Noah Li's Blog – Personal Inputs on Breaking News

“If the United Nations was fully funded, why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?”

The United Nations can’t do everything. For the United Nations to lend social support to developing countries, leaders of many countries must sit down together and come up with a decide. In addition, they only focus on major issues in the world that has caught media attention. When a decision is made, the United Nations will provide what the victims need for example, water, food, etc.

On the other hand, social enterprises are different. What the United Nations does is give people what they need. What social enterprises does is helping people to be able to get what they need themselves.

Giving people food and water does not solve poverty. What the UN does not know is that these people got potential. The social entrepreneurs found a way to help people out of poverty without feeding them. What they really need is to be able to support themselves. Many great minds started micro-finance, or micro-loans, in developing countries to help people start their own business and support themselves and potentially their employees. If you always give them food, they will never be able to make their own food. If you teach them how to make their own food, you will be the true hero in fighting poverty.

References:

“Microfinance 101 – Part 4 (final): Why Microloans Are Better than a Donation, or Charity.” MILAAP STORIES. 12 Sept. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://blog.milaap.org/microfinance-101-part-4-final-why-microloans-are-better-than-a-donation-or-charity/>.

“What Is Social Entrepreneurship?” Skoll World Forum. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/>.

[Reply] Netflix Builds its team

This is one of the most influential blogs I have ever read. It is about how Netflix has came about with their human resource management.

How Netflix Reinvented HR

After discussing what human resource is in our lecture, it is clear that having a good human resource management can completely change a business. In this case, Netflix is using a strict system in hiring employees. Although they are being extremely picky, the system is effective. By hiring the personnel they need, they will get their job done better and quicker.

[Reply] What makes Alibaba the one and only Alibaba

After seeing Yulu Hua’s blog, NEW RECORD IS WAITING TO BE MAKE BY ALIBABA, I want to talk about what is the most important, yet most simple, thing Alibaba is doing to climb to the top of the world.

Jack Ma said in an interview on Alibaba’s IPO launch day, “We are not coming here to compete, we are coming here to help a lot of small businesses… We believe, after 15 years, the purpose of us working so hard is that we want to make these young people successful. When they are successful, our success is the result.”

Jack Ma and Alibaba’s most important philosophy is customer relations. Alibaba’s value proposition is entirely based on satisfying their customers’ needs, supporting their partners’ businesses, and helping the government to solve national issues. By creating the 11/11 annual “shopathon”, Alibaba is supporting all his partners’ businesses. Like Jack said, if all the small businesses he is supporting make money, Alibaba will make money. On the other side, he is creating a convenient and affordable channel for the customers to purchase what they need. Jack Ma and Alibaba has gained worldwide recognition for their success in satisfying both sides of the business.

References:

Hua, Yulu. “NEW RECORD IS WAITING TO BE MADE BY ALIBABA.” UBC Blogs Site. 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/yuluhua/2014/11/10/new-record-is-waiting-to-be-made-by-alibaba/>.

Tully, Shawn. “The Wall Street Fable behind Alibaba’s IPO.” Fortune. 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://fortune.com/2014/09/10/alibabas-ipo-a-wall-street-fable/>.

“Jack Ma: Alibaba Wants to Help U.S. Small Businesses.” YouTube. Bloomberg News, 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nkh_CWzyps>.

The RMB Comes to Canada!

A hub would allow companies in Canada to convert currency directly into yuan, rather than changing money into U.S. dollars first, saving money for firms and bringing added business to Canada’s financial sector. (STRINGER/TAIWAN/REUTERS)

It has just been announced that Canada and made an agreement with China in establishing a trading-hub for the Chinese RMB. The Chinese are planning on dominating world economy! Starting with Canada….

To all seriousness, this trading hub agreement will strongly benefit Canada’s economy. Now Canadian businesses can deal directly with Chinese businesses with RMB, instead of Canadian dollar to American Dollar then to RMB. Why is this important? China is Canada’s second largest trading partner and one of the largest economy in the world. Not only will this benefit Canadian companies, more and more Chinese companies will start to invest in Canada.

Reference:

Ecker, Janet. “Yuan Trading-hub Status a Major Win for Canada.” The Globe and Mail. 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/yuan-trading-hub-status-a-major-win-for-canada/article21541747/>.

[Reply] The Million Dollar Car Market

Julia Lu posted a blog about a recently innovated high-performance vehicle, the Quant e-Sportlimousine. This is not your usual Lamborghini super car, it is a ‘hyper car’ that runs on salt water. YES, SALT WATER! Well, unfortunately, its going to cost $1.7 million dollars according to Quartz.

What I really wanted to focus on was the million dollar car market. There are many manufacturers that produces vehicles that costs over a millions dollars, for example, Porsche 918 Spyder, Mclaren P1, Bugati Veyron, and a lot more.

Obviously, they are not the common road car we see everyday. The manufacturers invests millions of dollars into engineering these vehicles. The performance of these vehicles is unimaginable. The materials they use to make them are extremely rare and expensive.

Although manufacturers do not earn a large profit out of these, the value of these vehicles will raise tremendously. Lots of these vehicles are limited production, which means: even if you are rich, you might not even get one. Some rich car enthusiasts are going to spend extra money to get these cars from other buyers.

Over time, these vehicles are not vehicles anymore; they become artwork. Like art, they are elegant and one of a kind. Certainly, the Quant e-Sportlimousine is a piece of art. It does not attract customers with the fact that it has the newest technology. People want it because it is one of a kind. Imagine if you have something that everyone wants.

References:

Narula, Svati. “This Sports Car Runs on Saltwater-but It’s No Threat to Tesla.”Quartz. 9 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://qz.com/261450/this-sports-car-runs-on-saltwater-but-its-no-threat-to-tesla/>.

Lu, Julia. “Forget Tesla, Salt Water Powered Car Emerges in European Market.” Julia Lu’s Blog. 5 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/julialu/2014/10/05/forget-tesla-salt-water-powered-car-emerges-in-european-market/>.

New Generation of the Smartphone is Born

Recently, a new smartphone has been on the headlines. Xiaomi Inc., a Chinese smartphone company found in 2010, has been making a tremendous revenue with extremely cheap smartphone. Its cheapest phone, Redmi 1S, costs about $150.

The Daily Telegraph states: “A table in the document showed that Xiaomi’s net profit last year rose 84 per cent to 3.46 billion yuan (US$566 million) from 1.88 billion yuan in 2012. Its revenue more than doubled to 27 billion yuan. Another table included a forecast of a 75 per cent net profit increase this year.”

On November 11th, while Canadians are mourning on Remembrance day, the Chinese are celebrating their “Singles'” day with Alibaba’s annual ‘shopathon’. Just over 12 hours of the sale, Xiaomi has already collected over 1 billion RMB ($163 million) of revenue.

Xiaomi has climbed to the third largest smartphone makers in the world after Apple and Samsung. Xiaomi’s disruptive innovation has made a huge impact on the industry. New predictions can be made on how the smartphone market will change in near future. Although Apple and Samsung are manufacturing much higher quality smartphone, Xiaomi can be a potential threat. Consumers are always looking to save more money. If Xiaomi’s phone is efficient and cheap, more and more people will put down their expensive iPhone’s.

References:

“Buy Xiaomi Redmi 1S | Buy Xiaomi Hongmi 1S | Redmi 1S Price.” XIAOMI MOBILE RETAIL SHOP. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.xiaomishop.com/100-xiaomi-redmi-1s-quad-core-16ghz-1gb-8gb-47-inch-ips-8mp-camera-dual-sim-wcdma-version-smartphone-black.html>.

Jones, Dow. “Xiaomi Makes a Profit on Its Cheap Smartphones.” The Daily Telegraph. 6 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/breaking-news/xiaomi-makes-a-profit-on-its-cheap-smartphones/story-fnn9c0gv-1227115278434?nk=b10245201f34ec2695d71791a5755407>.

Russell, Jon. “Xiaomi Clocks Record $163M Sales At Halfway Point Of China’s Singles’ Day Shopathon.” TechCrunch. 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/10/xiaomi-clocks-record-163m-sales-at-halfway-point-of-chinas-singles-day-shopathon/>.

Shu, Catherine. “Xiaomi Now The World’s Third Biggest Smartphone Maker, Says IDC.” TechCrunch. 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/29/xiaomi-now-the-worlds-third-biggest-smartphone-maker-says-idc/>.

First Nations; an Obstacle to a Growing Economy

Lets face it, First Nations has always been an obstacle for large businesses. Yes, they should be given rights to protect their land and heritage and, yes, their voice must be heard by the government. We, the government of Canada, has given them massive amount of land across the country. Some of these reserves has extremely valuable resources.

The company Taseko Mines Ltd. has to delay or potentially cancel their $1.1 billion dollar project due to First Nations’ activities. The article states that the First Nations has declared this land as the ambiguous “Tribal Park” which covers about 3120 square kilometers. That is larger than the area of Metro Vancouver! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a park that has a very vague description for its purpose.

The government has given the First Nations too many rights and privileges. Now, they are violating it. Just less than a third of First Nations in Canada does not even pay income taxes. And they say we are selfish of taking their land.

Something is not right.

References:

Pynn, Larry. “Tsilhqot’s set to declare site of New Posperity Mine a tribal park .” The Vancouver Sun. The Vancouver Sun, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Unilateral+park+declared+Tsilhqot+includes+Prosperity+mine/10192766/story.html>.

Hutchinson, Brian. “Supreme Court B.C. land-claim ruling has staggering implications for Canadian resource projects.” National Post News. National Post, 26 June 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/26/supreme-court-b-c-land-claim-ruling-has-staggering-implications-for-canadian-energy-projects/>.

“Harmony” in an International Competition?

This article states that for US and Europe to come to harmony in auto trading, they must come to an agreement in the quality of the car.

“U.S. airbags are designed to protect people who don’t buckle seat belts, while European airbags aren’t. “

General Motor’s net income has been decreasing tremendously over the past 5 year, also struggling to maintain their sales growth. On the other hand, German manufacturers are extremely happy with their results. More and more people all over the world are recognizing German cars.

Coming to harmony will decrease the prices of German cars in America. Then, more people will buy German cars instead of American car, except for those die-hard American Muscle fans. Even if European automakers agree to American safety and emission standards, the American Big Three will do anything to stop the harmonization.

References:

Guilford, Dave. “Why U.S.-European auto harmony is still just a dream.” Automotive News. N.p., 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.autonews.com/article/20141003/BLOG06/141009887/why-u-s-european-auto-harmony-is-still-just-a-dream>.

Vance, Brian. “2011 BMW M3 Coupe vs. 2011 Ford Mustang GT Comparison – Motor Trend.” Motor Trend Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1010_2011_2011_ford_mustang_gt_vs_2011_bmw_m3_comparison/>

The iPhone 6 – Apple’s Respond to China

On September 30th, Apple unexpectedly launch the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China. If you watched the KeyNote on September 11th, Tim Cook emphasized that the new iPhone will not enter the Chinese market “any time soon”. Unfortunately, some Chinese people are trying to get every single iPhone 6 they can in North America, then shipping it back to China to sell for double the price. This is illegal in China and Canada.

As I expected, this came to Apple’s attention quickly. The only way for Apple to control the market for the new iPhone is to release it to countries with high consumer demand, such as China. They want to be able to control their own product and let no private companies intercept.

Unfortunate Zhengzhou man… Should have started a legal business.

References:

Jones, Chuck. “Apple’s iPhone 6 Pre-Orders Are On Fire In China.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 4 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2014/10/04/apples-iphone-6-pre-orders-are-on-fire-in-china/>.

“Zhengzhou Man Commits Suicide over Iphone 6 Price Drop.” eChinacities.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.echinacities.com/news/Zhengzhou-Man-Commits-Suicide-over-Iphone-6-Price-Drop>.

Issues Concerning Industries in Third World Countries

This is an old article that highlighted a major event that happened in India. In 1984, safety was not a big concern to industries, neither were people’s lives. Fortunately, nowadays we have international organizations such as the UN and OSHA in the United States to keep an eye on these factories. Now we go back to the question: Are they really any safer? Have industries really put safety on top of their list? Sure it has been 30 years since this disaster, but that does not necessarily mean industries has changed their ethics and looking towards “social responsibility”.

As we know, industries choose developing countries for production because material, labor, and land are cheap. What people don’t realize is why industries doesn’t put safety as a major concern like they do in America. Safety features for major chemical factories are complex and costly. If something does go wrong, the company will potentially be loosing millions or billions of dollars to lawsuits. In developing countries, difficult to say, lives does not “worth as much”. Such incident might save an industry billions of dollars.

Even today, many chemical factories are still running in developing countries. How do we know if they meet the safety requirements? These factories manufactures products we use in our daily lives. What must industries do to be more responsible while generating enough profit to maintain its economy?

References:

“26 Years After Bhopal: Are Chemical Plants Any Safer?.” Business Ethics RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://business-ethics.com/2011/02/20/132226-years-after-bhopal-are-chemical-plants-any-safer>.