The first week of veganism was definitely tough because I wasn’t too sure what I was able to eat. For the most part, my meals during the day were very simple. Breakfast is a routine PBJ sandwich with almond or soy milk.

Lunch and dinner were mainly comprised of salads with different vinaigrettes. Between meals, I snacked on fruits such as apples, oranges and bananas. I also relied on CLIF bars to get me through the day. Two of the nights, I made stir-fry. I’m definitely getting a better hang of what I am able to eat and creatively exploring vegan options. I am excited to see more diversity in my diet in my second week.

In reply to Joie Chan’s blogpost regarding SMS and MMS as a form of marketing, I believe that text message marketing isn’t a waste of time, but actually a more effective way to reach consumers.

Speaking for the majority of the student population, it is safe to say that we have reached the period of technological prosperity where we rely more on our phones because it is more convenient than a computer, while capable of doing most of the things a computer can do. We are always on our phones playing games or using different applications. The whole world of technology has gone mobile, so why not the world of retail as well?

As a shopoholic, I find it extremely convenient to be notified through SMS regarding in-store promotions. Marketing through SMS is more convenient than emails because many tend to ignore emails or not happen to have 3G.

Different stores have different methods of attaining customer phone numbers. I find it effective when there is an incentive to give your number such as texting to receive discount codes and free items. Abercrombie and Hollister use this tactic very well in targeting their young customer segment.

In a blogpost by Harvard Business Review, it is mentioned that Amazon constantly changes its business model according to the growth and demands of the customer.

• 1995- “sell all, carry few.”
• 2000- “sell all, carry more.”
• 2006- “Fulfillment” independent sellers can use Amazon’s warehouse
• 2013- Sunday Shipping and Deliveries in a few bigger American states.

As shown by the summarized timeline above, Amazon is constantly changing it’s business model so that the company isn’t outdated. I believe that it’s extremely to be aware of the market and it’s changes so that a company is always one step ahead, as Amazon did a good job of here.

Through constantly changing the business model, Amazon is able to create points of difference that sets itself apart from its competition, such as eBay, Target and various online shopping sites.  As Dave Clark, Amazon’s VP of customer service and operations puts it, “What really drives the company — it’s all about selection growth, lower costs and increased speed.”  Amazon’s implementation of Sunday Shipping is targeted to fulfill customer needs at higher efficiency and convenience with no increase in price.

Through adapting their business model, Amazon was able to successfully expand and increase value in the company shares.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-11/amazon-postal-service-to-start-sunday-package-deliveries.html

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/11/amazon-constantly-audits-its-business-model/

Facebook recently offered Snapchat $3 billion for its application but was turned down by entrepreneur and CEO, Evan Spiegel. Why? because leaks suggest it’s worth more. Snapchat is an application where users can send pictures to their friends for limited time frames with no digital footprint. Facebook is facing a drop in stock price and a decline in adolescent users.

For Facebook, this is a worthwhile investment because many teens are now using snapchat in replacement of facebook. $3Billion may seem daunting at first, especially with Snapchat’s current revenue at $0, but the costs outweigh the possible future profits because Snapchat is rapidly expanding with its users increasing at an exponential rate. Facebook’s offer to buy snapchat also shows its adaptability as a business to its industry and competition. Since Facebook senses a correlation between decline in teen users and an increase in Snapchat users, it has decided to buy Snapchat the way it bought Instagram in 2011. Snapchat has lots of growth opportunity with an increasing profit margin and that’s something Facebook wants to get dibs on.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/11/13/facebook-wouldve-bought-snapchat-for-3-billion-in-cash-heres-why/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/13/facebook-snapchat-3-billion_n_4268859.html

Last month, a food scandal erupted in Taiwan regarding cooking oil from the company Wei Chuan Foods Corporations. Employees of the company were caught adding coloring copper chlorophyllin and scent extracts to make cheaper oils seem more expensive to boost revenue and profit. 21 types of oils were tainted with metal and many bottles were recalled and taken off shelves at various markets. The owner of the company issued a public apology regarding the safety and authenticity of its products and also promised a 1.69 billion dollar (NT) subsidy to all who have bought these oils.

Being from Taiwan, this issue is disgraceful as it is the second case in recent years regarding the business ethics of companies substituting parts of food products with a cheaper “poisonous” alternative to boost profit. The decisions these companies have made to increase their profits have caused harm to many of its consumers and have made Taiwan’s food industry and regulations seem unreliable. This issue is relatable to management, marketing and accounting. Management needs to align its ethics, marketing needs to take care of publicity regarding this scandal, and accounting needs to work out costs with profit and subsidy.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201310230013.aspx

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/master-kong-owner/875162.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2013/11/12/too-little-too-late-for-indicted-taiwan-billionaire/

Previously in Janelle’s post, she brought up several potential downsides of Blackberry launching its BBM application to the android and iOS market such as:

1. loss in points of difference –> people lose incentives to buy Blackberry devices

2. technical issues —> problems keeping up with efficiency and technology.

Full blogpost here: https://blogs.ubc.ca/janellesy/2013/10/21/bbm-no-longer-exclusive-to-blackberry/#more-134

However, I believe that Blackberry opening BBM to the other smart phone systems is one of the last few things they could do to decrease their financial loss. Having non-Blackberry users using BBM doesn’t remove Blackberry’s point of difference, since there are many other messaging application substitutes such as line or WhatsApp. People don’t buy Blackberrys because of the exclusive BBM but because of the phone specifications as well as the signature Blackberry keyboard. (perhaps a more accurate point of difference?) The launching of this BBM application increases the presence of Blackberry and may in fact attract customers.

Technical issues are unfortunate but faced by almost every single company. Every problem can serve as a guide for the future. They can learn from every problem and improve on a better future.

I believe launching BBM was a good decision by the company to attempt to resurrect its’ financial status.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24621932

http://smartwhenshouting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/7951-disney-disney-characters.jpg (picture source)

Last week, Disney has announced that it will be closing down its Vancouver Pixar branch after having been open for three years, and focusing more on its branch in Emeryville, California. Roughly 100 employees will be losing their jobs. This is definitely a great loss to Vancouver as Pixar is one of the world’s biggest animation companies.

Although it is unclear why Pixar is shutting down in Vancouver, it is official that it will stop operations. From the operations and management standpoint, it might be more cost efficient to close down the Vancouver store because of possible operating costs. It might also be part of their business strategy to completely focus on the California branch.

The Jobs minister, Shirley Bond, said that Pixar’s leave might “reflect the entire industry” as other animation companies may leave after Pixar. That being said, not all cities are suitable for all industries so although Vancouver is the setting for many movies, it might not be the best place for an animation studio.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Disney+closes+doors+Vancouver+Pixar+branch+after+just+three+years/9016066/story.html

Wells Fargo recently accused some of its workers of forging bank accounts to meet sales quota. Roughly 30 employees were fired recently for taking shortcuts to meet goals. One employee admits to forging signatures and creating new accounts under some clients’ name without them knowing.

I believe it is completely unethical for these employees to forge these accounts because by forging accounts, because they are essentially going against the values of the bank. Banks are built on credit and trust, and thus, they were fired.

However, with the immense pressure to meet sales goals at the company, I understand their reasoning for forging accounts. An employee stated that managers forced them to stay late and call friends and family if they weren’t able to meet the quota during the day. This heavy emphasis on meeting the sales goal can easily distort the employee’s value about the company.

I think the best approach to this problem is for the managers to understand that some goals are unrealistic and that there are many competitor banks out there. Operations and marketing can also think of better incentives for people to open an account at Wells Fargo so employees wouldnt have to forge to meet sales goals.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1004-wells-fargo-firings-20131004,0,3550404.story

Samsung announced in the third quarter that it will be operating at a roughly 9 billion dollar profit. This year’s sales have also increased since last year. However, its shares have declined due to the slowing of smartphone sales. While Samsung faces success, HTC lost 100 million$ in the third quarter, more than analysts expected.

With the launch of the S4 earlier this year and the note3 just last month, Samsung has been really innovative and constantly coming up with new phones and technology to keep itself in the smartphone industry. It is giving apple a good run for consumers in the market since people instantly upgrade once Samsung releases a new phone. The samsung note series also has points of difference that set them apart from other phones. It has a roughly 5 inch screen and an S pen, essentially making it similar to a tablet.

If HTC wants to have a competitive edge in the smartphone market, they need to have a feature that is more unique to them (point of difference). Previously, HTC acquired beats audio and HTC phones all have the beats audio system incorporated, but that didnt provide as big of an incentive for buyers. While its recent phone, the HTC One, has been selling well and rated as one of the best smartphones, it wasn’t enough to prevent HTC’s loss.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/04/technology/samsung-htc/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

King.com, the company that created Candy Crush, announced that it will be going public and filing for an IPO last week. This sparked debate about whether the companies’ innovation plan will be lucrative in the long run.

Some have said that because King.com is solely depending on the success of its only game Candy Crush, its shares will most likely go into slumps when the popularity of the game comes to an end, just like the company of Farmville and Crocs. Those two companies focused on their one most successful product and failed to innovate and adapt to change in people’s interests. In contrast, Nike have always designed and produced new products as the older designs lost popularity, putting them at one of the most successful athletic company.

I agree with the analysts that if King.com only relies on Candy Crush, it will most likely have only short term success in the stock market. Although Candy Crush currently has millions of players on facebook, all games have life cycles. Having been a person who was once addicted to the game, I can say that people will get bored of it and move on to play something else. In order to adjust to this change, King.com should be more innovative and come up with new games that can replace Candy Crush in order to prevent failing stocks.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-01/candy-crush-ipo-needs-a-better-innovation-plan