Hanxuan Wang mentions in his blog post the reason behind successful Starbucks in China. I certainly agree with his point of value proposition, which is a feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers. As Hanxuan clearly explains the reason with comparing the past with present,” about 10 years ago, when Starbucks first come into China’s market, its relative high price means they positioning their brand for high-income citizens. Compared with other kinds of daily drinks in China, such as tea and other coffee brands, the biggest point of difference of Starbucks coffee is its high quality and the western lifestyle they stand for. So, as a result Starbucks set a high price for China’s consumer in order to meet their perception of this brand. This may explain the high price of Starbucks in China.”

 However, it is not just the value proposition, but one must also give credit the labor force that have managed to produce products at a consistent taste and rate for the consumers. Hanxuan also fails to mention the logistics, which is one of the big reason behind why the price is so expensive. And lastly, Hanxuan could have also mentioned about the culture since late 1970’s, as mentioned in the article, which is image conscious.

http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/09/why-is-starbucks-so-expensive-in-china/279394/

Karina Chadijah’s post has a very supportive title as related to the subject, Sauder Frosh. She uses adjectives that best describes her feeling based on the event and explain how she feels. Sauder Frosh consisted chants that are without a shadow of a doubt disgraceful, as Karina stated “I agree that the event that occurred during FROSH is ethically wrong. By doing the cheers, it strongly implies that Sauder supports and teaches non-consensual sex, especially to first-years”. And I also agree with the possible consequences. But it not just be losing interest in Sauder School of Business, but perhaps UBC as a whole.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/ubc-student-leaders-resign-over-offensive-chant-during-frosh/article14188875/

I fully agree with how Karina mentions the morals that a education/ institute should provide and what not. And at the same time, it had to happen the way it was going. Courtesy of the media and social media, it was revealed publicly.

In Faiyaz Moosa’s blog post,  he writes on Apple’s iPhone 5c/S Sales, a dominant smart phone company, and how it’s sold with a selling price of $627. His post had some good statements and judgments regarding sales and profit. As Faiyaz states, is my belief, that as long as Apple continues to focus on products that it excels at producing and revising, and refrains from drastically broaden its scope on new kinds of products, they will be a tough company to compete against. As shown in the past, Apple has been very successful in the market and continue to dominate it. So, I agree with his judgment. However, he could have mentioned that the reason behind Apple’s new products success in particular.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/nicholaseverett/2013/09/26/apples-iphone-5cs-sales-crush-any-and-all-negative-speculation/

A possible recession could strike again in Europe, especially in countries like Italy, Germany and France. Grouppo AB, European cogeneration scenario, believes that Italy has a unbalanced coalition government due to which they want to expand market outside Italy, which would cause a recession in Italy. Enzo Losito even stated that unstable government can bring Italy to Greece’s level. The situation will only worsen if the government in Italy does not get their act together. Further failures can cause jobs, stagnation and even greater political discontent.

On the other hand, Germany’s recovery has been negative 0.4 and France’s economy contracted by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter. Three of the biggest bloc countries have suffered small contractions.  However, all these results haven’t come as a great surprise as the Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici was expecting it due to the unstable government. All of this could cause a decline in long run dampening growth.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/european-recovery-in-trouble-as-german-economy-slows-and-french-gdp-falls/article15435574/

PS4, the most awaited upcoming console has been released and been so far so successful in the American and Canadian market. The initial demand for PS4 have been growing in big numbers, even greater the initial demand for PS2 in Japan. I think that the demand will only increase rapidly due to it’s broad target market that it attracts. However, the market cannot expand it’s consumer base, inevitably, due to the consequences of negative implications that could includes the crowding out of a specific consumer segment that might potentially hurt the company in the long run. The only other console that could compete with PS4 is Xbox One. Inevitably, both the companies (Sony and Microsoft) are dominant when it comes to gaming and will end up with an abnormal profit.

One big flaw of PS4 is it’s hardware, a blue light of death, which can cause a serious damage to consumer’s satisfaction. Amazon rated PS4’s hardware with a rating of 1, which is nowhere close to satisfactory.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/17/5113704/sony-playstation-4-1-million-sales

Urthecast, a satellite through which Earth can be view live from the top with HD high resolution and one medium- resolution cameras (which are shipped from Russia). Even though it is an adaptation and a step forward, it also required a lot of cost. It required an investment of $55 million to place two cameras on the International Space Station. I think it is not the best decision by Urthecast, even though I see a point of parity in that decision. Since Urthecast is not as recognized as Google Earth, it would have been more sensible for Urthecast to produce a more cost effective web platform and develop on it’s research and present it when it after greater publicity. It can be said that this invention at this stage can easily be overshadowed by Google Earth, who has been in the market at the top for a longer period of time.

Urthecast consists of space camera Zoom-In and ISS- Fly By facilities which are commendable. Entrepreneurs are trying to figure out cheaper alternatives and are hoping to limit the competition which is the best possible decision they can make at this moment in time.

http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/3270405/Commercialization-of-Space-Travel-Will-Bring-Costs-Down-to-Earth.html#.UoocALfTnIU

First, it was the best seller in the United States and now with so many qualities, Tesla Model S, a rear engine car, has got the highest demand of cars in Norway than any other cars. The second product in Tesla Motors, has got it’s selling price up to $110,000, with many consumers willing to pay $20,000 more. This is a car which can reach 60 mph in a matter of 5.4 seconds and produce no pollution.  Consumers are ready more for a second hand car than a new one just to experience the ride.

Not only is Tesla Model S car a luxurious and a valuable car, but it is also the best option for Norwegians because of the fact that it is a electric car. This would mean that consumers of Tesla Model S cars will be provided with subsidies, free of cost parking, government provided re-charging stations and will have greater rights on highways and tolls. With “extreme” demand and high satisfaction, both the consumers and producers in Norway enjoy the profit and the total utility. Compared to other conventional cars, such as the BMW Series 5, it can be said that Tesla Model S is more affordable in Europe.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/teslas-110000-model-s-is-now-norways-best-selling-car/article14739655/

Nokia 7650, a Symbian Handset, which was first released by Nokia in 2002 has decided to end it’s support with Symbian and MeeGo from January 1, 2014 and onwards. Even though Symbian and MeeGo contents will be available for downloads in Nokia Store, they will not publish or update anything for these two phone companies. Hence, profit can only be made out of the apps that exist before January 1, 2014. Nokia has decided to invest on Ash and Windows Phone, which is a very predictable and good long-term decision moving forward.

It was expected of Nokia to support Symbian and MeeGo up till 2016. With the phone market getting more competitive as the time is progressing, Nokia has made a move which will keep them in the competition for a longer period of time as they are getting in business with the companies such as Ash, Microsoft and Windows Phone.

 http://www.techstake.org/2013/10/nokia-to-stop-supporting-symbian-and-meego-os.html

In the recent time, US government shutdown has been the breaking news worldwide. This has mainly impacted the workers and their paychecks. For the short or even long- term period, it could even impact the production and incentive of the workers depending on how long the shutdown will be for. By looking at the situation and events in hand, “financial crisis” is the first thing that comes into mind. Many say that the US shutdown could cause a bigger financial crisis that occurred back in 2008 or even the Great Depression. Hence, the US Government is in desperate need to reduce the financial crisis.

Sperling believes that increasing debt limit for short-term period would result in an economic boom, greater jobs, faster growth and efficient investment. However, it may not be the best alternative for long- term period as the debts will only increase. It is expected that the Treasurers would receive an amount of $30 billion by October 17th, which will be used to pay incomes. Another positive for US is that 350,000 will be back on work and those who have not received there paychecks will get it right after the partial government shutdown ends.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/10/07/us_government_shutdown_markets_rattled_as_default_looms_next.html

http://ubyssey.ca/news/cus-execs-resign-325/

Even though a resignation from the President and Vice- President of CUS has not come as a big surprise, considering the outburst by the media and them being the major stakeholders, it is depressing news as a first year Sauder student.  As a stakeholder, I believe there was too much pressure on them to not have done it.

While reputation of UBC was badly harnessed during the bus chants at the Frosh event, it also raises the question: How did Sauder Frosh organized by CUS helped the first year students?

As a first year student, it can be said that Frosh was an event where students got to socialize, create a family and find peers.  It was and will be once in a lifetime experience where students competed in several challenges that tested teamwork and their spirit.

At the same time, non-consensual chants had to result in some sort of a consequence as they were entirely against the Sauder School of Business’ values, as stated by Dean Robert Helsley.  A similar chant was led in St. Mary University in Halifax, which resulted in a bigger consequence, where the Dean of their university decided to step down.  We, the first year Sauder students believe that Dean Robert Helsley is going correct this situation radically as the time progresses and start to rebuild its reputation.  As for CUS, it will be interesting to see what happens with CUS leadership.

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