As someone who constantly struggles with combing through bank cards, membership cards, and bus passes in an insufficient wallet compartment, I was captured by the innovative product, Coin, which Judith Yeo blogged about.  It seemed like the ultimate solution, and my initial concerns of losing the card (also being someone who constantly misplaces things) were addressed by Yeo’s mention of its security features.  However, with further thought, the security issues outside one’s control that would come along with Coin seemed to largely outweigh its foremost benefit of user convenience. Many others said the same, and two particular comments summed up the general feedback on the product:

“The hacking and theft possibilities seem endless. No thank you.”

“What if I lose or misplace my phone?”

This illustrates the significance in cooperation between various departments of an organization. Product design and technology development departments indulged in an overly idealistic world. Had they consulted with those who conducted market research, they would have better considered the product’s practicality through consumers’ unanimous concerns.

Thus, rather than seeing Coin as Yeo’s classification of a “painkiller” , I view this all-in-one card as an innovation with good intentions, but dangerous consequences.

Works Cited

Guarini, Drew. “Coin Wants To Replace Every Single Credit Card In Your Wallet.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Yeo, Judith. “San Francisco Start-Up Produces a New Innovative Product.” Judith Yeo’s Blog. UBC Blogs, 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Hamburger, Ellis. “Wallet Hack: Can Coin Replace Your Credit Cards?” The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Typhoon Haiyan has literally stripped the Philippines of its assets – largely its infrastructure, to be exact.   Natural hazards cost the country $1.6 billion annually. [1]  HSBC economist Trinh Nguyen identifies infrastructure investment as urgent and crucial – a critical activity in terms of the urgency/importance matrix.

“They get through the storms and rebuild if they have to. But this is not sustainable in the long run,” says Toby Monsod, an economics professor at the University of the Philippines in Manila. [2]  Sustainable is the key word here. Typhoon Haiyan cannot simply be viewed as a natural disaster; it is a catastrophe that affects all three aspects – environmental, social, and financial – of the country’s triple bottom line.

Sustainability as the Triple Bottom Line (Lecture 15: CSR & Sustainability)

Environmentally, the damages caused by the typhoon are evident.  Socially, past government corruption resulted in a lack of proper concern for the safety of citizens’ shelter. Financially, the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority forecast up to 4.1% decrease in national economic growth in the fourth quarter, with negative impacts carrying over to year 2014 due to reduced production capacity. [3]

A country operates like a business, and the Philippines must invest in its assets to maintain sustainability.
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[1]”Typhoon Highlights Weak Philippine Infrastructure.”

[2]”Why Wasn’t the Philippines Better Prepared for the Typhoon? Corruption, Shoddy Buildings to Blame.”

[3]”Typhoon Haiyan: Philippines Reflects on Traumatic Week.”

Works Cited

Chan, Kelvin, and Teresa Cerojano. “Typhoon Highlights Weak Philippine Infrastructure.”Yahoo Finance. Yahoo, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

COMM 101 Lecture 15: CSR & Sustainability

Landingin, Roel. “Typhoon Haiyan: Philippines Reflects on Traumatic Week.” Financial Times. The Financial Times Ltd., 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

Maceda, Jim. “Why Wasn’t the Philippines Better Prepared for the Typhoon? Corruption, Shoddy Buildings to Blame.” World News. NBC News, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

Why do companies feel the need to falsify financial statements?  Jennifer Yip states that Olympus’ accountant’s motive was to “hide the company’s huge financial losses from investors.”  This effectively leads to a question:  Are investors then not “on the folly of rewarding A while hoping for B“?

Investors search for companies in appealing financial positions to place their funds in.  At the same time, companies are aware that they will only attract investors with a promising financial position.  As a result, companies fabricate healthy financial statements, and investors, ultimately hoping for high ROI, then invest in the wrong businesses.

Yip recognized that the recent unveiling of Olympus’ fraud may lead to the fall of Olympus despite its past success.  Declining stock prices diminish the value of investors’ company shares.  This further illustrates how investors have fostered an outcome completely opposite to what they desire.

Works  Cited

Kerr, Steven. “On the Folly of Rewarding A. While Hoping for B.” Academy of Management Executive, 1995 Vol. 9 No. 1. : Academy of Management, 10 Nov. 2013.

Yip, Jennifer.  “Olympus Financial Fraud.” Jennifer Yip’s Blog. UBC Blogs, 06 Oct 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

“How do Companies use Mergers and Acquisitions to manipulate financial statements?”  Stock Shastra.  Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd., 15 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

Two months ago, I published a post addressing the ethics of emotional labour, particularly about call centre workers in India.   Today, Dr. Danielle van Jaarsveld drew our class’ attention to these workers from a human resource managerial perspective, and I realized: the foremost cause of emotional burnout among call centre workers was not the way they were required to treat others; it was the way they were being treated.

A call centre worker’s day is repetitive and stressful. There is no incentive or need for a worker to improve his or her service when being evaluated on the quantity rather than quality of calls completed.  Overly structured responses set by company policies result in frustrated callers and consequently, unhappy employees.

For many companies, call centres serve as the sole interaction link to consumers, yet companies lack the proper judgement to better invest in their customer service staff and positive customer relationships.  A high turnover ratio is desirable for inventory, not workers; average staff turnover for call centres is 30%. [1]

A vicious cycle has been created, the root cause being apathetic management. Companies must reprioritize and recognize that they are not dependent on technology and systems, but on people.

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[1] “Insights into the Indian call centre industry: can internal marketing help tackle high employee turnover?”

Works Cited

COMM 101 Lecture 19: People Culture and Teams

“Major Offshore Call Centre to Chase Australian Companies.” International Business Times. International Business Times AU, 25 Aug. 2011. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.

Pawan S. Budhwar, Arup Varma, Neeru Malhotra, Avinandan Mukherjee, (2009) “Insights into the Indian call centre industry: can internal marketing help tackle high employee turnover?”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 23 Iss: 5, pp.351 – 362

Moores Clothing for Men holds an annual suit drive, collecting gently used professional attire from Canadians for unemployed Canadians. In the past four years, 100,000 disadvantaged men have been given a second chance because of Moores.

Learning of this suit drive gave me a heart-warming feeling. To see individuals who had lost hope regain confidence and respect was inspiring. With further thoughts, however, I soon recognized benefits beyond the apparent objective of this event.

Consumers are given a simple way to effectively help the unemployed, and they further benefit from the 50% discount on Moores products that the company offers to donors.

Offering discounts to donors benefits Moores as well. Donors may not necessarily be Moores customers, thus Moores expands its clientele base through such social advertising.  Furthermore, by contributing to a social issue,  the public becomes aware of Moores’ socially-conscious values, and the company receives positive publicity.

On an even greater scale, our society benefits. Canada’s workforce gains individuals who would not have originally become a working member of society. Regardless of the magnitude of each individual’s contribution, they are undoubtedly adding to society’s well-being through their work efforts.

Moores is creating shared value. 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a6VVncgHcY]

Works Cited

Patriquin, Jessica. “Suit Donations Increase Canadian Men’s Chances Of Securing Jobs.”Newswire. CNW Group Ltd, 2 July 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

I had never envisioned myself to be a risk-taker or an entrepreneur. 42 changed my mind.  Cathy Han, CEO of 42, ignited my interest in entrepreneurship with the company’s fusion of business and retail using MIS.

We live in a technology age where an endless amount of information is readily available;  value lies in the effective management of data, or big data.   42 has “reinvented” the retail experience by using POS data to pinpoint consumers’ preferences for retailers.  Retailers can then use this information to effectively tailor their services and products.

Showcasing the company and team’s small steps as well as milestones, 42’s blog is an inspiring timeline. Posts on 42’s participation in New York Fashion Week and TechCrunch, as well as feature in Spark realistically provides insight to the success of a company with a lean start-up. Just last month, Cathy Han spoke at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, demonstrating that entrepreneurship expands beyond the scope of one’s own business to that of the international community.  Future posts will undoubtedly continue to record the evolution of retail business, the exponential growth of big data, and the entrepreneurial insights of 42’s journey.

Works Cited

Manyika, James, Michael Chui, Brad Brown, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Charles Roxburgh, and Angela Hung Byers. “Big Data: The next Frontier for Innovation, Competition, and Productivity.” Insights & Publications. McKinsey & Company, May 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

42 – Retail Experience, Reinvented. 42.  N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

Ikea secures its position in the furniture market using Porter’s cost leadership strategy.  However, in the past several months, the Swedish furniture retailer has lost its position in the hearts of many employees and customers.

Early in the summer, I headed to Ikea for some room décor, and was unexpectedly greeted by people with signs and flyers reading “WE’VE BEEN LOCKED OUT.” Customers were being asked by picketing staff to not shop at, and sequentially patronize, Ikea.  Exceptionally few cars were in the parking lot, and the normally bustling store was relatively empty.

Since May 2013, Ikea Richmond and its employees have been in dispute due to Ikea’s new contract offer. The company states its purpose is “to align the Ikea Richmond store’s wage progression with the rest of Canada,” while employees feel they are being offered “reduced wages and benefits.”

It is perfectly reasonable for a business to maximize profits.  Yet, upon reducing expenses in its cost structure, Ikea is losing employees’ commitment to the company and risking customer relationships with negative publicity. Will Ikea still be maximizing profits with a collapsing business model canvas?

For almost a year, there has been hype over Target Corporation’s entry into Canada. An American retailing company, Target has had much success in the U.S., generating a revenue of US$73.3 billion in 2012. [1]   According to Forum Research, however, only 27% of Target Canada’s polled customers claimed to be “very satisfied” with their experience at the store. [2] What was Target Canada doing wrong?

Comments posted by customers on business.financialpost.com last month highlighted the following issues:

• lack of stock / poor selection of products
• noncompetitive pricing
• poor quality of service

On September 6, Target announced that the company will be working to increase sales in healthcare, food, beauty, and paper, and to adjust inventory and in-store staffing . [3]

Target has put the Urgent-Important Matrix to use.  While keeping focus on increasing profit on a long-term scale by improving product categories with slower sales – an important goal – the company is also addressing issues that directly affect customer satisfaction based on recent customer feedback – a critical activity.

Although we have yet to see the results of Target’s plans, we can clearly see the Urgent-Important Matrix put into action by a major corporation.

——————————————————————————————————————–

[1] “Target Corporation”

[2] “Target Losing Ground with Canadian Customers as Satisfaction Levels Reach New low”

[3] “Target to open 23 more stores in Canada, including its first in Quebec and N.S.”

Works Cited:

“Target Losing Ground with Canadian Customers as Satisfaction Levels Reach New low.”Financial Post. National Post, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 21 Sept. 2013. <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/08/19/target-losing-ground-with-canadian-customers-as-satisfaction-levels-reach-new-low/>.

“United States Securities and Exchange Commission – Target Corporation.” United States Securities and Exchange Commission. U.S. AID, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2013. <http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/27419/000104746912002714/       a2207838z10-k.htm>.

After a lecture, I was anxious to begin the bulk of work planned for my two-hour break, but decided to first get my favourite drink.  Although a tremendously long lineup encircled the café, it was worth the wait. Half an hour later, I finally stood at the cashier.

“A passion fruit slush, please.”

“We don’t carry passion fruit.”

Confused, I read the sign: passion fruit slush, $4.

“Here, on the sign-“

“No, sorry.”

I left, frustrated. While I valued the beverage at the amount of wait time, I received no value for my time. The café did not deliver what it claimed to offer, paying a small cost of $4 potential revenue. A quarter of my time, which could have been efficiently used to study, was undoubtedly worth well over $4 to me.

Now, did the café only lose $4 of potential revenue?  I will less likely return to the café, and will suggest friends to visit other eateries (especially for beverages).  Being first-year students, we would have been the café’s customers for several years.  My friends may also pass on the suggestion. The café is then potentially losing revenue from orders of numerous relatively long-term customers.

So, who paid the greater opportunity cost?

Emotional labour is often required of employees by employers to provide customers with a specific environment and company image. For instance, an airline aims to provide quality flight experience, thus needing flight attendants to have constant pleasant demeanour towards passengers.

Assuming that employees know of the job nature upon applying to work for a certain company, emotional labour may not appear to be an ethical issue.  However, this is not always the case.

Call centre workers in India serving U.S. customers must perform emotional labour involving “national identity management”. To better identify with customers, they are to act American through usage of American colloquialisms and familiarity with American popular culture, and to mask their location in India.

Regardless of workers’ acceptance of such requirements and the success achieved in satisfying American customers as a result, is it not unethical for the company to demand such from its employees? Racism is promoted in that employees must adopt American behaviour in order to satisfy an American market, implying inability and inferiority of Indian citizens in international business.  Employees are denied a basic human right: their ethnic identity.

The ethics of emotional labour thus lie in the extremity of expectations imposed by employers.

Source: Chong, Patricia. “Servitude with a Smile: An Anti-Oppression Analysis of Emotional Labour.” Global Labour University Working Papers. March 2009. <http://www.global-labour-university.org/fileadmin/GLU_Working_Papers/GLU_WP_ No.7.pdf>.

Photo: http://www.funinsky.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/image8.png