Musical theatre has always been associated with a certain feeling of glamour. Shows like Wicked, The Book of Mormon, RENT, and Les Miserables have given audiences a way of escape for multiple decades . The thing that keeps it all going? Musical theatre investors.

Creating a Broadway Musical is extremely timely and costly, and involves huge risk. A production can either be a huge success or fail completely. The only certainties involved are the costs. As Broadway producer Steven Baruch, who has 25 years of experience in the business, says, “It’s a feast or famine kind of business.” This is the kind of environment that musical theatre investors work in. Most productions rely on investors for capital; one show can have hundreds of investors. They usually employ two strategies: investing over a long period of time (ie. remaining loyal to a particular producer), and investing in multiple shows (sort of like the Broadway version of diversifying a portfolio) (Passy). As well, investors are expected to have substantial amounts of cash. Not only does it cost huge amounts of money to produce a show (“Spider Man: Turn off the dark” cost more than $75 million to produce), there is also a very high likelihood that you won’t make any returns on your investment. In fact, only one out of five Broadway productions recoups its investment (Wood).

Alternatively, huge risks can also come with their benefits. When you hit the jackpot with a Broadway musical, there is literally no limit to the rewards.

Works Cited:

Passy, Charles. “How to Invest in a Broadway Show.” MarketWatch. MarketWatch, 10 June 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Wood, Greg. “The Risks, Rewards and Realities of Investing in Theater.” CNBC. CNBC, 18 Oct. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Climate change is increasingly becoming a significant threat to the ski industry. While this industry has always been fairly volatile, and has always had to deal with being at the mercy of the weather, it seems almost inevitable that global climate change could eventually wipe the industry out for good.

Advances in snow-making technology have allowed resorts to keep up with the effects of climate change. It is unlikely, however, that these efforts will last. As stated in this NY Times article, “So far, technology has been keeping up with climate change […] its probably improving faster than climate change is happening. That may not be the case for long. It is uncertain as to what extent snow-making will last as an adaptation strategy” (Seelye).

This brings in both the issues of transient advantage and macro environment in a business setting. While different ski resorts do have to compete with one another, the main competitor is the weather. Developing a transient advantage will be very difficult for those in the ski industry, and might ultimately be impossible. This also makes it very likely that smaller ski resorts who can’t afford the technology won’t be able to keep up. (See link)

As someone who loves skiing, the effects of the trends that have been observed would be very sad indeed.

Works cited:

Seelye, Katharine Q. “Rising Temperatures Threaten Fundamental Change for Ski Slopes.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.

Image: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/06/07/ski-industry-calls-effective-climate-change-policies-avoid-drifting-away

I recently read this post on the financial blog “The Consumerist” and was immediately drawn by the slightly off-kilter focus on alpacas.

The post discusses the “alpaca bubble” that has been occurring in North America, and the huge investments people have placed in the alpaca breeding business as a result. However, as the post states, “…the market for camelid hair wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, and not only are investors realizing they will never get their money back, there are a large number of alpacas being neglected or killed as a result.” (Morran)

Many parallels can be drawn between this incidence and the emu craze of the 80’s, where many Texas farmers lost their investments (Katz). This story can be seen in this article in the LA Times.

As I see it, just as was the case with the emu market, the alpaca market is an investment fad. According to Investopedia, “Fads are generally marked by temporary and excessive enthusiasm, which turns out to be unsustainable.”

Despite my limited knowledge on finance, given what I have learned in class, as an investor you want to have equity in a market that’s both transient and sustainable. As was seen in the emu market of the 80’s, it is very likely that the alpaca market is neither transient nor sustainable.

Works Cited:

Katz, Jesse. “Emus: The Craze That Didn’t Fly.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 1997. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.

Morran, Chris. “The Alpaca Bubble Has Finally Burst.” Consumerist. The Consumerist, 7 Nov. 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.

Image: http://www.chaffhaye.com/talking-alpacas/

Upon reading Kristy Lessy’s blog post about the employee experience at Apple and how it has contributed to the success of the company, I thought it would be interesting to look further into the management side of Apple, and to tie it into what we learned in class 17 (specifically about Performance Management and BTM). In her blog post, Kristy mentions some important aspects about how the treatment of employees is crucial to the quality of customer service in a company, and that employees need to have pride in their company in order to have incentive to work harder.

The management side to Apple truly is the meat and bones of this whole system. In class 17, we learned about different types of managers, and how the ideal manager focuses on building power through influence rather than through their own individual achievement (McLelland, Burnham). Apple’s management seems to be following this recipe, as can be seen in this article. Their corporate culture is “extremely engineer-focused, emphasizes minimal bureaucracy, and likes taking care of its people” (Male). In class we learned that the manager’s job is not to get things better alone, but rather to influence people. Because Apple is managed mainly by engineers, the management thus oversees projects that it understands, and thus it relates to its team. This can very well be seen as a type of influence.

As seen in Apple’s success, having a management team that is passionate about their line of work leads to employees that are the same, and this is not only beneficial to the company, it can also leave its impact on society as a whole.

Works Cited:

Male, Bianca. “8 Management Lessons I Learned Working At Apple.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.

McClelland, David C., and David H. Burnham. “Power Is the Great Motivator.” Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing, Jan. 2003. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.

*Image found via Google image search

This fairly recent news story, found in the Vancouver Sun, is a good example of how the values of stakeholders can clash – or coincide – with a business, and ultimately play a huge role in the business’s strategy.

In any business deal made on First Nations territory, the First Nations themselves are and should be the primary stakeholders.

For companies that want to make deals involving First Nations and their land, it is crucial that they involve the First Nations people themselves.

It is natural that the First Nations would want to reap some financial benefits from projects such as the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Perhaps more than anyone else, they need a secure form of employment – thus it is understandable for them to feel the need to get payout, especially from projects of a risky nature such as the NGP.

However, their territory is important to them for reasons that are far less monetary: tradition and culture.

Living in Comox, which has a large and proud First Nations community (the K’omoks First Nations), I have been exposed to a lot of First Nations culture. These people truly do believe in the concept of environmental sustainability. Being “one with the land” is a vital part of their tradition, and it is well known that upholding tradition is an important factor to them.

As the Environmental Stewardship segment of the Assembly of First Nations states, “while the pursuit of economic opportunities for First Nations and others must be supported, this must be done in a way that retains a balance with the environment. Economic activity cannot come at the expense of environmental sustainability.” (Assembly of First Nations)

Another point is that, given the public image of First Nations people in Canadian society today, and the public’s general goal to help preserve and sustain a culture that has been continually destroyed throughout Canada’s history, it could be crucial to a company’s image and reputation to respect First Nations’ wants and opinions.

Works Cited:

“Environmental Stewardship.” – Policy Areas. Assembly of First Nations, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.

Hoekstra, Gordon. “‘There Will Be No Pipeline’ – In the Heart of Nak’azdli Territory, There Is a Steely Resolve — the People Are Firmly against Northern Gateway.” Www.vancouversun.com. Postmedia Network Inc., 16 Aug. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

This post is a response to Sara Chitsaz’s analysis post on McDonald’s.

I agree with all that Sara has to say about the multi-billion dollar company. I liked her point about the success of McDonald’s that was aided by their playing into their image of cheap food and fast service, but that now, given the changing social climate based around healthy eating and sustainability, they might want to continue altering their strategy.

Another interesting layer to add on top of this is a recent news story on CTV that reported a survey that revealed McDonald’s to be one of the favourite restaurants in Canada. While I knew about the obvious popularity and brand power of McDonald’s, I never knew that people thought of McDonald’s so highly. It seems as though people appreciate the consistency of McDonald’s, both in terms of food and service.  Another interesting point that was made was the fact that McDonald’s beat Starbucks in the “best tasting coffee” category – an impressive feat. This truly shows how far McDonald’s has come.

Everyone knows that McDonald’s has established their name. Maintaining their trend of innovation and growth will only lead to more success for them in the fast-food industry.

Original Post: https://blogs.ubc.ca/sarachitsaz/2014/09/28/mcdonalds-and-the-path-to-environmental-friendliness/

Works Cited:

“McDonald’s, Tim Hortons Emerge as Favourite Restaurants in Canada: Study.” CTVNews. Bell Media, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

*Image found via Google image search

Rome’s opera house has fired 200 members of its permanent orchestra and chorus. The company has been experiencing financial problems for some time now, it’s acclaimed director Riccardo Muti having quit two weeks ago. (The Guardian)
This strikes a very personal nerve. I am extremely passionate about music (particularly classical music), and have an uncle who is the artistic director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, who tells my family of the struggles the Orchestra has with receiving funding from the government.
So here I pose the question of whether the arts should get more government funding.
There are two sides to this:

Pros: The arts contribute to humanity and make society develop intellectually. Without government support, artists and musicians will have to turn to private patrons, which won’t reflect the tastes and opinions of the public, but rather only the wealthy. To look at more reasons governments should fund the arts, see http://stopbcartscuts.wordpress.com/about/ .

Cons: Given the current economic crisis (seen specifically in the Rome opera case – Italy is experiencing the worst economic crisis it’s had in decades) it is understandable that governments want to re-focus funding on areas that they deem more necessary and “basic” than the arts. As well, when the government is involved, censorship is a greater possibility. http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/875 has some good ideas as to why lack of government funding for the arts might not be such a bad thing.

Works Cited:

“Economist Debates: Arts Funding.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

“Rome Opera Sacks 200 Permanent Members of Orchestra and Chorus.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.

Image: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/03/rome-opera-house-sacks-members-orchestra-chorus

A story that caught my eye on the Globe and Mail website was the one about Yahoo! considering investing $10 billion in Snapchat. Basically for those of you who don’t know (although really you should know, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 2 years), Snapchat is a “Los-Angeles based startup that makes a mobile application for sending disappearing photo messages”. (Saitto)
So is Snapchat really a good investment for Yahoo? I decided to do a little bit of research on the company in order to come up with some sort of a conclusion.
First of all, companies today in the mobile consumer space are doing very well. (Laporte) Start-up tech companies are drawing investors like never before.
Second, Snapchat itself is drawing talented top executives from both Facebook and Google. Taking over Snapchat’s PR and policy in mid-October is Jill Hazelbaker, former senior director of communications and government relations at Google. (Laporte)
As well, while currently Snapchat has little or no revenue, it is experiencing fast growth. (Saitto, Womack) It competes with Facebook, which tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion last year.
So in short, it appears that Snapchat is in fact a good investment for Yahoo.
“Snapchat could become an important strategic partner for Yahoo, as it seeks new ways to distribute its content, apps and ads in the mobile world.” (Macmillan, Rusli)

Works Cited:

Laporte, Nicole. “The Snapchat Effect: How Los Angeles Startups Are Snatching Silicon Valley’s Tech Talent.” Fast Company. Fast Company & Inc., 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

Rusli, Evelyn M., and Douglas MacMillan. “Yahoo Nears Investment in Snapchat.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

Saitto, Serena. “Yahoo Said Close to Investing in Snapchat at $10-billion Value.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

Saitto, Serena, and Brian Womack. “Yahoo Close to Investing in Snapchat at $10 Billion Value.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

While Staples and Blockbuster don’t have many similarities, the one thing that they do have in common is that they both bear the backlash to consumer spending shifting online. Blockbuster has gone completely out of business as a result. Does Staples face a similar fate?
According to a recent news story on BNN, Staples Canada has had to close 15 out of 331 stores in the country. As well, Staples Inc. has had to close down 12 percent of all North American stores – and downsize the ones that are still running. All of this because “the market is changing.”
This completely relates to the topic of transient advantage that we discussed a few classes ago.
Blockbuster has in fact proven itself to be non-transient in terms of growth and strategy. Will Staples be the same?
In my humble opinion, Staples could take a few hints from Toys “R” Us. While it is a good approach for Staples to downsize their stores, they could take a cue from the toy retailer and convert store space to backrooms. This would allow customers to pick up their online orders at their stores. (Strauss)
According to the Globe and Mail article that the Toys “R” Us story was presented in, while retail will probably NOT shift to being completely online, it is important for retailers to be good at both. This sums things up nicely.

Works Cited:

Strauss, Marina. “As Buyers Move Online, Retailers Shift Space from Stores to Storage.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 3 June 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.

Strauss, Marina. “Staples Closes 15 Stores in Canada – BNN News.” Staples Closes 15 Stores in Canada – BNN News. Bell Media Television, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.

I thought it would be interesting to look at the issues surrounding business ethics and the Northern Gateway Pipeline, particularly the role of Jim Prentice (Alberta Premiere) in trying to bridge the gap between Enbridge Inc. and the First Nations groups seeking to protect the land. (Tait)

Here lies the seemingly ever-present conflict that exists between economy and environment. More specifically, there lies the ethical issue of whether it is right, or worth it, to expand on and help out this industry while placing the environment at such risk.

On one hand, there is no doubt that the oil and gas industry boosts the Canadian economy, aiding global trade and providing local jobs. On the other hand, is it ethical to place the environment at risk, especially in the long run? “Money, of course, lurks behind the facade of “ethics”. Huge amounts are to be made by building the Northern Gateway pipeline. Most of the benefits, however, would go to Alberta and the oil industry operating there. Canada would benefit from thousands of new jobs. But as usual, the issue is more complicated than first appearances.” (Grigg)

According to the article, Prentice is trying to bridge the gap between the two groups and to have them come to an agreement. I think this ties into the issue of stakeholders, and how we cannot look at stakes/stakeholders in isolation. Each group is important to the success of a business – not just financiers. (Freeman). Here, not only are those working in the industry involved – so are others who live in areas that rely on the economy, as well as, of course, the first nations groups. It is only in Northern Gateway’s best interest to appeal to other parties (such as opposing First Nations Groups) when it comes to the building of the pipeline – at least in terms of appearance and legality.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/industry-first-nations-share-northern-gateway-pipeline-ally-in-prentice/article20501547/

Works Cited

Grigg, Ray. “Northern Gateway: Pipeline to Problems -The Common Sense Canadian.” The Common Sense Canadian. The Common Sense Canadian, 26 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

“Stakeholder Theory.” Interview by R. Edward Freeman. YouTube. YouTube, 13 May 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/embed/bIRUaLcvPe8>.

Tait, Carrie. “Industry, First Nations Share Northern Gateway Pipeline Ally in Prentice.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 9 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.