Jamal Edwards is just 23 years old, but already the owner of SBTV, a broadcasting company worth £8m that makes pop music videos posted on YouTube.

Jamal’s parents gave Jamal a video camera as a Christmas gift when he was 15.  As soon as he got the video camera, he could not live without it. He started to film his friends singing and uploaded the video to YouTube. As Jamal left school and entered a clothing company, he didn’t stop pursuing his dream—making videos. The great quality of his videos attracts more professional rapper and singers as the videos got hundreds of thousands of hits. His videos were soon put under SBTV and began to earn advertising revenue from YouTube.

This is a story about entrepreneurship and how a boy starts up a business based on his own interest. But I have to say that Jamal is lucky. He didn’t make a business model or make any predictions before the start-up but he succeeded surprisingly. However lean start-up idea makes a point. The predicted business plans are inaccurate most of times and thus mostly nonsense, and the key is how Jamal further renewed the business model and branched out his business. SBTV planned to expand the contents of video from purely music to other musical genres or even other fields such as sports, comedy and fashion. No wonder why Jamal was recently caught in the front row of London Fashion Week!

Jamal Edwards

Reference:

Smale, Will. “Jamal Edwards: Amateur Film-maker Turned Multimillionaire.” BBC News. BBC, 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24801980>.

In Pia Isabel Lim’s blog, it is said that Starbucks have kept its position top the coffee industry not only because of its coffee, but more importantly, social responsibility. On the home page of Starbucks, there is a section called Responsibility, which includes what Starbucks has contributed to community, ethical sourcing and environment. Starbucks’ success implies that customers in modern society buy coffee not only for its good taste but also for the shared value the coffee company created for the whole community. It doesn’t always cost a lot to fulfill social responsibility; conversely, it might generate more revenues. The vacuum cup sold by Starbucks becomes popular for its practical function as well as its eco-friendly conception.

According to a research by Forbes, the company with the Best CSR reputations in 2012 is “Microsoft”. While developing its IT industry, Microsoft provides youth with education opportunities through Microsoft YouthSpark program and it builds the well-known employee giving program which achieved more than $1 billion in employee contributions. Thus, a competitive and reputed company is one who can maximize its profits when ensuring the societal value.

Reference:

Smith, Jacquelyn. “The Companies with the Best CSR Responsibility.” Web log post.Forbes. Forbes, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/12/10/the-companies-with-the-best-csr-reputations/2/>.

“Starbucks.” Starbucks Coffee Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility>.

5 Reasons Why Starbucks Is so Persuasive. Digital image. Http://influence-people-brian.blogspot.ca/. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jovAQoP-nps/UZwSKEQN9dI/AAAAAAAAEVc/JOGzC8G1d1U/s200/starbucks-coffee-logo.gif>.

In response to Emilie Gibeau’s blog, I want to emphasize how IT and information systems may have a huge effect on company’s development and innovation in the future.

Information Technology

It is mentioned in the blog that UPS developed a software program providing the most convenient route for the drivers. Such information technology is very basic but it indicates that most companies would gradually become high-tech supported companies in short run. For example, in Shanghai, a new app called “Taxi Waver” is launched recently and downloaded for hundreds of thousands of time. The app works this way: no matter where the passenger is, if he/she opens the app and waves the phone, the taxi driver, if available, would soon get there. Customers can also choose a location on the map to get on the taxi by clicking a spot on the map or reserve the time for the taxi to arrive through the app as well. Although the taxi would charge a little bit for such service, most consumers are willing to do so especially on rainy days, when getting on a taxi usually spends more than half an hour.

I believe that most companies are in the right track of developing information technology to grow, innovate and revolute. Management Information System’s function of analyzing, saving and managing data can maximize the benefits of both companies and consumers at most time and generate significant value for the whole society.

Reference:

nformation Technology. Digital image. Http://nsemo.org. N.p., 2013. Web. <http://nsemo.org/sites/default/files/information_technology_picture_0_0.jpg>.

The best shopping season over the year has already begun from the Thanksgiving long weekend, and black Friday is around corner. Macy’s, one of the largest mid-range to upscalechain of department stores in US, broke its 155 yeas of tradition to open doors during the Black Friday. But whether it’s a good deal for small businesses to follow the steps of the big department stores remains to be determined.

Black Friday

As online shopping gets more popular these years, this distribution channel should be the main focus of businesses during the shopping seasons. Order-on-line and pick-up-in-store services satisfy the needs of most youths who are gradually becoming the target customers for all businesses. Another suggestion for companies to survive and gain profits during hot seasons is to start early, because according to the research by Forbes, nearly three quarters of people would finish shopping before November and relatively small amount of people would purchase more on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Metrotown, British Columbia’s largest shopping mall, launches its big sales recently to prevent losing to much customers who intended to go shopping in US during Black Friday.

Reference:

Black Friday. Digital image. Gsmnation.com. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web. <http://www.gsmnation.com/blog/2012/11/20/the-best-black-friday-phone-deals-out-there/>.

Wirthman, Lisa. “Should Your Business Open On Thanksgiving And Christmas?” Web log post. Forbes.com. N.p., 14 Nov. 2013. Web. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/capitalonespark/2013/11/14/should-your-business-open-on-thanksgiving-and-christmas/>.

Fur dressing is one of the most elegant choices in winter for fashion-awareness women. But the truth that the chemical process preventing putrefaction for fur is claimed to be one of the five most toxic-metal pollutions in the world. Other than that, most fur firms didn’t lay

Fur Industry

emphasis on animal welfare and overkill animals in countries lack of regulations such as China. Some suggests that faux-fur should be promoted further so that animals could be protected. However, we cannot neglect the fact that the polluted gas and water released by producing faux-fur resulted in even more serious environmental issues such as climate change and acid rain.

As is stated in one of the posts in the sustainable fashion blog (external blog) , the idea that fur is in any way ‘green ’ is pure fiction. This is mainly because there is hardly anyway to improve the production process and reduce the burden on natural resources such as air, water and animals due to limit of technology. On one hand, such industry is not sustainable, and on the other hand, it doesn’t create shared value for everybody except those who value fashionable fur much more important than the benefit of the whole society.

Reference:

Fur Industry. Digital image. The Guardian.com. N.p., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. <http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/is-fur-trade-sustainable>.

The law of demand states that the quantity demanded increases as price decreases. However, this might not be the same case in the real world especially in markets of some high-end products such as smartphones or luxury cars.

iPhone 5c with more affordable price

One of the examples is that Apple’s flashy flagship 5s outsold the cheaper colorful version 5c serves as much as 500% after the big launch. Some might assume that it was the competition between 5s and 5c resulted in the shocking low sale of 5c, so Apple，though fails to make 5c as popular as 5s, is still the ultimate winner. But whether the low price of 5c would damage Apple’s brand as a high-end tech product company is controversial.

Mercedes-Benz’s new launch—Sedan from BERFU’s blog also reveals the same concern as is illustrated above. The setting of low price of the new car aimed to attract younger customers but analysts were uncertain about luxury buyer’s reaction to the company’s new movement. Customers who value Mercedes as a luxury brand to raise their social status might turn towards other rival brands such as BMW.

Mercede’s New Launch—Sedan

Instead of blindly reducing price to gain more customers, the best option to grow the company is to recognize customer’s value proposition and satisfy their needs.

Reference:

IPhone5c. Digital image. Apple.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://store.apple.com/cn/buy-iphone/iphone5c>.

Berfu, Apaydin. “Mercedes-Benz’s Lower Price Sedan.” Web log post.Blogs.ubc.ca/berfuapaydin/. N.p., 8 Oct. 2013. Web. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/berfuapaydin/2013/10/08/mercedes-benzs-lower-price-sedan/>.

New IGT Logo

IGT has been the top one provider of slot machines to casinos worldwide for a long history and recently they launched the brand-new logo. “This is so much more than a logo change,” said Patti Hart, CEO of IGT. “Our brand’s next chapter is built upon what has made us great.”  Indeed, the new International Game Technology’s blue-painted logo not only gives a contemporary look to the old icon bust also symbolizes that gaming machine is marching towards the interactive realm from casinos. As the competition between IGT and rivals like Bally Techniques  is increased in the market, IGT redesign its new logo to strengthen the brand image, hoping it could translate into sales.

New logo at IGT Booth

While diversity of goods and services in modern market makes it hard for a brand to  get into consumer’s head, a new logo might somewhat grab their attention. However, this is the very first step. What matters is that IGT can impress people by its new brand positioning focusing on interaction with other media. Let’s just hope that the IGT’s highly-anticipated slot machine based on movie titles “Avatar” could become a huge success after being launched!

Reference:

“IGT Reveals Its Bold New Brand Positioning.” Digitaljournal.com. N.p., 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1482037>.

IGT. Digital image. Reviewjournal.com. N.p., 23 Sept. 2013. Web. <http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/igt-redesigning-logo-convey-brands-next-chapter>.

JPMorgan, the largest investment bank in US by assets, has agreed to pay $920 million in fines to US and British regulators to settle London Whale Probes. Bruno Iksil, a top manager of JPMorgan, withheld information about the extent of growing losses from the board leading to  $6.2bn of derivatives trading losses last year. This can be defined as a financial statement fraud which was resulted from failing in JPMorgan’s internal controls and in senior management. Nevertheless, right after the fraud being exposed, JPMorgan revised its valuation policies and came up with a new protocol for reporting disputes to top executives .

Jamie Dimon,CEO of JPMorgan

Apparently, the reason why Iksil urged his colleagues to deceive committees in board is external pressures such as meeting investors’ expectation or attracting further investment. It’s naive for such a sophisticated manager to suggest that their long-term fraudulent actions would not be caught. However, JPMorgan didn‘t refuse to acknowledge their mistakes as their first movement to put behind the issue for the benefit of the whole corporation. As one of the largest and most profitable bank in US, JPMorgan would be able to absorb its financial losses and rebuild the enterprise image.

Refence: 

• “JPMorgan Agrees to Pay $920m in Penalties.” Aljazeera.com. Aljazeera, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2013. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/09/2013919183114858723.html>
• Hussain, Samira. “JP Morgan Makes $920m London Whale Payout to Regulators.” BBC News. BBC, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24159801>.
• Cohan, Willian D. “JPMorgan’s Biggest Mistake.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-29/jpmorgan-s-biggest-mistake.html>.
  
• Jamie Dimon. Digital image. Http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/. N.p., 18 Jan. 2013. Web. <http://fortunewallstreet.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/jamie_dimon.jpg?w=340&h=255>.-
• PMorgan Chase. Digital image. Inserbia.com. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://inserbia.info/news/2013/08/jpmorgan-chase-co-faces-criminal-and-civil-probes/>.

Blackberry

Blackberry reported a loss of ＄965 million in its second quarter resulted from the poor sale of its smartphone, while apple has sold a record-breaking nine million new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, just three days after the launch of the new iPhones.  As a result, Blackberry cuts 40% of its workers to release the financial burden. According to BBC News, the corporation reported sales of 1.6bn compared with $3.1bn in the same quarter of 2012, a near 50% fall.

BBRY falling shares in recent months

Under current emergent situations, Blackberry’s business plan is ready to undergo great changes, for instance, it tries to build up corporate customer base instead of focusing on individual consumers. Alternatively, Blackberry is supposed to take advantage of its point of difference, IT security technique, to survive in the market. Since the Blackberry Corporations as a whole doesn’t seem to be valuable, selling parts such as information security system might be its best option. According to BBC News, Earlier this week Blackberry agreed to be bought by a consortium led by Fairfax Financial for $4.7bn.

Video Related: BlackBerry gone sour, slashing 4,500 jobs

Reference:

“Blackberry Reports $965m Second Quarter Loss.” BBC News. BBC, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24302139>.

BlackBerry Gone Sour, Slashing 4,500 Jobs. CNBC. N.p., 23 Sept. 2013. Web. <http://finance.yahoo.com/video/blackberry-gone-sour-slashing-4-121700445.html>.

Blackberry. Digital image. BBC News. BBC, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. .

As the first quick-service restaurant chain to enter China, KFC has become the top one fast food brand in China with more than 4,400 restaurants across the country. Undoubtedly, the most popular Original Recipe Chicken and other chicken products are in large demand everyday. However, it is published that KFC chickens in China are being fed chemicals that are so toxic that it can kill the flies that buzz around it. The chemicals and additives in the feed can speed up chickens’ growth cycle to only 45 days. The matured chickens are then sold to KFC in pretty low price with a profit of 2 to 3 CNY per chicken.

A Chinese farmer working at a chicken farm in Hefei Province

No matter KFC China has realized or not the chicken they processed and sold has a serious safety problem, it should be responsible for the chicken scandal that shakes people’s confidence in the brand. In spite of the huge profit generated from the selling of fried chicken and chicken finger, KFC ought to guarantee people’s health instead of blindly supplying low-quality chicken to customers to maximize their own profits. The only good news is that after being hit by the scandal, KFC China starts to fulfill social responsibility by strictly selecting reliable food sources and its first step is dropping some of the illegal poultry suppliers.

Reference：

Chinese KFC Chicken Supplier in Feed Scandal. Digital image. The Epoch Times. N.p., 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 01 Oct. 2013. <http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/chinese-kfc-chicken-supplier-in-feed-scandal-319725.html>.