Social enterprise is an important part of the Sauder community. The ARC initiative at Sauder combines business with social responsibility, similar to the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization “committed to maintaining international peace and security; developing friendly relations among nations; promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights”.

Even if the United Nations was fully funded, we would still need ARC and social enterprise. Although they are similar, they each offer different things. The United Nations is more on the political side and focuses on the big picture. ARC on the other hand, focuses more on the specifics of the business world in developing areas. Both of these groups are necessary because they target and help different groups of people. For example, the United Nations deals with issues such as Ebola, Syria, the Ukraine, and many others. These problems are very large-scale matters, so it is important that we have the right people solving them. ARC is not on the same level, however it still makes a difference. By teaching students how to use business skills while making change, ARC is instilling the right values into the future leaders of our world.

Sources:

https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=WWD

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative/About_ARC

Photo Source:

http://kiecocenterorg.ipage.com/demo22/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SocialEnterprise_graphic2.png

Online shopping is one of the greatest things about the Internet. As Felicia Chong stated in her blog post, Amazon is taking advantage of the growing e-commerce industry. Amazon’s introduction of same-day shipping will further place the company above competitors. I agree with Felicia that a key factor of success with e-commerce is speed and convenience. Instant gratification is something we as consumers have grown accustomed to. Technology is most likely the cause of this. Everything is becoming faster and more efficient at such a high rate that we don’t even remember the “old” technology. For example, Amazon is also experimenting with using drones for delivery. If these drones become the new normal delivery system, mail couriers could become obsolete. This goes with what Felicia said, “With rapid advances in technology and transportation, it is very likely that this competitive advantage will not last.” Technological points of difference eventually become points of parity, so companies will have to be constantly innovating to stay competitive. I think this is very hard to accomplish, which is why most companies don’t last very long. There will always be something new and better to replace the old and inferior.

Source:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/feliciachong96/2014/11/08/amazon-brings-one-day-delivery-to-vancouver/

Photo Source:

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–ReYnkY9W–/188xsi8f17aonjpg.jpg

As a university student, my ultimate goal is to have a stable career after I earn my degree. However, as Jessica stated in her blog, Post-Post Secondary Doesn’t Get Easier, a university degree no longer guarantees us jobs. Jessica made some interesting points in her post, but it was the last paragraph that struck me. She compared students to products who are easily substituted. I found this a very interesting perspective. I agree that we need to differentiate ourselves from others in order to stand out, which will help us to become not so replaceable. Making connections, networking, and gaining work experience are some of the main ways to distinguish ourselves. Going to university isn’t necessarily a point of difference anymore, but the skills we learn and practice are. In my opinion, as degrees and the skillsets for careers become more and more common, people will have greater difficulties finding a good job. My generation is already facing this issue, and it will only continue further. Just as Jessica said, “every minute matters”, if we don’t start preparing ourselves for the work world now, finding a job will be infinitely harder.

Source:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/chiyujessicachen/2014/10/28/67/

Photo Sources:

http://www.writewaydesigns.com/images/NowWhat.jpg

http://campustocareer.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/c21-work-experience-pdf-1.jpg

Starting a business isn’t an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of determination, hard work, and persistence to be successful. Seth Godin explains in his blog how many new businesspeople have “magical thinking” while creating their business. “It’s magical thinking that causes nearly every consumer web startup to fail. And yet it’s magic that’s at the root of customer love,” says Aaron Schildkrout. The person is so strong-minded about their business that they forget to think about being appealing to consumers. This is similar to what Emma Smith and Amielle Lake talked about in class. Emma spoke about having blinders on and thinking her idea would work even though it wasn’t logical. Amielle told us how she pivoted many times before ending up at her final goal. I think it’s easy to get caught up in your project, especially if you’re passionate about it. It’s also hard to be told that you’re doing something wrong. I agree with what Seth said in his blog post, “change is hard”, but it is sometimes crucial for a business to prosper. Change and growth are necessary for a business to expand, even though it may be difficult at the beginning.

Sources:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/10/avoiding-magical-thinking.html

http://andrewchen.co/iacs-howaboutwe-co-founder-how-to-avoid-delusional-thinking-in-start-up-growth-strategy-guest-post/

Photo Source:

http://diverseharmony.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Magical-Thinking-Image-RGB-final-11.png

Power is a huge motivator in the business world. It’s often the most powerful and most successful businesspeople that receive the most recognition. Jordan Belfort, famous for being the wolf of Wall Street, is no exception. He earned his fame and fortune through fraud and scams.  As we learned in class, rewards aren’t always fair, and power can be very influential. In Jordan’s case, he was greatly rewarded for his cons, although greed was more of a factor than pressure from his bosses. After Jordan got caught, he served 22 months in jail, which was a very light consequence for the amount of money he stole. In my opinion, Jordan’s bad behaviour was never really punished, and is just another example of our society’s reward system. Jordan, who scammed hundreds of people, is still getting rewarded for what he did. The movie, his book, and numerous tours are getting him even more popularity than when he swindled stocks. He is being rewarded, even idolized for his behaviour despite it being illegal. It’s as Jordan said, “You can get desensitized to your own actions – it’s easy on Wall Street”. Some people will do anything for rewards.

Sources:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-07/jordan-belfort-the-real-wolf-of-wall-street

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2013/12/28/meet-the-real-wolf-of-wall-street-in-forbes-original-takedown-of-jordan-belfort/

http://hbr.org/2003/01/power-is-the-great-motivator/ar/1

Photo Source:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/media/images/j/JordanBelfortRDS_large.jpg

Many businesses nowadays are focusing on being socially responsible. Whether it is donating a percentage of profits to a cause or agreeing to function ethically, more and more companies are agreeing to abide by these responsibilities. Starbucks for example, is one such company. They have recently announced that they will be offering fair trade espresso at all Canadian university campuses.

This is a huge decision for the company because it impacts them directly. Fair trade and ethically sourced products are often more expensive because the workers are paid fairly and the facilities are safe. Fair-trade products used to be a major point of difference for businesses, however many companies now support the fair trade industry. Starbucks is a profit-driven corporation, so they are looking to benefit themselves with this new value proposition. I think that by selling fair-trade coffee, Starbucks will only become more profitable. They already had a huge consumer base, and now they can cater to those who are socially conscious. While their prices may increase, people will overlook it if they feel like they are contributing to the greater good. I know I feel better buying from Starbucks now that they support fair trade.

Source:

http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/10/starbucks-announces-fair-trade-offerings-at-universities-across-canada/

http://www.starbucks.ca/responsibility/sourcing/coffee

Photo source:

http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/01/is-fair-trade-a-fair-deal/starbucks-fair-trade-ad/

http://www.starbucks.com.au/Global-Responsibility.php

Many entrepreneurs have a hard time developing products from ideas simply because they cannot find the funds. Kickstarter is a website that helps business people solve this problem. Through this site, people can pitch an idea and get people to donate money, or in other words, invest in this person. This is different from the type of investing we learned in class, where companies give up shares for money. They loose ownership of their own company in order to earn profits. In some ways, Kickstarter is better than the typical way to invest. This way new businesses get to own 100% of their company and earn thousands, or even millions of dollars for their business. Eric Migicovsky did this with Pebbles, and Sauder alum, Janice Cheam did this with Neurio, proving how effective online funding can be. I think Kickstarter is an easy way to receive funding, however it is hard to market the product properly. Many failures occur because of not enough advertising, or producing something that isn’t centered on the consumer’s desires. Finding the funds for a business venture is often convincing the right people that you right product.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/technology/kickstarter-sets-off-financing-rush-for-a-watch-not-yet-made.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-money/business-funding/frustrated-with-lack-of-venture-capital-in-canada-startup-moves-south/article16522672/

Photo Source:

http://blogs-images.forbes.com/thumbnails/blog_1549/pt_1549_2028_o.jpg?t=1334953513

British Columbia is facing yet another problem regarding the usage of First Nation’s land. BC Hydro is planning on making a dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River. This will cause flooding, as well as destroying precious farmland and wildlife habitat. BC Hydro isn’t even sure if it is the best project to go ahead with. The First Nations’ response to this project was out of BC Hydro’s control, meaning it is an external factor. Furthermore, the business model only had value propositions for people who benefit from this extra energy source. It excluded such a large group of people, which has caused problems. Because British Columbia is Indian land, it isn’t fair for the First Nations people to be forced into complying when they are directly affected. They allow us to use their land so it is disrespectful for companies such as BC Hydro to not consider their impact on these indigenous people. These two groups, BC Hydro and the First Nations, are driven by two different factors. The company is profit driven whereas the First Nations are environmentally driven. An agreement can only be reached through compromise, which will hopefully be the outcome of further communication.

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html?__federated=1

http://globalnews.ca/news/1441980/b-c-regulator-should-review-site-c-mayor/

Photo sources:

http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/b-c-hydro-faces-widespread-community-opposition-over-site-c-dam/

https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/our_system/generation.html

Japanese companies rarely have strategies. “ This is what Michael Porter wrote in his article for the Harvard Business Review. He says that most Japanese companies “imitate and emulate each other.” This made me think of Japanese car brands. Subaru, Honda, and Toyota are just a few examples of companies that have been brought to North America. The cars made by each of these Japanese brand share similarities. Subaru, Honda, and Toyota for example all have comparable compact crossover vehicles: Subaru with the forester, Honda with their CRV, and Toyota with their Rav4. If a potential car buyer is researching vehicles they will find a lot of websites comparing car models because many of them are virtually the same such as on Manchester Subaru. They are priced at around $25,000 for the base model and all include the same features. However, because all these cars are equivalent, customers have to look at other aspects of the brand before making a purchase. This is why offering analogous is a risky approach. My colleague Dina also recognizes the importance of not just having a good product, as she mentioned in her post about Apple (The Secret to Apple’s Success). They need to offer deals, customer service, a wide range of options and more if they want to overcome competitors.

Sources:

http://www.kansaigroup.jp/blog/japanese-cars-vs-american-cars-the-battle-continues/

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=ecf6d781-1c25-4f02-a4a0-c19091c23607%40sessionmgr111&hid=113 

http://www.manchestersubaru.com/subaru-forester-vs-honda-crv.htm 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/dinakasiri/2014/09/22/the-secret-to-apples-success/

Photo source:

http://www.markmillersubaru.com/forester-vs–crv—rav4.htm

Apple recently unveiled their new products, the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 +, and the iWatch. These items have been under research and development ever since the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c came out. Apple is constantly looking to better their company and improve their products. In order to complete their projects in the short amount of time that they do, time management must be a perfected skill. Along with the ever so popular cell phone, Apple also sells computers, laptops, tablets, and accessories. Managing all these products and constantly working on improving them, requires organization to make sure they don’t fall behind on an important project. Steve Covey’s time management method would be an efficient way for Apple to oversee all urgent, non-urgent, important, and unimportant matters. Larger companies especially need to stay on track because they have more to lose if they miss a deadline, or need to postpone an important event. Time management is an important skill that both individuals and businesses should possess. It’s difficult to prosper without having this ability. Clearly, Apple’s success shows that they have mastered sticking to deadlines and managing their time.

Sources:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/business-technology/apples-iphone-6-tops-4-million-in-pre-orders/article20599203/

http://www.taskcracker.com/stephen-covey-time-management-method-outlook-productivity/

Photo:

http://www.apple.com/ca/iphone/