After calculating our carbon footprints in Class 20, I was stunned to see how large several of my classmates’ carbon footprints were. It brought into focus that together, our seemingly harmless daily activities, like taking transit and consuming meat are making large contributions to the greenhouse gas emission problem of the world. In addition, it raises the issue of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions released by companies and large manufacturers. In Cathy Lee’s blog about Walmart’s green initiatives, she mentions that it is questionable whether the motives were for greater profitability or benefiting the environment. It is probably true that the main driving factor was the increase in profitability, while also being able to market itself as a “green” company.

Nowadays, it seems like implementing green initiatives has become a growth strategy for many other companies as well. Meanwhile, some companies are completely based off of an environmental approach, like exclusively selling eco-friendly products. Attitude is an example of one, selling non-carcinogenic household products from children’s shampoo to surface cleaners. The company has been able to successfully reduce its carbon footprint to zero through an innovative concept of creating, packaging, and storing its product under one roof, thus eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions that come from transporting. Thus, it has also been able to reduce operating costs and enhance profitability.

Read Cathy Lee’s Post about Walmart Going Green:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/cathylee/2012/11/12/wal-mart-goes-green/

Attitude’s Environmental Approach:

http://cleanattitude.com/en/site/page/environmental_approach

Photo Credits:

Carbon Footprint. N.d. Photograph. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://alternativestandrews.blogspot.ca/p/carbon-footprint.html>.

When guest speaker, Eric Carlson asked the class if anyone wanted to or had ever thought of becoming an entrepreneur, around 80% of the class raised their hand. This took me by shock, because I believed that the majority was here at Sauder to become an accountant, financial analyst, etc. I conducted some research about entrepreneurs and read that around 80% of small businesses fail in the first five years! Certainly, Amielle Lake (CMO of Tagga) and Eric Carlson (CEO of Anthem Properties) beat the odds.  Mr. Carlson pointed out a key characteristic that all entrepreneurs take risk to make money, and want to make a difference and “leave a mark”.

Seeing so many aspiring entrepreneurs made me wonder what would cause such a high failure rate. This article states that the reason is because “most small businesses are highly dependent on people.” Indeed, Ms. Lake stated that hiring and firing is integral, similarly, having people on her team with the same vision and goal. Throughout Ms. Lake’s speech, she mentioned several times that her company had to revaluate the direction of her company, due to the changing market demands. Perhaps, another reason why so many small businesses fail is due to failure to recognize the effects that changing market demands can have on the business.

Read more about the possible reasons for high failure rate:

http://exceleratedsuccess.com/business-and-marketing-strategies/why-do-80-of-small-businesses-fail-within-the-first-5-years-while-75-of-franchises-succeed/

Photo Credits:

Entrepreneur. N.d. Photograph. Western Libraries. Western University. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <http://www.lib.uwo.ca/news/business/2011/07/08/newbooks711variationsonathemeentrepreneurship.html>.

In Class 17, guest speaker, Carson Woo talked about the importance of information technology and using it to collect data for analyzing one’s organization. It left me pondering which company is successfully using I.T. to grow and make its business more profitable. As it turns out, more than just the world’s largest retailer, Walmart has successfully implemented technology into its strategies. Ever since the establishment of the universal bar code, power slightly shifted from manufacturers to retailers. As compared to other companies, Walmart has been able to adopt sophisticated technology that exploits the information behind the bar code, helping develop ways to monitor its inventory and more efficiently manage its supply chain. This management information system is called “point-of-sale”:

“a computerized system that identifies each item sold, finds its price in a computerized database, creates an accurate sales receipt for the customer, and stores this item-by-item sales information for use in analyzing sales and reordering inventory.”

(Source: Prenhall)

Besides Walmart’s ability to efficiently handle information, it is able to recognize which products are selling slowly to prevent overstocking. This also links to Mahesh’s lecture on supply chain management, since this coordination allows the VP of Operations to operate at the lowest possible cost. I think many would agree that Walmart’s investment of over $600 million[i] in information systems enabled the company to take gigantic leap forward.

References:

Wilbert, Caroline. “How Wal-Mart Works.” HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. <http://money.howstuffworks.com/wal-mart.htm>.

“Walmart.” Information Systems – Useful Cases. Prentice-Hall Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. <http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/bp/app/alter/student/useful/ch1walmart.html>.

Photo Credits:

Walmart. N.d. Photograph. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. <http://socinnovation.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/sustainable-food-supply-systems-represent-important-social-innovation/>.

Being exposed to performance management and measures in Class 18 triggered a memory of an experience I had working in retail. The store that I worked at had a heat sensor installed at the entrance of the store, allowing the company to keep track of its performance. Everyday, it presents the company with data of the number of customers that walked into the store, and hence the average sales per customer is easily able to be calculated. The company is also able to measure the percentage of customers who walked in and made a purchase. By comparing last week’s or month’s numbers, the company is able to determine whether its performance has enhanced or worsened. Likewise, Hitachi was able recognize that there was an increase in average sales per customer by 15% with the use of a similar device. However, the issue with the heat sensor is that even babies in strollers and young children are classified as adults and considered as potential customers.

One might ask, why do companies use a performance management system, like a balanced scorecard? To me, the obvious main benefit is that it allows managers and management accountants to simultaneously view the several aspects of the company (ie, financial, customer).

Photo Credits:

The Balanced Scorecard. N.d. Photograph. The Agile Executive. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://theagileexecutive.com/2010/01/28/use-the-agile-triangle-instead-of-the-balanced-scorecard/>.