IF THE UNITED NATIONS WAS FULLY FUNDED WHY WOULD WE NEED THE ARC OR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

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As the world’s largest corporate sustainable initiative, the United Nations is designed to make the enforcement of economic development, social progress, and to protect human rights, in order to achieve peace and security around the world. However, the identity of a worldwide organization also shows the restriction of the United Nations, which is they are mainly focusing on the international and most controversial cases in the world, but are unable to put enough effort on smaller business or community development. Therefore, the value of UBC’s own Arc Initiative is to fill the voids by providing specific help on small communities and families in Africa, and they have successfully conduct the social entrepreneurship value to the public.

Another reason why we need Arc Initiative and social enterprise is they can use entrepreneurial methods to accomplish both social and environmental goals. There is an old saying that claims “give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him forever”. Similarly, when the United Nations funds communities and business, the crucial thing is to lead them to use the resource in a sustainable and wise way in order to create and sustain the largest social value. Therefore, social enterprise plays an important role in addressing social issues and creating positive community change, meanwhile the social entrepreneurs are very needed in social development.

RE: STARBUCKS DELIVERY SERVICE: SHIFT TOWARDS A SEDENTARY SOCIETY

Starbucks, the dominant coffee brand in North America, is planning to provide delivery service in order to meet customer expectation in terms of service. Emily posted in her blog that the money made from delivery will not cover the expenses, so she does not suggest Starbucks come up with this service. Personally, I agree with her view because it will make Starbucks gradually shifting to vague positioning in market.

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Today, about 80 percent of purchases of Starbucks Coffee are consumed elsewhere.

More and more customers complain that Starbucks is not as cool as before, with 20,000 stores in 65 countries. It used to cater to the need of mid-age professionals, providing them a “third place” besides workplaces and home to enjoy a cup of coffee with friends, or talk about business. An “affordable luxury” is the value proposition that Starbucks delivered to its customers in early stage, and it was succeed due to the large unfulfilled market and human’s nature of go after different things to the public. However, as Starbucks is trying to expand their target sectors by adding more flavor drinks, it is actually falling out of vogue and possibly sink to a commodity. It is supposed to be a luxurious product but it is actually moving to an un-luxurious world. If Starbucks provides delivery service to its customers, I am sure that they will lose a large amount of core customer base because its brand is not a sense of status and exclusivity anymore. Consequently, these people may start looking for other places that satisfy their demand, and once a brand falls into commodity, it will be harder to come up to previous position.

WHEN CHOOSE A JOB, CULTURE MATTERS

What is the standard when people choosing companies? Despite of salary and promotion space, organizational culture is one important factor to be considered. It consists the beliefs and behavioral norms that make an organization special among competitors, and it is always the core of success in running business. A Workplace Dynamics survey showed that Costello Inc. ranked No. 2 among local Top Workplaces. Their special entertainment room attracts me, and class on “People, Culture & Teams” inspires me more about why creating a relax atmosphere for employees help Costello succeed.

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A Group Of Costello Employees are Chatting  In the Media Room

From the interview of Costello’s employees we can see, workplaces with good organizational culture have a higher rate of employee satisfaction, retention and better financial results. How they are treated in this company will directly reflect on the productivity of their works. If employees feel that they are involved in the larger picture of organization’s work, it brings them responsibility to make it better so they will make more effort to create value for the company. It is a good way to help people keep passionate in working and cultivate loyalty to their organizations because they don’t need to go anywhere else to find what they want. Loyal, passionate employees stay longer, work harder, with more creative thinking and introduce more talents. And that is a shared value for employees, for organizations, and for shareholders.

RE: APPLE’S IPHONE 6: BIGGER IS BETTER

One month ago, my classmate Brian Wei wrote a blog about Apple’s new product iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. He claimed that bigger screen size of iPhone motivated breaking sales and it was an attractive feature for both die-hard Apple fans and new customers. However, I hold the opposite view that bigger screen is not a good thing for Apple because it is gradually becoming a “me, too” company.

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Comparison in size of Samsung Galaxy Note and iPhone 6 plus

Apple used to be a company that leading the design charge and their products have created many sales miracle in history. Nevertheless, this time I cannot see any significant innovation from iPhone 6 and Plus. It is more like any other high-end Android smartphone especially like Samsung and HTC’s products. When people are laughing at Samsung’s Galaxy Notes becoming bigger and bigger, who can predict that Apple came to the same way? I am not saying that it is a wrong choice to join the large screen trend, what I am criticizing is Apple is actually consuming its reputation that accumulated by Steve Job’s era. Consumers buy new iPhone mainly because they believe Apple brings them different user experience and innovative functions, while now it has lost the originality and following other manufacturers, and the remarkable innovations are less and less. Changing the size means Apple has lost some of its points of difference, although it is still the most successful smartphone ever made, Apple should not be blinded by sales and it has to add more innovations on their products’ form, function, performance and services. Or one day it is hard to say that Apple will lose its right from standing on the leading position of this industry.

RE EXTERNAL BLOG: CRS INSIGHT INTO COCOA INDUSTRY

Recently, after I read a news that talks about the cocoa prices and income of farmers, I started to concern about the future of cocoa industry. Traditional farming techniques are actually trapping farmers into poverty, with most are unable to earn enough to cover their living cost, whereas the chocolate companies earn 70% in the revenues.

Huge income difference is not a good signal of cocoa industry, so after I took class on COMM 101, I found a blog that was written by Marty Lariviere, who introduced corporate social responsibility principle into cocoa industry. This blog inspired me a lot because “the company can only be successful if everyone else around it is successful.” The followings are some suggestions about how chocolate companies can create shared value focusing on area of farmers.abb3-400x266 Share in the Sales of an Average Chocolate Bar

Firstly, companies can provide farmer some training program to improve the quality of cocoa. They can also provide technical support in farms in order to expand the crop yields. Besides, holding some community social activities, such as education, healthcare initiatives, can change the life quality of farmers and their families, so that farmers are possible to build long-term relationship with the companies. If the income of farmers increases, they will be more willing to stay in this industry and produce cocoa in a sustainable, ecological way. Consequently, chocolate companies can receive a large volume of high-quality cocoa, to meet the increasing demand of goods from consumers. They are more competitive in market as well.

When Enbridge’s Pipeline Project Meets the First Nations

From PEST analysis we know that the external factors (including political, economic, social and technological) can greatly affect business in a long-term. The issue of the Northern Gateway Pipeline project is a typical example to show how these factors relate to a business situation. When Enbridge released the information that they would built 1,200 kilometre twin pipeline to carry bitumen from the oilsands in Alberta to Kitimat, B.C, unsurprisingly, the First Nations were strongly opposed to this project in order to protect their natural territories. Meanwhile, they claimed that it was a constitutional violation of their aboriginal land rights, and if necessary, they would use all legal means to prohibit the project from launching in their homeland.

Both political and social factors showed an impact on Enbridge’s business, if Enbridge doesn’t want to give up this profitable project, they have to convince the opponents by making reliable promises and taking into actions immediately. The first thing that Enbridge should do is to complete a comprehensive environmental review, trying to reduce the damage to environment, and to ensure the safety in transportation process. Secondly, they are expected to provide more jobs and training opportunities to the First Nations, to let the Aboriginals can really gain benefits from supporting this project. Last but not least, they have to get the admission from the First Nations, and they should re-evaluate the value of launching a pipeline project comparing to the possibility of destroying multiple natural ecosystems.

 

Work Cited

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/There+will+pipeline/10122968/story.html

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/pipeline-primer-what-you-need-to-know-about-northern-gateway-1.1872482

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/07/09/supreme-court-land-ruling-in-favour-of-b-c-first-nation-wont-impact-northern-gateway-enbridge-ceo-says/?__lsa=dcdc-fa7e

 

Tesco Overstates Half-year Profits by £250 Million

Tesco

In September, as Britain’ biggest retailer, Tesco admitted that an accounting error meant their half-year profit was overstated by £250 Million, which was 23% less than the profit they had stated (£ 1.1 billion ) in August. Tesco said the error is “principally due to the accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs”, but whatever the reason behind, they have to face the serious situation that shares in the company has dropped 40 percent and their stakeholders have lost confidence. After the shocking announcement, the accountancy firm Deloitte and FCA have launched full investigation into this case.

From this case we can know the importance of accounting in company’s operation. Accounting errors will cause tremendous harm to both the internal and external stakeholders. In fact, Tesco’s finance director Laurie McIlwee had stopped involvement in any financial matters for the past five months, and no new director was introduced to that position, so I think it was the main cause of inflating profit because no one monitors or control the accounting work. So far, we cannot estimate that this issue is related to financial statement fraud. However, if it actually have some hiding transactions, then the problem of Tesco will be more complicated.

Work Cited

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2769254/Tesco-crisis-deepens-supermarket-admits-no-finance-chief-five-months-profits-blunder-leading-US-investor-starts-dumping-shares.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/tesco-accounts-investigation-2014-9

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/tsco/11112704/Tesco-warns-profits-overstated-by-250m-as-it-uncovers-serious-issue.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-tesco-accounts-probe-insight-idUSKCN0HR0BW20141002

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/financial-statement-fraud-57182.html

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financialaccounting.asp

Pictures

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pixies/2013/3/10/1362943280533/Tesco–008.jpg

 

 

Staples Close 15 Canadian Stores

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In the digital age, people are more likely to use cloud computing, data storage, or home office set up instead of actual staffs like filing cabinet, thus the demand for paper products saw a general decline trend. Staples, the famous office supply retailer in Canada, decided to shut 15 stores of its 331 Canadian stores at the end of September. In order to cut costs to boost efficiency, Staples shift more of its business online and compete in online market with retailers like Amazon.ca. Staples said they would continue to close store in North America and it is estimated that $500 million in total can be saved by the end of 2015.

It is unsurprisingly that Staples choose to close some of their stores and concentrate more on online market. Actually, it’s a little bit late for them to make changes because they are supposed to follow the trend timely. Although Bricks-and-mortar office supply store still could gain profit, managers have to consider how many stores should stay open to meet the demand when analyzing the profits they made by each season. When a company’s profits dropped significantly, they should reset their value proposition and figure out how to adapt to the changing environment. For a brand positioning, points of parity should be considered first, then to find the points of differentiation. Right now for Staples, the most important thing is having points of parity in order to be a legitimate competitor in its specific office market. If they could not finish the transition quickly, they would continuing losing profits and market shares.

 

Work Cited

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/01/staples-shuts-15-stores-canada_n_5914986.html

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/balance-sheet/staples-canada-closes-15-stores-in-effort-to-transition-174612925.html

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Man-Mix/Managerial-Accounting.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/staples-closes-15-canadian-stores-1.2783780

Pictures

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/staples-closes-15-canadian-stores-1.2783780

Blackberry CEO bites into Apple

As the release of iPhone6 and iPhone6 Plus to the market, plenty of people are enjoying their new purchases, but there have been a series of iPhone 6 problems reported by customers, especially the bending concern. Although Apple claims that “with normal use, a bend in iPhone is extremely rare”, its shares still fell down nearly 4 percent. Yet Apple’s long-time competitor, Blackberry, introduces its new Passport device to the public on Sept.25. Blackberry CEO John Chen said “I would challenge you guys to bend our Passport”, which successfully attracts the attention of people who are concerning about Apple’s bending problem. Meanwhile, the prospect of Passport is very optimistic as the orders surpassing 200,000 on the first day through its ShopBlackBerry store and Amazon. blackberrypassport-3801 This case is a representative example of comparative advertising as what I learned in COMM101 class. Apparently, Apple’s products were the most popular ones over the past several years, especially in smartphone market, and Blackberry was gradually losing it competitive power. However, when Apple is trapped into iPhone’s bending problem, Blackberry uses a good marketing strategy to show how its product is superior to Apple’s, which makes more customers start to pay attention to Passport and its other features. Generally, comparative advertising can be seen as an effective competitive tool for lesser-known brands to break into markets or for the tired brands to regain market shares. We have seen a successful case of the competition between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, though Blackberry may not be able to copy the same success, they still gain a lot from it.

 

Work Cited

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/apple-plays-defense-on-iphone-6-bending-software-concerns/articleshow/43489371.cms http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/blackberry-ceo-john-chen-bites-into-apple/articleshow/43493432.cms?intenttarget=no http://mobilesyrup.com/2014/10/03/passport-back-in-store-at-shopblackberry-begins-shipping-october-6th/

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BlackBerry Passport sold out again at ShopBlackBerry [Update]

 

 

Business Ethics

6a00d8341c684553ef01630312ea06970d-800wi                                                                     It is generally known that profit produced is one direct way to measure how successful the business is, meanwhile we also get the point from R. Edward Freeman’s “stakeholder’s theory” that for any business to be successful, it has to create value for costumers, suppliers, employees, communities and financiers. However, in order to reach the maximum profit, sometimes conflicts may occur between owner of business’ profit and the social responsibility, which is a case of  business ethics.

It was reported that each year in the U.S., more than 67,000 workers suffered blade contact injuries, with more than 33,000 injuries treated in emergency rooms and 4,000 amputations. SawStop, which was a table saw manufacture company, started to sell a type of safety device which can effectively prevent serious harm of workers when they are using table saw. Nevertheless, over the years, top saw makers and the Power Tool Institute refused to put the design into their saws because they claimed that lightweight saws costing as little as $100 to $200 would be destroyed by the added expense of SawStop.  

Who are the stakeholders of saw maker companies? The suppliers, the owner of this business, the financiers, and also the employees. They all play important roles in letting the business goes well. Apparently, emoloyees work with the table saw directly so it means they have the highest possibility of getting hurt from it. We know that stakeholders’ interest should go together in order to maximize the profit they could make, but what if workers are hurt from working with the dangerous machines? In this case, not only the individual profits go down, but the company also lose a lot because it loses some high-efficiency employees and sometimes compensation is required. Furthermore, corporations have the responsibility to ensure the safety and profit of employees, if they fail to do that, the social responsibility is not accomplished and gradually no one would be willing to work for them because of the credit. Therefore, even in a free society, when the social responsibility of corporations meet demand of optimize profit, executives should think comprehensively and make ethical decision first to avoid business in decline.  

Work Cited
“Business Ethics and Social Responsibility.” Free Management Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://managementhelp.org/businessethics/>.
Levin, Myron. “Power Tool Industry Circles the Wagons as Disabling Saw Injuries Mount.” Business Ethics RSS. N.p., 16 May 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://business-ethics.com/2013/05/16/1153-power-tool-industry-circles-the-wagons-as-disabling-saw-injuries-mount/>.
Stakeholder Theory. Perf. R. Edward Freeman. YouTube. YouTube, 13 May 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih5IBe1cnQw&feature=youtu.be>.
Photo
http://sentechnologies.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/08/6a00d8341c684553ef01630312ea06970d-800wi.jpg