Chances are the last time you watched the Breaking bad finale, you couldn’t help but to share your absolute infatuation with the show by voicing your sadness that the show has ended along with an unhealthy and excessive use of hashtags. Or that your favorite football or hockey team just lost in the playoffs and it is absolutely imperative for you to articulate your frustration. Whatever it may be, twitter has transformed into a powerful tool for voicing our thoughts, emotion and feelings and connecting with others who share our common interests. With Twitter’s relatively small niche of digital advertising campaigns targeting a small consumer segment, its recent partnerships with CBS, MTV and the NFL fortifies its commitment to diversify its revenue stream.

A larger consumer segment offers potential growth of the firm, and with the recent upsurge in popularity of TV shows and sports, twitters stake in TV advertising can prove to be extremely beneficial. With the recent shift from a private to public company, Nielsen can use Twitter’s data to measure online social activity related to TV programming which might be beneficial for Twitter to receive instantaneous feedback and track its success with its recent acquisition of TV advertising and partnerships. However, the looming threat of competition from Facebook might be worrying for twitter, since facebook has a larger user base. Only time will tell whether Twitter’s stake in the TV advertising industry will pay off.

References:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/07/twitter-tunes-into-tv-chatter-sees-future-in-advertising-partnerships/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/twitter-exploring-tv-related-advertising-ahead-of-ipo-1.1928356

http://pixel.nymag.com/content/dam/daily/vulture/2012/12/18/18-twitter-nielson.jpg

The key is in the ignition, the gears are set, the engine running in full throttle : Ford’s latest plan to greatly expand production and rival other car manufacturers is a step closer towards being number 1 in the car manufacturing industry. The No 2 U.S automaker in the world, according to the article, has targeted to build one – third more vehicles globally by expanding globally and adding more factories to increase production. This increases the economies of scale.

With the increasing commitment of boosting output and increasing margin, Ford could potentially attract further investment from stakeholders and increase their market share in the car manufacturing industry. However, Ford needs to consider the ethical implications of such a move; increasing working hours of employees might lead to disillusioned workers. In turn, disillusioned workers might demand higher wages increasing the factors of production for the firm, or workers might sway towards trade unions which would further stall Ford’s growth. In contrast, however, Ford could and is investing in better technology to optimize and increase production efficiency and hence the aforementioned scenario might not occur. Regardless, increasing efficiency through adding more factories and expanding globally would help increase efficiency and production and might reduce variable costs per unit due to operational efficiencies which could benefit Ford in innovation of new products thus resulting in increased investment and greater growth.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl8f4CLb5x0

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/ford-aims-to-make-its-factories-more-flexible-efficient/article14725318/

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-aims-factories-more-flexible-180233234.html

With regards to my earlier post of Blackberry and its deception in leading stakeholders astray, I feel that Blackberry must rescue its operations by starting from scratch and modifying their business models.

Apart from the negative publicity and deterioration in stakeholder relationship, competition from Apple and Samsung with its touch screen counterparts have facilitated in paving the path towards the rotten state of nature Blackberry suffers in and the only way out is to revamp their business model ensuring diversity, innovation and an increase in stakeholder relationship leading to increasing investment and therefore greater growth. However, it also needs to conduct a swot analysis indicating its internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. They could also conduct a Porters Five Forces of analysis that represents the balance of power currently in their current business situation and assess the current competitive position. The fishbone diagram can also help in identifying problems and therefore the company can devise a strategy to fix them. With regards to my earlier blog post, misrepresenting the state of their operations have incurred a relevant cost for the company in terms of long term investment and public relations with the investing public.However, the seeds of the blackberry fruit have been scattered. They just need to be scattered in conditions where they can proliferate and grow.

References:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLJIc7UldJs

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/blackberry-hit-with-securities-shareholder-class-action/article14713440/

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

In November 2006, Webster’s New World College Dictionary named the ‘New Word of The Year’, ‘Crackberry’. The word ‘Crackberry’ was greatly alluded to one of the most endearing and thriving business corporations in the world : Blackberry.The seeds were scatted and  the company was ripe for the taking.

Fast forward 7 years later, and the seeds are scattered, but the fruit is rotting. In relation to my last blog post about ethics, according to the article, Blackberry’s decision to lead investors astray on the company’s future, in my opinion, is not only highly unethical but also leads to a highly unsustainable business model. In my view, it is imperative for a company to secure trust among its stakeholders in order for it to be successful and attract further investment. Deceiving their own stakeholders has not only lead to distrust and a decline in stakeholder relationship but has also induced a class action lawsuit further dampening the brand image and therefore resulting in lack of investment. This eventually leads to an unsustainable business model.

References:

http://crackberry.com/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/blackberry-hit-with-securities-shareholder-class-action/article14713440/