Have you ever wonder why students always hand in project on the last minutes?

2014 is the rise of the e-sport, a term that represent competitive gaming. Video games while being largely criticized as distraction and  a waste of time, have gain new value as the competitive scene grew bigger and bigger.  A game like League of Legend that only has a history of 4 years have a surprising evolution ins the recent years.

It is unbelievable how the game has evolved in the short spam of 4 years, and it is apparent that the trend of video games have grown exponentially and more and more people are joining the game either as a player or just spectators. I agree with Anthony’s claim that the game should be considered a sport because it contains: audience, teamwork, competition, coaches, and many sponsors. I started playing only two years ago and the game is very fun.

Their marketing strategy are very effective that I spend so much money on a “free” game. Different characters have different skins and you can look different in game at the cost of RP, a currency that need purchase by real life moneys. Once the money become RP, I started to treat it like it’s not money–similar to the way casinos use tokens to encourage gamboling. The premium feeling of owning the skin always make me feel special while the skins are not disruptive to other player. The marketing of the skins alone has made more than millions for the company.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/anfunyfung/

The rise of social media is apparent, and WhatsApp is a free app that most people already have on their phone. You might aske how does the app work. Whatsapp is a simple combination of all social medias that can replace all social media. It is that simple!

It contains features like Facebook that allow you to add friends, features like MSN that allow you to chat and send silly emoji, features like Instagram that allow you to share pictures or videos with friends, and lastly the App is bind with your phone number and it can also function as a cell phone.

The application grow in popularity quickly that even my parents started to use Wechat.(Chinese duplicate of Whatsapp) They enjoy the simple control and effective ways of communications the app provide. It is very surprising that there are still room for innovations in the social media industry that is already very competitive. Whatsapp is one of the disruptive innovation and the growth of the company is immense in just five years. The chinese company, Tencent  produced the similar product Wechat that is wildly used by most people in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, and the application is likely to expand abroad to the larger market.

The social media industry is very competitive Whatsapp is one of the most successful application and we can anticipate further development of the company.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/aaronlee/

Priority System

In the business world, there are many tough decisions people need to make in order to succeed. In many cases, the different recommendations can lead to different results, and carefully planning and evaluations are essential to make the best decisions.

Nothing is easy as it looks, and numbers sometimes might not tell the truth about business. There are always bias and traps that will influence the decision making that may lead to undesirable results.

Out of all the traps, I think the Status-Quo trap is one of the most common.  I disagree with the adage “Learning history can help you tell the future.” because the world is constantly changing some efficient method of solving problems may not work anymore in few years. Starting a new action and open ourselves to new directions may be difficult and sometimes risky; however, many examples of disruptive innovation started as a break apart from the larger generally accepted industry for example: smart phone, electric car, social media etc.

Prof. Scott always stress the importance of critical thinking and independent evaluation, and he respect and value all of our opinions. Sauder encourage its students to think different and act differently to make a difference in the world.

Comment On: https://hbr.org/2006/01/the-hidden-traps-in-decision-making

Picture from: http://www.prioritysystem.com/reasons1d.html

Photo: Lucie Wynne cooks moose for dinner on the Kashechewan reserve in northern Ontario in 2005

One of the most important ideology for the First Nation is that everything is interconnected, and nature and humanity live in harmony. No one should ever disturb the balance with the environment for pursue economical profit.

Even though First Nations might not be the wealthiest, they have high awareness for nature and the importance environmental sustainability. Factories in China and oil depots in the Middle East have detrimental effect on the surrounding environment. From the perspective of the natives, the harmful wastes are unethical and should not be reproduced on their native lands.

The BC government has given economic opportunities toward the First Nation communities. In the recent years, First Nations have supported and developed many renewable resources like Site C which provide long term reliable energy for the entire province. Natives wants to be part of the solution of many environmental issues in the world, and their rules and limitation can effectively reduce the amount of pollution and waste.

First Nations’ different view on the environmentally issues have crucial impact on the future generations, and the First Nations make people understand the heavy responsibility to protect environment.

http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en/policy-areas/environmental-stewardship

http://fnbc.info/blogs/judith-sayers/how-do-benefits-site-c-vs-renewable-energy-projects-compare-first-nations

China has an astounding economic growth in the past 50 years and many of its exponential growth is a result of its immense work force and capital.  People’s republic of China (PRC) is under the rule of the single political party, but the economy is nothing like other communist countries.  China is under free-market economy that encourage freedom of  private businesses to maximize economic growth . The market is always open to foreign markets and it is unbelievable to think that around 95% of our commodities are made in China.

In  Nicholas R. Lardy’s  book about private business and state own business, it is clear that the Chinese government owns a majority of the Fortune 500 List Chinese companies, but we can not underestimate the power of private companies,and many of them are even larger corporation than the state own business. One of the successful private business will be Luoyang ltd, my dad’s factory: the factory that focus on mining and steel-making of Molybdenum Metals that was an essential raw material for airplanes, sports cars and many other vehicles. The market of Molybdenum Metals  maintains a steep revenue margin and  is not very competitive due to the high entrance barrier.  His company operate at a not sustainable rate but the business is highly ethical. His main factory alone in Henan province provided more than 500 job opportunities, and my dad can reduce cost for the cheap and  extensive labor market. I am always amazed for what his company can accomplish and I wish I could start a private company just like him but better and more sustainable. China is slowly but surely transitioning into a highly effective market economy, and the free private companies induce the most profit and generate the highest economic growth.

Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is one of the most secure and protected city in Canada. The city is known for its high living standard, education, and the low unemployment rates. It is unthinkable that the city will become the target for the next surprise assault.

Locations of Gunshot

The RCMP always have to prepare for the worst. October 22nd, 2014, a gunshot erupted at the national war memorial, and soon two more gunshot broke the city into cluttered chaos.  The police force recognized the severity of this attack has launched a full lockdown immediately surrounding the downtown area near the parliament including the University of Ottawa. The suspects are still neither apprehended(1 assailant shot), and such attack was a national offense that is directly targeted toward the canadian government.

Canada is a close neighbor of the United States, but it has never initiate any war actions. However, due to the recent ISIS crisis and rising tensions in afghanistan, Canada, an ally of the United States, also may as well fall victim as one of the terrorist attack.  Police officers are still investigating on what the criminals’ incentive or why they planned the attack. Everyone has believed that Canada is safe and secure, but now it just seem so fragile. Just like the tragedy of September-11 , this event raised alarm all across the country, and remind us that the unstable situations around the world. War can occur at any moment, and it is important for the government to protect its citizens through politics and military forces.

Police officers taking cover new Parliament Hill

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/breaking-news-oct-22/article21217602/?click=sf_globe#dashboard/follows/

One of the leading technological pioneer, Hewlett-Packard, has made the decision to split into two companies, separating the PC and printer business from its cooperate hard drive and services operation. Hewlett-Packard has a long operating histories and they are looking for a way to maintain that statute while become more nimble to keep up with the fast and competitive technology companies. However, in recent years, hp has been defeated in many ways by the dominating apple and microsoft, no matter it is the research and development or the marketing campaign, apple and microsoft always hold the comparative advantage against Hewlett-Packard. The demand for hp PC dropped drastically within 10 years. Many people questioned, why doesn’t the company just sell the less profitable PC and printer sector, and focus on the computer servers. I don’t agree on the decision to solve sells decline problem by splitting into two. The company really need to focus on developing a strong market segment and but overshadowed by other dominant PC companies, and it is their last attempt to save their fortune. The company’s declining sells really concerned Meg Whitman, the CEO of hp, and she has launched a restructuring plan to layoff thousand of employee and eliminate other costs and try to deviate into the a more rewarding and specialized cloud software. If hp wants to stay in the market of pc they will have to develop something new and appealing to the public.

http://fortune.com/2014/10/05/hewlett-packard-to-split-into-two-companies/

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hewlett-packard-plans-to-break-in-two-1412530028

The Saskatchewan’s new carbon-capture facility

Canada is well known for its sustainable environment and its largely undeveloped natural resources. In the prairies especially, the Tar-Sand or other energy project has become the center of controversy; energy companies have to make a difficult choice between efficient, profitable means of operations or sustainable yet uneconomic use of natural resource.

In October 2nd 2014, Saskatchewan has taken initiative to create a large coal-fired power plants that can retrofit more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, which in comparison, the whole power plants can absorb as much carbon dioxide as almost 40 million trees. Maria van der Hoeven, from the international energy agency, asserts that the power plant is “historic milestone on the path to a low-carbon future,” and the technology can create environmentally sustainable resources. However, we should not discount the fact that the whole power plants require more than 1.4 billion canadian dollars, and electricity will rise drastically by 80% in order to cover the expense.  Even though the power plants can effectively decrease carbon dioxide emission and generates green energy, the power plants is funded on taxpayer’s money and should be used in an economical way and really create positive externalities within the community. The power plants is a very expensive investment, and my analysis shows that the power plants is costing too much and creating little public utility despite the effort to create a sustainable environment. The government of Saskatchewan need to find new ways to decrease greenhouse gas emission, and the simple yet best alternative would be to raise awareness in the public and encourage a more sustainable lifestyles.

http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21622238-although-saskatchewans-new-carbon-capture-facility-start-technology-still

The main objectives of a business is to generate profit and create economic growth. However, often the business ethics can have major influences on business decisions. The oil companies share a common dilemma: to make profit, or to protect the environment.

It is evident that oil has become the integral part of our life. Oil does not only exist on gasoline or diesel fuel, but also common products plastic bottles, inks, or even in our toothpaste. It is undeniable that oil company produces the most economic profit to all the consumers, but the trade off is also undesirable. The high incidence of oil spills in the recent years and extensive amounts oil farms had put our environment on its edge of breakdown. GHG emission is the main concern for the environmentalist, and a government regulation on reducing the amount of GHG emission had heavily damaged oil companies’ production rate; as a result, the price raised as there is little of diminishing demand.

To think in the perspective of the customers is another important aspect of business ethics. As a response to the popularity of the phenomenon of global warming, many oil companies specifically add “green tags” to their product, but are the customers really willing to pay more to protect the environment. The companies have to sacrifice profit to try to limit and reduce the amount of pollution oil based product will bring, but it is also the responsiblity of the customer to use alternative resources such as electricity vehicles to help alleviate the situation.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/falling-prices-threaten-canadian-oil-patch-momentum/article20566847/

https://www.pik-potsdam.de/avec/peyresq2005/talks/0928/van_den_hove/students_sum_vandenhove.pdf