The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental association of independent countries that work together in order to improve the country’s social conditions, such as peace, human rights, security, public health, environmental conservation, and economic development. It has done an excellent job in some countries, such as Sudan, with the human trafficking in Darfur, or in El Salvador, when in 1992 they ended 12 years of fighting and war. However, even though the UN has helped a lot of countries, I believe that they just handle problems at the surface. They don’t show up when it comes to smaller situations such as helping a community’s development, or helping to reduce the amount of poverty and hunger in a community of a third world country. That is when the Arc and social entrepreneurs are needed in our world.

The Arc Initiative is an UBC program run by Sauder students who “create programs that build local business management and leadership capacity”, which in the long term, leads to an economic grow for the local communities. They enforce the idea of social entrepreneurs, whose main goal is to solve social issues, such as educational opportunities, available clean water, poverty and hunger. They don’t just come with an innovative solution for those social problems; they come with innovative solutions that give the communities’ members the tools to be able to be sustainable and independent.

After working in an impoverished community in 2012, and helping them succeed and be able to produce their own products to sell them to other communities and be sustainable, I understand really well this concept and their goals. It is not about solving someone’s problems for them, it is about having the refrain of  “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn” on mind and using it to help others succeed. Therefore, I believe that even if the United Nations were fully funded, we still would need these kind of programs and entrepreneurs, we need people that look for the world’s smaller problems that impede a country’s development.

Sources: http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative

The debate between if the financial incentives help or harm the production of the employee and of the company is one of the most controversial debates in the Human Resources department. As we saw last class, there are many ways to motivate an employee so he/she can do a better job. The recognition of the employee’s labor is a very important action that makes the employee feel part of “the family” and may lead to a positive effect on their performance. Also, making them feel comfortable in the environment in which they work with free food, videogames or any other type of anti-stress activities is a really good way to improve their performance at work. Finally, basing us in one of the fundamental economics laws: “the human being, is always trying to maximize their profit”, it can be said that by the use of financial incentives the employee will feel motivated to perform a better job and will always try to get more and more.

On one hand, Leena Thampan talks about the financial incentives as a threat to the company’s production. She argues that employees work better with non-financial incentives such as recognition, reward, opportunities and flexibility. On the other hand, Berkeley’s blog argues that a new generation of employees is coming and that the types of recognitions and incentives are changing too. According to 2014 Canadian Incentive Trends Survey, “prepaid credit cards are growing in popularity and preferred 2x more than retail gift cards”.

In my opinion and basing my arguments on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there is not a single “best incentive” for the employee. As it can be seen in the pyramid below, the first floor that has to be filled is the physiological one. In this floor, breathing, sleeping and other fundamental activities that the human being needs for their well-being are mentioned. Some of these activities include food and water, which would not be possible to acquire without an economical payment from the employer to the employee. This is when the financial incentives may be fundamental for the good performance and well-being of the employee. Not all people have the opportunity to receive a good salary, and without financial incentives it would not be possible to improve the employee’s performance and productivity since the base of the pyramid wouldn’t be complete. The next four floors show the psychological and self-fulfillment needs, which can be fulfilled by the recognition and rewards that the company gives the employee. It is very important to have all of these steps complete if the company wants to maximize their production and profits.

Therefore, I don’t agree with either Thampan’s blog or Berkeley’s blog completely. First of all, I think that the incentives must be based on the context that the employees are facing, such as their personal/financial life, the economy of the country, etc. For example, a father may prefer some extra days of vacations so that he can spend time his family over a financial reward, and a young adult may value more a financial incentive with which she/he can buy clothes, electronics, etc. than more days of vacations. Also, I think that the best way to keep employees happy is mixing the financial and non-financial incentives. Every human being needs to feel part of something, as they also need to feel valued and important for someone. Therefore, it is very important to a company’s performance to keep their employees happy, making them feel part of “the family”, recognizing them in front of everyone when necessary, and also, giving them financial incentives when they deserve it.

Sources:

– http://berkeleypayment.com/blog/picking-employee-rewards-and-incentives-for-the-multi-generational-workplace

– http://wagepoint.com/blog/non-financial-incentives-for-employees

Canada and China reached an agreement that will allow a direct exchange of goods for either Canadian dollars or Chinese yuan. This deal will allow for business from both countries to cut off the “middle-man” which was in most cases the American dollar. Without having to do business with a third currency both countries’ businesses of all sizes will have a faster negotiation and lower costs.

In my opinion, this deal is one that all of the Canadians need to celebrate. Given that China is the second largest economy of the world, only behind the US, there is a lot of money in that market. Therefore, for small business owners, trade has been facilitated and made cheaper because before, many small business were not able to enter the Chinese market because they had to exchange to American dollars and only then to Chinese yuan, creating higher costs and wasting time.

Also, the general Canadian population can celebrate this deal because with no third party currency involved in transactions between Canada and China, the costs of imported goods will be much cheaper. Not only because of the lower costs of importation and exportation between the two countries but also because of the consequence on supply levels it will have. Since the costs to sell Chinese goods in Canada will be lowered, there will be an increase in volume of imported goods from China; therefore, prices will be lowered due to lower costs of operations and because of a higher supply.

Not only that but this will increase the amount of money being circulated in the Canadian economy, thus, increasing it. Therefore, there is a reason for every Canadian citizen to rejoice from this new deal that allows direct trade with China.

Source:

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

Last weekend I saw my parents who traveled with Aeromexico to the United States, a Mexican airline that faced an economical crisis in 2013 that threatened the existence of the airline. I was surprised with their decision of traveling with Aeromexico since other airlines offered a better service and a more comfortable trip. To my surprise, they told me that after the economical crisis they created a new strategy that was implemented last year improving the Mexican airline. When I got back to Vancouver I decided to investigate about its growth, but most of all, I wanted to know how Aeromexico (that was almost disappearing from the Mexican airlines market) had been able to get back in the market.

After some research, I realized that, as my parents told me, Aeromexico is having a significant growth.  Even though the market conditions in Mexico became unfavorable this year, Aeromexico “recently cited statistics from the country’s DGAC showing that domestic air passenger traffic increased 10.5% year-on-year during the first two months of 2014.” Also, their presence in the national market is gaining force, as it is the market’s leader.

But, how did Aeromexico accomplish these achievements in such a short period? First of all, one of Aeromexico’s strategies was to change their 767s airplanes to 787-8s airplanes, which are bigger and have a more advanced technology. Also, the Mexican airline decided to install Gogo in-flight Internet, which is 20 times faster than the competition placing new value proposition. Finally, the company decided to adopt a pricing strategy that decreased their current prices to the point in which they compete with their competitor’s fares, making it more attractive for the national market.

In my opinion, even though Aeromexico changed their airplanes and started offering in-flight Internet, I think that the most powerful strategy they started implementing was lowering their prices. More than 50% of Mexico’s population is low-middle class, and with the lowered prices, Aeromexico is reaching more of the national market and increasing their sales.

Sources:

– http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/aeromexico-outlines-its-revenue-and-network-strategy-in-an-uncertain-mexican-market-167696

– http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/aeromexico-trades-domestic–international-market-share-gains-for-lower-yields-as-2q-profits-drop-180494

According to my peer, Won Jun Kong, and the article he read about LG’s performance in the market it appears to be possible that a brand is able to increase its sales simply by creating a “warmer” tagline. By warmer it means that the tagline is more customer-friendly since with this tagline the company is able to reach their customers and convince them that their product is the best one in the market. By doing this, LG was not able to boost their sales but also be more successful than its rival company, Samsung, that instead of a friendly tagline, uses all of the awards and certificates they have won based on their functionality.

In my opinion, LG’s strategy is perfect. I am certain that LG’s chief officers know that their technology and functionality is inferior than that of the competition, therefore, instead of falsely publicizing that they are a superior technological brand they advertise that their product is capable of bettering their customers’ lives and making it more comfortable, which is something that is impossible to calculate with any quantitative method.

This marketing strategy is not only smart for the fact that they are not lying but also because it explores humans and their nature. By suggesting that their product is able to better one’s life it almost automatically grabs the customers’ attention because people want things that will make their life easier and more comfortable. However, whenever a customer sees Samsung’s awards and certificates, they might feel too overwhelmed and think that they do not necessarily need the all of the perks and technology, causing them to decide that they do not want to invest their hard-earned money in something that they will not even use all the features. So instead of buying the clearly better apparel the customer decides to buy the one that is not as great but offers a better life for them. And who can blame them? I am absolutely sure that I would chose the brand that says that their product will make my life better any day, instead of the one that prizes itself by winning all of those awards on features I will hardly use.

In conclusion, I have to agree with my colleague Won Jun Kong that LG’s marketing strategy of adding warmth to their brand is a very successful one. Obviously it would be even better to have the awards and certificates that prove you are the better brand, thus, causing you to proportionate your customers with a better life. But since this is not the case it is clear that being customer-friendly and knowing how to appeal to the population is key to become successful.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/wonjunkong/2014/11/09/what-would-be-the-effect-on-positioning-of-adding-warmth-to-the-brand/