Blog Synthesis

Brendan, Heidi, Ian, Jinsui, and Zeyang        

    The world of business is something many incoming college students tend to look into because there are so many different fields, which practice a diversity of things. However some are unaware of what it takes to make it in these fields. One of the most vital, but overlooked, skills for these students to know before coming into the field is adaptability. This ability to be flexible along with being well rounded enough to be able to change with new business practices and trends. This is vital because business ideals are constantly changing. These changes in the business field are largely due to changing technology, business ethics, and people within the field. Knowing this can help make or break your career.

           New People

          To start, the business field is always welcoming new talent. In our blog post “The Hidden Talent” we elaborated on the welcoming of people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome into the workplace. This was a way for businesses to move past the negative stigma of hiring people with autism and notice that they hold skills in finding patterns in analytical data and repetitive work. Their lack in social skills make it hard for them to network and excel in interviews so this talent has gone unnoticed until recently.

          Another driving force in the business field are women. In the blog post called “Women Making Strides in Workforce” we talked about how women have slowly been integrating into the business field. Currently, more women than men are earning bachelor's and graduate degrees. But still women are greatly out numbered in business executive positions because men commonly carry more leader-like characteristics. This is due to the discouragement women feel in a male dominated career causing them to be more timid and shy. Even though more and more women are heading into the business field we should expect to see a lot more advancement and leadership positions held by females in the future. Anyone going into a business related career should be able to adapt to new things well because this field is changing quickly. If you aren’t good at adapting then you should probably be flexible because things will change and you don’t want to be left behind.

          Ethics

          When going into our next factor, one must know the ethics of business is often controversial and heavily debated.  The ethics of business are continuously getting more rigid, as people are becoming more cautious of how they’re portrayed and seen by the public.  In “Prompt 2: Defining Ethics” we dove into how ethics are changing and how many businesses ignore ethics in order to benefit themselves.  Many companies and businesses are beginning to ignore common ethical guidelines.  As technology is improving, it’s becoming easier for companies to falsely advertise their products, which is breaking many ethical morals.  This  mostly seen with restaurants, who edit photographs of their food to make it look more appetizing to customers.  This is a prime example of how many people in the business field are just concerned about making as much money as possible rather than being truthful.  

          While many people don’t follow ethics, it’s becoming more important for people in the spotlight, such as CEO’s, to act ethically and communicate in a way that won’t look bad to the public.  As media is becoming more prominent and news travels faster than ever before, a bad public image can be destructive to business.  As described in “Prompt 7: Contemplating Controversy”.This is why following ethics and being truthful is incredibly important for anyone in the business field that can easily be judged on their actions.  

           Technology

           On to our next factor, which is technology. Technology has been a huge influence to how business in the modern world have changed. One example of this is the recent globalization within the market, which has caused huge changes to the world’s idea of trading.  As shown in the blogpost “Globalization and How it has Changed the Game of Business”, globalization has created new ideas which are advantageous of different tactics unknown to many people. This is due to both being completely new to the market, and thus forcing many companies to either adapt quickly or to flounder.

           Similar, but in a lesser scale compared to globalization, is the introduction of mobile media and specifically, smart phones. As the blog post “Our Love for Mobile Device's Effect on Marketing” explains, smartphones created a new platform to pander to for advertisers, and formed new ideas on how to advertise because of it. This is once again due to it being a rather new idea, with nothing like it being seen before, making it easy to exploit for those who adapt.

         Another factor is economic commerce, bring a new twist to old ideas as shown in the blog post “Electronic commerce and mobile commerce”. The introduction of electronic currency has provided more convenience and different options for customers, benefiting businesses who utilize the new type of income. This still requires adaptability, but on a smaller and more manageable scale due to it being similar to physical commerce and having similar policies in place. What can be seen in all 3 examples is a constant theme of adapting. This is why it is so crucial for business students to have this vital trait. With markets expected to only change more with the coming years, all business students should be ready and willing to adapt with them.

      In a world, the business has a relative connection with the outside environment. Perhaps, a small change outside may bring significant influence on business. Therefore, companies should always prepare for this change. However, it is not only a challenge but also a big chance, if you run with the change and use it in the proper way it can be very beneficial towards companies. So, only when a company has the ability to adjust in a changing environment, can it achieve great success.

Sources: 
Pictures Graph: 
Dorning, Jennifer. Workforce Participation Rate by Gender and Education Attainment. Digital image. Http://dpeaflcio.org/. 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2016. <http://dpeaflcio.org/professionals/professionals-in-the-workplace/women-in-the-professional-and-technical-labor-force/>.

 IPhone Picture:

 IPhone 6s. Digital image. Www.apple.com. Web. 17 Apr. 2016. <http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone6s>.

 

Insurance

by Zeyang Wu

I believe that everyone has connection with insurance, from birth to death.  And I also believe that everyone needs the insurances for risk averse.

Insurance, in the sense of law and economics, is a kind of risk management, which is mainly used for the risk of economic loss. Insurance is defined as the average shift in the risk of a potential loss to an entity by paying a fee.

In fact, it is once you join a group, "one man is in difficulty, we amortized" is in monetary form apportion the social risk transfer mechanism

The applicant according to the contract agreement, pay insurance premium to the insurer, insurance for property loss or damage caused by the occurrence of a contract may bear the liability to pay the insurance money, or the death of the insured, disability, disease, or reach the age and period of the contract conditions when undertake to pay insurance gold.

resouse：

Arnoldo offermann.Check Your Insurance.Digital image. 13 Jan,2016. web. Apr 2016.

Racism And Sexism In Work Environments

By Heidi

     "Parents and schools should place great emphasis on the idea that it is alright to be different.  Racism and all the other 'isms' grow from primitive tribalism, the instinctive hostility against those of another tribe, race, religion, nationality, class, or whatever.  You are a lucky child if your parents taught you to accept diversity."

                                                   -Roger Ebert

      Racism and sexism has always been a problem in our society, and unfortunately has carried over into the workforce.  While racism and sexism in business is getting better, there's still drastic room for improvement.  In the quote above, Roger Ebert states that being different is a good thing.  This applies to all aspects of our society, including the work force.  Diversity bring new ideas to the table, because everyone has different opinions and stories.  Diversity in the workplace doesn't only apply to race, but gender and sexual orientation as well.  Racism is a natural instinct of ours, that needs to be overcome.

     According to The 'Resume Check': On Gay Talese, Racism and Sexism in The Press Room, a article on Huffington Post, the "Resume Check" is something that frequently happens in the workforce to women and people of color. The resume check is basically what it sounds like.  Asking someone how they got their job, referring to why a woman or a black man would be offered the job when someone else could have filled the position.  People tend to automatically assume that women and other races other than caucasian don't belong.  It doesn't make sense to some narrow minded people how a woman or black person could be successful in the work place.
     The resume check is meant to be nothing more than condescending to the person in question.  Unfortunately, this happens far to often to people in the business field, as well as other fields such as engineering and medicine.
     Ethnic minorities such as Latino and Asian are under represented in nearly every professional field that there is.  When looking at management positions, the representation gets even worse.  To make matters even worse, according to theguardian.com, racial bullying is on the rise in the workforce.  30% of 24,000 surveyed report that they have experienced racial bullying within the past year.
     Discrimination in the workforce is a major problem in todays society.  People need to become more open minded and accepting in order to create a more orderly working environment.  With diversity comes more ideas and greater knowledge.

Sources:

 Hirsch, Afua. "Workplace Racism Is on the Rise – We Need Action, Not Lip Service | Afua Hirsch." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

"Racism Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Touré. "The 'Resume Check': On Gay Talese, Racism and Sexism in the Press Room." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. 

     

The Rise of the Entrepeneur

By: Ian O.

       Building your own business is seen as a main goal for many people, but also seen as something that won't yield much or will be a waste of time. In actuality entrepreneurship, or creating your own business, has seen a huge rise with the Millennial generation and has found great success. These new age entrepreneurs are taking advantage of multiple factors and are competing with the long standing organizations of the past. Why is this working for them though? s

       As an article that can be found here explain, two key factors can attribute to the rise in their success, the first being the access to large amounts of information. With the wonders of the internet and higher education being more prominent each year, more and more people have access to information that can be used to build up a business plan such as how to market to certain audiences properly or how to manage finances effectively. This allows young entrepreneurs to have information equal to that of the big businesses that they are competing against, making it relatively level in terms of knowledge. What tips the scale for some entrepreneurs is the second factor, which is the changing technology. With the world of business changing a lot in the last decade, many large businesses are struggling to adapt quick enough to all of the changes in technology and process. This is due to their complex systems that make it hard to integrate new technology and new ideas through the system. The entrepreneur doesn't have this issue however, for they are a single entity or at least simple system. Millennials especially benefit from this for they have been raised with all of these technological advances, and are much more adapt to these changes then previous generations.

       Entrepreneurship is a huge risk that many ambition people take, but recently it has been extremely rewarding. This is allowing for new companies to go to the forefront and overtake these longstanding companies. Just look at the likes of Google, which isn't even 20 years old yet is already revolutionizing the industry, or Uber, the recent phenomenon that could completely wipe out taxi services. It is an age of new business, and even though the risks are high for entrepreneurs, the pay off is that much higher

Sources:
Article For Reference:

 Wade, Sophie. "Behind the Rise of Entrepreneurship." Fortune Behind the Rise of Entrepreneurship Comments. 12 June 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. 

Picture:

 Zuckerberg, Randi. Think Like an Entreprenuer. Digital image. Http://dotcomplicated.co/. 10 June 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. 

The Importance Of Versatility

By: Ian O.

      Being able to adapt to your surroundings is something that a lot of people will overlook when considering what makes someone successful, yet it is such an important skill. Versatility in business, or really any profession, is so important for young professionals who need to get their leg in the door. Many students might have already heard of this in some variation, like getting a minor in another field or practicing skills outside your original skill set. Why do we seem to be so focused on this recently though? Has the market become that unstable that everyone should be able to do multiple things that might not be in their original job description?

     A key point many bring up when discussing the importance of versatility is that we are in a transitioning market. What this means is that our current job market has a lot of things coming in, such as new technology(robotics) and new ways of business(outsourcing), so the jobs that someone might think are there might be taken or changed once they finish their degree or get into the market. Being versatile will allow you to roll with the unpredictability of the market and allow you to pursue a similar career. You essentially need to become a "Swiss army knife" as shown on the right, or in other worlds hold multiple different skills. An example of this could be someone who wants to go into accounting can't find a job at an accounting firm, but because they are versatile they can find a job with finance or economics. We see this a lot when it comes to almost every field. You want to go into marketing? Get a minor in communications! Getting a degree in computer science? Add on a degree in mathematics! While it might not be what you want to do exactly, it allows you to be open to change and "roll with the punches" that you don't see coming. It certainly won't hurt your resume if you do go for the career you wanted originally, in fact it will help encourage them to hire you knowing that you can fill multiple roles. It's almost like multi-tasking to a much higher degree and will set you up for a world of success in the future.

Sources:
Picture:

 Case, Anna. Swiss Army Knife. Digital image. Http://technologyadvice.com/. 4 June 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://technologyadvice.com/blog/human-resources/need-master-art-versatility/>. 

Prompt 3: Interviewing a Professional in the Business Field

by Zeyang Wu

Today, I interviewed Nicolas, a Chairman of a bank. He has worked in the business field since he was 24 years old and has been working for about 30 years. Nicolas has worked in many different areas in the Business field, such as Accounting, Marketing and Human Resource Management.

In the beginning, Nicolas graduated from college, entered a small local bank and became a counter staff. At first he was going to the Inland Revenue Department to work, but his professor advised him to go to a bank, which is more suitable for him. When he first started he was scared that he was not good at communicating with customers. After a period of study, he learned how to accurately handle the counter works, and also learn a variety of banks business.

Then I asked if he can give some advice to people who are preparing to enter the field of business. “When you graduate, do not look to get a good job at first. No matter what company you are entering, first you have to understand the company's various businesses. As an inexperienced person who does not understand the company, there is no way to manage other people.” He said: “And the best way to know the company work is through the normal staff in the company. As a manager, you will have better direction if you have relevant experience with how the basic labor works.”

Finally I asked that “Is that any difference between bank and other business institutions?” Nicolas answered that a bank is the most basic and most important part of the business. Banks are everywhere and almost everyone has a connection with banking, and also is the most common way to regulate the economy by government. Working in a bank, we have contact with all walks of life, so it is necessary to have a broad knowledge of how it works.

Through this interview, I know everything needs to be step by step. And for future work, accumulated a variety of knowledge is very important.

Prompt 8: Practicing In the Field

By Jinsui Y.

From reading books and article, I think the business is far remove from us. I think business is very professional, so, it just the topic which should be discussed by the economist, entrepreneurs, and banker. My initial impression about business wasn’t change until I took a Computer Science Course in this semester. This course is totally different from the other business courses I took before. In Computer Science class, we do much more performance task than learning and understanding the theoretical knowledge which prove me a new impression about business.

There first thing we have learned is using the Microsoft Excel to calculate and manage the financial information for the business company. During doing the homework, I began to consider would it be helpful if I use Microsoft excel in record my own bill information. Then, I input all my bill information in the Excel and divided my cost into different column. After doing that, I surprised found that the most money I spent is on the food except the school fee. Because of the cold weather, I didn’t want to go outside but call the takeout. The service fee for the takeout food is very high when I add them together for a month. I can take out for 7 times by using this service fee. That made me very surprised because I have never recognized that before. Therefore, after that I began to lessen the time to call the takeout food. What is more, Microsoft Excel is very proper to be used in process and manage a large amount information in business. It can make the work more efficiently.

Then, we learned about the encryption technique. In that cause we study how to make encryption and decryption. Before learning that, I think it is only important for the company to the business company and the government agency to consider about the information encryption. After doing the decryption, I found that how easy to decrypt a password if it is not very complex and how dangerous to expose your own information to the unlawful hacker. However, nowadays, more and more computer are using in business company. That means most of the business information are stored in computer system. In that case, it is very essential to focus on the company secret protection. 

In a word, as a new technology in information age, computer plays a very important rule in business work. So, mastering computer become the basic requirement for a business worker. Also, as a  qualified business learner we should know that business has so close relationship with new technology that we should update our knowledge and skill all the time.

Image sources:

Rick, Robinson. 38 Million Reasons to use Cryptography for Business. Digital image. https://securityintelligence.com/reasons-encryption-cryptography-for-business/. 11 November 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Eric, Rosenberg. The Importance of Excel in Business. Digital image. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032415/importance-excel-business.asp#. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Marketing Trends For 2016

By Ian O.

       When coming up with new ideas and strategies, a important factor for any business to look at are the marketing trends currently, as well as trying to predict future trends. With this in mind, looking at 2016 and the possible trends it could hold would be beneficial for not just businesses, but students of business trying to see what it takes to predict such things. Forbes.com has a great article found here, looking at trends that it sees as very possible for the new year .

        One of the key trends that the article mentions is that customer experience will become much more prominent then it has been in the last couple of years. Instead of just spewing out advertisements in a repetitive manner, this prediction suggests that building an experience around your product and making yourself memorable through this experience in going to become vital for new businesses. This prediction is being made not due to a certain event of product being made, but more so because big businesses like Apple and Google are paving the way for this to happen. It isn't so much a "this will immediately happen" prediction as it is a gradual change that will ignite in 2016.
       
         The other big prediction is that marketing firms will finally recognize Social Media as a channel, not a strategy. "What's the difference?" you might ask. What making it a channel, or a necessary action to transfer ownership of the product or service from producer to consumer, does is it legitimizes it as something that is NEEDED in every plan. Instead of only the "hip" or the "new age" companies being the ones using social media, this prediction suggests that marketers everywhere will realize that this is a must have for every business. It is not just a strategy to employ when you need a younger market, it is a legitimate channel to distribute you product and should be utilized by all. This is a key reason why this is predicted, for social media has already become a vital "strategy" that companies are using and seeing as more then just a strategy.

        Though these predictions may seem bold to some, but they are based on educated assumptions and previous market knowledge. Being able to work with these predictions to further your companies market promotion is vital, and knowing how to make your own can set you ahead of your competitors.

Sources: 

Picture: Bedgood, Larisa. Customer Experience Showcase. Digital image. Http://www.business2community.com/. 4 Feb. 2015. Web. 7 Apr. 2016. <http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/customer-experience-new-battleground-winning-customer-loyalty-01145484#PgJbyDIigV2DPs3Q.97>.

Article: Newman, Daniel. "The Top 10 Marketing Trends That Will Define 2016." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 03 Nov. 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. 

Are Law Makers Hurting their Economies?

            What effects business decisions? Well many things can effect the decisions that a business will make. A big one in particular is politics. Recently, the company PayPal was planned to open a big location in Charlotte, NC, which would create 400 jobs in the city. This plan was scrapped when Dan Schulman, PayPal CEO, got wind of a law that was passed in North Carolina.

            Recently, North Carolina passed a discriminatory law banning transgender individuals to use public restrooms different from the gender on their birth certificate. Dan Schulman gave this statement on Tuesday, “As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable.”

            This law drew attention of many other big corporations such as, Apple, Google, American Airlines, Lowe’s, and The NBA. These companies are banding together to get North Carolina Law makers to exterminate this law. The NBA is suggesting moving next season’s All-Star game out of the city because of the law.

            As you can see politicians and law makers have a big impact on businesses decisions. The morals that CEO’s hold have a big impact on company decisions and as you can see they are taking it out on North Carolina. This may soon be happening in Mississippi because they are in the process of passing a bill that allows business owners to deny service to homosexuals. I like that business can change their opinion on a flip of a dime. This puts more pressure on politicians to make choices that won’t harm their states economies

Berman, Mark. "PayPal Abandons Plans to Open Facility in Charlotte Because of LGBT Law."    Washington Post. The Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2016. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

Prompt #6: Critical Source Evaluation

By Heidi G.

     The scholarly article I chose to read on the business field, Marketing specifically was Marketing Transformations: Re-thinking Marketing, Digital First.  This article was written by Julia Wolny.  It's main point is to stress the importance of digital marketing.  Marketing is changing as new technologies are developed.  The old strategies aren't going to cut it any longer and new strategies must be developed to accommodate for changing times.  This article documents a marketing conference from 2014 at London's Silicon Roundabout.
     I think it's very beneficial how the author uses real companies at this conference to further prove her points.  I completely agree with everything that she says about how marketing is developing and changing as time goes on.
     I agree with this articles statement about how digital forms of marketing have taken precedent over other forms.  I think it was helpful to the reader for her to explain different companies takes on how marketing is developing into what it is now.  Data is being more frequently used to market certain things to people.  Technological advances are helping with this, and collection of data is becoming easier than ever before.
     Another point she made was that marketing is becoming more mobile.  With different inventions such as portable tablets and laptops, marketing is being forced to change.  Marketing to people by making your product usable at an arms reach is very important.  I believe this is because people like to have everything they need with them at all times, and in the same accessible place.  She also stated that any company that can integrate decision making and technology is going to be feared by competing companies.  I completely agree with this, because many people tend to have problems with this.  Marketing is also on a trend to becoming more social.  As people are creating ways for people to communicate and share their thoughts online, via things such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, companies are doing well when they can form relationships with their customers.  The social trend is on the uprise, and companies that can communicate well with customers have higher success than companies that don't.

Sources:

 "Identify Your IPhone Model." - Apple Support. Web. 4 Apr. 2016.

Wood, Alex. "Goodbye Silicon Valley: Why Tech Startups Are Flocking to Megacities." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 2014. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. 

Multilateral trade

by Zeyang Wu

Multilateral trade is the trade that three or more than three countries, for the sake of mutual payments balance and the agreement based on multilateral settlement of trade.

The reason why it appears is due to the wrong way between the two countries trade with each other or the price is not quite supply that cannot balance the import and export, foreign exchange balance difficulties occur. They need a third country or more countries participating in the agreement, the three countries to establish or multinational trade in so that import and export each other to achieve a basic balance.

The most important purpose of the multilateral trading system is to make the trade flow as free as possible without the negative effects. On the one hand means to eliminate barriers, on the other hand, to ensure those individuals, companies and the government to understand the world's trade rules, and make them believe that the policy will not ha

ppen suddenly change.

Since the agreement was drafted and signed on the basis of a lot of discussions and debates in each trading country, one of the most important functions of WTO is to provide a place for trade negotiations.

WTO is an important aspect of the work of the dispute settlement. Trade relations often involve conflicts of interest, contracts and agreements often need to be explained, including those that have reached a negotiated contract and agreement. The most harmonious way to resolve these differences is by establishing a neutral program on the basis of the agreed law. This is the purpose of the dispute settlement mechanism in the WTO agreement.

resources:
"Multilateral trade agreement". How to Export. Web. Mar. 2016

Our Love for Mobile Device's Effect on Marketing

By: Ian O.

     With the ever growing amount of mobile devices in the current age, companies everywhere are searching for ways to adapt to this recent trend. Some might see this as premature, but as this graph done by Mary Meeker shows, time spent on digital media has involved mobile devices more and more in the coming years, even passing desktops and laptops as of 2014. With this kind of trend only growing, developing tactics and measures to utilize mobiles has become a top priority for many businesses, whether that means changing small things or completely revamping their model.

                    Now in what kinds of things do businesses change you might ask?

                                  -  Content/websites are tailored for mobile use -
    This one is essential for companies who are only based online. What this essential means is that when you will go on a website using your mobile, the website will have specific programming and formatting so that it can be accessed easily with your phone. These "Mobile Versions" of the site might not seem like a lot, but it greatly decreases confusion and frustration and has even gone to apps being made specifically for sites like Reddit, Facebook, Google, and many others.

                              - The type of content and advertising be displayed -

      This one has a huge effect on advertising. Due to mobile devices having smaller screens but still high quality graphics and data, advertisers are ditching the banner ads, or strips of text on the side of the screen ads, and switching to almost only using videos. The main benefit from this, from an advertisers perspective, is that it is much harder to ignore a video advertisement, with many having time limits until you can skip past and having the video take up the entire screen, as seen on the right. Text and those types of things in general are so much harder to read and make eye catching on mobiles, so even content creators have gone away from this to a more appealing video style.

                                              -  Location base advertising -
     This one is beneficial for both sides, but for different reasons. What this means is that because most phones or devices have a location tracker on them, when they search for things online in their locale area, companies can see this and be able to know WHO to advertise to. This means no more shooting in the dark to hopefully advertise to the right people, but instead they get to know what devices and locations are more likely to be their target market. It is beneficial for the customer as well, for now their ads pertain to things they could actually enjoy, even if they are still advertisements.

     These changes to how we view digital media are amazingly quick, considering how not long ago digital media wasn't even around. This means that businesses and companies need to be that much more diligent with new technology, trying out new methods to make the viewing process that much more easy. Not adapting to these changes, even if they seem small or insignificant, can be the undoing of even the strongest of competitors.

Citations:

 Chaffey, Dave. "Marketing Trends for 2016 - Will We Be in a Post-digital Era? - Smart Insights Digital Marketing Advice." Smart Insights. Smart Insights, 08 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/marketing-innovation/marketing-trends-2016/>. 

 Davis, Jessica. "How Smart Phones Have Changed Content Marketing." Get Busy Media. 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.getbusymedia.com/how-smart-phones-have-changed-content-marketing/>. 

 Meeker, Mary. Time Spent With Digital Media Graph. Digital image. Http://www.smartinsights.com/. Smartinsights, 8 Feb. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2016. 

 Scheinfeld, Hillel. Advertisement on tablet with man and dog. Digital image. Www.thevideoink.com. 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2016. <http://www.thevideoink.com/features/voices/video-ad-engagement-matters-skip-button-doesnt-count/#.VwG78vkrJD8>. 

The Hidden Talent

By: Brendan Kelley

Finding a job is really hard. It is especially hard when you lack social and networking skills. How are you able to succeed in an interview let alone get one? Could you imagine trying to get a job, while also suffering from autism. Well many companies are trying to change this.

            A German Software company called SAP is making an initiative to hire more people suffering from autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. It all started two years ago when they hired a woman named Janis Oberman as a software specialist. Janis had been diagnosed with Asperger’s as an adult and for years and went in and out of temporary jobs. Even though Janis had a master’s in multimedia fro California State University, she still had trouble finding a job. She got hired as part of the company’s global initiative to recruit candidates with autism and Asperger’s.

            People with Autism can be very smart. Sometime it is just the social skills that are slightly lacking. Strengths of people with autism include, the ability to find patters in data, and focus of highly repetitive work. These qualities are perfect for jobs in data analysis, IT, software design and multimedia.

            Tim Weiler says, “They’re diligent and capable of a period of prolonged focus. If you can alter your sourcing strategy by not unconsciously screening them out when you interview them, you can solve management issue.” So far the information technology services company for SAP, CAI, has hired 50 people with autism and is aiming to hire 120, 3 percent of their work force.

            I think that this is a great initiative. Because autism can effect people’s social skills it makes it hard for people suffering from it to excel in interviews and face-to-face discussions. With all the benefits of these hard working individuals it would be idiotic to not hire them because they present talent that can be extremely useful for companies.

Sources:

Che, Jenny. "Why More Companies Are Eager To Hire People With Autism." Huffington Post. 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

Opportunity Cost in Business

By Jinsui Y.

What is opportunity cost?

In economic theory, Opportunity cost of one activity is the value of the next-best alternative. For instance, if you spend extra one hour watching TV or playing video game, you will have one less hour to playing volleyball. So, TV is the next-best value. The opportunity cost for TV is the one hour on volleyball court. Also, it can also be measured in dollars. What is the opportunity cost of spending $40 on a pair of jeans? The opportunity cost is that those $40 will not be available to be spend on something else. In a word, Businessmen always want to minimize opportunity cost when they making commercial choice. Opportunity cost is one of the most essential standards in business activity. 

What are the prerequisites for using opportunity cost?

1.      The resources are scare.

2.      The resources have multiple uses.

3.      The resources have been already used efficiently.

4.      The resources are free mobility in market.

How can we use opportunity cost in market?

As the development of modern society, most of us begin to have very busy and fast-paced lives. In that case, time become valuable for us as a scare resources. We could use one hour to take a wonderful dinner, have a meeting in company, watch a fantastic moving, or have a talk with family. We can use it in different ways. Also, many people use it efficiently. Also, it is free mobility in market because of the employment relationship. Therefore, time meets all the prerequisites for using opportunity.

Nowadays, many people did a great job on using opportunity cost about time. For example, McDonald did a good job on it because this company knew that saving time is important for people. Compare to waiting some good and healthy food for a long time, people are willing to get fast food. In that case, getting good and healthy food is the opportunity cost for time. So, McDonald understands the thought of people and get a lot of profits through using opportunity cost.

In a word, opportunity cost is always an essential consideration for consumer and firm before they make commercial choices. So, if a consumer could minimize his/her opportunity cost he/she would get highest degree of satisfaction through little cost. A firm could get largest profits, if it could use opportunity cost in proper way.

Image from:

McDonald's Franchise. Digital image. https://www.franchisehelp.com/franchises/mcdonalds/. Web. 29 March 2016.
Joshua, kennon. 3 Types of Opportunity Cost That Influence Your Investment Portfolio. Digital image.  http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/Opportunity-Cost/a/3-Types-Of-Opportunity-Cost.htm. Web. 29 March 2016.

Reference:

Joshau, Kenon. about money. 3 Types of Opportunity Cost That Influence Your Investment Portfolio. Web 29 March 2016.

Competing For Customers

By Heidi G.

    Over the past few years, online travel websites such as Expedia, Hotwire, and Travelocity have been competing with hotels and airlines for customers.  While you would assume that websites such as these would benefit your business, hotels and airline companies think otherwise.  As these companies are attempting to create a brand loyalty, travel websites are ruining this.  Travel planning websites are designed to give the customer the cheapest options, regardless of the hotel or airline company.  In return, this makes it so that less people book directly with any hotel they would like to stay at.
    Hotels are changing their ways, by attempting to create loyal, lasting customers.  Hotels like Marriott and Hilton are being forced to advertise loyalty programs to ensure that people will stick to their hotel brand.  Marriott loyalty customers are offered free wi-fi as well as being able to check-in and check-out using their mobile app.  Hotel and airline companies are trying to build trust, so that in the future customers will have loyalty to their company ensuring them their business.
     While hotels and airlines are doing this, your best bet is still to book using a travel website.  Travel websites don't pick favorites when it comes to major hotel and airline companies.  They ensure that the customer finds something that meets their needs, at the cheapest price possible.  When you book using travel websites, the hotel or airline must pay them a commission regardless of the company.  This is why companies such as Marriott and Hilton are pushing for people to book directly using their own websites.  Although competing for customers is very prominent in the travel industry, it's something commonly found in all forms of business.


Sources:

 "Home - Expedia, Inc." Expedia, Inc. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

 "Marriott Removes Ad Likening Agents to Creepy Petrol Station Attendants | Traveltalk." Marriott Removes Ad Likening Agents to Creepy Petrol Station Attendants | Traveltalk. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

Tugend, Alina. "Hotel Chains and Travel Websites in a Tug of War for Customers." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. 

Prompt 4: Considering Delivery And Style

By: Ian O.

      One of this main dilemmas anyone is going to run into when researching is whether the source they are looking at is right for them. This can either range from whether it is professional enough, accurate enough, or even if it fits their audience. To look at this further, we are gonna look at both a blog post about marketing, found here, and a scholarly article about marketing, found here. We will analysis the use of both styles, look at delivery, and determine when to use both kinds of writing in order to make your research as good as possible.

                                                                The Articles: 

      To start, we have our example of the blog post. This is a post written by Micheal Andrews, a freelancing content strategist who has a wealth of experience in the field. The article itself is delivered in a way that makes the reader think they are having a discussion opposed to being lectured at, allowing a more casual feel. The article isn't backed by huge amounts of statistics, but instead consists mostly of the authors own experiences and stories.

     On the other side, we have the scholarly article. This is written by Yoo Myongjee, a graduate student out of the University of Nevada. This article is very cut and dry, relying on a basic claim followed by example format. The examples are typically based on statistics and polls, and has a very professional feel to it, almost feeling like a lecture.

                                                           
                                                            What They Bring:

     In terms of style, the blog post brings a much more casual sort of feel, with the scholarly article being very professional and strict with it's focus. This can be seen in both the language being used as well as how examples are supported. Much like how I mentioned before, the blog post was typically supported by personal experiences and stories as opposed to the scholarly article which was based around statistics. This means if you are looking for something that showcases the cold facts, a scholarly source might be better, however a blog post might be better if you are looking for something you want your readers to relate to and feel more. Some concerns, however, can be biases the writing has as well as inaccuracy within the examples.

     On to the delivery, the first thing to notice is that the blog post tends to be much more loose with how it addresses the reader. It feels more like a conversation, with the professionalism sprinkled on but overall a casual tone with it's word choice. The scholarly article was much different, with the delivery being completely based around statistics and facts, and much of the dialogue being strictly third persona and professionally based. It feels more like a lesson then it does a conversation and can be difficult to read for many.


                                                               Which to Use?
 
       With both article examples analyzed, it is time for us to look at when to use each type. The blog post shows a much more casual and free versed style of writing, sacrificing cold facts for experiences and stories when it comes to it's examples. This means it might not benefit when researching for a research paper or a analysis report, but instead should be used for a persuasion article or a blog post. It's casual feel makes it great for getting the audience to relate and think while still presenting information.

     The scholarly article is a much different type, showing strict professionalism and cold facts with statistics. This does mean is sacrifices a lot of relate ability, making it hard for a persuasive point. With this in mind, it is much better to use scholarly articles when writing research papers and analysis papers, as opposed to blog posts or other casual styles of writing. It's upfront facts and professionalism makes it great for a paper that needs that professionalism or  paper that relies on being backed by a multitude of facts and statistics.




Citations:

Andrews, Micheal. "Content Strategy for Product Reviews." Web log post. Http://storyneedle.com/.              31 July 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

Myongjee Yoo , Sojung Lee , Billy Bai , (2011) "Hospitality marketing research from 2000 to 2009 :              Topics, methods, and trends", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,            Vol. 23 Iss: 4, pp.517 - 532

Pic One: http://connect-prod.mheducation.com.s3.amazonaws.com/connectmarketing/prod/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Flip_v3-02.png

Pic Two: https://www.audioconferencing.com/img/illustrations/question@2x.png

Engel's law

by zeyang wu

The mid-nineteenth century, the German economist and statistician Engel on consumption of different income households in Belgium conducted a survey to study the effect of increasing income on consumption expenditure components of demand, put forward the theory with regularity; thereby Engel's Law is named. Engel’s law is the proportion of total food expenditure in the total consumption of individual consumption.

The less a family income, household income used to buy food, the greater the proportion of expenditure, with the increase in household income the proportion of household income used to buy food spending will fall. By extension, a poorer the country, the average income for every citizen of the proportion of expenditure on food, the greater, with the rich countries, the percentage decline.

Engel's law is expressed primarily food expenditure to total expenditure ratio varies with changes in income certain trend. It reveals the relationship between household income and food expenditure, the total consumption expenditure, with the proportion of food expenditure to illustrate the economic development income increased degree of influence on life consumption. As we all know, eating is the first need of human existence, at lower income levels, which inevitably plays an important role in consumer spending. As income increases, in the case of food to meet the basic needs of the consumer focus will begin to wear, use and other aspects of the transfer. Thus, the greater the Engel coefficient of a country or family life more poverty; on the contrary, the Engel coefficient is smaller, more affluent life.

Engel coefficient of 59% or more for the poor, 50-59% of normal, well-off 40-50%, 30-40% for the wealthy, less than 30% for the richest.

resource:
Carle C. Zimmerman, "Ernst Engel's Law of Expenditures for Food," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 47, No. 1, , p. 80.November 1932. book. Mar. 2016

Airlines Plummet

Brendan K.

Terrorism is a terrible thing. It puts our people in a state of fear and insecurity. It is hard to track and a lot of times once the government is on its trail, it is too late. On March 22, 2016 there was a bombing in Brussels, Belgium by the terrorist group know as “ISIS”. 31 people were found dead and over 200 injured. The news of this event left people all around the world in shock and fear. But the people around the world weren’t the only ones to feel the after shock.

            Shortly after the reported bombing occurred airline stock started to plummet. Airline-France decreased by 4.8 percent hours after the attack and many American and Delta airlines decreased by 1.63 and 1.42 percent. These stocks falling most likely have something to do with the location of the Brussels bombing. The first bomb of two went off in an airport leaving people running for their lives, while the other went out on in the subways.

            The occurrence of this terrorist attack taking a toll on the people and the airline stock markets is similar to what occurred on September 11^th in the United States. After 4 planes were hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, many people were fearful to fly for a few years following. It is also proven that less people fly on September 11^th and airline tickets were much cheaper every year up until 2010 because many people refuse to fly on that day.

            The effect that terrorism has on the global economy is unbelievable. It can cause a stock to fall in minutes. Human emotions have a big impact on buying habits and when we aren’t happy we are less likely to and buy things. I think that the marketing world is amazing because of all the outside factors that contribute to people’s buying habits. It’s an unpredictable field and tricky to figure out what will happen in the future.

 Sources:
Kaufmen, Alexander C. "One Account. All of Google." Huffington Post. 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

Wagner, Laura. "Terrorist Bombings Strike Brussels: What We Know." NPR. NPR, 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Wheatstone, Richard. "Live Updates in Brussels as ISIS Terrorists Are Unmasked by Authorities." Mirror. 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

Office Environments Impact on Productivity

By Heidi G.

     Many working environments are very bland in order to ensure that workers don't get too distracted.  As time goes on, the workplace is expanding and conditions are becoming better than ever before.  More and more people are being able to work from home, or places other than work such as a restaurant or coffee shop due to technological advances.  For people who unfortunately must still work in an office environment, there's plenty of ways that companies are making up for this.
     Working from home can cause many distractions, so many companies don't allow it.  Family matters, and personal matters are much more likely to get in the way of productivity at home, whereas there are few distractions when working in an office setting.  When stuffed in a solid colored, basic cubicle, there's not many other things to do besides getting what needs to be done, done.  Although, there's many benefits to having employees come into the office, there's also many downfalls.  To compensate for this offices should do all they can to increase creativity and production.
     Bright colors can go a long way.  Bright colors are proven to increase creativity.  It does so by inspiring people and generally making them happier.  Who wouldn't be happier when sitting in a colorful room rather than a white one?  The answer is not many.  Picking the correct color is also very important depending on what the business or office is about.
     Another thing to boost creativity and production is to not sit employees in the stereotypical office cubicles.  Allowing employees to work where they can also interact with peers is important for creativity, because it makes for interaction about new ideas that would otherwise not have been thought about.
    Comfort is key when it comes to productivity.  Not many people are going to want to get much work done sitting in uncomfortable, stiff chairs.  Although, it may not seem like it, providing to employees needs can be more productive in the long run.

Sources:

 Gray, Sherry. "Can Office Environment Boost Creativity?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.