Month: November 2012

I’ve recently read an article on the economists. The article revolves around the developing countries like Laos, Indonesia becoming more stable and continue to grow at a steady rate. Developing Asia has seem to be benefit from well managed economic system (the flow of capital throughout the country) and growing domestic demand.

One of the concepts used to explain the cold war was the “Domino Theory”, how if one state were to turn communist, surrounding states would fall into the influence of the state. I think the domino theory could be applied to this situation. As countries South-East Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) continue to grow, they will exert influence over their surrounding countries. These countries whom assist their surrounding countries like Laos, gain benefits,  they’ve created a new relationship, possible trading partner and therefore access to new resources. The newly created relationship, spread of influence benefits both countries. Economic stability not only offers development in ones country but also potential to break poverty cycles. Entering the world trade, Laos will be a main exporter of gold, copper and hydropower. With these developing countries entering world trade markets an access to resources will be opened, their success will continue to exert influence and spread. The economies of Asia could be a powerhouse concentration of strong, stable economies, but could also lead to further exploitation.

As economies are growing, will it mean poverty and quality of life of its inhabitants continue to better? Asia is a continent full of different social values, power concentrations, and corrupt governments. Will the governments invest their time to aid it’s citizens, to better the lives of the country? Will the growing economies just be an another device used to hide the rights of human beings?

After reading Mary Blog about the globe and mail article and how Honda has recently introduce a Corporate Social Responsibility statement in North America. One of Mary’s statements made me think about the impact of “green washing” society that businesses have become. Has the social responsibilities of the company have become just as important as the product they are trying to sell? In class, we discussed how people say they want to go green but will not pay the premium in order to be green.

Mary’s says, “Although environmental and social stewardship is positive for our society, I believe that such actions need to be sustained over a long period of time and relevant to a corporation’s practices.”

One may question what are “relevant” practices in terms of social responsibility? It is quite subjective. Just like going green, there is a fine line of saying whether a practice of a corporation can be deemed social responsible or it’s just a facade in order for the customer to have new connotations attached to a company name.

I believe that the first part of Mary’s statement is true, long term is the big picture, in the long term will see if the company has really changed and long term is key for the effects of CSR will take place. But on the other hand urgency and care must be taken into consideration when thinking about social responsibility. If companies were to not give donate to Hurricane Sandy for example, the people impacted by the storm would be helpless. Human beings are watchers, how many of us went out of our way to make donations to the casualties of the storm? Without things like the government, and company donations probably not. Without an effort, we would just watch.

I believe that every person you can help, is a long term investment. Without Honda donating little things, adding the incentives to create social responsible within their brand and employees, they would not be the  role model it is today. Even though it seems like small little, irrelevant (not compiling to corporate goals eg. making the most fuel efficient cars) good deeds go a long way. People have two eyes to see, victims have all the thanks in the world to give.

Nowadays, business without good intentions will be shunned by consumers. Corporate Social Responsibility, and sustainability have grown and not only create new jobs but a society where good intentions are rewarded. But when competition comes into play as people will continue to out do one another, a future may be created where there will soon be a fine line of doing good deeds, or fighting your way to be the best at doing good. Business will no longer be fighting through price wars, and innovation, they will be fighting with sustainability and social responsibility. Will there be such thing as a too much of a good thing?

I’ve come across this amazing blog written by Jim Connolly, he has 26 years of marketing experience working with small and medium sized companies. The blog is updated fairly frequently, a couple times a week, simple small bodies of text an easy read to skim on a lazy day and still not feel like too much work. He also has a marketing strategy that I thought was very interesting. Content marketing, providing a valuable service for free like an informative blog and still being able to make money out of it. Although  I believe marketing  is a very innovative, quickly changing, always evolving aspect in the business world, I think the knowledge gained from people’s past experiences can easily project into an embodiment of an idea. For example, the internet and computers were created from a need of information storage, and were made quite successful with the help of marketing. Marketing is a powerful aspect in business, and  society from how you appeal to others and meeting personal goals. Marketing can be a great thing (getting the right things sold to the right people, beneficial) or can lead to unethical decisions (targeting children who can’t resist, or think clearly). You really need the right kind of people for the job. Jim Connolly incorporates all these aspect of business into multiple, simple reads. He offers moral advice on growing a business idea to tips on how to market and how to achieve these goals. His headings for his blog quickly grab your attention making you reflect upon yourself, and purpose. I think having words and things that pop out and really make you think is enriching. You learn a lot about yourself, something I believe marketing is really tied to.

Recently I read Ryan’s blog post about Urthecast. The introduction in class and the points that Ryan questions made me think about the product. I was confused on whether or not the cameras are actually built yet ( the videos shown in class were a “cool” aspect of earth but not necessarily what it’ll actually look like). Looking at the about section, the website states “How it will work” alluding to the fact that it has not been built yet which leads to question another aspect. How did they create the footage that they use to advertise it? Is their advertisement reliable or just away to increase angel investors and spark consumer interests.

Ryan states that UrtheCast would be a new way to view natural disasters and it replacing live videos in say a riot. The quality of live video is questionable, do we need footage of a tsunami bringing down a city? People running for safety? As remember that the resolution and quality will not be that great, a golf cart would only represented by a pixel. I don’t think Urthecast could replace having an actually reporter at the scene with camera crew recording the after effects of a natural diaster. Another problem I had with the presentation was that the presenter stated that it was able to view a one meter by one meter point on earth, but when answering someone’s question about privacy issues they stated that they you wouldn’t be able to anyone. The social aspect of these new technology might be a harsh negative for consumers. It can be distracting and adds an aspect of privacy which I believe does more harm then the revenue it’ll bring to the company (which is why they want to implement the service).

Although I find the concept for intriguing and I think it can add a lot of depth to society, the way they are advertising it, I find bothersome, the aspect of social media potentially violating privacy is an issue. This new technology is quite powerful. I wish, that instead of emphasizing about the financial burdens that the presenter focused innovation has brought upon owners and investors they highlight the use and how it will revolutionize the world. I dislike how some of the video footage shown in class it contradicts what the presenter was saying for example the nature footage in one of the videos were quite high depth ( how we would be able to watch animals in deserts which no man had walked, and showing nature scenery: waterfall and sunsets) but the UrtheCast probably would not be able to manage that resolution and quality, it’s false advertising. It the only problem that I had with this presentation. Although I question how they should implement and use the product, I am still excited to see the capabilities and contributions it will bring to society.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vgb-0qCa10Q#!

HERE: This article talks about unemployment is an increasing problem for young adults who face difficulty finding a job which they spent thousands of dollars and 4 years trying to aim for. They must face debt from paying for tuition and a struggle to meet ends meet. This brings back a discussion in class on why we devote  time and money on a post secondary institute only to have more debt on one’s shoulders.

They tell us they will help us build skills necessary to succeed, but will we need to know how to find the derivative of x in the future? Probably not, will we have to know what IPO meant or stood for, well we probably would need to know but thanks to the website google, knowledge can be easily attained and pasted around. But jobs are becoming more competitive, you can no longer just land any well paid  job you have to work for it. You have to compete for it. Post secondary gives you something you can write on your resume, a chance to network and increase your opportunities. It’s not about finding x or getting good grades (which society has somewhat enforced) but to shape professionalism, push and uphold boundaries, and to find the fire in which you must fan.

Unemployment, debt and education has sparked several business in itself. Companies that provide services likes RESPs (Knowledge First Financial) that help both parents and child have a easier time managing debt has been used more and more. Nowadays every child in a stable family background has some kind of post secondary fund. It emphases the importance post secondary. My parents, my family comes from a line of hardships, few of them went to school past 13 supporting the family and getting a job was essential. But now here in Canada, its a privilege to receive the education that no one in my family was ever able to receive. In the past century the way of life has revolutionized.

Even know not only my family but others are being laid off, forced out of work, the government is still able to provide services like Employment Insurance. They are some how still able to make ends meet while I can still focus on going to school. The ordeals other families go through may not be as extreme but there are many more that are worse off.I’ve myself had a part-time job since grade 10, but I’ve decided to take a break from working and just focusing on school. I can honestly say, I miss working, I actually hate not working. I can’t relate to have my parents unemployed knowing they have a family of 6 to maintain and feed.

When I graduate from university I would feel like I let them down, if I don’t find a job that betters my family. I don’t want to be another burden on my family or society, and I don’t think anyone does. I want to be able to grow professionally and as a person, gaining more responsibility to do the things I want and what my family wants. That is why I go to UBC, to make my parents proud, and to be able to try to make sense of my purpose.

Here is a link regarding food trucks cutting into Vancouver restaurants business.The article has made me think about the revolution in the food industry.  Food trucks are an excellent technique to tackle the high renting costs, staffing costs, and even region limits of owning a restaurant(without all the extra costs). Food trucks are growing to the point where local business owners are being affected, which makes me think of the power of innovative industries.

There are many Food trucks lined just right outside Vancouver downtown Art Gallery during noon, which suits the target market, business folks that need great food quickly, something a restaurant may not necessarily be able to offer. With the power of social media (Twitter) food trucks are able to alert customers of where they are and when they’ll be at a certain limit. Not only will the business grow with every busy location they park, by exposing itself to new consumers, but they can also retain customer loyalty. In my opinion Twitter and social media have become a crucial component in society (including how you can attract consumers). It goes to show how current technology can allow ideas to evolve and implemented in an effective manner. How people serving food on trucks can rival already established restaurants.