Month: November 2013

According a blog post on Maclean’s, Apple and Samsung met in the San Jose courtroom for a billion-dollar patent fight. The lawsuit started when apple sued Samsung for copying important iPhone features, and at the same time, Samsung is fighting back by claiming that Apple patents were derived from Samsung technology. I think that the overlap in the research and development sectors of both companies is inevitable. The current social trend is forcing Apple and Samsung to produce products that allows productivity, social networking, as well as entertainment. On a touch-screen mobile phone, there is only so much you can do to meet these demands in the short-term. Undoubtedly, in trying to meet this criteria Apple and Samsung will invest in similar technology and produce phones that gives similar value propositions. Instead of fighting each other for patent rights and spending millions of dollars on lawsuits they should both devote time and energy to research and development. The two companies should each individually find their points of difference. They should invest more time and money into thinking about the future, and what kind of technology will lead to a new era of mobile phones. Specifically, Samsung and Apple can allow a more decentralized working environment that fosters innovation, as mentioned in class.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/13/apple-vs-samsung-in-billion-dollar-patent-fight/

Connor Wilson mentioned that Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snapchat refused Zuckerberg $3 billion dollar offer. I also believe that Evan Spiegel should accept Zuckerberg offer but simultaneously agree upon a contract that can potential benefit both parties. The two companies should work together but not unite as one. If Snapchat were to be completely assimilated by Facebook than it will not longer remain the same company. For example, if Snapchat’s culture becomes assimilated than some of its original innovation and creativity can be washed away. Through compromising, the two companies can negotiate an agreement that benefits both parties so that Snapchat’s value propositions will not be affected. Furthermore, in terms of brand positioning, Snapchat already has the first-movers-advantage in the field of photo messaging application. If Facebook were to takeover than it will be both costly and inefficient for Facebook to operate. Additionally, it will be difficult for consumers to perceive the two companies as one when there is already a separate established brand image for Snapchat. As mentioned in class, it is best for companies to do what they are best at so that both companies’ brand image can be solidified.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/connorwilson1/2013/11/14/why-young-ceos-are-overly-optimisitic/

Logan mentioned in his blog post that car companies are launching new hybrid cars to be more eco-friendly; and Ferraris are not the exception. Sports cars are known to have spirited performance and nimble handling. They are also known to require high fuel consumption. As gasoline prices rise higher and higher, car companies such as Ferrari and Tesla are creating cars that are more electricity-based. I think this new trend will be the future of cars after thinking about it in terms of the triple bottom line theory. Hybrid cars are being environmentally friendly which satisfies the environmental criteria. Hybrids are also accommodating the rising gasoline prices for consumers, which satisfy the social criteria. Lastly, Hybrid cars are receiving massive attention (as Logan mentioned in the blog, LaFerraris were sold out before they went public), which satisfies the profit criteria. The current trend is favoring hybrid cars, not only because they are fuel efficient, but also because consumers are becoming more conscious of their environment.

As mentioned in class, innovation happens for a variety of reasons, and one of them is a new social trend. 50 years from now, gasoline prices will rise to a point where it is no longer economical to drive a car. Thus, more electricity-based cars are coming to save the day.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/loganlan/2013/10/08/the-tree-huggers-ferrari/

Adeo Ressi is an entrepreneur who founded the Founder Institute that trains prospective entrepreneurs so that they can be successful in startups. He believes that there is high failure rate for new entrepreneurs because they do not receive right training. His program selects applicants through a personality test. Those accepted learn to develop their ideas and run their business through a mixture of workshops or in other words entrepreneurship immersions. Founder Institute takes a 3.5% stake in the start-ups in turn. Ressi successfully reduced the failure rate form 90% to 10%.

Founder Institute’s entrepreneurship immersion program is what I believe an advocate of Lean Startups. For an entrepreneur to be successful he or she must be willing to take risks and get out of comfort zones to test hypothesis. Although a solid, step-by-step plan can be helpful, but more importantly, entrepreneurs should learn to be experimenters. These workshops serve as a tool that helps entrepreneurs to change their traditional ways of thinking and physically test assumptions to reach goals. Business-hypothesis-driven experimentation can allow the time frame needed for start-ups and product development to be significantly shortened. This time-efficiency can work hand in hand with the physical training to improve the success rate amongst new start-ups.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/business/smallbusiness/an-entrepreneur-who-manufactures-entrepreneurs.html?ref=entrepreneurship&_r=0

McDonald’s Corp. has recently announced that the introduction of new products on the menu has decreased service speed in any local stores. Originally, the company intended to add more variety to their products in order to increase consumer satisfaction. However, the fast introduction of new items made it challenging for many stores to keep up with the service speed. The service speed slowed to an all time low at 189.49 seconds.

McDonald’s has a centralized business model that allows little creativity for its employees. Striving to be more decentralized and innovative, McDonald’s have creatively brought new menus to the table. However, this degree of decentralization slowed the speed of the service time and created consumer dissatisfaction. It is important for McDonald’s to apply innovation along with its centralized business structure. For example, before launching new products, McDonald’s should enforce its service speed through employee training and investments in machinery capital. With better machines and well-trained employees, productivity and efficiency can be improved to match up with those needed for the new menu items. Thus, without delaying the service time, menu-items that are more health-conscious can enhance McDonald’s brand image as well as increase consumer’s satisfaction.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303789604579198432499699844

In the US, thanksgiving means Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but in China November 11^th (Single’s Day) triggers the biggest online shopping spree of the year. The e-commerce websites Taobao and T-mall operated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Is holding the November 11^th annual sale that generates more revenue than the Black Friday sale in the states. The total merchandise volume last year topped one trillion Yuan ($160 billion); this amount is larger than Amazon.com and eBay combined. Alibaba’s net profit is around $707 million and its revenue in the second quarter increased by 61%.

What accounts for Alibaba’s huge success is its successful management of business technology. Alibaba sees the growing number of consumers on e-commerce websites and so initiated its own online shopping platform. Alibaba created Alipay, an online payment and escrow service that allows for safe and secure online payments. This new technology increased consumer satisfaction and allowed for increased business growth. Alibaba’s new development exemplifies how business successfully employs business technology. Although Alipay does not directly increase productivity and growth for Alibaba, but it indirectly leads to faster, safer, and more efficient online transactions that creates an increase in sales revenue and thus business growth as a whole.