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Today while reading the Science Blog I came across a very interesting article, which presented the natural phenomenon of how attractive people are more likely to land more competitive jobs and advance their careers. My first impression of this article was a severe disbelief because scientifically, attractiveness is not intercorrelated with intelligence. However, after reminiscing back to the concepts from my Organizational Behaviour class, I was able to conclude the statement to be true through the psychological OB perspective.

The article from the Science Blog presented a research from the New York Academy of Sciences stating that “attractiveness of interviewees can significantly bias outcome in hiring practices, showing a clear distinction between the attractive and average looking interviewees in terms of high and low status job packages offered.” One of the authors from this research added that, “when someone is viewed as attractive, they are often assumed to have a number of positive social traits and greater intelligence.” Although this observational study would seem to be influenced by a lurking variable, HR managers are fully aware of this phenomenon.

The idea that positive traits are immediately linked to the attractiveness of a person is known as the halo effect. The halo effect, as explained on page 43, from Chapter 2 in the Organizational Behaviour textbook, is a cognitive bias in which people would tend to focus solely on one characteristic on a person and therefore his or her overall judgment of that person is swayed towards that particular characteristic. This is the reason why attractive people are linked with traits such as high intelligence and hard working. Attractive people do not necessarily perform better in the workplace, but they are perceived as performing better due to the cognitive bias.

I noticed this upon myself when I was looking at my corporate role models, in which I only focus on their success factor and therefore I cognitively conclude that he/she is a nice person. In reality, although my corporate role model is indeed successful, I fail to noticed the fact that he treats people and colleagues awfully in the workplace.

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References

1.”Who knew? Good looking people get better jobs.” Science Blog, 6 Dec. 2007. Web. 01 Apr. 2017. < https://scienceblog.com/14974/who-knew-good-looking-people-get-better-jobs/>.

2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p.59

3. Image Source: http://kingofwallpapers.com/white-collar/white-collar-002.jpg

Shopping From Virtually Anywhere

At the turn of the 21st century, the development of the internet has allowed for crucial innovations, one of which is online shopping. These days, online shopping is an everyday activity people engage in, and has become a major source of consumer expenditure. Moreover, the growing demand in online shopping has created an opportunity for a manufacturers to sell their products to consumers directly without having to go through a retailer. This mutually benefits consumers and manufacturers because the manufacturers now have a higher producer surplus, for they can increase their selling price, and in turn consumers now buy at the manufacturers price, which is lower than the retailers price.

Furthermore, amongst the growing trend of online shopping, smaller manufacturers have found that a very effective business strategy is to first establish an online store, then after growing demand of the products, establish a physical store. This is because at the end of the day, the majority of consumers still want to see and feel the products physically.

Lee Broom successfully opening his first physical store in Soho, New York.

A British designer, Lee Broom, successfully executed this business strategy, when after he had been selling his products through his online store, he decided to open a monthlong popup store in Soho, New York. According to the NY Times article, his temporary store was extremely successful in which, “his sales in the United States jump by about 50 percent.” In the article Mr. Broom also said that “It went incredibly well” and “people want to see the pieces in person, get the scale, look at the materials and touch them.” After the success in his temporary store, he decided to open his own physical store near the area. Many small manufacturers, similar to Lee Broom, have adopted this business strategy and have seen a tremendous growth in sales.

After reading JiaYu’s blog post concerning Alibaba’s recent success, and about her position on online shopping, I have came to a conclusion that the business strategy I mentioned above, would only work in developed countries like the United States and Canada. This is based on the approach JiaYu had of online shopping where she says that online shopping in China is successful due to the fact that “many people in remote areas do not have access to some products in physical stores, while online shopping has given them a perfect way to solve that. But in Canada, people mostly live around big towns, so it is convenient for them to drive their cars to get what they want.” The reason this business strategy will not work for countries like China is because in China, online shopping acts essentially as a solution to the problem of consumers lacking the ability to travel to physical stores.

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Works Cited

McKeough, Tim. “Clicks to Bricks: Online Retailers Find the Lure of a Store.” The New York Times. N.p., 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Cao, JiaYu. “Can Alibaba’s success in 11.11 be duplicated in Canada? | JiaYu’s Blog.” JiaYuCao Blog. N.p., 13 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

These days, there is a decreasing importance on the length of time a business has been established for, but rather an increasing importance on what specific services or products can a business provide meeting demands of the society. Take Uber and General Motors as a simplistic example. As cited on Forbes, Uber, a 5 year old automotive tech-startup business, has just recently surpassed General Motors Company, which has been established for 107 years, in company valuation. Uber is able to quickly become a successful business and have a significantly large valuation of $68 billion dollars, due to their unique value proposition.

Uber’s $68 Billion dollar valuation surpasses many long established automobile manufacturers.

In Roan Allen’s blog, he conveniently gives an analysis of Uber’s strategy as well as a Business Model Canvas of Uber. Roan Allen agrees that the value proposition is among the most important aspect of a business, and goes on to say that “a great example of a P.O.D. is shown as Uber addresses the points of parity through their provision of transportation, and then adding a points of difference by having lower costs (generally), a rating system, driver details, an automatic payment system, etc.” Through recently acquired knowledge of business commerce 101, I also agree with Roan that a product/service must effectively have both a point of parity as well as a unique point of difference. 

Uber’s Business Model Canvas.

Likewise with Uber’s value proposition and Business Model Canvas, I came across a start-up company, BenchMade Modern, a company which focuses on manufacturing customize furniture, with similar elements as Uber. Upon reading about this fast growing and successful company, I decided to create my own BMS in order to compare with Uber to find what successful factor allows these two companies to shine. 

BenchMade Modern’s Business Model Canvas.

After creating this BMS for BenchMade Modern and comparing it with Uber’s, I found that the critical elements lie in the value proposition and the consumer segment. Like Uber, BenchMade Modern also has a pleasing value proposition, in which they are one of the few if not the first, to establish a furniture manufacturing company to specialize solely on customized furniture. This allows the company to have a strong P.O.D. over other furniture companies like IKEA for example. Moreover, the company also has an incredible manufacturing time in addition to providing free product delivery. Furthermore, there is a big opportunity for the company because they have a quickly growing consumer segment of millennials aged from 18 to 34.

If they can lower manufacturing costs even more and provide more products at low cost, IKEA will be looking at a particularly tough potential competitor. Hence, I believe that a company’s success is, for the large part, derived from a strong value proposition that effectively targets a large consumer segment.

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References:

1. Chen, Liyan. “At $68 Billion Valuation, Uber Will Be Bigger Than GM, Ford, And Honda”. Forbes. 4 December 2015.
2. Allen, Roan. UBC Blogs. 16 October 2016.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej stands with his mother (left), princess Srinagarindra (the Princess mother), and queen Sirikit (right) in 1982. Credit: Thierry Falise/LightRocket, via Getty Images

October 13, 2016, embeds an important mark for millions of Thai people around the globe. On this day, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has passed away. For over 70 years, he had ruled with poise and brilliance, which allowed Thailand to become what it is today. Other nations wonder why Thai people love our King so much. The answer lies deeply in the cultural roots of the Thai people; however, in short, it was due to his selfless actions and teachings that earned the love of his people.

“No matter how hard they try, people can not hold back their tears.” Credit: Wisit Thamngern

During this time of immense sadness and sorrow for the Thai people, the nation will experience an undoubtedly decrease in the economy. During the mourning period for the King’s passing, there will be a substantial decrease in the entertainment sector, because all night-life activities are to be suspended and music festivals are to be cancelled, thus decreasing tourism, which contributes to around 10% GDP of Thailand. Moreover, as stated in BBC’s article, there is an uncertainty in the succession of the throne, as the decision was released to “delay anointing the designated heir, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, as the next king.” The uncertainty of the situation has worried a number of investors, and has lead to a two-week low plunge in the Thai stock market, and a drop in foreign direct investments. In addition to the decline in the stock market, the Thai baht has also dropped against the dollar to the lowest since January 2016.

Amidst the political instability and widespread sorrow in Thailand, entertainment-based businesses as well as bars and restaurants, will have to cut-losses quickly because consumption in this sector will be drastically decreased due to cultural elements affecting consumer decisions. In addition, The Wall Street Journal’s post concerning Thailand’s economic growth, stated that there will be “a sharp decline in economic activity in the coming days that could set back growth this year.”

Although Thailand’s is currently in a state of social, political and economic instability, I believe that the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is a powerful turning point in each Thai person, which will allow the Thai people to unite into a stronger nation as a whole. As a Thai, I am confident that this economic downturn is simply temporary and the economy will indefinitely bounce back and economic growth will resume.

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References

1. Turner, Rochelle. Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2015, Thailand. PDF. London: World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
2. Head, Jonathan. “Thai king’s death: Who holds power now?”. BBC News. 16 October 2016.
3. Plank, Willa. “ASIA MARKETS: Asian Stocks Mostly Higher; Thai Markets Bounce Back”. Dow Jones Business News. 14 October 2016.
4. The Editorial Board. “The King Who Personified Thailand”. The New York Times. 14 October 2016.
5. Handley, Paul. “Bhumibol, a King of the People, Leaves Them to the Generals”. The New York Times. 13 October 2016.
6. Hookway, James. “Thai King’s Death Casts New Shadow Over Struggling Economy.” The Wall Street Journal. 14 October 2016.

Image Taken From: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/business/smallbusiness/lukes-lobster-restaurants-coops-seafood.html?ref=smallbusiness

The simple desire to eat fresh authentic Maine lobster was the driving force that allowed Luke Holden, an investment banker, to open and run his own lobster business, Luke’s Lobster. Luke’s Lobster is now a highly successful and fast growing business. In just about 5 years, Luke now has 19 restaurants, 2 food trucks, and a lobster tail cart in the United States, while in Japan, he has expanded to five lobster shacks. I believe the reason why Luke is so successful is due to his vertical integration implementation strategy, which allows for a sustainable competitive advantage.

As we have read and seen the example of Michael Dell’s skillful implementation of vertical integration, likewise, vertical integration has yet again proven to be a powerful strategy in business. Undergoing this strategy, Luke established his business in such a way that there is virtually no middleman involved throughout the entire chain. This key move allowed Luke to attain sustainable competitive advantage due to differentiating his business from traditional lobster businesses where they typically have a middle man in between key processes such as delivering and logistics. Sustainable competitive advantage, defined in class as, “performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways,” is the essential element that allows a business to outperform its competitors. Luke was able to obtain this advantage through his business model, in which he solely tracks where and how his lobsters are caught, controls the quality, freshness, and pricing, alongside packaging and preparing the lobsters into his restaurants.

Vertical integration not only allows for substantial cost advantages for his business, but it also allows Luke to better ensure the quality of his lobsters and lowers risks for such Food-safety concerns like E.Coli. In addition, this strategy allows for sustainability, where he says, “We’re able to trace every pound of seafood we serve back to the harbor where it was sustainably caught and to support fishermen we know and trust.”

Moreover, after coming across Victor Chen’s Blog, I immediately recognized that once again, vertical integration, when applied strategically, leads a business into the direction of success. Like Michael Dell and Luke Holden’s business model and strategy, Jim Koch, the founder of a billion dollar beer company written in Victor Chen’s blog post, was highly successful in employing vertical integration. As Victor explains, much of Koch’s success is due to vertical integration and Victor adds that, “for 32 years, this method allowed Koch to consistently give his consumers what they wanted.” I am not sure about business owners out there, but if I was one, I would definitely join these men in taking the vertically integrated approach to my business.

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References:

1) A Restaurant’s Sales Pitch: Know Your Lobster –  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/business/smallbusiness/lukes-lobster-restaurants-coops-seafood.html?ref=smallbusiness
2) The Power of Virtual Integration: An Interview with Dell Computer’s Michael Dell – https://hbr.org/1998/03/the-power-of-virtual-integration-an-interview-with-dell-computers-michael-dell

Blog Posts:
Victor Chen – https://blogs.ubc.ca/victorchen/2016/10/02/key-to-a-successful-business/

Image: Greta Rybus for The New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/business/smallbusiness/lukes-lobster-restaurants-coops-seafood.html?ref=smallbusiness

Reference:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/technology/no-driver-bring-it-on-how-pittsburgh-became-ubers-testing-ground.html?ref=business&_r=0

When we think of cars, we think inherently of a vehicle with a person driving or steering the machine. However, Uber, the multinational transportation company, has began to launch a fleet of self-driving cars in the city of Pittsburgh. Although Uber may argue that self-driving cars will be an innovation that would limit the amount of automobile accidents, there is a considerably large potential problem with the testing these driverless cars on the public road.

With the experimental testing of these driverless cars in Pittsburgh, approximately 306,000 people will be at risk due to the uncertainty of the technology. The people of Pittsburgh have not received any say in being a part of the automobile testing, and I believe it is simply unethical for Uber to test their imperfect vehicles in a city full of people who haven’t given their full consent. Safety concerns of citizens should be the utmost priority for corporations, even for the sake of innovation. Corporate social responsibly is of the essence, and surely conducting experiments in the public roads of Pittsburgh is not an act of CSR. Moreover, as innovating as it may sound, driverless cars will take away the jobs of people in the transportation industry. The people who drive Uber cars or Taxi cabs are those typically of a lower income standing, therefore, the loss of jobs in this industry will leave these people right on the poverty line.

Business environments throughout the world is without a doubt, highly competitive; however, these days firms have forgotten the value of ethical practices in sight of profits. Only during the past year, there have been a large handful of unethical practices in business ranging from an automobile manufacturer cheating on EPA tests, to a large tech-company with an accounting scandal, to a pharmaceutical company increasing the price it’s life-saving HIV drug by 5000%. I believe and agree with the statement from Peter Robinson, the of CEO Mountain Equipment Co-Op, he says, “ Ethics is the new competitive environment.” I agree with the statement because I believe that the competition between companies shouldn’t solely be based on how much profit each company is making, but rather on how ethical each company is. Uber’s action of testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh is not illegal, but it is one in which should have had more consideration towards the population of Pittsburgh and whether every person’s consent was given or not. Regardless of how innovative a company is, ethics should be the top priority for every company. 

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