Recently we’ve studied about social enterprises in class and it appears very interesting to me because social enterprises in general are more focusing on maximising social welfare rather than profit only. In my opinion, I think this is extremely meaningful.

I looked into the company “Save On Meats” which is a social enterprise as well as a strong community partner. It provides work experiences for students, helps raising funds for different organizations, donating food through the Sandwich Token programme, and etc.

However, its significant brand sign has been ‘stolen’ by the Anarchists. However, Save On Meats managed to come up with creative photo and campaign to hit back. To further deliver the message, Save On Meats promised to donate one breakfast for a local women’s centre each time the photo was shared on social media.

Personally I think this is a very good strategy because first of all, they can keep their brand image by keeping the ‘aim’ of Save On Meats – helping the community by donating breakfast. But at the same time it also shows a strong perspective of standing up the anarchists bullies, this creates positive effects on their brand image and reputations.

Work Cited:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/04/save-on-meats-hit-back-at-jackass-anarchists-who-stole-their-sign-with-playful-photo-food-campaign/

Recently I came across a blog post by Joie Chan on increasing obesity. In her post she focused on social responsibilities, in particularly on the question of: are consumers themselves to blame for the increasing obesity rate, or should the food industry hold responsibility? Joie mentioned firms mainly focuses on the goal of maximizing profits. And along with it, she thinks firms should be holding most of the responsibilities on promoting healthy eating.

I agree with her as products are produced by the firms and firms should be putting the health issues of the consumers in the first place. However, the responsibilities do not fully lie on the firms but also the consumers. Consumers make their own choices, if they do not fall for the junk food and beverages and be more concerned with their health, they can stay in good health.

As an international student, I was very concerned with the eating trend in North America when I first moved here to Canada. Walking on the street I could see uncountable McDonalds, A&W, FreshSlice Pizza and other fast-food shops around. However, it is really my decision whether to walk in or not.

Work Cited:

To Gain or Not to Gain?

Recently the US government has shutdown as the politicians on Capitol Hill have failed to agree a new budget for the 2013-2014 financial year. This shutdown has gradually hit businesses bot inside and outside of America.

In terms of employment, the shutdown could put thousands of workers on unpaid leave, without knowing how long this will last. By all means, if people are getting unpaid, the consequence would be reduced consumer spending. And some of them may simply fail to meet their essential financial need eventually. As a result or the businesses, they will make less profits or even make losses. There will be less investment spending and firms that make losses may eventually shutdown their businesses.

By placing the scope on the entire US nation, the shutdown of the federal government can hit its GDP with significant figures. And the longer the government shuts down, the greater loss of GDP will be caused.

Another major issue that is linked to the shutdown is the debt ceiling battle. America is predicted to reach its borrowing ($16.7tn dollars) around mid-October. If America reaches the limit, meaning it would default on its debts.

Work cited:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24419564

Samsung and HTC have both been the leading mobile phone companies in the industry. The article (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/technology/htc-suffers-first-quarterly-loss-as-samsung-soars.html?ref=international&_r=0) reveals that HTC has made its first loss. One suggested reason is that HTC has been concentrated on producing premium models and less focused on the lower-end demand. Whereas, its competitors – Samsung, and even some Chinese companies such as, Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei, are providing a variety of products which allow them to meet the demand from the lower-end of the market. In addition, apart from phones, Samsung also earns profits from its alternative product – memory chips. And the recent increasing price of memory chips allow Samsung to obtain significant profits and expand its growth.

On the other hand, another suggested reason for HTC’s first loss is that HTC has also experienced an internal discord.  A number of executives have quitted the company and a top designer has been caught theft of trade secrets from HTC.

Based on this article, it shows that the importance of having a wide diversification in products because there are always different groups of consumers who would have different demands. In addition, the internal discord in HTC suggests that a sufficient management team is essential to a company’s success.

Work Cited:

New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/technology/htc-suffers-first-quarterly-loss-as-samsung-soars.html?ref=international&_r=0)

Recently, minimum wage has increased from $10.25 to $10.45 in Manitoba. As Manitoba has a large population of minimum wage earners, the increasing minimum wage implies numerous effects on different stakeholders in the business.

Firstly, the workers who significantly rely on minimum wage gain benefits from the rising minimum wage as now they earn higher income. However, on the other hand, it is potentially harmful to the firms and the consumers. For firms, especially the restaurant industry as it has the most minimum wage earners, the costs of supplies increase because now they have to pay higher wages to the employees. Hence the firms lose their profits. In order for firms to retain their profits, they have to raise the overall price level. Thus, consumers will encounter higher prices of the goods and services.

Minimum wage should be kept in a level where it is not too high because otherwise eventually the social costs will increase. It may not even benefit the minimum wage workers after all because the increasing general price level applies to them as well. In addition, firms that face higher costs might take various actions to cut down the costs such as the redundancy of employees. Overall, with such a high minimum wage, it is relatively disadvantageous for the stakeholders.

Works Cited:

Batchelor, Megan. “Minimum Wage Increases in Manitoba Tuesday.” Global News. Global News, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 03 Oct. 2013. <http://globalnews.ca/news/874065/minimum-wage-increases-in-manitoba/>