Category Archives: Uncategorized

Recently, explosions of Samsung Galaxy Note7 catch people’s eyes. The batteries of phones are easily to catch fire and burn the users. Now, Samsung is recalling every phone it had sold around the world and permanently ceasing production just six weeks after it went on sale.

What does Samsung lose?

-Profits. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Friday said it expected to take a hit to its operating profit of about $3 billion over the next two quarters due to the discontinuation of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

–Reputation. People began to worry about the quality of Samsung phones, not only the Note7 but also other types of phones. The sales of other types of Samsung phones are declined by nearly 26%.

-Market share. The competition of smartphone industry is always fierce, other brands like Apple, HTC and Huawei will share the pie of Samsung quickly since it was forced to quit.

Can Samsung stay in its leading position?

Absolutely yes. Samsung is likely to lose sales in the short-term, but it is possible for Samsung to win them back. To make a PEST analysis, for political and economic factors, Samsung Group may get support from Korea’s government since the group accounts for 22% of the total GDP of Korea. The whole Korea’s economy might be effected once the phone affair effects the Samsung Group. From social side, as a representative Korean brand in the global market, Korean citizens are volunteer to support the national brand and many foreign consumers who are into the Korean culture do so as well. Moreover, in technology part, Samsung is a global leader in Android phones and though others keep technology development, they still cannot beat Samsung to some extent.

What did others say? — About the smartphone industry

We might look back on Samsung’s battery meltdown as an inflection point in the history of the industry, when the frantic push for smartphone-makers to launch “revolutionary” new devices every year or two finally ran up against the physical limits of the form, and the lithium-ion battery in particular.

(http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/10/11/how_the_samsung_galaxy_note_7_s_exploding_batteries_will_change_the_smartphone.html)

This is an interesting point I found in Will Oremus’ blog and I quite agree with it. How can the makers blindly explore new tech but ignore the basic requirement for quality? As a consumer, I do not expect companies to release new smartphone that often since some functions are dispensable and sometimes we are forced to buy a new phone because of the so-called trends. I think it is time for them to consider lowering the pace of releasing new product but to focus on the quality of every phone produced.

Word count:  435 words

Reference:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-sees-3-5-trillion-won-profit-hit-over-two-quarters-from-discontinuing-galaxy-note-7-1476403566

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/samsung-galaxy-note-7-production-1.3799462

http://www.techcityng.com/top-five-mobile-brands-nigeria-201 4/

http://www.androidheadlin es.com/2014/09/samsung-face-serious-changes-lee-kun-hees-son-will-probably-take-company.html

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-explosions-reportedly-set-a-jeep-and-house-on-fire-in-the-us-1456614

“It is not about the shoes. It is about what you do in they. It about being who you are born to be. Just do it.” This is a classic advertisement of Nike, the famous sports goods brand. It is confused, why does Nike hardly ever mention the functions or the designs of the shoes, but keep telling a story or making encouragement? Why do consumers keep passion on Nike for these years? The one and only answer could be, it is not about products, it is about belief.

Concepts Delivery

In the vast majority of advertisements, there is usually a story of a famous sports star who pitted against a strong enemy, and after a great struggle, emerging triumphant. Though it is an old story, consumers can be inspired every time. They would believe that they were the hero like the one in the video and they have their own talents. Sometimes, the promotion could also be that I have energy and passion to do whatever I want, just do it. Such concepts attract lots of teenagers and young adults, because it responds to the ideas of new generation, which makes consumers have emotional response to Nike. They are likely to trust the brand and get more utility from consumptions. Hence, the value proposition contains the unique cultural factors as well besides great quality and design.

How does corporate culture play a role in the business model?

• Customer segments: The young generation who love sports and fashion, have great respond to the concepts and of course, can afford the high price.
• Cost structure: Nike does not produce but only design. Therefor, the cost of design and promotion account for the majority.
• Channels: Branding franchised store, shopping malls, online.

• Customer relationships: Online forum, new product releasing meeting, etc.

To conclude, the case of Nike explains how important the corporate culture is in some industries in today’s market. Since the all the products almost have already met requirements for functional use, it is better to differentiate brand and set up brand image by unique corporate culture. Consumers pay more attention to the products that can also brings satisfaction into spiritual level under this condition, especially the young generation who emphasize on personalization and unique lifestyle. In a word, resources are scarce but culture could be perpetuated. It helps to impress people and builds brand loyalty.

(Word account: 395)

Reference:

Advertising. 2015. Campaign . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/history-advertising-no-118-nikes-just-it-tagline/1329940#. [Accessed 1 October 2016].

News. 2013. Nike’s New Tiger Woods Ad Says More About Us Than Him. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/nikes-new-tiger-woods-ad-says-more-about-us-him-148172. [Accessed 1 October 2016].

Nike. 2016.[ONLINE] Available at: http://about.nike.com/ [Accessed 1 October 2016].

The food delivery industry in China became popular these years because of the convenience it offers to the customers. They pick up the food in the restaurant and send it to consumer’s address once the customer make order online.

I believe that many of us tried such food delivery services before, but did any of us think about the food safety? Do the restaurants that company cooperates have license and always keep kitchen clean? Apparently, most of us chose to trust the delivery companies and did not check such conditions.

However, there were news keep coming out since last year which reveal the dark side of the delivery industry. Many big companies co-operate with those unlicensed restaurants that have disgusting food making process. (see the pictures below, the typical dirty restaurant)

What shocks people is that the delivery companies definitely know how these unlicensed restaurants worked illegally but they still cooperated with them. People all complain about the companies and said they are without business ethics and moral. Thus, less people choose to use the delivery services and the companies suffered from revenue decline.

This is the negative result of running business without ethics. In this case, If the food delivery companies insisted the food safety principle, there might be increasing number of consumers who are willing to choose the service, then the further profit is much more than before. Because once you take the social responsibility and pay more attention to ethics, it is easier to build up positive brand image and good reputation and the ethical activities can even be the selling point, so as to make you more competitive than others. This is the way that you can make profits sustainably and develop the business further.

What can be proved again from this case is that, even though you can get profit without moral in short-term, you still need business ethics for long-term profits and further development, not only for the food delivery companies, but for all the business activities.

(Word count: 333 words)

Reference：

The event lasts for several years, 2015 news is only available for Chinese version http://www.360doc.com/content/15/0427/06/22239628_466257983.shtml

Here are the news in English version in 2016

Huang Yue. 2016. Shanghai Food Watchdog Investigates Eleme. [ONLINE] Available at: http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/03/16/4201s920733.htm. [Accessed 11 September 2016].

People’s Daily Online. 2016. Beijing Food and Drug Administration orders takeout food delivery apps to remove unlicensed restaurants. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0811/c90000-9098874.html. [Accessed 11 August 2016].

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