Ryan Abushinov's Blog

Image Taken from: http://havebabywilltravel.com/Blog/2009/07/13/flying-porter-with-a-baby/

Main Article: Jang, Brent. “Porter pulls IPO after tepid response .” The Globe and Mail 01 Jun 2010, 03 Oct 2010 Web.

For those who are unfamiliar with Porter Airlines, it is a small, fairly new airline company based out of T0ronto’s Island Airport, near the downtown core of the city.

The company has had some financial hardship over the years, being in debt millions of dollars, however the company is experiencing a minor upswing.

Porter was previously looking to make an initial public offering (IPO) to raise funds to pay off the debts, as well as expand their business. Unfortunately though, due to instability in the markets, the company is postponing this to a later date.

This is not a good time for this postponement either though. Air Canada Jazz is planning on expanding into the Toronto City Centre Airport, which will only cause more financial hardship for Porter.

I personally believe that the company should make an IPO as soon as possible! They must finance their debts now, before the major competition comes in to play. The company must expand its business before another, very “well off” company takes over the market. Porter should establish its brand, expand its market, and build a better foundation for the future!

Image Taken From: http://tomcassidy.com/cocacola_collector.html

Main Article: Phillips, Abigail. “Brand Giant Coca Cola Gets Top Spot.” Business Review, Europe. N.p., 29 Sep 2010. Web. 30 Sep 2010.<http://www.businessrevieweurope.eu/news/coca-cola/brand-giant-coca-cola-gets-top-spot>.

“For the tenth year in a row, Coca-Cola is the world’s most famous brand, beating other brands such as McDonalds, Microsoft, and Google”.

The world’s largest soft drink manufacturer has established its brand to over 90% of the population of the world, and that number is only rising due to Coke’s branding campaign.

So how does Coca-Cola do it?

Coke has done an excellent job over the past hundred years establishing its brand through a variety of mediums. Coke has made millions of print ads, billboards in famous landmarks, and radio ads. Coke also used word of mouth advertising as well, they have established their brand as something everyone drinks, so when someone sees that another person is drinking a bottle of Coke, they will want one too.

Another ad they had, a big step up compared to many other companies, and even Coke’s history; was the major 70s television ad, “I’d like to teach the world to sing” This ad featured many different people from different cultures, male/female, religious beliefs, and harmonized them into one big chorus. Coke did an excellent job here; they marketed it to many areas in the world, and related their brand to diversity.

“I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” Commercial

Photo Taken From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/21/carbon-emissions-questions

Source: The Canadian Press, . “CTV News.” CTVGlobeMedia, 27 Sep 2010. Web. 30 Sep 2010. <http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20100927/un-summit-100927/>.

As the end of the Kyoto Protocol draws closer and closer, global warming is still one of the most talked about issues in the world. Many countries, including Canada, have not met their carbon emissions targets that they promised to meet in the 1997 treaty, a growing concern for many people in the world.

So why has the world decided to abandon these efforts? We all know that global warming is going to affect all of us, whether it be flooding, more powerful storms, hotter weather, or melting ice caps. So why have governments across the globe decided to ignore the fate of the world?

My Answer: POOR TEAMWORK!

If all the countries in the world just care about their own economies and do not try to lower emissions, the problem will never be solved! Businesses must have standards to follow to lower emissions. The worst part is the United States, the largest polluter in the world did not agree on the protocol, and continue to pollute! The globe, including the U.S must act in order to combat this problem as a team.

Just as a team in a school project, we must work together to achieve this goal!

Image Taken from http://shirt.woot.com/derby/entry.aspx?id=24087,

In the case of Lieber light vs. Vancouver Light, Lieber had an advantage in the Seattle area as being one of few providers of skylights. This meant that they controlled the market, were able to charge higher prices, and were able to attract customers easily. When Vancouver Light moved into the market, the company had some serious issues to think about. Should we lower prices? Cut Costs? Do nothing and hope customers remain loyal?

I believe that competition controls companies and forces them to offer the consumer the best possible product for a competitive price. There are many companies out there that have been considered having a “monopoly” : Google, Microsoft, and even Rogers Communications to name a few.

Picking Microsoft from the list, the company has had many issues with worldwide governments criticizing its current monopoly like situation. On the other hand though, Apple, once at the ground compared to Microsoft, has bounced back, and now is gaining market share. Many people did not like Microsoft’s product, “Windows Vista” and switched to Apple’s Mac osX system. This forced Microsoft to redevelop a higher quality, cheaper product that could draw people from Apple’s rising market. Competition acts as a control!

Image taken from www.cancer.ca, September 15th, 2010

Main facts: Efron, Sara. “Which charities spend the most on administration?.” MoneySense Dec/Jan 2010: Web. 15 Sep 2010. <http://www.moneysense.ca/2009/12/21/canadas-40-biggest-charities

Canadians are very generous with their money, donating hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the many charitable organizations we have. Many people, (including myself) did not know that a large amount of these donations are going to administration costs; costs such as executive salaries, company vehicles, and advertising campaigns. Some charities in Canada have administration costs as high as amounts between 40 and 50% of total donations, most of these being the big name charities.

I believe that this is unethical and immoral! When people donate their money to popular charities such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, or the Canadian Cancer Society, they believe that the donation they give will go directly to research or patients. People see the “brand name charities” and believe since they are popular, they must be reliable. The companies should publicize that these amounts are going to administration fees, or lower them all together! Many worldwide organizations such as UNICEF or World vision try and keep their administration fees from 5-15%, even the Canadian counterparts of these organizations “need” more administration money than their international overseer. Our government needs to address this issue, so that more is done with our donated money!