Samantha Dodson's Blog

James Cleveland, a social entrepreneur, created Jumpstart, a program that is intended to help young children improve their cognitive and emotional development. Social entrepreneurship, a type of business that was explained in class, has many similarities to traditional entrepreneurial companies but the main detail that separates the two businesses is profit. Traditional entrepreneurial companies want to make profit whereas social entrepreneurial companies have a vision to help societies. Jumpstart’s target demographic is children who live in low-income communities. One of Jumpstart’s beliefs is that, “regardless of social or economic circumstance — enter the world with potential and deserve an equal chance for success in school and in life”. One of Jumpstarts tactics for teaching their children is to give them one-on-one assistance with an adult mentor. This kind of help allows children to receive assistance that suits their learning needs. Moreover, the company has looked into several statistics concerning children, particularly in America, and how they are unprepared to learn when entering school. Jumpstart hopes that by teaching children how to read, learn, and socialize before they enter kindergarten it will result in these children receiving better jobs in the future. So far, Jumpstart children have shown to have significantly, “greater progress in language, literacy, and social skills than children who are not enrolled in Jumpstart”.

45 Social Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World

Lululemon Athletica, a company that focuses on yoga-inspired athletic apparel, has a manifesto (Lululemon’s Manifesto)which includes the company’s core beliefs, and it encourages its staff and customers to follow it daily. A major part of the company’s culture consists of employees setting goals for themselves. This includes setting personal, health, and career goals. Ultimately, the company has a healthy and proactive image that is portrayed through its employees, merchandise (including eco-friendly products), charities, and media. Moreover, the company goes beyond selling merchandise; it host in-store events that include self-defense, goal-setting workshops, and free yoga classes. Lululemon has been able to successfully portray their healthy living image through its services and products. This kind of image has become more attractive to consumers as health and wellbeing and being eco-friendly are emerging trends in our society, as mentioned in class.

This is Lululemon’s Breast Cancer Halifax Window Campaign. The writing on the window says, “We can’t cover up the effects of breast cancer. Have you been checked lately?”. The company has advertised this campaign which proves that the company believes that helping our communities is not only the right thing to do, but it is good business.

Popular and Successful American companies realize there is a place in the Canadian market for them. Not long ago Hollister Co., cousin to upscale and trendy Abercrombie and Fitch, entered the Canadian market by opening stores in British Columbia. This gave people living in places like Vancouver better access to this brand of clothing. No longer do Vancouverites have to travel to Seattle so that they can purchase the Hollister brand. Hollister realized that there was a demand for their business and took the opportunity to expand. Other companies like Sephora and Forever 21 realized a strong demand for their stores in British Columbia and have done very well by opening stores across the border. Best Buy, affiliated to Canada’s Future Shop, has opened stores and is giving Canadian consumers a second big electronics store to shop. Other big US stores to recently cross the border include Whole Foods and Costco. Target, a slightly upscale Walmart, is planning on making homes for a number of stores across Canada within the next three to four years, so the battle between American companies could payoff for Canadian consumers. This exhibits the strategy that numerous companies are executing in order to try and gain broader consumers, which is a strategy that has been mentioned in class.

I have had many people throughout my life ranging from friends to family members to strangers who have all inspired me to be the person I am today. However, it is my boyfriend from four years who has really opened up my eyes and shown me to see the world and my life in a different, yet better way.

l have always been a really tense and worrisome person which has caused me to put a lot of pressure and stress on myself. I even tend to worry about simple, insignificant affairs like choosing which meal to have for dinner (almost as if i’m thinking that if I choose the wrong meal then it’s the end of the world!). Why am I like this? I’m not entirely sure, but I know that a part of it has to do with the fact that I am a perfectionist. Having said that, my boyfriend has helped me throughout the years to calm me down and realize that everything doesn’t need to be taken so seriously. I have had some pretty bad moments where I experience high anxiety; however, my boyfriend has been there to tell me that everything is going to be ok and sends me some of Bob Marley’s songs, like “Three Little Birds” to listen to. After listening to some of Bob Marley’s songs, the lyrics really opened up my eyes and taught me to be more relaxed, carefree, and easygoing. His mellow and untroubled lyrics and music always calm me down and make me realize that life shouldn’t be taken too seriously because, after all, everything tends to work out in the end.

Through research, news, and various media sources, it is clear that in the past decade Hewlett Packard has made poor decisions that demonstrate lack of ethical, moral and organizational justice. These events include corporate spying, sexual harassment, pay cuts, massive acquisitions and unexplained layoffs. Even though HP’s profits don’t seem to be currently affected by these incidents, there is a possibility that the company could encounter problems in the future if they ignore these issues. For example, many of these controversial events have weakened HP’s core values, a term referred to in class, and that has removed a sense of connection and unity in the workplace. HP used to have a family-like organizational culture, like Zappos does today, but this culture has diminished. Additionally, these events have caused organizational ambiguity as well as a decrease in job satisfaction, which ultimately reduces productivity and efficiency. These events have not only caused internal issues but external issues as well. Consequently, these problems have damaged HP’s public relations and customer loyalty.

While watching this video, think about how the company used to be compared to how it is now, and ask yourself if this is what the founders of HP envisioned the company to look like today.