With Apple releasing revolutionary products like the iPhone and iPad it’s no surprise that there has been excessive hype over the company in the past five years. I noticed an amplification of this while begining my study of commerce to the point where it is a cliché. Apple is essentially the king of companies. With this ingrained in my mind it was quite interesting to read a Maclean’s article that discusses the company’s quickly declining stock value. It is down almost 20% from the peak price of $700 per share in September. In addition, the Samsung Galaxy S III is now number one in the smartphone market (partially because of supply problems with the iPhone 5). In terms of brand positioning, this is considered Apple’s niche. Analysts seem to be having mixed opinions on the future of Apple.

In my personal opinion, with the visionary Steve Jobs gone it will be hard for Apple to top anything it has accomplished to date. This can only lead to the conclusion that the company is on its long term decline. Nothing can be that big and stay that way forever. Its inevitable that something new and different will grab consumers’ attention eventually.

Kevin recently wrote a blog post on the topic of more and more companies becoming eco-friendly. He discusses the advantages this can have, not just for the environment but for the companies as well. This shift is largely due to consumers becoming more conscious about the health of the planet. In order to attract these consumers, companies needed to make adjustments to their business practices and become more ethical.

Some tactics companies are using to “go green” include cloud computing and digital storage, green outsourcing, low-footprint technology, and renewable energy. Cutting lighting and heating, using less packaging, streamlining transportation to save gas, and recycling more instead of throwing away are all ways to cut costs.

Kevin tends to think that so many companies becoming environmentally conscious is a good thing but it may not be enough. I agree with this. It’s great to see the business world make these changes but are they doing it for the right reasons? The slogan “sex sells” has become “green sells” and many companies are simply following government environmental policies. In any case, the business world is leading the way to a cleaner planet and I can only hope this green attitude will continue to spread.

Kevin’s sources:

Ethical Business: Are Companies Actively Avoiding the Green Way?

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/24/twice-the-good/

Last summer 60 Minutes aired a story giving us an inside look on the truffle business. A truffle is a rare fungus that grows underground. Ounce for ounce, they are the most expensive food on the planet. France and Italy are well known for their high quality truffles. They are so highly valued that there is a black market for them. Truffles are stolen, trafficked like drugs, and there are even “fake” truffles. China produces truffles of inferior quality that are often sold at unjustified prices. These truffles can be mixed in with truffles from France and Italy, lowering the overall quality while increasing volume.

Urbani is an Italian based company that controls 70% of the world’s truffle trade. The truffles harvested go to the Urbani factory where they are washed and sorted and then either frozen or canned. A certain amount is flown fresh to upscale restaurants. Urbani currently has the problem of people adding Chinese truffles to their own truffles halfway through the supply chain. I think this can be fixed by improving operations management, tightening up the supply chain, and improving its security. The scarcity of truffles has driven prices high. Due to this shortage in supply there is little to no need for forecasting.

Photo source: http://urbani.com/catalog/product/gallery/id/54/image/989/

Peter Nowak wrote a blog post on the Canadian Business website discussing the shift from laptops to tablets in Universities. With a greater number of affordable tablets currently in the market, like the new iPad Mini, this option is becoming more appealing to students. In fact, there may be a noticeable increase in tablet popularity before the end of this school year. A recent survey conducted at the University of British Columbia showed that around 15% of students have tablets. 60% said they would be getting one within the next year. This is not so hard to believe with the holidays just around the corner.

I personally have not seen a single student around campus using anything but a laptop to take notes and do research. Owning an iPad myself, I have never considered using it to do my work with. I would consider it if I had an attachable keyboard, but in that case I may as well have a sleek ultrabook. Despite this, it would be a lie to say there aren’t advantages. Tablets are a lot smaller and more mobile. With eBooks, they also have the potential to eventually eliminate textbooks. This looming trend shift just depends on the majority of individual preferences.

The twenty third James Bond film, Skyfall, was released in North America on November 9th. Being the longest lasting and most successful film franchise of all time, there was quite a lot of publicity and excitement leading up to this. Much of this publication is due to the long list of companies using brand association with 007. Omega has released a special edition watch and claimed it to be Bond‘s official watch. Land Rover and Aston Martin once again make their standard appearances in the movie, and Daniel Craig is outfitted in Tom Ford suits. Sony has made the strongest connections of all with Q’s Vaio technology and the Xperia T mobile phone being “a phone good enough for Bond”. Sony, as well as Heineken, went as far as to air television ads featuring Daniel Craig. Oh, and Coke Zero is his new favorite soft drink.

All of these brands are attempting to position themselves in the consumer’s mind as products good enough for James Bond. This situation is unique because brand association is usually done with real-life celebrities rather than fictional characters. 007 is an easy target for this because he’s been around so long. Everyone knows him and companies can bank on his 50 years of success.

Check out the Sony commercial here!

Check out the Heineken commercial here!

Sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/oct/23/skyfall-marketing-james-bond

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/the-many-brands-of-bond/article5185772/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-will-sony-score-with-new-bond-phone/article5226827/

Despite the incredible amount of damage and devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York City and the surrounding area, this may turn out to be a good thing for certain businesses. Eli wrote a blog post on a Macleans article discussing the impact that the hurricane will have on the Canadian lumber industry. Resolute Forest Products, based in Montreal, expects a large increase in sales during the second and third quarters of 2013 as repairs begin.

I agree with Eli in the fact that it does not seem appropriate to hear that businesses are “celebrating” while New York continues to suffer loss and destruction. In a sense it is actually a win-win for both sides. New York receives the resources it need to make repairs  and companies increase their revenues. This scenario shows that business does not only depend on human behaviors, but nature’s behavior as well. It’s interesting to see how an event in one part of the world can have such an influence globally and economically, further proving the significance and importance of our global village. With the aftermath of the hurricane I believe that there is not only potential for large corporations, but for social enterprises as well.