In class we discussed some presentation skills that are useful to us. Some incorrect presentation skills are reading off cards; poorly constructed slides and having no eye contact with audiences. Some other examples I would think of are wasting time, boring your audience, insulting your audience, using slides that are boring, irrelevant, or confusing, confusing your audience, lacking passion and so forth. While we are presenting we should keep an eye contact with the audience and move around the stage, speak slowly and precisely, be visual, test your presentation on other people beforehand, engage the audience and so forth. Ways to improve your presentation skills are structuring your presentation, practising but not memorizing and also rehearsing. Effective presentation skills are important. They are important to individual success, business success, stress reduction, time management, leadership and public image and opinion. Every leader needs to have the ability to stand up and deliver a clear and inspiring message. Business leaders are often expected to present their message with confidence and clarity to investors, partners, clients, staff and sometimes the public. Better presentations don’t guarantee you success but they give you a better fighting chance of success.

This blog is originally from Jerica Lee and here are my comments on this issue.

Job satisfaction is an individual’s general attitude towards his or her job. People who have high level of job satisfaction hold positive attitudes toward the job and vice versa. I think among the major job-satisfaction factors, enjoying the work is almost the one which is most strongly linked to high levels of general job satisfaction.  Jobs that provide training, variety, independence, and control satisfy most employees. The correlation between job satisfaction and job performance is moderately strong. If you do a good job, you intrinsically feel good about it. In addition, your higher productivity should increase your recognition; increase your pay level, and your likelihood of promotion. Cumulatively, these rewards, in turn increase your level of satisfaction with the job.

Strength:
-The business is ranked first in the Fortune Magazine’s 2008 list of most admired food service companies.
-They are a global company operating more than approximately 23,500 restaurants in 109 countries.
-They have an efficient, assembly line style of food preparation.

Weakness:
-High employee turnover in their restaurants leads to more money being spent on training

Opportunities:
-In today’s health conscious societies the introduction of a healthy hamburger is a great opportunity
-Provide optional allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free.

Threats:
-Major competitors, like Burger King, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, KFC and any mid-range sit-down restaurants.

McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurant. McDonald’s are extremely famous all over the world as my SWOT analysis reflects the strength that they are operating more than 23,500 restaurants in 109 countries. It has little weaknesses and threats as compare to opportunities and strengths. Even though their products: hamburgers, fries, nuggets, cokes and so forth, have a relatively high level of fat and calories, they’re now trying to promote a healthier line such as salad.

The company I have chosen is Apple.  Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers.The company’s best known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.  Apple is a very successful business as we all witness the popularity of iPhone 4 or 4S and iPad as well as Macbook. There is more demand than supply for iPhone 4S as many customers must reserve them before purchasing instead of simply walk in and buy them. Apple has new products, new production methods, new markets and new forms of organization.   Regarding innovation, Steve Jobs has done a great job there.

This blog is originally from Oscar Lai and here are my comments on this issue.

The Obama administration is now introducing a “Pre-check” program that will filter people according to their potential threat to aviation. This system assures the safety and security of the USA however somehow violated the privacy of those passengers. There might be some passengers who are not feeling comfortable with sharing personal information with the airport but they don’t have a chance to reject this since this is the rule and policy. I understand the purposes behind all these actions, however, I disagree with them.  The USA could have used other methods in order to protect their country instead of taking all these actions since somehow it is not so respectful.

The Canadian economy added a surprising 61,000 jobs in September, virtually all in full-time employment and half of them in B.C., Statistics Canada reported Friday.The job growth helped push the country’s unemployment rate down to 7.1 per cent, the lowest since December 2008.Economists had been expecting 15,000 jobs to be added, and for the unemployment rate to remain steady at 7.3 per cent.The country added 63,800 full-time jobs, but part-time employment slipped by 2,900.

This news has given hope to the falling economy of Canada. People who have been unemployed should now have motivation to go seek new jobs as opportunities are out there waiting for them.  As more people are employed, then economy might be started to reach a better state.

Women who work night shifts might be at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease, new Canadian research suggested. Joan Tranmer, a nurse for 30 years who is now a full-time researcher and teacher, and a team of researchers from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., found that approximately one in five middle-aged women who do shift work has at least three of the risk indicators for heart disease.

The research looked at 227 women between the ages of 22 and 66 from two hospitals in south-eastern Ontario. The women were nurses, administrative employees and lab and equipment technicians who all worked a range of shift rotations. Within the group, 17 per cent had metabolic syndrome with three of the identified risk factors. High blood pressure was found in 38 per cent and most notable was that 60 per cent of participants had a high waist circumference.

I think maintaining a healthy body and diet is very essential to life. Nothing goes before health. Shift workers should exercise regularly and eat healthily in order to maintain a balance between working and health. We need to be fit in order to stay motivated in the work place.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/10/21/health-shift-workers-heart-risk.html

One of the more concerning problems to the ongoing crisis in Europe is that the demographics of much of Europe will only get worse in the coming future. It does not seem sustainable to expect the increasingly small cohorts of European young people to pay for the retirements of their elders. This is particularly troublesome in a continent with free movement of labour. It has become the worst fear of politicians in America and Europe: after the immediate crisis passes, the developed world will settle into a lost decade of low growth and deflation, just like Japan.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who revolutionized technology through his design, marketing and creation of personal computers and mobile devices, has died at 56. The man who forged Apple into a powerhouse and shaped how people listen to music and how they use computers died peacefully surrounded by his family. Noticeably fragile, he had stepped down from Apple in late August to deal with the effects of an unspecified illness. Jobs had been treated earlier for pancreatic cancer after first being diagnosed in 2004.
What is apple going to do without Steve Jobs? Can it operate normally?

There is already a sharp drop in Apple’s shares. His death will lead to the loss of future customers. Customers might choose other brands since Jobs had passed away and they might lost confidence in Apple’s products as Jobs was the initiator.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/chophilip21/

Hong Kong has introduced a minimum wage that is expected to benefit 270,000 low-paid workers, or around 10% of the working population. Workers will now earn a minimum of HK$28 per hour. Business leaders say small businesses will be forced to lay off staff. Some employers have re-hired workers on new contracts with unpaid meal breaks and rest days to avoid paying a higher wage bill. Establishing minimum wage might seem to benefit many workers but actually not. Many employers have decided to lay off some employees in order to decrease the companies’ expenses. This leads to more unemployment. Doing this eventually increases the remaining workers’ workload as they’re also working on extra duties in order to replace those who got fired.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13248027