The easiest way for a company to motivate their employees is to reward them with a higher pay, or a bonus check, but is this the most effective? Studies have shown that once employees reach a certain minimum of satisfaction with their salary, they can no longer be motivated with money. Justin Tiu briefly touches on this idea.

Employees cannot be motivated solely by extrinsic motivators. This is a short term strategy that does not develop the firm. Therefore, intrinsic motivators like job empowerment, inclusion, development and healthy personal relationships play a larger role. These intrinsic motivators vary from person to person, but certain initiatives can make a huge difference. Teams can be be given more empowerment to innovate by transforming them into self-managed teams. This will not only give them job satisfaction, but innovation is encouraged and is highly beneficial for the firm. With enough intrinsic motivators, employees will start to act organizational citizenship behaviour. This will boost the firm’s organizational culture, creating positivity, but also increase productivity.

For me, the definition of commerce is people. Individuals interacting with one another, exchanging goods and service and building relationships. For this to happen, firms but create happy workers by incorporating company events, job benefits and systems of good working conditions. The effects of these investments may not be felt in the short run, but companies that are persistent will be one step ahead in the future.

Justin Tiu’s Blog: ‘Employee Motivation’

Employee Motivation

Tech Blogger, Sarah Frier, of Bloomberg writes comments on the burden that is placed on HP’s new CEO, Meg Whitman. She quotes John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco Systems, that he discouraged her from becoming the CEO of HP. Was this because of the lack of qualifications Meg Whitman had, or the state of the company, HP?

Mark Hurd, the CEO of HP from 2005 to 2010, was a competent leader that brought HP’s stock performance skyrocketing. This can be seen in the following chart, as well as the improvements he made when he went into NCR and the Oracle:

His effective cost cutting strategies, excellent interpersonal skills and leadership transformed HP into a profitable, successful technology company. However, due to a sexual assault accusation, Mark Hurd was dismissed from the firm in 2010. Since then, HP’s performance has been falling. The proceeding CEO, Leo Apotheker, failed to continue HP’s success and instead, invested money into mergers that results in many internal conflicts. Due to his lack of commitment he was fired within 11 months. At this point in time, HP was suffering many legal issues and problems within the organization regarding employees, management and corporate image. The Board of Directors needed a CEO to bring HP up from its knees. They chose Meg Whitman.

Meg Whitman was previously the CEO of the famous trading corporation, eBay. However, this past experience of Whitman was very different to the needs of HP. Instead of focusing on future trends and innovative products, she chose to focus on hardware products that were becoming outdated. She had no expertise in technology companies and was stubborn in her decisions. Currently, HP is still suffering from leadership issues and is searching for a way to rise from the ashes. Unfortunately, Meg Whitman is not the CEO to accomplish this task.

Tech Blog: http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-09-25-chambers-on-whitman-taking-hp-reins-i-would-have-told-her-not-to/

Although studies show that 75% of small businesses fail, Canada’s high business costs add onto the intimidation that is felt by new entrepreneurs. Roy Huang, in his blog post called ‘Unappealing Canadian Costs’, clearly underlines the problems small business owners are facing in regards to costs of rent, goods and start up expenses. The following chart, taken from the Financial Post, shows the stark difference between the United States of America and Canada.

Small businesses increase a country’s GDP and develop networks, infrastructure and allow for innovation. However, when entrepreneurs face the higher costs of starting a business of Canada, they begin to look at other options. Is this ultimately healthy for the Canadian economy? I think not. Similar to why large corporations decide to outsource their labor, jobs are given to people outside of the country. Canadians avoid giving back to their country and ultimately, Canada will plateau in the number of business owners.

Other than the consequence of fewer businesses existing in Canada’s market, pre-existing Canadian businesses cannot compete in pricing when they are up against the States. An example of this is the number of Canadian citizens that cross the U.S. boarder to purchase goods because of the lower costs (and in some states, no taxes). We may not feel the effects significantly at this point, but the increasing trends of moving businesses may soon take a detrimental toll on our economy.

We can already see the effects of the American markets overcoming our own in a case that happened this recent year. Target Co. bought out the Canadian own company, Zellers. Not only did they take away from Canada’s culture by eliminating one of our own brands, but they are now dominating the country. With their fast and effective expansion strategies, Target stores are appearing as quick as the Walmart locations did. In order to prevent Canada from becoming ‘American-ized’, the federal government must take a serious look at the future of Canadian businesses.

Qi Lun (Roy) Huang’s blog post: https://blogs.ubc.ca/royhuang/2013/11/15/unappealing-canadian-costs/

Financial Posts’ statistics on Canadian costs vs. American costs: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/01/21/red-tape-week-the-cost-of-doing-business-in-canada-and-the-u-s/

With the technological advances of the 21st century, many individuals are seeing the changes in the number of and the type of jobs. Workers are slowly becoming replaced with machines and the only way to win these races are to ‘race with machines.’ This idea is fully flushed through by Erik Brynjolfsson in his TedTalk about the key to growth. However, what are the options for people that don’t want to go this route?

Amway Corporation has received a surplus of backlash due to its past errors. The sales representatives, or what they call, Independent Business Owners, were never put through a proper recruitment process with training. Due to a lack of procedural hiring with a fully detailed job description, anyone could own their own business (like their slogan states). However, currently, they are putting in efforts to change this negative image.

Organizations like the World Wide Dream Builders (WWDB) have set up a mentorship and training program combined with a strict recruitment process to ensure that the best possible candidates represent the business. They are partnered with Amway who supply them all of the products. However, it is up to the organization to find the right people. In a time when students take on huge debts after post-secondary and the retirement age continuously gets pushed later, Amway and WWDB have put together a perfect system for people with the right qualities to become financially independent.

WWDB and Amway has created a quick start-up business with low costs for any entrepreneur. Their business plan has been tested for years with quality proven products and numerous success stories. Amway has significantly increased their reward system this past year, increasing extrinsic incentives. Furthermore, partnered with the WWDB, they do not fail to address the intrinsic motivators of their IBOs

Source: World Wide Dream Builders Function in Portland, Oregon 2013

TedTalks Video by Erik Brynjolfsson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sod-eJBf9Y0

On a trip to Metrotown with my younger sister last weekend, we lined up for some Burger King. I noticed the ads for the new diet friendly french fries and asked my sister what she was going to buy. She doubted the taste of these Gratifries and said, “I’d rather eat a little of the good stuff.” Most individuals tend to have a notion that healthier alternatives to fatty foods don’t give the same satisfaction. So, will these Gratifries satisfy taste buds?

Currently, many consumers are purchasing these diet fries due to curiosity. However, the question is whether or not Burger King can uphold their sales volume in the long run.

Furthermore, the health conscious may slowly turn their backs on these new fries as they want to avoid justification for overeating, which is a developing problem with the innovation of diet foods. This can be seen on a new article from Slimband: http://slimband.com/weight-loss-blog/are-burger-kings-new-lower-fat-fries-really-a-better-choice/

For me, my goal is to try these Gratisfries and see if they can satisfy my cravings.

Satisfries, Gratifries, Magnifrites: Why the different names?

Burger King’s marketing department has done extensive research and analysis to come down with a different name for their new recipe. In America, they are commercialized as Satisfries. However, in Canada, it is called Gratifries in the English-speaking regions and Magnifrites in Quebec. So why did they create so many names?

Psychology plays a huge role in marketing (which is why many business students take PYSC courses). The way different people from various cultures respond to words makes a difference in the feeling they receive from the menu item. Although the names can cause confusion to those traveling, it gives them a sense of familiarity. What do these three names make you feel? Which one is the most attractive?

Spark’s Idea: Fair trade Fast Food

“Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at a fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer who grew the potatoes.”

This sentence in the article reminded me of the ethics class we received in COMM 101.

Is it fair for companies to pay their suppliers such a small portion because of their market power? Large corporations, with their buyer power over suppliers, are forcing suppliers to lower their prices. If not, they may even threaten to change sources, causing a stress on the supplier. Due to the exploitation of these incidents, more and more people are realizing the importance of fair-trade products. Maybe a fast-food company will cleverly design a way to make fair-trade their advantage, marketing to a different segment of people. This can positively contribute to their Corporate Social Responsibility and build brand image.

You can watch an interview with the Burger King North America president, Alex Macedo, here, as well as the news article: http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/10/4/Burger-King-tries-to-fatten-margins-with-skinny-fries.aspx

Do you go to McDonald’s for their Chicken Caesar salad or their notorious Big Mac? It’s probably the latter. Quite recently, fast food restaurants have been trying to adjust to changing views on healthy eating. However, they have not managed to reap the benefits out the trend. This can be seen at their attempts of new options such as yogurt parfaits, salads and fruits. However, with the lack of sales, Burger King understood that these strategies were not effective.

Burger King’s new lower calorie, lower fat option French fries called ‘Satisfries’ in America, or ‘Gratifries’ in Canada, are making the headlines. Burger King’s shares have sky rocketed with a new record high of an 18% increase. This is because they found the trick to riding the health trend – making a healthier option for a product that consumers couldn’t resist having: French fries. To accomplish this without compromising taste, they mixed up a new batter recipe that is less porous rather than decreasing the amount of potatoes used. This recipe decreases the amount of oil the fries absorb when they are deep-fried. Customer reviews show satisfaction and huge sales confirm that this change may evolutionize the fast food industry.

Burger King strategically invested in the creation of healthier French fries. On top of the profitability of French fries with huge, Satisfries have a value proposition that enables them to charge thirty cents more per serving. All of this, combined with a safe patent, is Burger King’s ‘recipe for success’.

Burger King’s new competitive advantage is strongly marketing online as news headlines and customer reviews make presence. However, other fast food burger companies must step up to keep their market share. This is especially true for the fast-food leader, McDonalds. They must re-evaluate their position in the market and find strategies to avoid facing detrimental effects.

China was a country that Facebook could not dominate. Unlike in Canada, you wouldn’t see people there constantly checking their news feed or posting statuses about how they’re feeling. It was censored. The Communist Part of China, with the purpose of ‘safety’ and ‘security’, had blocked access to Facebook and other social networking sites like Twitter. However, this is all about to change. Due to the constraints foreigners have when visiting China, they plan to unblock these sites in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. What does this mean for Facebook and Twitter? I see an image of directors cheering, but also hustling. With a sudden surge of Facebook users, the IT Department must be able to hold up to the demands. If they are able to do this, they have won the lottery. This step made by the Communist Party shines light on that censorship might also be decreased in other areas as the country develops and welcomes more foreigners. This external opportunity is one that Facebook must seize. This may be the chance for them to bounce back from recent negativity about the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements.

There are many other variables that can be overlooked with this event. One of them includes that QQ, the most visited social networking site in China, may be threatened. It is just the Shanghai FTZ that is unblocking Facebook and Twitter, but this change may make a huge difference. Soon, as western sites gain more access, QQ and other Chinese sites may be struggling for survival.

If you’re interested, check the article out!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-allow-facebook-twitter-access-635027

Recent events have been causing a stir at UBC and in our community. Not only are my parents calling to ask about the issue, but friends from other universities seem even more educated than I am.

I had not attended FROSH 2013, but was still greatly influenced by the aftermath of the ‘rape chants’. Frowning on the situation, I agree with most of the steps that are being taken by authority- especially those that are preventing similar events from happening again. However, is it justified to graffiti on UBC buildings and react to a vulgar situation unethically? Is it okay for Ubyssey to curse their own school members by saying ‘Sauder kids…stop being a**holes’ in their article “…Sauder Jerks” and judge them as a whole? I apologize for the cliche in advance, but two wrongs do not make a right. While the Dean and staff are trying to fix the problem, individuals are adding onto the problem in an unethical manner. This not only discourages improvements, but places a darker shadow over the reputation of UBC as a whole.

This event should not be and is not being overlooked. I hope that the general public will help us improve the mentality of our students and refrain from being unethical in doing so. For Sauder students and all UBC community members, starting a sunny day with a demeaning phrase spray painted on school property was not helpful in creating a positive and ethical mindset for school.

Ubyssey news article about the graffiti: http://ubyssey.ca/news/sauder-koerner-graffiti-121/

Ubyssey opinion article: http://ubyssey.ca/opinion/last-words-sept-005/