In Seth’s blog, he mentions a few attributes that many of us value in co-workers, bosses, employees, friends and venders. His main point in his blog is that these valuable attributes can be trained. It’s an excuse to say that they are naturally born with some people. I agree with his idea that these attributes can be learnt, but he forgets to mention how people can learn these attributes and how companies can train its employees to have these valuable attributes. My blog will focus on one topic that is how companies can train its employees to have these attributes.

Companies can train its employees by establishing an organizational culture. An organizational culture is “a pattern of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an organization.” Companies should come up with a set of attributes that are valued in the organization. They should instill these attributes into the minds of its employees through working environment and training sessions. Once these attributes are engraved in employees’ minds, they will unconsciously act according to these attributes. Thus, companies successfully create an efficient and desired workforce.

In conclusion, valuable attributes are “not a gift”. However, companies can train its employees to have these “gifts”, which will in turn make companies more efficient.

Sources:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/11/not-a-gift.html

Pictures from

http://www.business2community.com/strategy/a-new-years-resolution-for-defining-and-nurturing-organizational-culture-0359799

http://www.clearmindedcreative.com/seth-godin-spectacular/

I have many ideas that are bugging me but I’m not an entrepreneur. After COM101 lecture 20(Innovation and Entrepreneurship), I start to think about what an entrepreneur is and what important characteristics of young entrepreneurs are.

The definition of an entrepreneur in lecture 20 states, “An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.” From the definition, I know that the first important characteristic of a young entrepreneur is that he must be courageous. A young entrepreneur must have the courage to take risks.

I read an article about stories of five young Canadian Entrepreneurs. There are two suggestions from them that I want to share. Marc starts his film company at the age of 27. He advises, “It’s important to seek out as much advice as possible, especially in areas of business that are unfamiliar.” Another important characteristic indicated by Marc is that a young entrepreneur doesn’t have to know all the knowledge about business. Instead, a young entrepreneur should find the right person to give useful advice and be open-mined. Monica Mei is the CEO of What I’m Wearing. She says, “Your passion shows through in the way you talk about your product.” Monica reveals one necessary characteristic. A young entrepreneur should be passionate about his or her products. If a young entrepreneur isn’t passionate, it’ll be hard for him to convince other people to buy his products.

In conclusion, having ideas bugging me is the very first stage to a young entrepreneur. However, I have to train myself to be courageous, open-minded and passionate in order to make ideas come true.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/5-young-canadian-entrepreneurs-reveal-secrets-to-success-1.1021852

Pictures from

http://www.techvibes.com/blog/young-entrepreneurs-resources-2013-03-27

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/nurse-at-edmonton-military-base-charged-with-trafficking-steroids-1.1474270

Elizabeth focused on a very interesting holiday in China. I really appreciate one of her points, “this made-up festival is mainly celebrated by young people.” The Singles Day is artificially made by savvy sellers in China.

The marketing campaigns of savvy sellers target single young people. They understand that single young people are rebellious, so they persuade young people to buy stuff for themselves since no one cares about them. These marketing campaigns make Singles Day’s celebration like “Anti-Valentine’s Celebration”. The Singles Day actually becomes a day when singles buy stuff crazily online and sellers are busy counting money from Singles Day sales.

Here is an example of arbitrarily made crisis in North America. Everybody still remembers December 21, 2012 as the date that the world is supposed to end. Again marketing and advertisement campaigns of some savvy sellers persuade people to buy stuff for themselves. The campaigns’ logics are clear. Since the world is going to end, people should buy stuff crazily before they die. Obviously, the world is still running well today. Savvy sellers again have their wallet full by creating an artificial crisis.

In conclusion, I think that artificial festivals and crises are efficient marketing strategies that make customers buy stuff from sellers. However, sellers should use these two strategies cautiously. If customers no longer believe in the artificial festivals or crises, they are going to stop buying from sellers. Especially, artificial crises may cause chaos in the society. Sellers must not use the marketing strategy that may make the society unstable.

Sources:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-11/forget-cyber-monday-dot-chinas-singles-day-is-arbitrary-consumerism-done-right

https://blogs.ubc.ca/elizabethguan/2013/11/16/singles-day/

Pictures From:

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-11/11/content_14080470.htm

http://geeknation.com/nasa-weighs-in-on-end-of-the-world/

It’s a really interesting topic and article. American Airlines and US Airways planned to create the biggest airline company in the world. Cap thinks that it’s not a good idea, but I think the merger is a good move for the two companies.

In Cap’s blog, he argues that the merger will make the merged company too big to operate. I agree that the potential biggest airline company will be much harder to operate than a small airline company, but with an experienced management team it’s possible to make the merged company efficient. More importantly, two companies that are merged bring together personnel, funds and equipment, which will be easy for the potential biggest airline company to expand its markets and create new routes.

Cap also argues that the only way that the merged company can create barrier to entry is the lower price. I disagree with this idea. The merged company will be the biggest airline company in the world. With all the funds, personnel and planes, the merged company will be able to provide better services and more routes. The merged company has potential monopoly power in the market. Thus, I think that the barrier to entry the merged company creates is its company size and its equipment. The merged company can provide customers with good-quality services and unique airline routes that small   new airline companies can’t provide.

In conclusion, it’s a good idea for American Airlines and US Airways to be one merged company. With more funds and equipment, the merged company will be able to eliminate its competitors and provide good-quality services.

Sources:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/libozhen/2013/11/15/american-airlines-and-us-airways-sense-prevails/

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/11/american-airlines-and-us-airways

Picture Sources:

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/23806826/airports-want-chance-to-support-aa-us-airways-merger

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2008/07/us-airways-scales-back-a330-pl/

Africa receives a lot of donations from charity each year. However, it is also the land for vibrant social entrepreneurs.

I read an article about several social entrepreneurs in Africa. The most interesting one is the story of Mr Farmer who founded Partner in Health (PIH). He strived to make sure PIH provide affordable health care services to people in Africa and other developing countries. PIH has trained more than 8,000 community health workers, and set about proving that this workforce was as capable as professionals in their adherence to rigorous standards.

Mr Farmer created his social enterprise by building supportive industry clusters, reconceiving products and markets and redefining productivity in the value chain. PIH trained community health workers in local communities, which gave more people the knowledge about health care at the same time offered job opportunities to local people. PIH reconceived its health care services to be affordable, and it offered its services in developing countries. Productivity meant that PIH cured more people. PIH saved people’s lives while making profits from it.

Mr Farmer’s social enterprise is for-profit but driven mainly by a social objective. Profit is the means to sustain his business. It works better than charity. Instead of negatively receiving donations, people positively work for social enterprise. Social enterprise is a win-win situation while charity needs a large amount of donations from society and charity may make people become lazy and only want help from others.

In conclusion, social enterprise is a better help in Africa. Instead of simply donating money to African people, we should support social entrepreneurs in Africa.

Article Source:

http://www.thisisafricaonline.com/News/How-social-entrepreneurs-tap-Africa-s-greatest-resource?ct=true

Picture Sources:

http://www.partnership-africa.org/challenge-africa

http://www.roosevelt.edu/Business/SocialEntrepreneurship.aspx

After I learnt about the concept of a company’s culture, I felt that a company’s culture was costly to maintain. Thus, I thought that it should be treated as the least important thing that a company should consider. However, the case of Grasshopper changes my mind.

Grasshopper is a start-up telecom company. It once had 65 employees and it grew exponentially every year. However, many employees were a poor cultural fit. Ten years later, only a fraction of employees remain from the company’s start. Then, its owner decided to standardize its culture and hiring process to stabilize its staff. Today, the turnover has reduced from 25% to 10% since 2008.

I think that a company’s culture should be put at the first place when creating the company. It has two major benefits. First, with a clear company culture in mind, it is easier for the human resource department to hire the right person according to the culture. Second, a company’s culture informs employees about the core values of the company, which makes them strive for the same goal.

In conclusion, the benefits of the company’s culture clearly exceed its costs. A company’s culture unifies its employees and makes talents stay in the company, which will reduce its turnover costs and increase its efficiency.
Source:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226424

Picture comes from: http://grasshopper.com/

Stephen Harper has gone to APEC summit in Bali in an effort to drum up support for trade and foreign investment. In my opinion, both the Asian markets and investment from Asia are important for Canada.

Asian markets are necessary for Canada. The demand from China’s large middle class is huge. In Japan and Korea, people with high income are able to buy foreign products. In India, the population is growing, and in a few years population in India will exceed that in China. More people mean more demand. Canadian companies should try to be the first ones to enter new Asian markets because the easiest way to attract consumers is to be the first company which enters that market and positions the company properly into people’s minds. People will then remember the company, which is a great advantage for that company over its competitors.

Investment from Asia is necessary for Canada.  International investment in Canada can create jobs for Canadians. It helps Canadian economy grow and makes Canada more open and internationally known. Harper will talk about Malaysia’s future $36-billion investment in Canada with Malaysia’s president at APEC, which is a good sign of attracting international investment.

In conclusion, Asian countries’ economies are fast growing. Canada should attract more Asian investment, and Canadian companies should seek opportunities to expand in new Asian markets before they are too crowded.

sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-heads-to-apec-summit-amid-concern-over-asian-ties-1.1893933

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?nid=777659

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-arrives-at-apec-with-malaysian-promise-to-invest-36b-1.1927464

Picture Comes from:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/apec-ceo-summit-2013-gathers-government-and-business-leaders-of-the-asia-pacific-to-seek-path-towards-resilience-and-growth-221571371.html

Due to the U.S. government shutdown, about 700,000 federal workers are sent home on unpaid leave. National parks are closed. Also, the Small Business Administration is not working.

Based on my research, there are two views about this shutdown. First, at a microeconomic view, small businesses are hit hard.  The government’s shutdown will delay payments to small businesses that have ties or contracts with the government. Small businesses will have to manage their cash flow, and they have to think about where else they can get loans since the Small Business Administration is not working. Thus, accounting departments of small businesses have to figure out how to maintain cash flow and how to cut spending in order to survive through the hard time. Second, at a macroeconomic view, this shutdown will have negative impacts on the U.S. economy as a whole. National parks and museums are shut down, which disappoints international tourists. The amount of international tourists will decrease. Also, federal workers are uncertain about their future in the U.S., so people are going to spend less. The U.S. economy will be hit hard.

I wish that the shutdown will end as soon as possible for the sake of the stability of the world economy and the U.S. economy.

Sources:

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/10/02/government-shutdown-small-business-good-bad-and-uninformed/
2. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/shutdown-to-slowdown-how-washingtons-mess-is-hurting-business/article14712510/
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24343698

Picture is from: http://www.gambling911.com/politics/paddy-power-odds-%E2%80%98us-government-shutdown-will-not-last-more-7-days%E2%80%99-100113.html

The Globe and Mail reported on Sep. 20 in 2013, “BlackBerry Ltd. will cut 4,500 jobs, write off more than $900-million worth of unsold phones and abandon parts… the writedown will lead to a loss of nearly $1-billion.”

Based on my research, BlackBerry has made two big mistakes. First, BlackBerry gives up its opportunity to establish a point of difference. The all-touchscreen cellphone market has been occupied by Apple and Samsung before Blackberry Z10.  BlackBerry has its easy to use key-board cellphones as its point of difference before the Blackberry Z10. It should have kept developing that point of difference.  Second, BlackBerry didn’t focus on its customers.a BlackBerry insider, ““We believed we knew better what customers needed long term than they did. Consumers would say, ‘I want a faster browser.’…‘You might think you want a faster browser, but you don’t want to pay overage on your bill.’” This mistake shifts customers’ preferences from BlackBerry.

Many Canadians were once proud of BlackBerry, and it is just “too Canadian” to fail, but its future is still bleak.

Resources: http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/09/27/blackberry-ltd-canada/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-inside-story-of-why-blackberry-is-failing/article14563602/?page=all

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/trading-in-blackberry-halted/article14440386/

I think the rape chant is understandable but intolerable. People who participate in Frosh are still young, and they shout aloud the chant that is deemed cool by them but intolerable by the public.

The rape chant scandal affects UBC Sauder Business School and students negatively. For Sauder, the scandal may disappoint prospective students in Canada, or broadly, around the world, which may lead to less students coming in Sauder next year. For the students, prospective employers may think that students in Sauder may have moral problems, and they will affect company cultures in a negative way.

The scandal is an opportunity. For Sauder, the scandal provides it with a chance to educate its students about showing respect towards female. For Sauder’s students, they can learn how to show respect to everyone, and what is appropriate to say in the public.

I’ve received a few emails from the CUS and Sauder. They are trying to solve the problem, at the same time, educate us, the group of young people, which is a good sign.