http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/alibaba-canada-1.4305325

Last weekend, I was excited to read a piece of news in CBC titled “Alibaba-related company Alipay expands payment processing service into Canada”. Basically, Alipay, the electronic payment system of Alibaba Corporation, will enter into Canada soon, and Chinese in Canada can finish their payments and transactions through Alipay while Canadian merchants have access to Chinese markets.

Since I am from China, and I can see and tell how much positive impacts Alipay makes to our everyday life, I had indescribable happiness and excitement when seeing the news. In China, I can pay for almost everything even including bus tickets and taxi fees by either letting people scan my Alipay QR code on my cellphone or me scanning their Alipay QR code. The transaction payment process used to be relatively inconvenient because it was very annoying to carry lots of cash and changes in pockets, and it’s hard to keep track of the amount we have with ourselves for every moment, and the coins themseves are heavy to carry; if our wallets are stolen or lost, we will just lose all our cash. However, the invention of Alipay makes everything in transaction and payments easy, convenient, and safe regardless of the price and the distance just by a quick QR code scanning. Even if the phone is stolen, the fingerprint login of Alipay app can still distinguish different users and fail to implement the transactions by strangers.

On the other hand, I’m also a little bit frustrated at some misconceptions that westerners still have about China when I read some comments left below the news. Although Alibaba is a completely private-owned corporation in China to make its own business, technology, and trades, some cyber users still attack to say that the biggest owner of Alibaba is Chinese communist government, or even say that Alibaba entering Canada is a big sign that China will take over Canada completely. The successful international business is based on the international trust and international respect to each other mutually. No matter what the political ideologies the government adopts for historical or cultural context, as long as the business brings great positive values to the society, to the world, it should be considered a good business.

Now, when I think peacefully, I just find that everything has two-side views. It totally despends on the perceptions from individuals either by internal reasons or external reasons, which is completely normal. As for whether Alipay entering Canada is good or not, time could prove everything.

(11/08/2017 Fri 12:33 in Malaysia by Venus Hew of Market-Interactive)

Word count: 425

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/06/mars-counters-trumps-climate-stance-with-1bn-sustainability-plan

Photograph by staff writers in Global

Last weekend, I’ve read a piece of news titled “Mars counters Trump’s climate stance with $1bn sustainability plan” on the Guardian, which led my environmental sustainability thinking.

For the summary of this piece of news, in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from 2015 Paris Climate Accord, Mars company launched a one billion dollar plan targeting on renewable energy for environmental sustainability, and the investment includes cutting greenhouse gas emissions, running a poverty reduction, and increasing food safety and security. As we can see in the image, Mars will brand renewable energy idea through its own logo, featuring a windmill beside a candy character.

Business ethics has a much broader limit on behaviors than business law does because morals and values are often not defined or required in legal systems, and business ethics often go beyond what law defines. According to the news report from the Guardian, “its sustainability investments and M&M’s campaign were announced ahead of the UN general assembly and climate week which will run from 18 to 24 September in New York.” This made me see the true innate values of an enterprise to take the initiative on social responsibility and appeals on environmentally-friendly movement, regardless of zero government requirements.

Moreover, implementations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) don’t only just help with better business environments and societal sustainability, but also help build better corporate reputations and even higher profits for the enterprises themselves. In marketing perspective, certainly more socially responsible companies gain more respect and better names from the public in the society.

From now on, I also decide firmly that our team in COMM 101 course should start small and adopt correct ethical values and attitudes of corporate social sustainability when we start drafting our first business plan proposal. After all, why not balance the socially responsible business and additional margins together?

Word Count: 308