Monthly Archives: November 2014

11/11/14

#12 Entrepreneurship — Social Entrepreneurship

Video: Social Entrepreneurs: Pioneering Social Change

What is social entrepreneurship? It is a kind of entrepreneurship, so the first idea in my mind before I read any reference about social entrepreneurship was a company which contributed to society, and solves social problems, e.g. poverty and healthiness.

 

An entrepreneur, in my mind, is someone who owns a company and makes money. However, social entrepreneurs are different. They use their own power to change the world.

 

Social entrepreneurs, instead of calling them just entrepreneurs, have deep a perception of the future. “Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to move in different directions.“ They are pioneers in their field, providing their power to change society to bring positive effects.

 

I heard  Muhammad Yunus, the father of micro-finance, before when learning about globalization in economics. Microfinance is a way providing loans to low-income groups who have no access to capital funds with a lower interest rate. It mainly targets groups who are in poor but have a good credit for this loan. People who are extremely poor are not in this consumer segment; they should be supported by the government. However this micro-finance helps many people, especially in South Africa, to get out of poverty as they have an opportunity to start their own small business. Regardless of its drawbacks, micro-finance, to some extent, addresses a world social issue — poverty.

 

Reference list:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk5LI_WcosQ#t=497

“Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to move in different directions.“

https://www.ashoka.org/social_entrepreneur

11/8/14

#11 Currency Deal

News’ title: Canada, China sign currency deal aimed at boosting trade

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-china-sign-currency-deal-aimed-at-boosting-trade-1.2828707

http://ecocidealert.com/?p=8154

http://ecocidealert.com/?p=8154

I would like to post this news because I am an international student from China. I am concerned with the exchange rate between Canadian dollars and RMB. And this news is related to the currencies’ exchange rate.

 

It is reported that “Canada and China have signed a reciprocal currency deal that’s expected to dramatically boost exports”. The biggest beneficiaries are the Canadian and Chinese business communities. Because this proposal allows them to save the exchange cost, to trade directly with Canadian dollar and Chinese Yuan, usually these two currencies would change to the US dollar first, then change to the other.

 

This is a political and economic opportunity. With lower exchange costs, businesses would be more likely to do import or export between these two country, which is good for economic growth in both countries. 

 

According to the data provided by the Bank of China, the Canadian dollars’ exchange rate is 541.59 at 00:00:05, Nov. 09, 2014, Beijing time. Compared to the exchange rate in last summer, about 572, it has been reduced by 5.3%. As the Chines yuan appreciates, Chinese customers would more like to buy Canadian goods and services, and travel in Canada, which would stimulate the economy in Canada.

 

Reference list:

“Accounting to the data provided by Bank of China, the Canadian dollars’ exchange rate is 541.59 at 00:00:05, Nov. 09, 2014 at the Beijing Time.”

http://www.boc.cn/sourcedb/whpj/

“Canada and China have signed a reciprocal currency deal that’s expected to dramatically boost exports”.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-china-sign-currency-deal-aimed-at-boosting-trade-1.2828707

 

 

11/2/14

#10 Comment #3

Christopher Tong’s Blog

Title: Inexpensive Phones: the New Thing?

Date: Oct. 26

 

I am interested in this blog, because I want to buy a new phone now, and I have just found out that even if Apple appears to be reducing its price, the iPhone 6 64G is only CAD$110 higher than the iPhone 6 16GB, which is the usual price for 32GB, I still feel it is expensive.

 

From Apple's Home

From Apple’s Home

Christopher states that when iPhone 3S was released, its price was $600. Compared to the current price, it was so cheap. But this may be explained by inflation and demand. Inflation: obviously, the value of money at that time was different from that now. However we can use time value to figure out roughly the difference between these two prices. As for demand, when the iPhone 3S was released, Apple had not been generally recognized as high quality technology. So the demand for Apple products is not as it is today. The price mechanism determines  prices.

 

From OnePlus' Home

From OnePlus’ Home

OnePlus one is priced at $300, only half of that of iPhone. But the strategies of OnePlus and iPhone are different. As Christopher said, OnePlus more likely applied the cost leadership strategy, while Apple is more likely to employ quality differentiation.

 

I think Apple sets these high prices because of its product concept: high quality. What if the prices decrease? I think many people would think Apple has reduced the quality standard. And this may be one factor why the iPhone stays at such a high price.

 

Cited:

Christopher Tong’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/christophertong/2014/10/26/inexpensive-phones-the-new-thing/

“OnePlus is more like apply the cost leadership strategy”

https://blogs.ubc.ca/christophertong/2014/10/26/inexpensive-phones-the-new-thing/

11/2/14

#9 Comment #2 Building our leadership

Title: Leadership is earned

Date:Aug. 18, 2014

What is leadership? Can I be a leader of a team? Yes, I can.

Leadership is not concerned with gender, race, but the ability to serve.Anyone can be a leader. However many people discriminate based  on gender. This blog gives an example of a woman assistant coach in the NBA. many people doubt this. Why can’t a woman be a leader of a group of men? Definitely, they can! 

Sauder’s logo

Now we are studying in Sauder to learning and practice building our leadership ability. In class 3, Paul and Jeff told us that to be a leader we should develop our skills now, and a good leader is that you can make an operation better than without you. To be a good manager, you should know what business you are in, its value proposition which we talked about a lot in class, and not take risks on vulnerable people.

And a leader cannot work alone. “Leadership is a team sport, and you need to engage others in the cause” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010, pp. xxi-xxiv).  Hence, as a leader, you should show respect to your followers, and gain their loyalty.

Reference list:

Blogs: http://smallbusinessbc.ca/post/leadership-earned

 “Leadership is a team sport, and you need to engage others in the cause”

Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2010). The truth about leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

http://smallbusinessbc.ca/post/leadership-earned

11/1/14

#8 Comment #1

Hye Rin (Juliet) Choi’s Blog

Title: LG’s New Positioning

Date: Oct. 4, 2014

Juliet points that LG switched its value positioning as Samsung which is a South Korean company as well, has controlled the most strong market power in the technology market. Samsung has already put a strong image in consumers’ minds, so LG changed its branding strategy. LG’s advertisements show that consumers will not only get hi-tech goods but also “ connect with customers on a ‘more human level’ ”.

I like this topic, and Juliet clearly relates LG’s new operation to our class concept, positioning. Firms should get into consumers’ minds, being the first with a strong image.

G Flex

I think LG not only differentiates in its branding idea but also its design idea. The G Flex, a new phone of LG, has been inputed a new design: the curve shape which can only be seen on the TV products before. In my mind, LG is the first one to apply this shape on the phone. So this new design also makes LG different from others. I like this design~

Reference List:

Juliet’s Blog:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/julietchoi/2014/10/04/elon-musk/

“ connect with customers on a ‘more human level’ ”

https://blogs.ubc.ca/julietchoi/2014/10/04/elon-musk/

G Flex picture:

http://www.lg.com/ca_en/mobile-phones/gflex/index.jsp?s_kwcid=TC|18468|lg||S|e|43062386919