In response to Wayne’s blog post (https://blogs.ubc.ca/waynelau/2013/10/07/fast-food-giant-revamping-their-products/), I have also noticed the changes McDonalds have recently made. Although McDonalds are easily accessible and affordable, many health conscious people try to avoid these fast food restaurants as much as possible. It is evident to everyone that eating these fatty foods on a regular basis very unhealthy. In the recent year, the news have especially been focusing and the health and nutritious values that foods may bring and McDonalds have caught on the flow. As a result, McDonalds has re-positioned their brand from a fast food restaurant to one that also offers healthy food choices. McDonalds have introduced products such as Premium Salads, McWraps, egg white Mcmuffin and various fruit smoothies for consumers that are more health conscious.  I agree with Wayne that by introducing these new products, it gives McDonalds many points of differences and being able to separate themselves as “just another fast food company”. It was a smart move by McDonalds as they have now captured a bigger target market with these new “healthy” products but still carrying its traditional menu which gives the customers more choices.

Reference:

http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-changes-in-the-past-year-2013-9?op=1

Facebook, a social media company was named “the best company to work for in 2013”. Companies were ranked based on a 18-question survey completed by employees asking their satisfaction on career opportunities, compensation, benefits, work-life balance, senior management, culture and values. Companies that have been leaders in the creation and implementation of strong corporate cultures such as Google, Facebook, and Zappos have all become successful. I have learned from both my Comm 101 and Comm 292 class that successful companies often have strong corporate cultures. Facebook employees must go through an extensive on-boarding orientation/experience that allows them to learn about the company culture directly from some of the company’s longest-tenured employees. All the employees are able to recite Facebook’s vision statement which is “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected”. Besides from all the perks, there are happy hours, intramural sports teams, clubs and even an annual Game Day for Facebook employees to bond and develop a strong company culture. In addition, Facebook also has an incredible CEO: Mark Zuckerberg whom leads by example. With all these factors, Facebook has become really successful and has developed a strong and unique company culture with motivated employees which in turn leads to company growth.

References: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/12/12/the-best-companies-to-work-for-in-2013/

http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2013/02/05/lessons-from-facebook-how-culture-lead-to-growth/

Twitter, a social media company decided to go public on the New York Stock Exchange this Thursday Nov. 8 2013. Its IPO was priced at $26 per share but only after the first day, Twitter ended with a share price of $44.90 per share. More than 13 million shares were traded once they became available an hour after the New York Stock Exchange opened and is “the biggest technology listing since Facebook in 2012”. This made me feel envious as to why I did not invest a little in Twitter myself. However, since the Twitter shares soared so high, it brought the attention to critics. Twitter has 230 million active users globally and has raised $1.8 billion from 70 millions shares but still has problems generating financial revenue. As a micro-blogging company, revenues are generating through advertisements. About 85% of its revenues streams come from advertising on its site, but more than 75% of Twitter users access the site from their mobile phone which does not have advertisements. Although the Twitter shares have increased about 73% from its IPO, I’m interested in seeing whether the company will continue to grow and increase its financial earnings or slump in the future just as what happened to Facebook at the beginning.

References:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24851054

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/us-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE99N1AE20131107

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24397472

              Companies that create shared value and are sustainable are able to distinguish themselves from competitors and attract consumers. Although there are many beauty companies in the market, The Body Shop is unique from others through its company’s philosophy. Shared value is defined as recognizing and capitalizing on connections between societal and economic progress, in which can be seen with The Body Shop. The company maintains its commitment to its five core values: Against Animal Testing, Support Community Fair Trade, Activate Self Esteem, Defend Human Rights and Protect The Planet. The Body Shop was the first cosmetics company to introduce fair trade to the cosmetics and toiletries industry in 1987. Consumers such as myself are attracted to companies such as The Body Shop towards their products but also towards their company values. Consumers are more willing to make purchases or even pay a higher price for product if they know that their money is spent on something positive. This point has proven to be true as The Body Shop started its first shops in United Arab Emirates 30 years ago but has now grown and expanded  internationally.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/wknd/wknd_article.asp?xfile=/data/wkndtopstoriesnew/2013/November/wkndtopstoriesnew_November5.xml&section=wkndtopstories

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1257993/the-body-shop-welcomes-the-news-reports-that-the-chinese-food-and-drug-administration-will-adopt-a-new-approach-to-animal-testing-for-cosmetic-product