So here it is, the blog post that officially completes the requirement for this assignment in Comm 101. It’s a bittersweet moment you could call it; I no longer must worry about getting it all done on time, yet this commences part of the reason why I chose UBC to begin with. Weird feelings about a course eh?

See, this course, to myself at least, has almost defined Sauder. It is one of the things that sets us apart from all other business schools, and has really emphasized the difference between UBC and high school. Let me elaborate…

I first heard about this course when I attended miniEnterprize. Jeff gave a speech, and he mentioned this course. No textbook, no final, just pure business discussion. It captivated me; nothing in high school was ever like that. And when I looked at other schools, none of them offered anything even remotely comparable. It’s a wonderful thing, despite all the hard work. After being in this course, I have a basic understanding of the different aspects of business, and it gives me a head start on figuring out what I am passionate about. If I was anywhere else, I would have only one year to decide, and knowing me, that is no where enough time.

So thank you guys for giving all of us this wonderful opportunity. And this isn’t meant as a suck up blog to get good marks, I truly mean this. You have given all of us the opportunity to get a head start on discovering our passion. Thank You.

Image from Google

The new hot topic of the business world: life management. No, not when you go to talks about how to organize your time, or handy apps that remind you when to go pick up your kids. Full out, everything managed for you. It is simply an angel in your pocket.

According to this Economist blog, the new website Personal.com manages everything in your life, from what type of oil your car uses, to how many frequent flier miles you have accumulated. It is now old fashioned to keep track of all these things seperately, and to be honest, why hasn’t someone come up with this earlier? It makes managing your life sooo much easier.

The only drawback I can see is the possibility for companies to intrude into your life, to “pull a Facebook”. With every possible aspect of your life online, companies can come in and find out how to target you specifically. Or possibly even identity thieves could come on, and better figure out how to take advantage of you. If the website manages to prevent these things from happening, this website idea is golden.

Entrepreneurship has moved away from buildings, and into cyberspace. The entrepreneurs of tomorrow are now building websites, creating MIS systems that are completely user based, and changing the way we live our lives. Maybe Sauder should offer website creation courses, seeing how it is the business of today, and even bigger business of tomorrow.

Images from Google

When asked to look for an example of an entrepreneur, my first thought was of someone not from our time period.Yet he still manages to affect our every day lives, and will continue to do so for the rest of time.

He is Henry Ford, the entrepreneur that revolutionized the motor industry, and brought cars to what they are today. Ford meets every requirement given of an entrepreneur:

Wealth Creation: the model T was a raving success, and Henry Ford enjoyed substantial profits through his creations.

Speed of Wealth: Ford experienced these profits immediately, and they continued to rise as cars became more readily available.

Risk: He revolutionized the auto industry. If starting a company during this time, in that industry, is not risky, please tell me what is.

Innovation: The man created mass production. He created the family car. His company continues to innovate and lead in the industry, and has been voted countless times as the greatest car manufacturer of all time. Henry Ford was a man of innovation, and he created a company in this same image.

If it wasn’t for the entrepreneurship of Henry Ford, who knows what our life would be like now. A single man managed to make the lives of every single other person to live so much easier. Could this not make him the greatest entrepreneur to ever live?

Images from Google.

Now this blog is going to be biased, guaranteed. I’m an American car man, always have been, always will be. And if you aren’t, well, you should probably at least respect them for what they’ve done.

The news reports are beginning to say the same thing. Detroit is back. Businessweek.com says that ‘Carmakers Are a Recovery Bright Spot’. The Big 3 have moved away from large-sized vehicles and into the production of smaller, fuel-efficient cars, giving them an advantage over the European fascination with the V-6 engine. Not only will this lead to a rise in popularity of these companies again, but the American economy will boom. New jobs will open up, more money will come in to the North American economy, and everything will work out. At least that is what Chrysler is trying to market. 

This is an old video, but watch Eminem’s sponsorship of Detroit in a Chrysler ad. In this video, Chrysler takes a new form of marketing: instead of covering up their problems, they are blatently stating the issues, and showing that their history will resolve any and all problems in the future. It is actually very compelling to watch, a much better done ad then any I have seen for a motor company.

Detroit’s back people, they proved again that the American Auto industry is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, in the world.

Images from Google.

Sustainability isn’t that hard, is it?

I have just read a blog my classmate, Chloe Kim, wrote on sustainability and Starbucks, and it has really made me think: why can’t all companies be like this? Is it that expensive to do?

In my past experience, first working at Best Buy and then as a Program Leader for the City, it has been slightly shocking in regards to the view on sustainability. That doesn’t mean they are not concerned about it, I just think improvements could be made that cheaply help our world.

The best example has to be working as a Program Leader. Each day I go through tons of paper, and lets be honest, 5 year olds are not the greatest at conserving space. Yet the City hardly provides any recycling bins in the facilities, so I have to waste so much paper to the trash. Would it not be easier, and look much better, if they just spent the money to create a more eco-friendly environment?

I will be honest, I am not an environmentalist at all. I keep the water running when I brush my teeth, I keep lights on, I don’t recycle even close to how much I need to, so you know that the situation must be bad if I myself notice it. Come on companies, come on cities, put your back into it, and follow the example of sustainability-minded competitors. They might be onto something.

Images from Google

Yesterday’s Blackberry fiasco quite clearly demonstrates the need for IT in the workplace, especially if you are running a large company with millions of users worldwide.

Somewhere along the way, something went wrong with Blackberry’s technological service, causing a chain-reaction that managed to affect all other users around the globe. This disruption created a massive need for IT personnel and technicians in order to fix it, and prevent profits from being lost.

In this situation, IT can be used to prevent further incidences. They can now look into whether the company should invest in better service, more failsafe measures, better equipment, whatever it will take to make sure this never happens again. If a company did not have IT, how would they be able to deal with any technological issues that will inevitably arise because, well, technology is no where close to being perfect (although Steve Jobs got it pretty damn close).

Blackberry users should find the man who fixed their service, and thank him/her dearly. Mind you, this might make them realize that no matter what, iPhones are, and always will be, the best.

Image from Google Images

This blog is in response to a recent blog by Chloe Kim, where she was talking about apps are able to start cars, and she mentioned apps by Starbucks that enable you to find good deals and such. But honestly, when will apps reach the point of going beyond useful, and into the haze of pointless.

I myself have an iPhone, and I do love the apps on it. They allow me to do my banking, play games, and check the weather whenever I need it. But that is pretty much all I use my apps for. Maybe it is just me, but an app to start a car, is that not kind of pointless? The time it would take to unlock your phone, find the app, start the app, then start the car would be way more then if you just pulled a key out of your pocket, and hit unlock and turned it in the ignition. Do these companies really think that people will use this app constantly?

How these apps are useful are as backups, in case you lose your keys for instance. But I highly doubt they will overtake the old-fashioned method of a simple car key.

(Image from Google)

What was once a tiny sector, India’s automotive industry has skyrocketed in the recent years, leading analysts to ask the question, how much more is it going to grow?

When you think of India, you don’t typically think of cars. I personally think of a lot of people, elephants, and Slumdog Millionaire (just putting this out there, I’m not 100% sure there are elephants in India, but it’s still what I picture). But imagine the market for a small, cheap, decent people carrier. It’s simply enormous! Cars are to India as social media is to North America; an emerging concept that has taken hold and shot through the roof.

What doesn’t hurt either is the fact that India is expected to have the greatest population increase in the next few years, and that it is a developing country, creating new demands for products such as cars. Car manufactures should invest in opening up production plants and putting showrooms there, because the profits will be huge, if they can develop products that suit their lifestyle.

With cars taking off, one has to ask, what is next? What will be the ‘Facebook’ of the developing worlds? The person who can answer that question will find themselves wondering how Bill Gates was so poor.

According to an article on dealbreaker.com, at the Whalton University, they have decided to not release business student’s grades when it comes to the students applying for jobs after graduation. Why? Simple; the school doesn’t want their selective reputation hurt. By not releasing their grades, the school keeps their reputation intact, and the students are being hired purely on the school they graduated from.

How does this affect you and me? As we are busting our butts, trying to study for midterms and finals, these kids can cruise through with a 65% average, and still get high paying jobs, purely from the school they came from. Is that fair at all? Definitely not. Hopefully employers begin to see the same way, and prefer students who can back up their Bcomm, rather then just hiding behind the letters.

So as we sit here, studying hard, and being jealous of these students, just remember. We are Sauder, we have the reputation too, but we can also justify our degree. It will be us the employers prefer, instead of people who “joyrided” their degree to the end.

Image from Google

Ethical business: the new fad, or a lasting trend? Opinions differentiate on which category it falls in, but everyone can agree that more and more businesses are following the trend. Yet, what will be the eye-opener to ethical business?

Powerhouse Wal-Mart may have provided the punch to move ethical business into the eyes of the world. According to an article on Harvard Business Online (Wal-Mart Brazil Thinks Green by Andrew Winston), Wal-Mart Brazil has taken the forefront in providing ‘green’ products, and has taken a stand on human rights issues. In the article, they discuss the different stands Wal-Mart is taking to become more ethical in the Brazilian sector.

Now, what difference does this make to the rest of the world? Think about it, one of the most iconic brands has labelled themselves as ethical, and has grouped in other household brands to support them. Once consumers become more and more aware of this alliance, they will push for more ethical business procedures in Canada, in the USA, maybe even in the world. And competitors will follow Wal-Mart’s lead in order to improve their brand-name. What Wal-Mart has managed to do isn’t just improve their brand, but push ethics into the forefront of the business world.

Images from Google