Haruo Miyagi, CEO and founder of social entrepreneurship organization,  Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities (ETIC) has a different definition of “disaster relief”.  Diverting from their initial provision of basic needs to the Japanese victims of 2011’s earthquake, tsunami and reactor meltdown, ETIC initiates a “Disaster Recovery Leadership Development Project” to help revive the damaged economies in Tohoku. ETIC recruits young business people from big corporations to help recover the damages infrastructure, such as housing units, companies and transportation system. Also, to improve the Tohoku economy, ETIC pinpointed the flaw in the Tohoku fishing industry and started a program to teach the application of IT in fishing industry in junior and high schools.

What ETIC does is truly amazing. It has a large vision; it sees a better way to help the disaster victims, to pull them back into the” survival race” than merely providing provisions. Reviving the economy means that incomes of households become available again to the victims to start new lives. Recruiting business talents from other parts of Japan gives the victims hopes that their loss from the disaster is salvageable. With ETIC’s contribution, Tohoku’s economy will definitely be able to resume its momentum at a faster pace.

Source cited:

Miller, Hannah. Earthquake Recovery in Japan: Entrepreneurs to the Rescue. Ed. Andrea Newell. N.p., 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/disaster-recovery-through-social-entrepreneurship-in-japan/>.

Picture cited:

Miller, Hannah. Earthquake Recovery in Japan: Entrepreneurs To The Rescue. 2012. Triple Pundit. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/disaster-recovery-through-social-entrepreneurship-in-japan/>.

Providing Cloud Services that Match the Needs of Disaster Victims and NPO Networks. 2012. Care For Japan. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://careforjapan.us/>.

Armes is a great example of an entrepreneur who started his venture right here in Vancouver. The entrepreneur saw an opportunity in the entertainment sector that aligns with his expertise. Shooting of a 3-D film was previously thought to be too difficult, complex, expensive and labour-intensive. Now, Armes’s business, Gener8 makes production of 3-D films easier, cheaper and practical: it provides a new method called G83D to convert films into 3-D format and add visual effects after the production of the films.

Armes depicts another feature of entrepreneurship, which is risk-taking. The visual-effect industry is expensive and demands rapid innovation. Hence, Gener8 invests more than $5-miliion in R&D and business development to keep up with the market.

G83D’s emergence has been successful accepted in Hollywood. Gener8’ current portfolio includes major movies such as Harry Potter, The Amazing Spider-Man and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

The quality of a true entrepreneur is found within Armes; he sees new opportunities in market needs, produces new and innovative product, risk-taking and creates wealth through innovation. He is also keen to expand his business with more innovation. In fact, Gener8 will be launching a new service called Cumul8 which services data-tracking to film producers.

Source cited:

Lederman, Marsha. Vancouver Company Turns 2-D Harry Potter into 3-D Movie Magic. 2012. The Globe and Mail Inc., Toronto. Web. 27 Oct. 2012. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/vancouver-company-turns-2-d-harry-potter-into-3-d-movie-magic/article4652034/#>.

After reading Arman Mazhari’s blog, I am inspired to have a say on this topic, which is the element of comparison in an advertisement. Back in my country, the legislation does not permit advertisements which feature the comparison of a product with another real existing product on the mass media.  In fact, no mention of another brand is allowed. As such, all products have equality to promote or appeal themselves to consumers through commercials. Though the advertisements are mostly dull, the restrictions allow and encourage marketers to focus on conveying the point of difference of the products in their advertisements to reach the consumers.

In my opinion, this is the ethic that Walmart and Pepsi-Cola need to incorporate in their advertisements to show their respects to consumers. As mentioned by Arman, comparative advertisements can often mislead consumers and leave them in doubt, as indeed, “there is no clear cut in the debate”. Another mart can cut its price so low to sabotage Walmart’s point of difference that boasts of low prices. Coke can always fight back with variable tastes. When this happens, can Walmart and Pepsi-Cola afford to eat back on their words and lose their customers?

Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/armanmazhari/2012/10/09/comparative-advertising-good-or-bad-idea/

Following Park Yeon Soo Eunice’s blog about Disney’s new webpage as its marketing strategy, I do agree with her that when a company should always weigh between the outcomes and the losses to any change in marketing strategy. Eunice mentions that the old “Guest” of Disney might encounter difficulties in looking for certain features in the old website.

However, in this case, I take Disney’s side. In my opinion, the new webpage provides Disney’s “Guests” with refreshed excitement and experience. While Eunice may or may not imply that Disney should retain its old website style, if Disney does not upgrade or improve its webpage with new look and fun appeal, “Guest” especially kids whose preferences depend heavily on first impressions , might easily get bored and lose interest in the webpage itself, let alone to consider further patronising Disney’s services. Yes, it is true that Disney has already established long-time brand recognition and image among consumers. However, Disney is not monopoly in the entertainment sector; in fact, it faces huge competition from competitors such as Universal. While Disney has a long successful history, let’s not forget that consumers possess high consumer power that they can easily switch their preferences to Disney’s competitors.

Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/eyeonsoo/2012/10/08/disney-reveals-new-home-page-for-the-new-target/

Based on this article, UnitedHealth Group Inc. will be making the largest overseas acquisition in the managed care field which is taking over the Brazilian Amil Participacoes SA. UnitedHealth will be purchasing a 90 % of Amil’s shares, worth $ 4.9 billion which is equivalent to 30.75 reais per Amil share. While that, Amil founder and CEO Edson Bueno will in turn buy UnitedHealth shares worth $ 470 million.

Indeed, this acquisition reflects UnitedHealth’s proper calculation of the pros and cons of buying Amil. Identifying the increased competition at country due to Medicaid and Medicare programs, UnitedHealth attenuate its shortcomings by taking advantage of the growing Brazilian middle class who can afford health care and expanding its operations to the country. To make the deal worthy, Amil comes in a package of being an insurance coverage provider and running hospitals and doctor facilities. This gives UnitedHealth an opportunity to test the prospect of a different medical service model in United States. UnitedHealth also expects an increase in 2012 revenues of $ 5 billion and a rise in earnings per share in 2013. This acquisition is a good example of use of SWOT in decision-making process of a company.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/latin-american-business/unitedhealth-buys-control-of-brazils-biggest-insurer-for-49-billion/article4596815/

Recently, India utilized its 2005 implemented drug policy, which gives allowance to generic companies and forced Bayer(a German drug company) to license its kidney-cancer drug, Nexavar to an Indian firm, Natco, in wake of Bayer’s unethical business: Bayer’s offered price is overrated (weakness in the Indian market), insufficient supply and Bayer has not made its drug locally). Natco is ordered to sell Nexavar at one-thirtieth of Bayer’s price, while paying Bayer’s a 6% royalty.

In this case, India’s policy poses a threat by introducing Indian generics as competitors, which sell the drug at a much reduced price, to Bayer. As such, you may say, Bayer might be able to face off this challenge by lowering its price as well. However, remembering that Natco’s price is 1/30 of Bayer’s price, Bayer will most probably be not willing to side-track profit-making to compete with the small Indian company. Even if it does so, will it be able to pull off the cost of making the medicine and sustain? I highly doubt so. While India allows generics to sell cheap drugs, the quality of ingredients used in making the drugs is worth given a second thought.

Here are the links:

http://www.economist.com/node/21562204

http://www.economist.com/node/21562226

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!