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>.