I would like to talk about another blog I read in the Harvard Business Review. It is about how managers should not only being objective and strict, but they should also create strong bonds with their employees. It suggests that the existence of trust in the workplace is indispensable. Nowadays, the continuously innovation of the businesses is a really important reason of why trust within the workers is essential; it is common that new things can be very challenging, and can cause fear, anxiety, etc. in the employees. However, a good relationship with the manager can make the employees feel more comfortable. Managers have the ability to help employees to face their fears towards new goals, to take risks, and therefore, to have success.

I found that this article is very useful, as it provides us with information about the employees behaviors and how an employer should manage them. I also agree with this blog with the fact that managers should not be only bosses, but rather a person with whom the employee can count on. Definitively, a requirement for a business to be profitable is to provide a good environment to its workers.

If you want to read the original blog please use the following link: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/11/are_you_getting_personal_as_a.html

When I first read Michelle’s Blog I was so surprised by the fact that Wal-Mart, who is one of the biggest retailers in the US can be so unethical by having sweatshops in Bangladesh in order to minimize costs. Personally I used to buy a lot of my things in Wal-Mart as their prices are very low, and as we can find everything we want. However, I agree with Michelle with her point of view, which is, that it is totally unfair to treat people like that. I think that is not only the fact of the money and the long hours the employees have to work, but it is also a problem of morality, of ethics, of respecting the human rights. I can say that even they way I used to see Wal-Mart as a customer has totally changed.

I really think that in a business, not everything is about money, not everything is about making profits. We also need to care about the employees, the environment, the society. That is the key factor for creating a good environment in the workplace. And a good workplace is the key factor for a successful business.

If you want to read Michelle’s Blog, please visit the following link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/michellelee3/

I found really fascinating this blog, which was originally post by Hamza. I found specially interesting the fact that this is a very common concern in every student life. Some people may think that it is better to start a business immediately as it takes time for a business to grow, and as recently graduates we are young and with a lot of enthusiasm, which means that maybe by the time we are 30 we will already have a profitable business. On the other hand, other people may think that it is better to gain experience before entering the competitive and risky world of business.

What Hamza proposed in his blog is that it “depends”, whether a graduate student should take the decision of starting his own business or first gaining experience from someone else. I agree with him with the fact that the idea of business and the passion of the student are key factors in order to become an entrepreneur. But in contrast, I think that it is better to gain experience first. The world of business is very challenging, it is true that in the university we learn all the theory, but applying it in the real world is a different issue, is more difficult. So we first need to learn from the experience and then we can start working on a bigger goal. I believe that we need to go step by step. If we speed up too much our objective of starting our own business, we are very likely to have a lot of problems and to loose a lot of money, as we don not have the enough experience and the knowledge required.

To see Hamza’s blog please visit the following link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/hamza/

Pete and Gerry‘s Organic Eggs is a large – scale producer that has innovate the industry of egg production with the objective of making a difference in our world. We can now ask ourselves how an egg producer can help our society? And the answer is that there are multiple ways, such as saving energy, reducing wastes, giving a good treat to the animals, and avoiding the use of the pesticides and fertilizers.

All these measures in order to help our environment, and even the health of its customers are remarkable, but what is even more inspiring is the vision of this company. It not only implements the mentioned measures, but it is also a recruiter of small family farms that supply the product, instead of being a large factory farm. This criterion clearly supports the the small family farms businesses, as well as it helps with the preservation of its surrounding environments for future generations.

After reading the background and the purposes of this company, a lot of questions may arise, such as: “How can a small farmer make a difference?” or “All those measures will affect the profits of the business?”, etc. As an answer to those two questions, I can say that even one person can make a difference, and if we join all the efforts that each one of us does in order to help our world, surely we will have a better future. Maybe for a business taking these kind of measures, profits can decrease, but I think that first we need to be ethicals and realize that profits are not everything.

If you want to read more about Pete and Gerry‘s Organic Eggs please visit the following  link: http://www.peteandgerrys.com/organiceggs

Creating  a good teamwork culture in a company is indispensable for the well-being of the business. It is important to make rules and to build habits in the workplace in order to have a good environment where all the employees can have a good relationship between them, where the employees can trust their managers and vice versa. However, maintaining this state of well-being can become very challenging for businesses, specially during certain situations or events that a society faces, such as presidential elections.

How can this event damage the workplace environment? An answer to this question can be the fact that even though political debate and enthusiasm is very important within a society, it can also become very harmful inside a company, as it can have the power to destroy good relationships between employees. This kind of issues inside a company can have long-term impacts, this is why it is so important to managers to take measures in order to minimize these kind of debates.

Now, another important question arises: “How should the employers face these situations?” I think they should not show themselves too strict about it, instead they should talk to their employees and they should train their workers so they will be aware of the importance of a good teamwork culture.

To read more about different solutions and points of view in order to face these kind of situations that can harm the workplace, you can visit the following link:

http://www.corpmagazine.com/executives-entrepreneurs/expert-advice/itemid/9978/dont-let-election-politics-disrupt-your-workplace

As we already know, Social enterprises are companies that use commercial strategies in order to help and make improvements in people’s lives, as well as improvements in our own world that nowadays is facing a lot of environmental issues. What really surprised me is how HopeLab helps its customers with a very unusual product. As it is known, usually video games are seen as a threat for kids’ mental health. However, this company propose not only video games that are not harmful, but that help children who suffer diseases, such as cancer, obesity, etc.

It may sound unrealistic, but surprisingly it is true. For example, HopeLab’s product “Re-Mission” is a video game developed for kids with cancer, in which they pilot a nanobot named Roxxi as she travels destroying cancer cells, battling bacterial infections and managing side effects of the treatment. And it is even more surprising that scientific research has shown that it is an effective tool.

When I read the title of the article announcing this company, I wondered: “It is possible for a business to help people even with issues such as their heath problems?”. So if it possible, imagine how wonderful our world could be with more social entrepreneurs like HopeLab.