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

Apple has recently introduced 2 new iphone 5’s into the market: iphone 5S and iphone 5C.  Apple has always been known for its costly products that brings a sense of prestigious and status. For this reason, the new iphone 5C has brought the attention of many critics. The iphone 5C is relatively cheaper at $99 compared to the iphone 5S of $199 with contract. With a slower processing speed, lower storage capacity, and manufactured primarily of plastic instead of aluminum and glass, the phone is more basic.  Nicole has made a good point in her post https://blogs.ubc.ca/nicolelylam/2013/10/07/prestigious-apple-looking-cheap/ about Apples’ new approach in efforts of entering the cost leadership strategy from previously being in the differentiation strategy. But I disagree with Nicole in terms of Apple being “stuck in the middle” of The Porter’s Generic Strategies. I think Apple trying to go after multiple strategies may actually be an advantage as Apple can become more competitive in response to the new global demand for smartphones. The iphone 5C allows Apple to tap into emerging markets, primarily those with a lower budget. Apple gave consumers a choice to pick their iphone 5 preference and allows for a greater target market which will increase their revenues.

Reference: http://www.policymic.com/articles/66009/iphone-5c-release-how-the-new-phone-redefines-apple

This week, Tim Hortons Inc. released a new national wide ad campaign designed to tell the story about the companies quality coffee. The video features “To the high-falutin’ strains of cello music, a man in a lab coat runs his hands over rich, brown coffee grounds. Through the grounds an animated story appears: coffee beans growing on a leafy vine, being roasted and examined by a coffee master.”

This 60- second video runs on Canadian television,  through social media sites online and also on the Tim Hortons website. The marketing goal is to target a large consumer audience. Although Tim Horton’s own consumer research says that when comparing the taste and quality of the coffee to other quick- service restaurants, they are still dominating; however, other companies such as McDonald’s Corp have increased in consumer preference as well. Out of 10 cups of coffee purchased at quick service restaurants, 7 are bought from Tim Hortons. The companies new add campaign is marking the values of the company and their products. Not only are they promoting their “cheap, quick-service morning fix”, but their coffees are also high in quality and outstanding in taste. The advertising video tells the story behind the coffee and the masters of it, which I personally were unaware of until watching the video.

References:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/gourmet-grounds-new-tim-hortons-campaign-tells-story-behind-the-coffee/article14717767/

Many tech companies today have been making bets that wearable smart watches will be the next big thing. Companies such as Samsung, Google, Sony and Apple have been directing their attention to designing wearable devices that do more than just telling time. Most of the smart watches are allow users to take pictures, receive calls, go on apps etc. It sound convenient to me but I would not purchase one. Reviews about the Samsung Galaxy wear have not been the slickest. They are quite expensive, you cannot fully check your emails as it only shows the notifications, and the battery life only lasts for around 1 day. In addition, I personally would not purchase any smart watches because I feel that the purposely enlarged screens would be too big and would cause much inconvenience. Also, why would I use a smart watch when I already have a smart phone that does exactly the same thing but better? In the article ” Why an iWatch may not be as big as the iPhone”, it talks about how people value uniqueness and style when it comes to the accessories such a watches. I completely agree that having the same watch as everyone may not be so cool. Then how come companies still think that smart watches will be such a big hit? The reason is because it is not so much cheaper to produce these watches. “What’s happened is your cost of computing power has come way down, the cost of connectivity has come way down, sensor cost has come way down and can now be integrated in tiny, tiny packages,” Rahman said.

References:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101084065

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100999033/page/2

Blackberry cellphones were once one of the top mobile devices known for its user friendly keyboard and the security it provides. It was mainly geared towards the business world with it’s excellent connectivity. However, over the past years, Blackberry (Research in Motion) has failed to keep its consumers because of the lack of new innovation compared to other companies such as Apple, Samsung etc. The company overall has been performing poorly and has led to huge price drops in the stock market. The shares for Blackberry has declined nonstop since 2008 from $150 per share to now at around $8 as of September. 25 2013.
This lead to the Fairfax Chief Executive Prem Watsa to making the deal for Blackberry at $4.7 billion. Prem Watsa completed his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. Also known as the “Canadian Warren Buffet”, Prem Watsa has had a good reputation for making profits from bets on companies and market trends that looked ill advised at the time, but later turns out to be a correct decision. The RIM company is not running at its highest points at the moment so has Prem Watsa made a good deal ? He says that he does not see Blackberry’s fortune being turned around overnight, but in around four to five years, things will be different for Blackberry. In my opinion, I think that it will be hard for Blackberry to rise again to the top since it has lost so much of the market already do its competitors within these past years. However, I think Watsa is fully capable of changing Blackberry’s future with his skill sets, and I am curious to how he will go about doing so and what the outcome will be in the coming years.

References:

http://globalnews.ca/news/862262/blackberry-shares-extend-their-decline/

http://globalnews.ca/news/858313/blackberry-strikes-deal-to-sell-itself-to-consortium/

In the article above, it is talking about the business ethics a company should have. Companies should not be using bankruptcy as an excuse to do whatever they want, hoping that the company will not have future responsibilities. The article describes one company which was about to go bankrupt but still putting in large orders. I personally think it is unethical for the business to still place orders even though the business clearly knows that the it may not be able to pay its debt. Not only is it unfair for the creditors but it is also unethical in my opinion. In addition, in the article, it also talks about how insolvent companies are avoiding to go bankruptcy. Although the company not going into bankruptcy means that employees will technically still have a job, but it is illegal. I think that in order for any business to be successful,  it must have good business ethics first. Companies with good business ethics not only create a positive reputation but also enables the consumers to trust the company and increases the purchases or trades.

References:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/corporate-bankruptcy-raises-a-question-of-ethics/