Facing competition from Apple, Blackberry, Microsoft, and a host of other companies, Google has made a bid in order to strengthen the positon of its organization in the realm of mobile phones. A couple of months ago, Google carried out its largest acquisition to date when it purchased Motorola Mobility for around $12.5 billion. One of my classmates, Maria Fung, posted about the acquisiton, and presented a unique approach to the issue. Her blog post, entitled Google buys Motorola ,  expresses her opinion on how the acquistion and integration of Motorola with the Google brand will increase Google’s market power and reduce risk:

I beg to differ.

Google’s Android technology is used by countless cellphone companies (such as Samsung, LG, HTC, to name a few) and perhaps buying one of these companies competitors will not reduce risk, but increase it. The way I see it is the Android technology will now be available to Motorola phones first: Google will harness Motorola to try and push back at the progress made by the notable mobile tycoons, Apple and RIM’s Blackberry. Google could actually lose market share by pushing its now-competitors to developing their own technology or turning to alternatives.

Essentially Google went from having a handful of friends to facing a group of foes. But is Google’s goal to become a mobile frontrunner out of reach? Not at all.

Link to Maria’s blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/mfungcomm101/

Innovation. It’s a word we throw around all the time: for me I define a social innovator as someone who directs a significant problem away from a path of destruction, towards a path of construction. That’s why when I stumbled upon social entrepreneur  Jyothindra Nath, I was truly inspired by what I found. As opposed to trying to seek government intervention or aid from the private sector, social entrepreneurs identify a problem and, to put it simply, try to fix it by implementing inventive solutions. They can alter the fate of a society just by starting the conversation and getting attention to the problem.  In 2006, at the age of 20, Jyothindra Nath founded a non-profit social enterprise called Youth United based out of Chandigarh, India. Youth United is about empowering the youth of the nation to help each other and tackle problems such as primary education, gender equity, and maternal health.

In short, Jyothindra Nath and his organization believe in the potential of India’s youth and are seeking ways in which the hundreds of millions in the next generation can improve their own futures.  As someone who has seen the disparity in India first hand and lived in a rural village for over 2 months, I cannot quantify my appreciation and admiration for this social entrepreneur and the feats his organization is conquering. India is a different world, the sadness truly lies within every bright child who has all the potential in the world, but will stay in the vicious cycle of poverty; all because there were no accessible resources. 

Jyothindra Nath is the embodiement of the phrase “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Read more about Youth United here: http://www.youthunited.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=31&Itemid=54

Outsourcing in a nutshell:

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a dramatization. But in all seriousness the decision to outsource a sector of a company overseas is fairly significant when discussing managerial accounting. The over-riding question is: Is it worth it? When most of us think of outsourcing overseas, some ideas that come to mind are: cutting costs, and lowering wages. But maybe the question isn’t “is it worth it to outsource?”; but “HOW can a company make it worthwile to outsource?” Instead of viewing outsourcing as a means through which a company is divided and essentially split up, perhaps it’s time to see how outsourcing can be harnessed to create a stronger organization as a whole. For the past twenty odd years, traditionally jobs in IT management, customer service, and data collection (to name a few) have been sents overseas, and become detached from the company as a whole. To read more, there is an insightful article in Bloomberg Businesweek talks about “tapping in to the global talent pool” when talking about the future of outsourcing.

In short, outsourcing can be a platform for globalization as well as an expansion opportunity for a company.

Every once in a while we all come across an article that ignites thought and challenges our imagination.

Renewable energy is an industry that is continually growing as environmental concerns have risen over the years. University of Virginia graduates Chip Ransler and Manoj Sinha are powering Indian villages; one rice husk at a time. The business is called Husk Power Systems and uses empty rice husks leftover from harvest and turns them into biogas which then fuel miniature power plants. But the buck doesn’t stop there, the ash then accumulated from the gas can be used as a fertilizer or a cost-effective portion of cement.  In India as hundred’s of millions of homes remain unlit, it’s great to know that one solution is sustainable and manageable for countless communities.

Click to read more about this dynamic duo’s: Bright Idea’s

How can a company maintain high productivity and generate innovation, all while keeping its workers motivated and inspired to create new ideas. The answer lies within the realms of organizational culture.  When analysing any company, the dynamics are generally quite diverse; employees have differentiable needs, goals, work habits, and motivators. One central unifier of an organization is its culture and relationship each person holds with the company itself.  This culture is easily visible and measurable when seeing the way workers act when they’re not being monitored: It’s a set of common beliefs shared by the entire organization. Companies around the world recognize organizational culture as fundamental in keeping workers satisfied, motivated, and happy. Google has become masterful and creating new ideas; undoubtedly a by-product of having such a strong culture.

They have the right balance. My question in regards to organizational culture, is how much is too much? Take Zappos for example: I love how focused they are on creating an open environment and bringing enjoyability to the office, where workers are intrinsically motivated and focused on customer service. If you take a look at what CEO Tony Hsieh’s desk looks like below, you’ll imediately catch on to the open office policy the company has created.

But will the finance department still be racing toy cars when the company is losing revenue? Will staffers still blow horns and ring cowbells if the profit isn’t rising by 5%? Is Zappos’ culture too extreme? I question the longevity of this kind of culture in the workplace, but only time will tell.

How much organizational culture is too much?