Month: October 2012

In the class on Tuesday, Instructors introduced us a whole concept called Social Entrepreneurship which is a kind of entrepreneurship that its goal is not maximizing profit but solving a social issue through an operation of an enterprise. Social Entrepreneurs run their businesses for the better being of society. Social Entrepreneurship has become increasingly popular across the globe. Particularly in China, Social Entrepreneurs are striving to gain recognitions from their local communities.

Here, I want to present a social enterprise in China called Canyou Group. Its founder and hemophiliac Zheng Weining established the business which is involved with software development, cartoons and animation, and e-commerce in providing job opportunities and living support for those with disabilities. It currently has 3,700 employees across the country and is looking forward to further growth in the future. In addition, Canyou is also a business incubator that helps the foundation of other social enterprises that enable the disabled to gain awareness and make full use of their potential. Just as what Zheng said “Because we are disabled, we need to be more beautiful,” if people with disabilities get chances, they can be surprisingly good with their jobs because it shows the value of themselves.

China Daily News:

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2012-09/06/content_15739342.htm

Domestic or imported, it doesn’t seem to be a huge issue in our modern society. People get products that are Made in China or Made in Japan all the time. The utility of a product seems way more essential than where its origin is.

However, a few months ago, an issue regarding the sovereignty of some islands between China and Japan has caught many business experts’ attentions. According to the Globe and Mail, many Japanese auto makers are suffering huge downfalls in sells as Chinese citizens have started to buy less Japanese made goods.

People around the world are curious about this silent boycott involving Chinese consumers and Japanese suppliers. Why does the nationality of goods suddenly become so sensitive? Don’t people often ignore the origin and focus on the utility of a product?

Perhaps, business is never that simple. A company may never be able to accurately predict the success of its business because customers’ exact minds are unpredictable. A political issue between nations may result in an earthquake in the business world. However, it is up for the businesses to figure out ways to minimize the effect of these unpredictable external crises.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/japanese-auto-makers-see-plunge-in-china-sales-after-island-row/article4591249/

In order for geographical expansion to happen, some brands decide to diverse their products line and create more local fashion products to satisfy the needs of different countries; some brands choose to have huge price differences between their stores located in different areas to attract customers from all classes.

However, “fast-fashion” brands like H&M of Sweden, Zara of Spain… are all keen on a very similar strategy which is same style and price for everyone. The designs of these mega brands are suitable to every market around the world. There’s no such thing as a special design for a single country. The fact that all stores have similar products makes different areas have similar prices as well. Prices remain relatively constant across the globe. Just like McDonalds sell similar products everywhere and people accept them as what they are. Customers across the globe have also been accepting the concept of “Democratic style and price” as a classic H&M style hoodie is well sold almost everywhere.

Thus to learn from H&M, in order for a business to expand worldwide, diversify of product line in trying to fit into the local culture is not necessarily needed.

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-10/01/content_15794529.htm