Monthly Archives: November 2014

Why would we need social enterprise?

toms-shoes-drop

Social entrepreneurship is “identifying a social problem and using for-profit entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve a desired social change”. Social entrepreneur knows how to create the lifestyle they desire while doing good.

Even though theUnited Nations was funded for the universe,helping everyone in the world is a task that is too huge to achieve. There are many problems such as global economic downturn, personal debt, and low job security. However, social entrepreneurship can offer solution because it can help you create your own lifestyle while making a difference. Eventually, these differences will change the world.

Toms Shoes is one example. Toms was founded by Blake Mycoskie. He was traveling around Argentina and he noticed that the locals were wearing a form of shoes that is made from canvas or cotton fabric and is the classic of Toms shoes. Later in the trip, he saw that there were many children who were barefooted. He was aware that a lack of shoes was a serious and wide situation in Argentina. When he got back the US, he started this company with a philosophy that every time they sell a pair of shoes, they going to give a pair of shoes to a poor child.

There are many social entrepreneurs like Blake Mycoskie. It is their social entrepreneurship that offers them such a solid market. They not only create profit but also bring a better life to those children. The world is changing because of social entrepreneurship.

 

Work Cited:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toms_Shoes

http://www.academia.edu/6661221/Fundermetal_of_Entrepreneurship

Sustainable or not?

sustainable-business

Sustainable business is any organization that environmentally friendly imposes their actions on the global environment, society, and economy. Specifically, it is a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line.

There was a fire in Ohio. One of the state’s main waterways, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire after becoming saturated with oil chemicals and garbage. In response to the catastrophes and the enormous pollution, cleanup expenses and health care costs, the federal government set higher standards by introducing more laws that restricted the amount of pollutants a business could emit. However, business leaders claim that they work hard to reduce the expenses that generated from production. Oppositely, their actions would dramatically increase their cost in the future.

An example of a corporation successfully adopted the concept of sustainability in their business is 3M, an American manufacturing company. They aim to help customers to become more energy efficient, implement approaches to distribute service and goods in a sustainable way.

To sum up, my analysis shows that the value of being green is much more than that of being unsustainable. It can reduce risks and attract more customers and investors since people’s demand for environmentally friendly service and goods is increasing.

 

Work Cited: http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Cuyahoga_River_Fire?rec=1642

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_business

Re: One year on, Bangladesh factory struggles for rebuilding

Business ethics should be every company’s responsibility to sustain. However, when I read about the tragedy happened in Bangladesh factory through Rita’s blog, I started to doubt that if leaders of companies still care about that.

Collapsed Rana Plaza building

Despite the fact that it is the factory owners to blame for this tragedy, there are still not enough funds to help survivors to rebuild lives. Nevertheless, Bangladeshi workers feared that the Western retailers would not continue trading with them. So who should be responsible for these vulnerable workers?

On the other hand, would company like Western retailers actually gain profit in a long term? The answer is definitely no. Business ethics are the fundamental sector of a company because it can develop customer and employee loyalty. No one would like to work for and purchase goods from a company without ethics.

According to Kelly Services Survey statistics, which “interviewed around 100,000 people in 34 countries, 88 percent of respondents are more likely to work for a company that is considered ethically and socially responsible.” In conclusion, companies should not neglect the importance of business ethics for short-term benefit. To gain the trust of customers, they should actually do something good.

 

Comment on Rita’s blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/rita2275/2014/09/10/business-ethics-and-responsibility/

Work Cited: http://www.isbe.org.uk/EthicsFactsandFigures

Re: The Disruptive Innovation of Apple

After reading Mr.Davis blog about disruptive innovation, I recall a very successful innovator, Apple.

At 2007, Apple launched a new product, iPhone, which changed the smartphone market ever since then. IPhone was not that different from others. They added the new concept, apps and had their own program. This innovation has literally changed people’s concept of smartphones.

underperformance-of-apples-first-iphone-blog

According to this chart, the first innovation of Apple was not that disruptive. However, Steve Job’s creation and foresight made Apple more disruptive. Although other smartphones had web browsers, Apple built their own, safari. In comparison with other web browsers, safari made surfing the Internet easy.

On the other hand, the physical keyboard was also another disruptive innovator at that time. Compared to the smartphones that had full QWERTY keyboard, full screen without keyboard seemed uncomplicated and intuitive. Only a swipe of finger on the touch sensitive glass, users can access every application.

In conclusion, Apple is always capable of disrupting the market effectively by constantly updating and adding features that impress customers.

 

Comment on an external blog: http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/disruptive_innovation_where_it_matters_most

Work Cited: http://businesstheory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/underperformance-of-apples-first-iphone-blog.png

Re: What makes Alibaba so successful?

0,,17910603_303,00

I read a blog written by Xin Qing about the No.1 E-commerce company in China. “At $68 per share, Alibaba is valued at about $167.6 billion and is one of the most valuable technology companies on the planet.” Obviously, Alibaba is a very competitive rival of even Amzaon, which is valued at $150.2 billion.

What makes Alibaba so successful? From my perspective, the success can be summarized by its business strategy. They are successful making e-commerce available to consumers in China. At Taobao, one of Alibaba’s e-commerce websites, everyone is able to start his business because it is free. However, if the owner wants to gain more attention out of millions of sellers in the same product market, he can pay Alibaba for advertisement. Because of zero set-up cost, there are more people who want to give it a try. Customer segments also varies due to the low cost. It benefits not only the unemployed but also people who are employed because many of them are taking this business as a part-time job.

From the perspective of consumers, they can feel safe during the process of purchasing. At the same time, they work with some delivery companies. So the products are transported smoothly within China.

Alibaba’s differentiation within the e-commerce market plays an important role in its business strategy. At the same time, they are consistent to carry out.

Comment on Xin Qing’s blog:http: //blogs.ubc.ca/xinqing/

Work Cited:

http://www.dw.de/what-makes-internet-giant-alibaba-so-successful/a-17910825

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2014/09/18/alibaba-prices-shares-at-68-as-it-gears-up-for-the-largest-us-ipo-ever/