Yonca Cabir's Blog

Browsing through peer blogs, I came across a post titled “Future forecasts as means to improve supply chain air not easy to foresee…as Nike learned the hard way” posted by Tamara Sachs. This title caught my eye because I am very interested in reading about different companies and how they manage their supply chains, especially after having read about how incredibly Zara manages its supply chain. Being a large and globally very well known athletic clothing company, hearing Nike screwing up in its supply chain is shocking.

The supply chain is indeed very sensitive in the clothing industry, since it is highly dependent on trends.

I have interned in a small clothing company Beyond Vintage during Summer 2010 in Downtown Manhattan, New York City. There, I learned that the person who is responsible for the supply chain is mainly focusing on trends. That person has to constantly be up-to-date with the new trends. Furthermore, he/she has to be able to predict future trends. Hence, the supply chain in a clothing industry basically “operates in the future.” Therefore, it is very difficult to be exact about the supply chains in clothing industries.

Citation: Sachs, Tamara. “Future forecast as means to improve supply chain are not easy to foresee… as Nike learned the hard way.” Tamara Sachs Thoughtful Thoughts. 16 Nov 2011. 21 Nov 2011 <https://blogs.ubc.ca/tamarasachs/2011/11/16/future-forecast-as-means-to-improve-supply-chain-are-not-easy-to-foresee-as-nike-learned-the-hard-way/>

Browsing through peer blogs, I came across a post titled, “Negative Feedback is a…Positive??” posted by Liesl Bellack. This title caught my eye because we constantly are acquainted with feedback and their impacts – whether positive feedback or negative feedback; whether scholarly feedback or business feedback – feedback generally helps us develop our skills.

In School/University we get feedback in the form of grades and occasionally comments beneath the grades. If the feedback is negative, such as a low grade, we tend to improve it the next time around. Hence, a negative feedback turned into a positive feedback.

In some cases, however, it really depends on how negative the feedback is.

For example, a friend of mine found flies on his McDonald’s Burger the other day and was so angry about this incident that he went right up to the management and bombarded them with negative feedback.

No matter how many free Burgers McDonald’s offered my friend, he was still very upset about it and thus created a “negative word of mouth pyramid,” where he told all our friends about the incident with his Burger and thus brought the image of McDonald’s down.

However, this incident helped or HOPEFULLY helped McDonald’s realize that they need to pay closer attention to the preparation of their Burgers before serving their customers.

Citation: Bellack, Liesl. “Negative Feedback is a…Positive??” Liesl Bellack’s Blog. 20 Oct 2011. 21 Nov 2011 <https://blogs.ubc.ca/lieslmb/2011/10/20/negative-feedback-is-a-positive/>

Coda Automotive has begun with the production of the 2012 Zero Emission All-Electric Flagship Sedan. The Coda Sedan ranges about 150 miles, is powered by a 36-kWh battery pack and is provided with 134 horsepower. This new innovation idea points out the commitment of the company towards sustainability and clean technology. The Sedan does not harm the environment and thus contributes to improving our future.

Coda has lowered the price of the electric sedan from $44,900 to $39,900 before sending it into production. This puts the Sedan into competition with the Ford Focus Electric and Nissan Leaf.

The question that arose from this action was: why did they lower the price without having sold any cars yet? If they had decided to lower the price after not having sold enough cars due to the price of $44,900 being too high, then it would be understandable. However, lowering the price without having experimented within the market is not a very solid strategic decision.

They could have started off with the original price at $44,900 and and left room for bargaining with the costumers about the $5000. And depending on how much the customer is willing to pay, they could have set the final price at any anywhere between $44,900 and $39,900. This way the customers would think that they got a really good deal and build customer loyalty towards Coda.

MLA

Toor, Amar. “Coda Lowers Price of Electric Sedan, Sends It into Production Ahead of 2012 Launch.” Engadget. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/19/coda- lowers-price-of-electric-sedan-sends-it-into-production-ah/>.

Goldman is trying to cut down costs in the firm. One approach towards its large cost-cutting effort is through laying off employees. Goldman decided to lay off the Managing Directors of the firm, which have a base salary of $500,000, without bonuses (which can go up to millions).

Looking at this from a general ethical point of view, it is obvious that laying off employees is ethically wrong. By laying off employees, Goldman is forcing highly skilled employees into unemployment. However, looking at this from the firm’s point of view, it is definitely better to lay off employees before allowing the firm as a whole to go bankrupt.

Nevertheless, laying off employees may lead to negative consequences within the firm. For instance, the smaller number of employees may face difficulties in efficiently getting the job done.

This is why the firm has to evaluate each employee’s profile very carefully and make sure that they are not laying off their best employees.

Also, the firm might have to come up with a revised strategy for the division of the workload amongst the employees in order to make sure that even with the smaller number of employees, the firm is still operating at its most efficient level.

MLA:

Craig, Susanne. “Goldman Names Managing Directors – NYTimes.com.” Mergers,  Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds – DealBook – NYTimes.com. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/goldman-names-managing-directors/?ref=business>.

If we take a minute and look at our inventions over the past centuries, we can proudly say that we have accomplished a range of astonishing things that have made our lives much easier today!

The world market keeps on growing. New products are being invented every day.

Unfortunately many of the innovations have been harming our environment.

EnergyAware = Sustainability!

This is why SUSTAINABILITY plays a big role in companies today.

The inventors of products look for ways of making their products eco-friendly.

ThePowerTab by EnergyAware

One example is “The PowerTab” which is a product of EnergyAware.

The PowerTab displays energy use and costs to homeowners and building residents through wireless connections with smart meters that are built into the houses.

The PowerTab displays instantaneous feedback about electricity use in dollars and cents, as well as time and rate alerts. This permits to collect data about the energy use instantly at any time, aids customers to keep track of their electricity costs and as a result lower their residential energy bills.

Studies have shown that instantaneous feedback can reduce up to 20% of energy consumption, which leads to a reduction of carbon emissions and thus sustainability in the future.

MLA

“Utilities – Energy Aware Technology In-home Displays « Energy Aware.” Energy Aware PowerTab – Energy Aware Technology In-home Displays « Energy Aware. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.energy-aware.com/our-products/utilities/>.

On March 7^th 2011, Frost & Sullivan, a leading global research organization, awarded B.O.S. (Better Online Solutions Ltd.) with the Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award in the field of Automatic Identification Data Capture (AIDC).

B.O.S. is a leading provider of RFID and Supply Chain solutions to global enterprises, helping customers worldwide to improve the efficiency of enterprise logistics, organizational monitoring and control.

B.O.S. has an outstanding focus on product innovations that are meant to help customers optimize their processes and thus make better business decisions. Furthermore, B.O.S. also has a remarkable growth dynamics approach.

Based on an independent assessment, B.O.S. ranked higher than its competitors in the categories of growth strategy, entrepreneurial spirit, business processes, innovation an customer value.

Also, B.O.S. has the flexibility and functionality of a scalable solution for a low total cost of ownership by being able to work with different types of readers, wireless networks, applications and protocols.

MLA

“Frost & Sullivan Awards B.O.S. “Entrepreneurial Company of the Year” in Automatic Identification Data Capture and RFID – Business – Press Releases – Msnbc.com.” Msnbc.com – Breaking News, Science and Tech News, World News, US News, Local News- Msnbc.com. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41945591/ns/business-press_releases/t/frost-sullivan-awards-bos-entrepreneurial-company-year-automatic-identification-data-capture-rfid/>.

Here is the company’s website: http://www.boscorporate.com/

There have been various thoughts lingering around the idea of charging customers an extra monthly debit card fee for the use of their debit cards to making purchases.

Various banks have already jumped on this bandwagon.

Bank of America is still considering whether they should charge customers monthly $5 for any debit card purchases.

This issue mainly addresses the debit card users. Those who prefer using their credit cards would not be affected by this rule. Many high school and first and second year university students would fall under that category, since many of them do not possess credit cards.

Nevertheless, they will only have to pay the fee if they make direct purchases with their cards. Thus, if they use their cards at ATM machines, they would not have to pay the fee. But who would want to carry all the cash around? Is this not the reason why they purchased debit cards at the first place – so that they would not have to deal with the cash?

This may be of advantage for the banks, however, it is definitely of disadvantage for all the debit card users.

https://prepaid.bankofamerica.com/EDDCard/Pages/Home.aspx

MLA

“Bank of America Joins Banks Charging Monthly Debit Card Fees – USATODAY.com.” News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World – USATODAY.com. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. <http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/story/2011-09-29/bank-of-america-debit-card-fee/50608896/1>.

Bank of America | Home | Personal. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. <https://www.bankofamerica.com/index.jsp>.

Many people might think that this is the worst thing one could do.

However, there is no wrong or right time for starting a business.

Various successful companies started when the economy was facing difficulties. For instance, Thomas Edison produced his first light bulb during the recession in 1879; yet his company became a multinational General Electric company.

The economy’s state may play a vital part in starting a business, however, the consumers’ wants and needs are as equally important. Especially in the state of recessions, where consumers are desperately seeking for the best deals.

When launching a business, one should always have a set of thorough management strategies that ensure the company’s success.

Two very important aspects to consider when creating management strategies are rivalry and consumer wants and needs at specific prices. Both of these aspects may lead to a failure or success of a business.

According to Michael Porter the 5 forces of rivalry are: supplier power, threat of substitutes, degree of rivalry, buyer power and barriers to entry.

Thus, as long as the business owner pays attention to the forces of rivalry and to the consumers’ specific wants and needs at specific prices, a business should not easily fail, unless there are specific financial problems that would acquire the help of the economy.

Next year still looks rocky for small business. But if you want to start a business, go for it. Some of the most successful companies got started in tough times.

MLA

Clifford, Catherine. “Startup Guide: Launching a Business in 2012 – Oct. 5, 2011.” CNNMoney – Business, Financial and Personal Finance News. 05 Oct. 2011. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. .

“Porter’s Five Forces.” QuickMBA: Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, Statistics, Strategy. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. .

Skype sold to Microsoft for $8.5 billion in cash. The reasons as to why Skype did that are unclear. Some sources say that Skype’s revenue stopped making progress. Skype has been wanting to sell for quite some time. Facebook and Google were amongst the potential buyers of Skype.

The fact that Microsoft owns Skype now may be a potential for future improvements for Skype as Microsoft has accomplished various innovations in the past; such as Microsoft Office, Hotmail, Vista, xBox360, Windows 7. Thus, it may improve Skype to a more advanced program.

The benefits for Microsoft include: (1) Skype’s features (voice, video, sharing capabilities) improves Microsoft’s position in the enterprise collaboration market, (2) carriers that want to partner with Skype have to partner with Microsoft, (3) provides an application/service that may be used in future versions of Windows Mobile operating systems, (4) creates competition between Windows Phone 7 (Mobile OS) & Nokia and Google Voice or Apple.

Hence, Microsoft has high potentials to growth within its company and Skype on the other hand has potentials for improvements of its program in the long run.

MLA

“EU Approves Microsoft-Skype Deal | News.com.au.” News.com.au | News Online from Australia and the World | NewsComAu. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. <http://www.news.com.au/business/eu-approves-microsoft-skype-deal/story-e6frfm1i-1226161722866?from=public_rss>.

Malik, Om. “Why Microsoft Is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion — Tech News and Analysis.” GigaOM — Tech News, Analysis and Trends. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. <http://gigaom.com/2011/05/09/why-microsoft-is-buying-skype-for-8-billion/>.

Recently discovered ways to tap oil reserves of the Bakken formation in Watford City calls for extra support in labor. Companies in North Dakota have raised the salaries of their workers in order to hire more workers so that they can keep up with the busy work. Some companies even gave out bonuses to workers who convince others to join the company.

Ever since the oil boom, there have been more and more people immigrating to North Dakota with the hope of finding better payed jobs.

However, this invasion of immigrants has various disadvantages.

For instance, due to the high number of inhabitants, there is a higher cost of living and a shortage in housing. Many people are forced to sleep in their cars or tents. Furthermore, there is a drastic increase in traffic jams.

This can obviously have serious damages to the state’s economy as well as its development. As its economy keeps growing, its development keeps worsening. This also has serious consequences on the environment; the people living in tents or in cars and the new companies and factories are polluting the environment.

Photos by David Samson, The Forum

MLA

Ellis, Blake. “Oil Boom Brings High-paying Jobs to North Dakota – Sep. 28, 2011.” CNNMoney – Business, Financial and Personal Finance News. 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 08 Oct. 2011. <http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/28/pf/north_dakota_jobs/index.htm?iid=EAL>.

“But Where Do I Sleep? | Running With Oil.” Running With Oil | A Forum  Communications Special Project. Web. 08 Oct. 2011. <http://www.runningwithoil.com/?p=411>.