Sharmaine Kwok's blog

Macintosh, a flourishing company, is an example of a company with a high priority in forecasting. So what exactly is a forecast? A forecast is a probability distribution, and NEVER a single number, it describes a likelihood. However, the bizarre thing is, a forecast is usually wrong. So, what causes a forecast to screw up? A forecast is based on informative data such as surveys and opinions from consumers .Typically, a forecast screw up is based on faulty data, insufficient research and differences from test market with actual market. So what are the consequences to these screw ups? Overstock or lack of stock problems, which may lead to disappointed and lost customers which can result in a poor recency rep and a decrease in profits. For example, Mac’s new iPhone 4 is a big hit internationally, with appropriate and adequate forecasting, Mac was able to forecast the demand for the product and provide adequate stock.  With the high consequences of poor forecasting, Mac gives high priority to forecasting, which contributes to its success.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

In our Comm101 classes, we have alluded to the Enron scandal several times already. So what is the Enron scandal? And what caused a large company like this to collapse?

Enron’s collapse was not because it had gotten too big, but because it was perceived by other to be much bigger than it actually was. It decentralized its operations into numerous shell corporations, they were able to hide their losses. Enron’s losses were held off, with only their assets being stated. This made Enron the darling of Wall Street. It was able to expand into e-commerce and other ventures. Their stocks rose, which made employee compensations and pension (in the form of stocks) seem very attractive. Enron’s scandal did not happen by accident. It was facilitated by corporate dishonesty which encouraged greed.

In class 6 (Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2010), we discussed brand positioning, and how a company is able to position its product in the mind of a consumer even though the consumer is being constantly bombarded with a non-stop stream of advertising. We talked about leading products such as Coca-Cola, and how its successful advertisement and marketing strategies was able to allow it to stick in the minds of consumers. During today’s discussion, I was thinking about popular brands in today’s society and the reason behind its popularity. For example, in class I’ve noticed that many of my peers own at least one “Mac” product, whether it was an Iphone, Ipod or Macbook, everyone seemed to possess a product that belonged to Mac. I was wondering what contributed to the success of Mac and I realized that it was through Mac’s strategic marketing campaign, and its ability to form a positive perception in the mind of a consumer. It is crucial that a brand such as Mac nullify its competition (PC) by matching them on the point of parity and distinguishing their own points of differences in order to claim superiority and exclusiveness over PC in the computer market.

Often when people hear the term social media, they think of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Youtube, etc. This proves that social media is popular in our society. The market for social media has been growing rapidly since we stepped foot into the 2000 era. Social media is not only useful for large companies and corporations, but also for individuals. Social media is not a fad that will come and go, it is here to stay. Although the forms of social media will transform, it is for sure, that it will stay. Social media is useful for some companies. It is mandatory for companies to dedicate a social media team in order to succeed. This team together, will manage the new world of online communities, which will help them defend against threats and finding constructive ways to engage. Like mophile phones, it might start to get outdated if the company doesn’t continue to innovate, but if they understand what their consumers want and continue to innovate, customers will continue to buy them, like the iPhone. It has proven its use for companies and individuals alike.  

Social Media Revolution: 

http://doteduguru.com/id4515-is-social-media-a-fad-social-media-revolution-video.html

A reflection on class #2 (Tuesday, Sept 14/10):
I remember on the first day of class we were asked whether we thought it was ethical or not for companies to sell the same product for more to one type of consumers and less to another. I remembered clearly, thinking that this marketing strategy was unfair because the price was dependent on the consumer and not the product itself. But, during this class, we discussed about the Tato Nano and its introduction to the North American market. During this discussion, I found out that the retail price of the Tato was $2500cdn in India while it was hitting the market here at just under $10,000. Looking at the differences of the prices (just under 5 times more in North America than India), I wonder what the factors affecting the dramatic price difference is:

(1) Worker Wage: Without hesitation, we definitely agree that the wages in North America are a lot higher than that of India. Because of the high wages that employees benefit from here, the cost of production inflates significantly 
(2) Safety precautions: It is the law that operation vehicles must be equipped with 4+ safety airbags, windshield wipers etc. The cost of these materials also inflate the price of production also.

Through this lecture, I realized that my thoughts have been biased. I only stood at the perspective of the consumer and failed to recognize both sides. The Tato Nano is considered a luxury for developing countries such as India, while the Tato may only be seen as a cheap car targeted for consumers with a low budget in North America.
For your reference: This is the current mode of travel in India

The major purpose of many large companies and corporations are to earn profit. With this in mind, many companies start to become corrupt and disregard the importance of ethics. The lack of business ethics in China (in the article http://businessethicsblog.com/2010/08/30/business-ethics-in-china/), such as tainted milk powder, lead paint in toys, and injecting water in meat to increase weight, reduces the chances of the country’s ability to flourish and prosper in the business world. The main ethical issue in this case is deception. Companies use cheap resources in exchange of actual materials that they should be using, in order to increase their profit. Consumers are not given full knowledge of the product they are purchasing and pay extra money to the companies. Ethics are an important aspect of a company, it governs the exchange of goods between a company and the consumer. It is a company’s social responsibility to follow through with business ethics.

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