In such a technology oriented generation, we often find ourselves surrounded with many different types of technological devices.The article “Taking a break from digital overload”, talks about the benefits of giving yourself a break from these devices.While it acknowledges that digital devices are not only a luxury in present society, but most times a necessity for communication and productivity, it also talks about balance. Sure, our laptops and cellphones provide us with an easy way to communicate and organize our everyday schedules, but how do we know when it’s too much? Personally, I find myself distracted by my cellphone/laptop when I’m doing work, so I have to turn off the sounds in order to concentrate fully on the task at hand. The article also speaks about how technology can help us increase productivity but at the same time it can also get in the way of us being productive. Sometimes, it’s good to have a break from all the digital media around us so that we can discover how much more time we have to use when we’re not solely focused and engrossed in our digital devices. Francine Gingras, VP of global public-relations at Elizabeth Arden, calls this “digital detox”. I find this to be a very interesting term and approach to decreasing the use of digital devices and focusing on “real life” and “real time”, what actually needs to be done.

Sources:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/life-at-work/taking-a-break-from-digital-overload/article5167486/

This article that I am going to talk about goes over many different aspects revolving around the “fiscal cliff”. A quick recap of the article:

• Tax cuts which result in a larger bill for taxpayers
• Raising the debt ceiling
• How it affects Canada

  

Prior to reading this article, I had no idea what a fiscal cliff was. A fiscal cliff is “the biggest tax increase and spending cut in history”. The reason why the fiscal cliff is such a big problem is because the tax increase indicates that government is cutting down on their expenses and if the citizens do that as well, then there will be no money flowing into the economy, which may very well cause the United States to go back into recession- going over the “fiscal cliff”. The US government cutting expenses and raising taxes will certainly be of benefit towards paying off their debt, but the main concern is still that how the economy may react to this. A solution that the article mentions is for the US to raise their debt-ceiling, which is the maximum borrowing power a government entity has, yet again. The current situation of the US also affects Canada because of the large percentage of exports that are shipped into the United States. If the US falls into a recession, this will obviously have a negative impact on exports in Canada and as a result, Canada’s economy.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/11/09/fiscal-cliff-faq.html 

An interesting article I came upon was one talking about how local businesses can get on Siri’s “radar”. In 2011, when the iPhone 4s was launched, Apple claimed to have sold more than 4 million units. As you can imagine, the traffic of consumers using Siri must have been quite a large amount. Local businesses wanted to use Siri as a platform for new customers. By making themselves more known to online review sites such as Yelp and Yahoo, businesses can increase their ratings on said sites. The higher and more consistent your ratings are, the more likely your business will show up as a result on Siri. This also includes linking your business between review sites, how you enter your address and pictures of your business as well. With social media and electronic devices being the crux of all humanity right now, and iPhone being one of the most widely used mobiles, it is a smart business decision to get yourself on Siri’s radar. Print ads and self-promotion on social media sites can help you get your new business name out there, but in comparison to a result on Siri, it’s hardly anywhere on the scale. What you have to consider is that Siri reaches a huge audience, not just locals in the area but anyone from around the world who comes into that certain search radius that make a search on Siri.

source:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222796 

A blog post in response to https://blogs.ubc.ca/ameeraladak/ ‘s post.

In Ameera’s blog post she touched upon several subjects: business ethics, The Securities Act, and what John Alexander Allen was charged with. You would think that in a society as just and democratic as Canada that charges of this aptitude would be dealt with accordingly, but that does not appear to be the case with Allen. Being charged with stealing over $14 million from his clients, Allen is only facing a fine of $1 million. How is this possible, and in what way is this justified?

The Securities Act is a loophole for Allen, and acts as a shield that prevents him from having to pay for any of the money that he illegally and immorally attained. Allen filed for bankruptcy but was lucky in the fact that he did not have to repay any of the illegal money and he also had legal aid. The fact that many of his clients had to file for bankruptcy is astonishing. They were completely robbed of their financial assets and it seems as if the government and legal system are protecting the man who caused all this harm while leaving the real victims out on the street. Allen completely threw ethics out the window and clearly his clients’ financial well-being was the last of his concern.

The fine that Allen was charged with seems minuscule to the act actually performed. Allen not only knowingly robbed his clients but he also forged documents under a company’s name. Surely the charge for both accounts should be greater than just a fine that does not even cover 10% of the damage done. The government should be able to intervene in such situations seeing as the amount involved in this is quite substantial. This is the part that I do not understand, why does the government not play a larger role in this? They have the power to actually help the clients who suffered a huge loss. Who is the government actually protecting? The victims of this situation or the “investment banker” backed by The Securities Act?

sources:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/40386-ex-banker-applies-legal-aid

In response to https://blogs.ubc.ca/tannerk/ ‘s blog post about Nestle..

It seems evident that Nestle is trying to cover-up the dark inner workings of their company. While Nestle clearly seems to be pushing aside morals and ethics in regards to how they run their company, can the same be said for the consumers? I wouldn’t use the word “ignorant” to describe Nestle consumers, but rather, that they blindly accept what is given to them. Nestle has indeed faced up to accusations of the inhumane conditions of how their products are manufactured but no lesson seems to be taken to heart. I agree with TannerK that the consequences for Nestle seem infinitesimal compared to what went on during the actual manufacturing processes. Further action needs to be taken- allowing the Fair Labor Association to map Nestle’s coca supply chain is not enough. The problem at hand deals with more than just an apology and a slight punishment for the use of CHILD LABOR. This is a serious issue in the world of business and should not be taken lightly. Stopping the use of child labor is without a doubt important, but getting to the root of the problem and investigating why the use of child labor was present at all, should be the problem we ultimately want to solve.

A quick recap of the situation I’m going to be talking about, the Aveos shutdown:
– Aveos is a maintenance repair division belonging to Air Canada.
– Air Canada terminated the contract with Aveos before the agreed date, AC made up 85% of the company revenue, and as a result Aveos was forced to file for bankruptcy.
– 1,800 people were put out of work

Aveos, a repair division of Air Canada, was forced into bankruptcy as AC decided to end their contract earlier than agreed. As a result, more than a thousand workers were out of a job practically overnight with no compensation whatsoever. I feel that the main business ethic issue in this situation would be that Air Canada did not keep to their word, they broke the trust that the two companies had. In my opinion, trust is a very important ethic to have as a person and especially if you’re in the business world. All relationships are built upon trust and without it, there is nothing. Business is all about social interactions. If you can’t give the other party a sense of security and trust, why would they decide to sign a contract with you? You could opt out of that whenever you feel like it (obviously paying the termination fees), leaving the other completely stranded. The workers of Aveos had a relationship with the company and they trusted  the company, but in the end they were left out on the streets. This not only gave Air Canada a bad reputation, but it also jeopardizes the company in regards to business issues because : why would other potential partner companies choose to associate themselves with one that doesn’t honor agreements. Air Canada is no longer able to give a sense of security as they breached one of the most important aspects of any relationship.

Interesting yet sad video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke22wkjNBGU&feature=related

 Sources:

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1148528–air-canada-hits-more-turbulence-as-plane-maintenance-company-aveos-files-for-bankruptcy
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/03/18/aveos-layoffs-air-canada.html

***** Apparently i don’t know how to hyperlink, so you’ll just have to copy and paste………