Tiffany Pai's Blog

In order to successfully reach a goal, one should be in an enjoyable environment. When someone is under stress, motivation level decreases and all they want to do is complete their task immediately.  In the process of doing so, there may be careless errors here and there, altering the pace and progress in pursuing their goal. Many employees tend to quit their job due to unbearable workload and pressure. Zappos on the other hand, delivers “happiness” to both their employees as well as customers. The main Zappos offices are mostly their call center. Employees sit in cubicles, fielding calls in regards to their products – shoes. Compared to other companies, each cubicle is wildly decorated, each with a unique theme. Although Zappos seems to be full of excitement, they still get their jobs done. Working at this company is one of the best places you can ever imagine, and “all the high jinx don’t seem to be hurting the bottom line either”. It is said that Zappos has been growing, even at times when other shoe retailers are struggling. Zappos establishes their company through the importance of organizational culture, providing an enjoyable environment for the employees in addition to their customer’s satisfaction.

Word Count: 201

Works Cited:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/19/pm-zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture

http://rosamundwo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/zappos.jpg

The Body Shop is known for its environmentally friendly products. It is the first cosmetics and toiletries retailer to introduce sustainable palm oil into the global beauty industry. By switching over to sustainable palm oil, it marks the step towards “green business”. Although “green business” does not have its own definition, its meaning is similar to “socially responsible business”. This implies that The Body Shop has to excel in both the social contribution such as saving nature, as well as the company’s profit. The Body Shop’s objective is “to make the world a better place to live by returning more than they get to society.” This company has also declared that their products are against animal testing. Although The Body Shop is simply striving for environmentally friendly goods to obtain customers, they did not claim that their products are “all-natural”, but instead, “inspired by nature”. The Body Shop’s target for a “green business” has been gradually increasing that their goods are said to be “too good to be true.” It is important that consumers purchase products that contain less chemicals, thus The Body Shop has a greater chance of running their business in the long run through their natural goods.

Word Count: 200

Work Cited:

http://www.tsujiru.net/compass/compass_1996/reg/suzuki_noriko.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Shop

http://www.chicshopperchick.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Picture-21.png

Nowadays, people are no longer renting movies or buying CD’s from stores but instead, downloading them off the internet. Technology has increased significantly, and because of this, many stores are losing profit and shutting down. For instance, Blockbuster is losing a significant amount of profit that they had to close down 500 stores – hoping to reduce their expense down to $200 million. The bankruptcy emerging towards Blockbusters also puts on an affect on other media players and movie rentals. Due to this effect, complimentary goods like CD players and DVD players will lose demands and their profits will decrease to a point where product manufacturer and producers will go bankrupt. This type of chain effect can be influential and can create a huge impact on the media technology industry and even increase unemployment among these industries. Although this may seem troublesome for these companies, technology firms like BlueRay can potentially find opportunities and expose this situation with their strengths. Give it another decade or so, BlueRay related industries will become more popular and the product demands from consumers will increase, thus more profit. Not only that, there will be job opportunities for engineers and factory workers.

[Word Count: 196]

Sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/blockbuster-closes-500-stores-to-save-200-million-2010-2

http://www.businessinsider.com/blockbuster-declares-bankruptcy-now-see-what-big-company-will-drop-next-2010-9?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business+Insider+Select&utm_campaign=BI_Select_092210_Personal

http://www.themoviebanter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/blockbuster1-300×224.jpg

OriginalAltered

Do you see a difference in the two photos?

On Microsoft’s website, there is an Asian man, black man and a white woman. However, on Microsoft’s Polish website, the head of the black man in the middle was photoshopped. A way to interpret what Microsoft may be doing is that in Poland there are not as many black people as there are in other areas Microsoft operates at and due to this fact, the company modifies the picture to represent ethnic diversity. Many people seem to get mixed up with localization and racism. I think the reason why Microsoft might have altered the picture is that there goal is to target the potential consumers that are actually interested. For example, a shampoo company will not advertise their products to an area where people are bald. Because there are fewer black people in Poland, the people there may not be able to perceive the ad appropriately, therefore they will lose interest in their products. In this case, I think that Microsoft is not being racist, but instead, their decision in changing the photo is due to the ethnic make-up of the predominant Polish population of white people.

[Word Count: 197]

Sources:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/microsofts_photoshop_blunder_racist_or_shortsighte.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8221896.stm

KFC has been accused of racism after a suspect Australian ad made its way to the United States. This ad was originally aired at Australia where no stereotype or criticism was achieved from the viewers. However, once the clip was posted onto Youtube, viewers seemed to be offended and controversy stirred up. In the ad, there is a Caucasian man in the middle of a football game surrounded by African Americans. The Caucasian was standing in the middle holding a big cup of KFC’s chicken strips as the African Americans were jumping up and down, cheering. The Caucasian man then yells, “Need a tip when you’re stuck in an awkward situation?” and lifts up the bucket of chicken strips for the African America’s to eat. Depending on how you view it, some people may say that he is being racist to the black people because he is saing that African Americans live off KFCs, which puts KFC into a cultural clash. The controversay became so inflamed that KFC removed the ad from Australia. This ad seems like a reference to the racial stereotype that all black people eat fried chicken. However, the KFC in Australia argues that they are being misinterpreted in a different culture. They say that it is just a light-hearted reference to their cricket team. Australia and the West Indies are rival cricket teams, which further give Americans the impression that the ad was intentionally targeted at the West Indies. I personally would not have thought that the Australia KFC’s were intentionally aiming to upset the African Americans; nonetheless, I definitely would have noticed the culture clash. Because there are some people that do not know about the popularity of crickets in their culture, many would not fully understand their message. If KFC wants to avoid being accused, they should make their message clearer when presenting their ads.

[Word Count: 311]

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2010/01/10/kfc-ad-racist-youtube/

http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/14952/racist-australian-kfc-ad/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjT4HjWrreI

I have been interested in online shopping for a while now and I feel like nowadays, they are becoming more and more well-known. Instead of opening up a store in a mall, owners start to shift over to the internet. This saves them from paying for the rent, having to hire as many employees, as well as saving them time. The fashion industry is going global and because of this, creating a website where everyone in the world can see is much faster and efficient.  Even the clothes people buy are being posted up as a “Fashion Haul” video. This is where people (especially girls) come back from a shopping spree and instead of showing off to their best friends, they broadcast it to the world. They will show you their purchases as well as talk about the quality. By doing this, they are actually promoting and helping stores advertise their products. This is a good way for business to gain customers. After catching many viewers’ attention, they will more likely to go to the store and purchase other products there too. This is where fashion trends branch off from as well. An interesting fact about this is that people can actually earn money from making haul videos. Youtube Partnership Program allows potential entrepreneurs to get paid as well as having companies send over free products for you to advertise. I think this is an excellent opportunity for people to experience what business is like. Do you think there will be fewer stores in the future because everything will be moved to the internet? Or do you think it will stay the same?

Source:

http://youtubepartnerguide.com/images/youtube-logo-partnership.png

What does it mean when people ask, “Is this real?”

Designers and business owners are aggravated by the fact that their ideas are being copied and sold for a lower price winning over customers, dropping their sales substantially. For instance, after the iPhone was put on the market, other cellular companies began to sell touch screen phones with similar design. Certainly this can be a major issue for the designers, nevertheless, this may also branch off to greater opportunities.  If the public truly wants to purchase authentic products, then they will go to the actual store. If others are purchasing the knockoff products, then that means that the original designer’s ideas are appreciated. This opens up a runway for the original designers for a new fashion idea in which will blossom into another product line. I personally think that it is a great way to borrow ideas from other companies and expanding it into a unique and different creation. The business ethic is about making choices that may not always feel or seem beneficial to you but it is similar to becoming a role model, or more like a “citizen model.”

Word Count: 191

Links:

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/iptf/articles/content/1997121201.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Ethics-In-The-Workplace&id=12475

http://geekwhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/apple-iphone-3g-01.jpg

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