by BC Hydro are brought up by the First Nations such as a reduction in fishing capabilities and a loss of wildlife habitat. These are byproducts of the waste and construction that will come along with the project if it proceeds. This external factor hinders BC Hydro’s ability to display its environmentally friendly approach on its mission to construct a large hydroelectric dam — an improvement of emerging hydroelectric technology. No longer can BC Hydro rely on this dam to improve their technology. Instead, the company has to find alternative energy sources instead.  At the same time, political issues between the First Nation communities and the Canadian government (dating back to the 19th century and the Indian Act) and its crown corporations (eg. BC Hydro) fuels more tension between the opposing parties. These external factors ultimately hinder BC Hydro’s progress and sets the company a few steps back.

BC Hydro – a Canadian crown corporation. Currently facing controversy over “Site C”

In a world where the swipe of a plastic card gets you a new TV, a new car, or a new set of speakers for watching movies, credit cards are becoming the preferred method of payment — not cash. From BMO, to PC Financial, to RBC, to American Eagle Outfitters, each company provides their own benefits; each company has a differing value proposition.

Which credit card provider to choose from? Choose based on their value propositions!

The largest 4 corporations in the credit card market

In an article discussing the benefits of credit card usage and another article discussing the perks of each separate card, I felt compelled to dig deeper to the core of credit card providers and their value propositions. In an age where shopping is as easy as pulling out your credit card, the BMO SPC Mastercard provides students with a 10% discount at participating stores. They also emphasize their policy of no annual fees and competitive interest rates. This is in comparison to the MBNA SmartCash Mastercard which provides cash back per transaction. Each credit card company is determined to provide their customers with benefits and carry out their value propositions through proper positioning and defining exactly what/how each product benefits you and exactly how they will uniquely carry that out. I believe in a saturated market with cards ranging from providing “travel miles” to cash back to lower fees, companies need to position themselves well in order to differentiate themselves from their competition. Corporations need to be the first to launch that particular product/benefit in order to secure within consumer’s minds that they are the “best” at that one thing.

After reading Jocelyn’s insightful discussion regarding WestJet, I felt compelled to add my thoughts to her post on the falling quality of air travel in an effort to maximize profit. I believe that maintaining the quality of service and the reputation amongst WestJet’s flyers is more important than maximizing profit.

Westjet employs the cost leadership low cost business model in order to set itself apart from main competitors such as Air Canada and Alaska Airlines. In an effort to achieve that, CTV News recently reported the company is currently levying a fee of $25 dollars per baggage for economy fliers. Along with that, a brief analysis reveals the airline carrier only operates Boeing 747s to avoid high training costs and only pays their employees roughly ~75% to 80% of the industry average.

Currently, their business model seems to be working but not at the level as intended — especially not with the new baggage fees working against their favour. I feel that WestJet can improve their business model by transitioning from low cost to a hybrid of differentiation and low cost; thus, they will be targeting a new consumer base (a more narrowly defined one). By introducing programs for solely corporate flyers, perhaps WestJet will be able to attract large corporations to jump ship to WestJet. It will help differentiate themselves from competitor’s low-cost line of air travel.

WestJet – Introducing a new way of travel for corporate flyers

Just a few months ago, I was one of many high school seniors scrambling to finish university applications before deadlines and undergo the dreaded wait for acceptances… wondering if I would be fortunate enough to be among the next batch of selected students. Then, during that process, you question which school you could you see yourself enjoying and spending the next four years of your life at. You wonder about the social environment, classroom environment, and even for the slightest second — you wonder about the prestige.

In both a Times article and a Huffington Post story, the value of a university’s brand name is questioned. The question: “does university reputation matter in hiring?” was asked and answered by CIOs and CFOs from companies around Canada. Their answers? 51% said yes, the rest a mix of somewhat and no.

Sauder School of Business – Opening Worlds

Harvard University – one of the world’s most recognized institutions. Does its prestige appeal to applicants?

So if companies are split almost evenly about this decision, why are students and parents scrutinizing the prestige of post-secondary institutions across the globe? I believe the answer lies in branding! Universities emphasize the statistics of recent graduates and their employment rates to attract prospective students to their schools. It relies on marketing its academic history, its campus, and its opportunities it can provide through programs such as “AmbaSauder” at Sauder or through letters sent by schools to the applicants’ homes. Attracting potential applicants is all a game of who can market their school the best. In some cases, it helps that large institutions attract applicants around the world solely because of their long-standing prestige. However, employment-wise, the prestige is not the deciding factor to employers. It’s the person and their ability to perform their designated roles. Check out James Fielder’s insightful post on his blog to further understand the effects of university reputations and its effects on applicants.