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.

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