Oftentimes, social responsibility and profit maximization can blend seamlessly into one procedure in the business world through the concept of shared value.  This concept is demonstrated by US drug-maker Johnson and Johnson, who has invested 200 million US in Ebola vaccine testing in hopes of defeating the virus that has terrorized and claimed the lives of many. Although safety testing on the vaccine is expected to commence in January of 2015, J&J stock has already rose 1.4 per cent to $101.75 since the announcement. Predictably, the stock of J&J will continue to increase as a result during of their commitment to Ebola research.

In my opinion, J&J demonstrates the perfect example of shared value by taking advantage of a social need, in this case a cure to Ebola, to fulfill both its ethical duty and business development.  In terms of business development, the global demand of Ebola vaccine will improve their brand recognition and reputation internationally. A more profitable future can already be detected through the increase of J&J’s stocks even before implementation of research. Although after IPO of the stock, the prices of stock does not directly affect the company, increasing stock prices indicate a healthy business with a stable executive team that can easily secure credit, attract further investors, and build partnerships. I believe that if J&J strategically markets the vaccines and takes advantage of its demand, it could make additional profits that compensate for the initial investment. For this reason, I think that Johnson and Johnson successfully captured the essence of shared value, which allowed them to improve the state of the world and simultaneously increase the competitiveness of their business.

                   Often times when businesses strive arduously for financial success, the impact of its actions on external factors can create many social, ethical, political and environmental issues between stake-holders. This is exactly the case with the Nak’azdli’s opposition against the Northern Gateway pipeline and the Tislhqot’s disapproval with mining their tribal park. In both cases, the Aboriginal parties feel a spiritual bond to the land and rely on it for tradition hunting and gathering of food. The exploitation of their land for economic reasons raises many concerns and external factors which may force organizations to adjust their business model.

As a result of diminishing supply of natural resources such as minerals and oil and an increase in demand, an incentive is offered to companies who can discover new resources because of the potential profit available. However, this comes in direct conflict with the culture and tradition of the Aboriginal peoples, who have been taught to protect their land. This has pressured businesses to revisit their models to perhaps find a compromise. A perfect example is the Northern Gateway Pipeline. This organization is fully-aware of the environmental concerns of their stake-holders. Thus, they formulated their business model to directly address this issue and promise an “environmentally responsible way to build a pipeline” as well as other environmentally-friendly claims to ease the concerns instead of sweeping them under the rug.  This is a rather innovative plan as they promise to use world class safety-guards to diminish chances of spillage or leaks. By formulating their business plan in terms of public concerns, it reduces the controversy of building such a long pipeline, especially crossing Aboriginal territory and is an excellent example of how external factors shape business plans.

Alibaba, being China’s biggest online commerce company, has grown exceptionally in the New York Stock Exchange as its stocks increased above predicted range of  60-66 to a whooping 68 dollars a share.  Alibaba has many popular trading sites under its wings such as Taobao (similar to E-bay) and Alipay (similar to PayPal) and has been largely successful in China’s market.

 In Jennifer Lin’s blog post, she mentions that Yun Ma has been so successful because he took advantage of enhanced the online services already available and brought to China’s demanding market.  I entirely agree with Jennifer’s point. Furthermore, I think that Yun Ma considered the requirements of the consumers in China. He realised that one of the greatest pains as a consumer in China is that any international shopping websites are censored and unavailable to the Chinese. Furthermore, the shipping overseas would be costly and impractical. Thus, by analysing the “pains” of the consumer, he was able to offer an incredibly successful “pain killer” which is Alibaba. It quenches the Chinese consumers’ thirst for an online market by offering a vast variety of products that are all shipped at little to no extra fees. On top of the “pain killers”, the products of Yun Ma also creates a variety of “gain creators” like affordable prices, fast shipping, rebates, secure check-out, etc. These incentives further grasps the loyalty of his customers. .  I think that the key difference between Yun Ma and other entrepreneurs is that he based his value proposition on the needs and wants of possible consumers, not on what his company is able to offer. Thus he was able to create a product that exactly fits the requests of the consumers.

Alibaba banners hang outside the New York Stock Exchange on Friday