This is a short video that introduces what a “coin” is:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Sx34swEG0#t=48

Coin is designed to be a universal card holder that has all  your cards in one- including credit cards, gift cards, membership cards, loyalty cards and any card that can be swiped. (The Coin app can hold unlimited cards, but the actual coin can only hold up to 8 cards.)

With the size of a standard credit card, Coin holds a point of difference in having an interface that lets one cycle through his or hers stored cards, which ultimately solves the problem of a fat wallet. “A small screen displays your name, expiration dates, card security codes, and anything else a merchant needs to verify the transaction, with the exception of a signature,” describes the Bloomberg Businessweek. On top of that, this innovative technology has a lifespan of 2 years and is said to be waterproof.

Personally,  I see Coin as an opportunity for the future, yet there are quite a few issues surrounding it. For example, Coin is only limited to American users as of now, plus there are high risks involved where coin may be rejected by credit card issuers/ network, or ,even worse, the customers who remain dubious on this novel concept.

Sources:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-15/a-startup-thats-building-a-universal-credit-card

http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/17/technology/innovation/coin-startup-credit-card/

For more information on Coin, please see https://onlycoin.com/support/faq/

Bitcoin, a digital currency that is not controlled by any central authority, has been growing in popularity lately. The idea of this so-called “cryptocurrency” first came from the financial crisis of 2008 and was later introduced on Janurary 3rd of 2009. Just last month,  the world’s first Bitcoin ATM went live in Vancouver.

Michael Bliss ,the co-founder of Bitcoin Ltd, calls it the “Money of the future” and describes it as “A money that could only be brought to existence at a predictable rate” in an interview. The anonymity serves as a benefit to protect users while transactions and exchanges are made. In addition, the low fees in payment processing also poses a competitive advantage for the company. The main weakness now for Bitcoin, however, is to gain acceptance. Because there are still people such as Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, who is “weighing in on the hearing, saying that it has no plans to regulate the currency.”

Despite the fact that some are still skeptical about the stability and viability of Bitcoins, many sides with Michael Bliss who sees it as an opportunity, including The Department of Justice and Securities of US.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/world-s-first-bitcoin-atm-goes-live-in-vancouver-tuesday-1.2251820

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-18/u-s-agencies-to-say-bitcoins-offer-legitimate-benefits.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/12/bitcoin_entrepreneurs_want_to_put_virtual_coins_in_your_wallet.html

LollaCup, an innovative infant/toddler straw sippy cups that are BPA-free, has recently gone famous after an episode on Shark tank in April 2012. Their value proposition of targeting infants and toddlers with a point of difference on health issues made them extremely popular. Yet, this popularity also caused an issue in the supply chain.

Originally, the packing and shipping of products ordered online was done by the owners of Lollacup, Hanna and Mark Lim, in their own living room. But as the order increased significantly after their appearance on TV, they decided that something has to change. Ultimately, the owners decided to “outsource their orders to a third-party logistics provider, known in the business as a 3PL, in exchange for a percentage of revenue.” Quoting Ms. Lim saying that, “We’re probably going to save about $50,000 this year doing it this way,” and that “Once we went the 3PL route, it could have been easy to say, O.K., that’s done. But instead we kept questioning and evaluating. We still are.”

This is a great opportunity for their business to develop and grow. Since Lollacup’s target market is internationally ranged, it is a good idea that they update their supply chain and produce a faster way of packaging and shipping.

Sources:

http://lollaland.com/whats_lollacup.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/business/smallbusiness/selling-on-the-web-and-seeking-reliable-shipping.html?ref=smallbusiness

Children’s health: http://children.webmd.com/news/20080212/so-long-sippy-cups-hello-straws

In one of the lectures, the professors posed an interesting clicker question that made me think: What will I be doing after I graduate? The answer I chose was “C”- I want to raise millions of dollars to start my own company.

Yet after reflecting upon my original answer, I would argue that my answer should be a combination of A, B and C. In order to be a successful entrepreneur, experience is required. Nolan Watson, the Sauder graduate who later on became the CEO of Sandstorm Gold Company, told us during the skype call that he worked with a CEO for a large corporation in order to gain experience before becoming the CEO himself. Another quality of an entrepreneur is the ability of being innovative. Wade Larson, another Sauder graduate who started up Urthecast, showed us their company’s innovative idea that seeks to film earth from high definition cameras located in space and streams footage directly to the web.

Both of them demonstrates the fact that success is not build in a day, and that all startups are risky and requires innovation- but in the end, that is also what entrepreneurship is all about.

Links to class slides: https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-1463077-dt-content-rid-5089333_1/courses/SIS.UBC.COMM.101.101.2013W1.17404/SIS.UBC.COMM.101.101.2013W1/Lecture%20Slides/Lecture%2020.pdf

https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-1463065-dt-content-rid-5089344_1/courses/SIS.UBC.COMM.101.101.2013W1.17404/SIS.UBC.COMM.101.101.2013W1/Lecture%20Slides/Lecture%208.pdf

This blog post makes reference to Peony Au’s Blogpost “Is Money the Best Motivator?” 

In both of my Comm101 and Comm292 classes, we have learnt about motivation and how it effects an employees’ behavior. Out of all the motivational theory, McClelland’s Need Theory states that three main needs have to be fulfilled in order to motivate a person: the need for achievement, the need for power and the need for affiliation. In Peony’s blog, she states that intrinsic motivators(ie. creating a sense of autonomy) are more effective than extrinsic motivators (ie. Paying them more money). I too believe that is true because extrinsic motivators, such as giving a higher pay, may motivate the employees in the short term, but not necessarily in the long term. Instead, of giving out money, companies should create long term solutions that will motivate their employees such as fostering a sense of community and shared goals.

Relating this topic back to the video we’ve watched in class- Zappos, an online shoe and clothing website, successfully uses intrinsic motivators to keep their employees motivated rather than giving them higher pay for performing well each and every single time. This then generates a long term solution and results in the company in having low turnover rates and high employee performance within their workplace.

References:

http://blog.clarity.fm/how-money-can-hurt-employee-motivation

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/225041

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/10/three-things-that-actually-motivate-employees/e

In Jake B’s blog “Nike’s Big Mistake,” he mentioned that it is a terrible mistake for Nike to have their second generation of fitness tracker: FuelBand SE to only support  iOS (Apple) users, seeing the fact that 80% of the global market mobile platform is Android. Jake also mentioned that relating to the things we have learnt in COMM101, this would be regarded as an operation problem in their business model.

However, I don’t entirely agree with him. I believe that there are both pros and cons in making Nike’s FuelBrand SE only available on iOS platforms. Although it does limit the number of people using fitness tracker, their target market is quite narrow to being with. Like Nike stated, “iOS users are typically consumers that are more affluent. While there are a fair number of high-end Android phones, including the HTC One or Galaxy Galaxy S4, there are also many more low-end devices purchased by consumers who may not necessarily spring $149 for a band that tracks your movement.” In addition, since Nike has such a strong brand positioning that it gained great customer loyalty over the years, they won’t loose the majority of their customers just because they subjected to only iOS platform devices.

Sources:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57607611-94/nikes-no-android-stance-on-fuelband-is-a-huge-mistake/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24538852

As Samsung and Apple have been growing market shares in the international cellular device industry, many other firms have been suffering- one such as the Taiwanese manufacture of smartphones: HTC corporation.

Recently, HTC posted its first ever quarterly loss of T$3.5 billion ($120 million). The chairwomen, Wang, said that although the fourth quarter will be the “biggest challenge,” they still wish to increase their market shares by bringing out their new product HTC One which is promoted by Robert Downey Jr.  In other words, the goal of this new product is to change the consumers’ perception of HTC in hopes of gaining new market shares.

However, many such as Reuters believe that HTC is “underscoring a dramatic decline for a company which boasts award-winning smartphones but has failed to develop a durable brand image,” and that the “prospects of a recovery continue to remain weak.” Personally, I too believe that HTC lack in advertising and should spend more money in marketing their products to the public. Since it is already an award-winning smartphone, it can easily persuade a large amount of people into purchasing the phones, which would eventually lead to a growth in market shares in the international cell phone industry.

Works Cited:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24393975

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-06/htc-chairwoman-says-fourth-quarter-will-be-biggest-challenge-.html

Tesla Motors, an American based electric vehicle company, has been growing in popularity and market shares since the first quarter of 2013. It was not only the first car company to develop an appealing yet environmentally friendly car, but it was also the first to aim at making the prices of electric cars to be cheaper, thus more affordable for the general public.

Yet on October 1st, the Model S ,one of Tesla’s cars, was caught on fire due to a collusion with a large metal object in the middle of the road, causing significant damage to the vehicle. This caused Tesla’s stocks to fall 6.2% only within a day. The Chief Executive of  Tesla, however, states “For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery.” And despite of this accident, most people still believe it is a highly uncommon occurrence, such that the Jefferies analyst, Elaine Kwei, states in her report, “The company’s track record of innovation and groundbreaking products gives us confidence in the execution of future vehicles,” and that she believes “the Model S is still considered safer than conventional vehicles.”

Works Cited:

http://www.businessinsider.com/jefferies-raises-tesla-price-target-2013-10#ixzz2h6nyWm4v

http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-is-tanking-2013-10

Video: Business cards get smarter

People now are getting more and more creative in terms of doing business. Even the plainest business cards are beginning to develop. As BBC News stated, “In this age of digital-everything the traditional business card is fast becoming irrelevant.” That being said, there are quite a few new apps being invented that are dedicated to digital business cards. CamCard and CardMunch are great examples: both of them read business cards accurately and saves them onto the cellular device or even onto the viewer’s LinkedIn account (online business profiles). Another type of creative business cards that people are tackling is the “QR codes”- one scan and it brings the viewers to all sorts of different contents. However, there are also arguments that NFC (Near Field Communication) will become a “game changer” in the future, seeing that it allows instant data transfer from the business card to one’s cellular device. Either way, with the advancement of technology, business cards can now give viewers more information than they previously could. With a click of a button or, even better, a movement, one can save and create connections that will never be lost.

Here is a QR code that links right to my blog (which is actually the one you are on now.) 

Works Cited:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24157796

http://www.businessinsider.com/smart-business-cards–rehashing-hashable-2011-3

Seeing that today’s technology has advanced so rapidly, more and more visual media we perceive has become deceptive. In order to advertise for their products, companies now use a great amount of editing mechanisms to produce artificial and exaggerated advertisements.

L’Oreal (a French cosmetics group), for instance, used an excessive amount of Photoshop editing to exaggerate the effects of their mascara products. These advertisements, however, have been taken down by the US National Advertising Division, a group that has been banning Photoshop in Cosmetic Ads since 2011. The advertisement of the anti-wrinkle cream, another of L’Oreal’s products, was also said to be misleading and was later on banned in the UK.

Personally, I believe businesses should not use any Photoshop or editing mechanism in their advertisements seeing that it demos the qualities that the actual product does not hold. Not only are they misleading, it is also unethical to deceive the consumers into buying the product. And even though the company may benefit in the short term (if the product sells well), they will eventually ruin their own reputation in the long run.

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Sources:

L’Oreal’s Mascara Ads: http://www.businessinsider.com/loreal-pulled-mascara-ads-because-of-photoshop-2013-3?op=1

L’Oreal’s Anti-aging Cream Ad: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-was-this-rachel-weisz-ad-banned-in-britain-2012-2