Prompt #10 American dreams in China

by zeyang w.

This film told a story that in the beginning of the 20th century 80s to the 21st century, three young people have the same dream to work hard together, become co-founder of English training school, finally succeeded.

In the middle part of the movie, some of the content is about the company's lists. In the film is representing that the shareholders' limited liability company and the Stock Corporation are same thing.

Limited liability of shareholders is the shareholders’ investment (capital contribution or shares) limited liability company, and external liability company by the middle of this thing. Limited liability of shareholders is the basis of modern corporate law. We can say that the formation of the modern legal system and establish the company as well as improve the specific system, are closely related to the limited liability of shareholders. Removing shareholder limited liability system, modern building company law will be difficult to support, the company's modern legal system is bound to lose focus. A principle shareholder limited liability company system has not produced there, but the company's product development to a certain historical stage. We limited liability of shareholders as a basic principle, both in line with the development direction of modern corporate law, but also in line with our company's actual legislation. The principle of limited liability of shareholders of the principle of limited liability of shareholders has two meanings: First, the shareholders or their contribution is limited to shares held liable for the company; this responsibility belongs to the statutory amount of limited liability; Second, independent responsibility, the responsibility of shareholders and corporate responsibility are isolate from each other.

The shareholders are responsible for the company, not responsible for the creditors of the company; the company's responsibility to corporate responsibility, the principle of not recourse to the shareholders. The limited liability of shareholders is a great role in promoting the development of our company.

Stock Corporation refers to a company for the shares of the company’s capital are composed of shareholders to subscribe for shares within the limit of its commitment to the company's corporate responsibility.

The main feature is the company's total capital is divided into equal amounts of shares flat; companies can issue shares to the public financing, the stock can be transferred according to law; the law of the minimum number of shareholders only, no ceiling prescribed; to its shareholders to subscribe for shares in the company limited liability company with all its assets to bear responsibility for the debts of the company; one vote per share, to its shareholders to subscribe for shares held, to enjoy rights and obligations; the company shall review the verified accounting reports disclosed by a certified accountant .

resource：
“American dreams in China”. aqiyi Video. 17 May. 2013. Web. Feb 2016

Woman Making Strides In Workforce

By Heidi

Historically, women have had trouble making it in the workforce.  They haven't been welcomed with open arms as men have in many fields such as business, science, and medicine.  Women have generally been seen as the nurses or teachers, but are quickly beginning to change that stereotype.

Although there's still many issues involving women in business like the pay gap, and the responsibility of motherhood, women are making great strides toward equality.  According to Investopedia's article, How Do Women Compete In A Mans World,  women now have earned more bachelors and graduate degrees than men.  This proves that women are being a force in the working environment not just in business, but in all fields and majors.

Unfortunately, it's proven that women don't have the common personality traits that men do in order to make them a leader.  Although, many women do have strong leadership qualities, it's more rare to find than in men.  Women, generally speaking, are more timid and shy causing them to be less dominant.  This could be a very easy explanation as to why there's an overwhelming amount of men CEO's in business compared to women.  There's a few exceptions like Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo.

Although, women are making great strides in the business field, and fields similar, there's still much left to be done.  One of the problems is said to be that women aren't asking for raises as men are, because of their lack of confidence.  With that being said, women should understand that their worth is that of men.  Women are doing great in the work force, but could definitely make further progress.

Sources:

 "How Do Women Compete In A Man's World? | Investopedia." Investopedia. 2012. Web. 2 Feb. 2016. 

Globalization and How it has Changed the Game of Business

By Ian O.

       "Globalization is not a monolithic force but an evolving set of consequences - some good, some            bad and some unintended. It is the new reality." 
                                                                                                                          - John B. Larson

      This quote, given by US House of Representatives member John Larson, defines the new phenomenon known as Globalization, or the process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations. This process, while it seems rather straight forward at first glance, is what has essentially turned the business world on it's head in recent years. While certainly not a new idea, the recent acceleration has caused it to expand much larger. This mass expanse of not only communication but business opportunity has made it so that the current business world is in a mass state of transition, with no clear end or consistency in sight.

What caused globalization to happen?

     Multiple factors went into the creation of globalization, but many experts, specifically those at economicshelp.org, credit 3 factors specifically, those being improved trade, increased labor, and improved technology. The first one is improved trade, which has been a consistently improving factor sense the beginning of the 20th century. With cargo planes and ships becoming more efficient and effective, countries were given more opportunities to buy and sell what they needed from all over the world. This also allowed companies the opportunity to ship their products to new locations, gaining whole new markets to sell to and thus making greater profits. What was relatively new for companies, however, was the second reason for the increase in globalization, which was improved labor. Before things like outsourcing, which is the idea of using labor from outside your country in order to have cheaper labor, were common ground, companies were restricted to their current companies labor and labor laws. With the improved transportation from above, however, companies could now effectively use the labor from outside their countries of origin. While this could have originally cause confusion, with the third factor, improved technology, companies and countries could now communicate from across the globe much more easily and negate most negatives from using outsourcing as a tool to pay little for labor.

                                                                            How Does Globalization Change Business?
     There are multiple things that it changes, both positively and negatively. One of the most notable differences is how international trade has effected the economies of many different types of countries. It has essentially turned it into a situation where the wealthy countries get more wealthy while the poor countries stay the same, which is problematic in terms of development. This also applies to companies, where smaller companies are much less likely to succeed and larger companies given more opportunists to succeed due to their ability to go international.On the more positive note, countries who do not have much of a military presence, such as Switzerland and Sweden, have gained immense amounts of power by using smart international business idea like tariffs, or taxation on imports and exports. Globalization has also created more competition in markets, which helps the consumer significantly by keeping the company prices in check due to the threat of lower prices by competitors. Thing biggest thing that changes business is that companies can now take advantage of other countries laws and regulations. If a country like, say, the United States has to high of a minimum wage for your company to be efficient, you can relocate to China and utilize lower minimum wage laws. This can be both positive and negative. The positive being that products are much cheaper for consumers and bring in much more profit for companies. The negatives are mostly revolved around the ethical issue of not only taking jobs away from the country of origin, but utilizing what many see as unethical labor laws in foreign countries. Things like lack of pollution regulation and wage regulation are some of the most notable.

Why Does This Matter?

     As mentioned in the beginning quote, this is the new reality. It would be near impossible as well as illogical to try and backtrack to what business was before globalization boomed in the 1990's. This means that not only future business professionals, but all future professionals should learn and understand why the business world is in it's current state. Many of the scandals and problems that have arisen in recent business history are because of companies or individual taking advantage of the current confusion that comes with massive amounts of change. The only way to counter act this mass confusion is to understand the root of it, that being globalization. Once we understand what it is and why it happened, we can then set the proper rules and regulations in order to contain it, not only to help all businesses economically, but to help individuals ethically as well. We are at a point of communication and trade that has never been witnessed before, and therefor it is our help make it stable and consistent, opposed to chaotic and unethical as it is seen by many today.

   
Sources-
Article:

 Pettinger, Tejvan. "What Caused Globalisation?" Economics Help. 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. 

Pictures:
1st one:
Horn, Jeremy. International Product Management - The Challenge of Globalization. Digital image. Http://www.slideshare.net/. 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

 

2nd one: 

Court Orders EPA to Redo Air-Pollution Limits in 13 States. Digital image. Http://altoday.com/. Associated Press, 28 July 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. <http://altoday.com/archives/4999-court-orders-epa-to-redo-air-pollution-limits-in-13-states>.

 

How Does Oil Price Declination Influence the World Economy?

By Jinsui Y.

The price of oil continues to fall in international market. In this year, It is reported that it plummeted to 30 dollars per barrel in January 12. This is the lowest price from 2004 to now. However, in 2014, they it has reached to 108 dollars per barrel. It is means that the oil price has decreased 72% from July 2014 to now. This declination is too ridiculous too be convinced. However, it is the fact.

There are some reasons for the increase of the oil price. The first reason is that the oil police in OPEC are not efficient. The statement for OPEC which is found in 1960 is to coordinate and unify all the member countries and make the oil market stable. Now there are 12 member countries in OPEC which control more than 78% oil reserves in the world. However, nowadays they increase the supply of oil blindly in order to gain more profits. As the result of it, the supply of oil is exceeds of the demand. Therefore, they price declined rapidly.

 As the result of the low price of oil, the countries whose economy is mainly relies on the oil supply is under a severe pressure, such as Venezuela, Columbia, and etc. Even as the richest oil supplies country, Saudi Arabia is also inescapable from that pressure because 90% of the income of this country is from the oil trade. What is worse, as the prediction from economist, the budget deficit will increase 5% for Russia, if the price of oil continues to increase.

However, every coin has two sides. The decrease of the oil price also brings advantage in some aspects. For some European countries, it has benefits for them. As the Deutsche Bank said it will promote the increase in economy in Eurozone. What is more, World Bank  predicted that per 30% declination in oil price will lead 0.5% increase of world economy as a whole.

References:
Clifford, Krauss. NYTime. Oil Prices: What’s Behind the Drop? Simple Economics. 30 Mar 2016. Web. 28 Feb 2016.

Image from:
Oil Explainer. Digital image. http://i1.nyt.com/images/2016/02/17/business/oil-explainer-feb/oil-explainer-feb-jumbo.jpg. 17 Feb 2016. Web. 28 Feb 2016

Facebook's Newest Feature

By: Brendan K.

The most uncomfortable thing is when people post bad news on Facebook and you feel weird liking it. I feel uncomfortable liking a post about someone’s dog dying because I don’t want them to think I’m happy for their loss. Don’t you wish that there was a way “dislike” a Facebook post? Well Facebook has once again catered to the needs of their users.

Facebook has made different way to “like” a status. The new options they have are “Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry”. The purpose for this change is because people, like myself, don’t always like a post. You are now able to show many different emotions towards your friends.

This new feature can be useful for company blog posts because they can now see the reactions to what they say. Companies can use this to monitor their ads by seeing the reactions that people give to them. Because Facebook is the most widely used social media on the planet this should be a valuable tool for market researchers. But unfortunately that isn’t quite the case.

The Marketing teams for Facebook have every person calibrated differently. The ads that pop up on your feed are based towards the user. But now with the new reactions they will have to recalibrate it. The algorithm that is used when you like certain posts has remained the same. So if post any reaction to a post it will be taken as a like, but Facebook hopes to weight these reactions differently over time.

The issue that arises is when using the reactions Facebook isn’t able to tell exactly how you feel. If you “angry” an article about discrimination in the work place or “sad” an article about a natural disaster doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t want to see any of those articles anymore. Overall, the new reactions on Facebook will make it more complicated for marketers to interpret data, but currently for me I’m going to be using it to give my relatives the “angry” reaction on their ignorant posts.

Sources:

Greenberg, Julia. "Advertisers Don’t Like Facebook’s Reactions. They Love Them." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.

Tsukayama, Hayley. "Facebook Officially Expands beyond the ‘like’." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.

Prompt 7: Contemplating Controversy

By Ian O.

      With the recent boom in technology and the increase in global trade and interaction, the world's companies are experiencing completely new ways to operate business. One of these new ways has created a large amount of controversy around it as it has become more and more prominent, and that strategy is Outsourcing, or obtaining goods or services from an outside or foreign supplier. While this might not seem controversial from the definition, what makes it such a hot topic is how it is applied. Typically, the company under question will obtain the product or service they need from a foreign company, due to cheaper costs of labor as well as less government regulation than in their current country. A great source to really learn more about the controversy is a thesis written by economist Gwen Vanderweerdt.

                                                           Why be for Outsourcing?
       
       One of the biggest reasons people will support outsourcing is because it is apart of free trade, and to ban it would limit companies freedom. The idea is that companies should be allowed to do whatever they can to ensure profit and revenue which, at every businesses core, is the main goal. To ban their ability to ensure their profit is seen by supporters of outsourcing as a violation of their freedoms and an attack on their businesses welfare. Another reason to support outsourcing, as described by Vanderweerdt, is the positive effects on productivity. Outsourcing, especially in terms of workers, causes your current workers to feel more pressure and having to show more of their worth instead of slacking off. For those workers who remain unproductive, it also favors the company for they have a much wider group of possible replacements how can be more productive as well as in some cases work for less.

                                                         Why be against Outsourcing?

       The immediate reason people will oppose outsourcing is, in terms of the United States as well as many other countries, is the immediate loss of jobs for the home country. This is a major concern for many, seeing as unemployment has been dangerously high and many point to outsourcing as the culprit. Along with this fear of losing their jobs, as mentioned in the thesis, a fear of lower wages is another reason to oppose outsourcing. The idea is that if there are more people competing for your job, the company doesn't "need" you specifically seeing as there are more people with your qualifications and therefor don't need to pay you as much. What is typically highlighted the most is the difference in regulations between the original country and the country being outsourced too. Countries like China and India, where labor laws like safety conditions and minimum wage are much more lenient opposed to other countries, so companies will take advantage of this in order to pay their labor less as well as have to spend less on safety and benefits. As shown in the image above, tech support companies are one of the biggest users of this strategy, and many people find it unethical that they create the idea that who they are talking to is American when in actuality they are outsourced jobs from all over the world.

                                                        Why does any of this matter?

       Outsourcing is something that has become very big in recent years, and has effected the lives of millions, whether positively or negatively. Knowing that this exists and either fighting for or against it is key to the development of business. We are in an important stage of development, where technology has allowed us to do things we couldn't have imagined. It is a state similar to the Industrial Revolution, but now it is a technology revolution. Much like they did in the Industrial Revolution with the new idea of monopolies, we must determine if we should ban outsourcing. Either we get rid of it like we did with monopolies, or learn to live with them and shape the world of business around this new idea. Whatever we as a people choose, one thing can be sure and that is the world is transitioning, and we need to come to agreements on these kinds of topics if we are going to improve for generations to come.

Source:

 Vanderweerdt, Gwyn. Analyzing the Debate over Offshore Outsourcing in the Service Industry: Is There a Reason for Concern? Thesis. 2006. Print. 

Pictures:
1st One: World with arrows around it that have different transporations. Digital image. Www.Rapidsofttechnologies.com. 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <http://www.rapidsofttechnologies.com/blog/index.php/lets-make-sense-outsourcing-mobile-application-development-project/>.

 

2nd One: Priestley, Theo. Our Outsourced World. Digital image. Https://bpmredux.wordpress.com. 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.

 

Mental Health Issues In The Workforce

By Heidi

Working in high stress environments causes unnecessary strain on workers mental health.  This has become a problem in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.  Hours being spent in the office for people in the work force are becoming more than ever.  With the increase in hours, come no increase in compensating for workers added stress.  According to the Huffington Post, stress levels from 1983 to 2009 have increased by 18 percent in women and 24 percent in men.

Mental Health has just recently become a priority among the workplace.  Mental health used to be a problem that was pushed under the rug, but is finally starting to get some of the attention it deserves.  Companies are beginning to offer mental health treatment coverage, and counseling.  Mental health issues such as stress, and other serious ailments cause decrease in work productivity.  A survey done by Employee Benefit news magazine discovered that mental illness is the main cause of absence from work, and decreased productivity.  Reducing stress during the work day can result in high productivity in workers.  It allows them to get more sleep at night due to lack of stress, which allows them to be refreshed and ready to work throughout the long work day.

Companies would benefit greatly in caring about their workers well being in a various number of ways.  Businesses benefit greatly in their workers putting in their utmost effort.  So, why do some companies still not do everything they can to ensure their workers are productive?  Doing something as little as limiting stress throughout the day can make a world of difference in the work force.

Cites:

 "Work Stress Wreaks Havoc On Blood Sugar Levels, Ups Risk Of Diabetes." Medical Daily. 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. 

Why are you unemployed？

by Zeyang W.

In January, the US unemployment rate is below 5%，is the lowest point since 2008 economic crisis. It is good news. At the same time, we also should think about it, why do people unemployed?

There are two main parts: voluntary unemployment and involuntary unemployment

Voluntary unemployment is a situation when a person is unemployed because of not being able to find employment of his/her own choice. Voluntary unemployment is refers to the real wages of workers required to exceed its marginal productivity, or unwilling to accept the current working conditions was not employment and income level of unemployment. Because the unemployment is due to subjective reluctant to labor force employment, it cannot be eliminated by economic instruments and policies.

Involuntary unemployment occurs when a person is willing to work at the prevailing wage yet is unemployed. There are also several reasons: Structural unemployment, cyclical unemployment and Technical unemployment.

Structural unemployment refers to the labor supply and demand mismatch caused by unemployment, its characteristics is both unemployment and vacancies and unemployed or not the right skills, or place of residence, improper, and therefore cannot fill the existing vacancies. Structural unemployment is a long term in nature, and is usually derived from the demand side of the labor force. This unemployment is caused by economic changes, which lead to a relatively low demand for specific types of labor in a particular market and region.

Cyclical unemployment refers to the economic cycle fluctuations caused by unemployment, namely economic cycle of recession or depression, due to a drop in demand caused by unemployment, when the reduction of aggregate demand in the economy, reducing the total output, will cause the entire economic system of widespread unemployment. Unemployment is resulting from a decline in the aggregate demand of society during the recession or depression in the economic cycle. When the economic development is in a period of recession, the total demand of the society is insufficient, so the scale of production is also reduced, which leads to the more common phenomenon of unemployment.

Technical unemployment: In the production process, the introduction of advanced technology to replace labor, as well as to improve the production methods and management of unemployment. From two points of view, from a long-term perspective, the total level of labor supply and demand is not affected by technological progress; in the short term, advanced technology, productivity and improves the business management. As well as the improvement of productivity, it is bound to replace some of the labor force, so that some people are unemployed.

resources:
chizhenwei."unemployment".biadubaike. May,2015.Web.Feb, 2016.

Apple vs. FBI

 By: Brendan K.

These days our phones are our lives. We don’t want anyone to be looking through it and seeing what we have to hide, even the government. Well what would you say if they were trying to look in a phone of a terrorist? Well recently the popular company Apple and the U.S. government have been butting heads when if comes to data encryption, the act of concealing information through a code, in Iphones.

After a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California leaving 14 people dead. The FBI has been trying to investigate and learn more about the shooter by getting into his phone. So they approached Apple CEO, Tim Cook, hoping for help to encrypt the data. Well the FBI didn’t exactly get the answer they want.

Apple has been trying to strengthen their brand and company image by following through with what they promise their customers. In June of 2014 Apple came out with a new privacy policy basically stating they value their customers trust, and respect their privacy by protecting it with strong encryption. In the policy it is stated “Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will.”

Apple’s Privacy policy shows a lot of concern for their customers and they are using it as a public branding strategy. Now that the government keeps coming to Apple for help to extract data from supposed criminals they are refusing. Doing so would tarnish the Apple brand. Now Apple is being taken to court by the government to gain access to the encrypted files in the Iphone.

I think that this a very bold move of Apple. They are standing by their word, which really in my mind elevates their brand among many others. They have a policy and they are sticking to it and won’t go down without a fight to win. Even if the company is eventually forced to decrypt that phone data I believe they showed that they are loyal to their customers and did everything in their power to protect their privacy.

Sources:
Almasy, Steve. "14 Killed in San Bernardino Shooting; Suspect ID'd." CNN. Cable News Network, 3 Dec. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.  

Cook, Tim. "Privacy - Apple." Apple. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.

Frankel, Todd C. "Showdown over IPhone Reignites the Debate around Privacy." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.

CSR in Business

By Jinsui Y.

Corporate social responsibility, often abbreviated "CSR," is a corporation’s initiatives to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on environmental and social wellbeing. As governments regulating business to focus on environmental protection, occupational health and labor security, more companies begun to make their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan all over the world. Why does many companies response to CSR? It is not only because of the great benefits to our society but also a wonderful strategy to foster a good and healthy company image. Then, the customer will have belief of the brand. That will promote the selling and gain great profits for company.

 

The first example is for Canon. In 2007, this company organized public benefits activities called protect non-material culture heritage in China. These activities aimed to called people to pay more attention on protect the non-material in China. It used the Canon camera to record some culture heritage by traveling in some national minorities. Then, Canon donated all of the record to the Intangible Culture Heritage Organization in China. This activity gains a great reaction in public in China. At that year, the sales volume digital camera increased 27% and the single-lens reflex camera increased 75% in Chinese market.

The second example is for Starbucks. In 2008, Starbucks begin to recognize that the producer who plants coffee bean directly for its company could only earn little from supply the coffee bean so that they has difficulty in support their family. However, most of the profits were grabbed by other people during the process of transportation. In order to deal with this problem, Starbucks made a promise that it only buys the Fair Trade coffee bean. This decision did not bring debt burden, however, Fair Trade coffee become very popular in developed countries.

Some people said that CRS is only a way for company to present a false appearance of peace and prosperity to public, and they main goal for them is gain more profits. However, I think it still make some benefits for our society. In any case, it conveys the concept of the right value to the public in our society.

References:

Starbucks. The Starbucks Mission Statement and Corporate Social Responsibility. Web. 20  Feb 2016.

Canon Global. Canon's Social and Culture Supported Activities. Web. 20 Feb 2016.

Image from: 

Si, Zhang. & Tong, Sun. The Power of CSR for Canon. Digital image. http://www.domarketing.org/html/2012/brand_0308/2904.html. 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Feb 2016.
The Fair Trade of Starbucks. Digital image. http://www.csrworld.cn/article-1818-1.html. Web. 20 Feb 2016.

Prompt 5: Observing Community

By Ian O.

       Business fields are known for their reliance on networking, or connecting with people for the use of possible opportunities, as well as experience in order to succeed in the major. One of the clubs at MSU(Michigan State University) that strives to emulate this idea is The Marketing Mix. The club is built around having it's members assist local business's marketing strategies, which can be anything from helping host an on-campus event to giving them control over the companies social media presence. The club also has workshops for resumes, guest speakers from multiple companies, both big and small, and social events so that the members can create relationships as well as network with possible employers and their peers.

       How do they represent themselves? Are they known around the community of MSU? 

       The club itself is rather new, having only been around for a few years so the knowledge of it isn't as large as some of the longer lasting business related clubs. It is, however, getting involved with the community of MSU through local businesses like The Record Lounge and LykeMe and has grown more each year because of it. They represent themselves as a very experience oriented club for people who want to get get hands on with their education. They want it to be a group where anyone can join and gain experience while also meeting new people. With this the club membership has grown, with some meetings having roughly 40-50 people in attendance. The club has also grown it's network outside the local community, with former members of the club going to work for the likes of Discover and Google. These members then come back with recruiters from the company and help out their fellow club members by giving them possibilities to get an internship or even job interviews

      How would you describe the community within the club?  

       The community within the club is open and welcoming, with the clubs emphasis of connecting showing in how the members interact with each other. The club isn't even marketing only, for multiple members having different majors, from finance to music. Most outsiders might think the atmosphere is demanding and strict, when in actuality it is rather casual but focused, allowing it's members to be relaxed while gaining valuable experience.

      The Marketing Mix is for those who want to gain hands on experience while also networking with like minded people. It may not be as known as some of the more dominate organizations, but it is growing quickly with more and more people seeing the benefits of the club. It is somewhere that you can learn more about the field of marketing not just a business, but yourself. Most importantly, it is a club where you can expand your opportunities to lengths you didn't think possible.

Picture Sources: 
Marketing Mix Picture:
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/2667339356/32589a6e1ce5da288d0f848e6a694400_400x400.png
Record Lounge Logo:
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1268058751/recordlounge.jpg

Losing Trust In Business

By Heidi

Nowadays, CEO's are hard to trust.  They are constantly doing things to loose their trust, which makes it extremely difficult to earn it back.  CEO's are placed in the spotlight, so everything they do is judged by everyone around the world.  For example, Richard Edelman, the president and CEO of Edelman, was found to represent coal companies, and climate change deniers.  The company  Edelman's business was severely damaged due to this.  Although, he told the public he was ending his relations with these companies, his trust was lost, and much of the damage couldn't be undone.

Successful people in business should do everything possible to have a good public image.  Similar to Edelman, things done by a public figure such as a CEO that is judged negatively by the majority will almost always impact business.  Looking good in the public eye is a must for successful business endeavors.  Doing things along the lines of supporting charities, or helping out under privileged children can go along way.  Most importantly, not doing anything to anger society is a must for successful business.

Interacting with customers and employees is also very important.  Doing this is essential to getting across a corporate message.  There's many things that can be done to cause business to be more successful.  Most importantly, not doing anything to be judged harshly in society is the first rule to go by.


Sources:

 Grenoble, Ryan. "Here’s What CEOs Can Do To Earn The Public’s Trust." Huffington Post. 21 Jan. 2016. Web. 14 Feb. 2016. 

How does Central Bank work?

by zeyang.w

Central Bank is the main institution responsible for the country or region (such as the EU) monetary policy, usually an economic community only currency issuer. The bonds were issued to normal lending and buying foreign exchange.

The main responsibilities of the central bank is to maintain the stability of the national currency and the supply, but more often also includes control discount rates, as well as the last pillar of the banking sector borrowers haste, trying to stabilize the financial markets during the financial crisis. Also typically perform the following functions:

Implementing monetary policies. It is used to manage both inflation and the country's exchange rate and ensuring that this rate takes effect via a variety of policy mechanisms.

In order to intervene in the economy, changes in interest rates by the indirect approach to regulate currency. In a recession, lower interest rates and expand money supply to stimulate economic development. In the expansion period, raise interest rates, reduce the money supply, and inhibit malignant economic development.

Controlling the nation's entire money supply. The central bank bills issued with strong liquidity and currency, you can always as means of circulation and means of payment directly into the circulation, thus affecting the changes in market supply and demand. For example, demand deposits of commercial banks, at any time and issue checks into circulation, so the mobility is also very strong, but also an important factor in market supply and demand changes.

resources:
David Dayen."Why America's central bank is failing-and how we can make it work for us.". SALON.Web. Feb, 2016.

Hope for America's Economy?

By: Brendan K.

Pull out your wallets and take out some cash because 2016 is going to be the year of spending. This year Economists are predicting the average rate of spending to increase 3.1%. Finally after a a few years of lower gas prices we are seeing the effects.

In 2014 we saw a decrease in gas prices, increasing peoples disposable incomes. Why are we just seeing the effects now? Well many people were using this increase in disposable income to pay off debts or add to their savings. Now that we are rounding the second year of these low gas prices people are starting to spend more. In the last 10 years we saw a 2.7% increase in consumer spending.

Why is consumer spending so good? Well if you ever taken a Microeconomics class you would know that it puts more money into circulation which allows businesses to grow and economies to thrive.  This also presents the government and marketing analysts with more information on consumer spending habits.

I plan on going into marketing and this will be a great help when I get into the field and am able to follow accurate consumer purchasing trends. And now that consumers are seeing lower gas prices as more than just a short run situation the consumers will continue to spend and can greatly help the American economy. Hopefully gas prices stay the same and don't start to increase again like a few years ago.

Article and Picture source:
Halzack, Sarah. "Retail Industry Projects Solid — but Not Stellar — Year Ahead." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

The advantages and disadvantages in business of accepting migration for host countries

By Jinsui Ye

Nowadays, many families choose to migrant to another country. Because of comfortable living and natural environment, many developed countries become the popular choices for them.  Under this trend, Australia America and Canada, the nations of immigrant, have been called melt pots. Also, less developed countries become another good choice for the people who want to have more opportunities for finding jobs and live in less competitive work condition. Migration can be divided into four main parts: business migration, skilled migration, family-based migration and marriage migration. 

However, this tendency is a double-edged sword for the host countries.The advantages of accepting migration for the host countries are numerous. Firstly, business migration can provide more job opportunities. For example, The U.S.A. has published an immigration policy for the foreign businessmen who are eager to migrant to America that if the exotic businessmen can provide 10 jobs for the local people. Secondly, there are many benefits for skilled migration that the host countries can employ them to develop their high-technology by using the high salary and good welfare to attract the elites from other countries. What is more, England has published a policy that the people who can buy 10 million pounds government loan can own the right of permanent resident. It is also good for host country to gather their fund.

To provide a balanced view of accepting migration for the host countries, there are also a number of disadvantages to consider. To begin with, when the exotic people who have good education and skill will compete will the local people for the job opportunities. In addition, the government should prepare more houses for them so that the price of the houses will increase for the huge demand. Also, the businessmen from other countries will occupy the marketplace in the host country. What is worse, the different culture may be able to melt properly. Then, it will cause more problems of public security, so the government should give more human input for the public administration.

In short, migration can bring not only advantages but also disadvantages in business to the host countries. Only when the host countries are able to use the resources from immigration, it can promote the development of business. 

References:

American Immigration Council. How the United States Immigration System. 01 Mar. 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

GOV.UK. Migrants in low-skilled work. 08 July 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.  

Image from:

The Dilemma of Immgration. Digital image. https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/eng2150hfall15/?p=132. 07 Sep. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

Works: A Fact Sheet

Marketing Research: The "Behind the Scenes" of Marketing

Ian O.

       Marketing is known as a very dominate factor in the business world, and with the proper use of it's strategies it can completely change your business, for better or for worse. What is often unseen about this process of promotion and advertising is the research behind each move. Every advertisement put out, every event promoted, even every label on a product has had countless tests done and surveys preformed in order to make sure that it is as effective as possible at what it needs to do. As David Ogilvy, a renowned advertiser during the 20th century, once said

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore 

decodes of enemy signals. 

      This division of marketing, known simply as Marketing Research, is defined as the function that connects the general public's interests, whether they be current or predicted, with the marketer through the use of data. In order to understand where this data comes from, we must look at the types of marketing research. 

Primary Research

      Primary research is anything that your company or a research company you hire comes up with for that specific marketing research project. This can stem from multiple tactics, some of the more common and well known being customer surveys and questionnaires. These are essentially a couple, typically no more then 10, questions asking about yourself and your interaction with the product or service. Some examples of these questions could be "In what age group are you?" or "How often do you buy this product?", with the key similarity being they are simple and quick multiple choice or yes/no questions. One of the key mistakes made when making these surveys is the use of written word answers or lengthy questions, which typically leads to low response rates, though those who do respond give more detailed answers. 

       This balance between response rates and actual detailed answers is what describes the two sides of primary research, quantitative data and qualitative data. Quantitative data is all about getting as many responses as possible, even if the detail isn't much or even there. This is where most surveys and questionnaires will fall, with them being fairly cheap to do and easy to do. Qualitative data is the exact opposite of this, with the focus being of detailed answers, even if there are not that many. Few surveys/questionnaires will fall on this side, though a common way to get qualitative data is through focus groups, or groups of people not associated with the company who sit around for a certain amount of time and give their comments or opinions on a new product or ad. This is a long and much more expensive process, but it yields very detailed results and gives a much more in depth look into the consumer's mindset

Secondary Research

       Secondary research is essentially all the research that wouldn't fall under primary research. This covers anything that the company looks at that wasn't created by them or anyone they hired for that current project. Secondary research is much broader in terms of what is out there, with anything from government population surveys to a competitors quarterly report being free reign. Secondary research can even be previous data that your company came up with, but in a different project. This large amount of ways to get data is what makes secondary research so popular among companies, even though some draw backs are how biased it can be as well as that the research data might not completely match with what your need. It is much like data in terms of the scientific fields, where there is plenty of outside research you could use to reference to your own experiment, but typically it won't pertain to everything your experiment needs. Nothing can beat the accuracy of primary data, or in the case of the example, your own data for experimentation.

So why is any of this important? 

For that, we get to look at the beverage powerhouse Coca Cola. In the mid 1980's, Coca Cola was in the midst of fighting off newcomer Pepsi Co. for dominance over the soda industry. They misconducted their marketing research for their new product and created New Coke while taking their original coke off the market. This mistake cost them millions and tarnished their reputation because of improper data and a poor taste test set up with their focus groups. They eventually brought their old formula back as Coke Classic and eventually took New Coke off the market, essentially cutting their losses. Just imagine that a company like Coca Cola almost destroyed itself and it's brand because of a mistake in their marketing research. This only highlights how important this research can be and how much it can make or break not only your product/service, but your company as a whole.

Picture Sources:

Coke/New Coke: http://blog.retroplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/new-coke-change.jpg

Primary Info/Secondary Info: http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/bam/live/content/zp3w6sg/large

Prompt #2: Defining Ethics

By Heidi

Ethics of business is very complicated and heavily debated.  The correlation between making money and doing the right thing can often counteract each other.  The discussion on ethics that I read was from Marketing-Schools.org.  This article focuses mainly on ethics in marketing, and selling things ethically.

Based on my own ethics, I believe that the right choice should always be chosen over the wrong, whether or not this will hurt things such as profits.  The article explains that if a company advertises their products in an ethical manner, it reflects good on every aspect of their business.  People looking to buy a companies products will almost always chose a reputable company over a company who repeatedly lies about their products to make sales.

These ethical guidelines are common among almost all fields.  Whether a field requires selling products, or not, people in all fields are urged to choose the right over the wrong.  In a lot of fields, not choosing the right thing to do could potentially get you in trouble, even if it benefits you in some way.  Many people are aware of the ethical guidelines of the business and marketing field, but many people are still cautious about what they purchase.  Unfortunately, many companies falsely advertise their products, such as McDonalds, and Wendy's who fluff up their menu items making them look unrealistic to the food they actually sell.  For the most part, people are aware that his happens, and that ethical guidelines of business are not always followed, because many companies would rather make as much money as possible than be truthful.

Knowing and being aware of the ethics of this business and marketing I would try to not lie, like some companies do heavily.  Although making money is the most important part of the business field and working for a company, lying isn't necessary.  For example, instead of photoshopping burgers to look more appetizing, the ethical way to do business would be to produce burgers that look delicious without any editing.  In my professional career, I will try to hold myself to these ethics, and ensure that anyone I work for isn't lying to people.


Sources:
Behind the scenes at a McDonald's advertising photo shoot.—FIVE THOT discover ideas, people, views, lifestyles and business. (n.d.). Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://www.getthefive.com/articles/the-marketeer/behind-the-scenes-at-a-mcdonalds-advertising-photo/
Ethical Marketing | What is Ethical Marketing? (n.d.). Retrieved February 07, 2016,     from http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/ethical-marketing.html
 

Electronic commerce and mobile commerce

by Zeyang W.

    With the development of technology, e-commerce has been fully integrated into our lives. For example, we are more inclined to shopping at home instead of going out shopping. Not only because we can save a lot of time, but also on the Internet to get a lower price. And our online shopping comparison more goods in order to select better and cheaper. But the traditional electronic commerce has been unable to meet current needs. People have a faster pace of life than ever before, versatile mobile phone and ubiquitous network. Mobile commerce has gradually onto the stage.

    E-commerce (electronic commerce) usually refers to throughout the world in commercial and trade activities in the Internet an open network environment, browser-based application way, buyers and sellers are not met various business activities to achieve consumer online shopping, between businesses a new business model for online transactions and online electronic payment and a variety of business activities, trading activities, and financial activities related to integrated services activities.

    M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless handheld devices such as cell phone and tablets. Known as next-generation e-commerce, m-commerce enables users to access the Internet without needing to find a place to plug in.

    M-commerce have lows of advantages.

    1. Mobility. Electronic banking, online shopping, download music, play games and a series of mobile commerce applications, just PDA, mobile phones and other handheld devices can be realize. But the traditional computer can’t move conveniently.

    2. Correlation between the locations. LBS location-based services is the best place to mobile commerce, mobile business users can easily locate, such as medical emergencies, car driving navigation services, tour guide services.

    3. Recognizability. Mobile devices are generally a separate entity from the use of the user's personal configuration can be memory in a mobile device, and each terminal has a unique identifier that represents Identification. Therefore, the user's identity is not only easy to distinguish, and easy to collect and process. But the PC cannot be effectively obtained.

    In summary, m-commerce greatly developed e-commerce, and m-commerce is more flexible than the traditional e-commerce.

resources:
Gavin Braiton."What is differece between e-cmomerce and moble commerce". Quora.  Web. Feb 2016

What is the Fundamental Premise for Innovation in Business?

By Jinsui Y.

Nowadays, product Innovation is regarded as a one of the essential way which can make sustainable growth in economy. However, could all the product innovation receive satisfactory outcome? It is said that close to 90% new product are marketplace flop. What cause that shocking result? What is the fundamental premise for innovation in business?

For instance, Google Wallet is a creative idea ahead of its time, but it makes they Google company loss at least 300 million dollars because it involves digitizing cards, and the card cost a big fee for the card company to participating, so they do not want to join in it. Although the idea of Google Wallet sounds amazing, some of the structural factors impending its successful are hard to overcome. We could see that if Google Company could do a proper risk assessment and cost calculation before the investment of this innovation, they may avoid from this huge loss.

However, there are also some successful innovations in business. P&G did a successful work in it. In order to expanding Gillette to India. It takes more than 2000 hours for P&G observing consumer shaving, and the constrains they faced when they were shaving. Then, they designed a product to meet there unique requirement. First, the cost for the product it less than 50 US cents, so, most of the Indian can accept the price. Also, it is a special technology on it, so, if you dig it in a cup of water the hair follicles easily come off because they found most people in India aren’t shaving with running water. Therefore, this product sells pretty well in India.

From the above example, we can summarize that there are two important points for product innovation. They first well-known point is that the new product must be creative and special. However, it’s far from enough because the main goal for business is profits. Therefore, the cost should to be proper that they buyer willing to pay for it, while, the seller can not only cover they cost but also make a profits from it. In that case, understanding the need of consumer, assessing the risk, and collecting data become very significant before product innovation for a company. These works are all responsible to marketing. Therefore, marketing is the fundamental premise for innovation in business.

References:

Bruce, Brown. & Scott, Anthony. Business Review. How P&G Tripled Its Innovation Success Rate. June 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

Image from:
Ross, Urken. Google Wallet's of Immigartion Google Wallet's Newes Innovation: A Plastic Mobile Wallet Credit Card. Digital image. http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/11/08/google-wallets-newest-innovation-a-plastic-card/08 Nov. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
P&G. Digital image. http://us.pg.com/our_brands. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.