Last night, I went to my neighborhood Albertson's grocery store to get myself an after-dinner treat to find that the store was closed, and they were changing the Albertson's banner to Lucky's.
I know that legal issues are at stake here, and people's pride is also at stake, but it's really annoying to me as a consumer to be in the middle of a legal struggle.
OK so this is an old issue, but if a company is intelligent, are they going to spend a ton of time and money on licensing issues and spend a lot of money putting up new signs across Northern California just get the "Lucky" brand out there again. I mean, it has been a little less than 10 years since Lucky was originally popular.
Oh well, it's not me spending the money.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Lucky - Albertson's struggle
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Why Green is More Important
Green vs. Green. Which is better? Being rich or being environmentally-sound? This is the new dilemma of our century.
This morning I was listening to NPR and an interesting issue came up: if we keep going at the rate that we are going, heating up the ozone and causing global warming, some frozen areas on the Earth (I forgot what they are called) will melt, thus causing over 50 feet of water to be added to the Earth's surface. This is akin to over-flowing your bath tub with water, but with more serious results. A lot of cities are located near coastlines and our cities could be under water.
I have a fear of drowning. So to be a little bit naive, I would say I prefer to be alive than to be dead and rich.
Monday, June 18, 2007
What's Your Net Impact?
My 5 every-day environmental guilt trips:
1. Buying groceries: Plastic bags can add about 13 cents to your bill, and depending on how often you buy groceries, this can add up. Plus, it creates waste & carbon emissions every time you recycle.
2. Individual-sized anything: Plastic water bottles (the ones that come in a huge carton with about 16 or 20 bottles per pack) or paper coffee cups. Bottom line: bring lunch and your own thermos to your fave cafe.
3. Transportation: The cost of gas prices + lack of advertising to inform commuters how to take the train!
4. Garbage: Landfills are basically holes sealed off with something to prevent toxic waste from seeping into our ground water. Every time I take the trash out, I get paranoid that I could be poisoning people by adding to the wreckage.
5. Unnecessary air conditioning/heating: Carbon emissions & waste of energy. Blankets are cosier for cold days and windows do wonders for creating more air circulation.
***
Green News:
The Economist, June 14th 2007
A who's who of technology firms launched an industry initiative to reduce computer energy consumption. The campaign, which is being led by Google and Intel, commits makers of PCs and servers to higher efficiency standards.
Europe pumped out fewer greenhouse gases in 2005, according to new data from the European Environment Agency. Emissions from the European Union's 27 member states dropped by 0.7% compared with a year earlier. Finland, Germany and the Netherlands contributed most to the drop.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Social Business Enterprises
Have you ever thought about starting your own business? What about a business that addresses global social issues that are happening right now in the world?
Here's something to think about: www.invisiblechildren.com
I cannot emphasize enough how little people think about opportunities outside of their own comfort zone. Everyone, including myself, is guilty of pursuing the "American dream" but we do not realize that there are children who are continuously under the threat of terrorism today. The shock is immense and perhaps very easy for us, in the comfort of our own homes and offices to simply forget and move on with our daily lives.
But what if we moved beyond this comfort level and push ourselves just a little bit to think of solutions? Of course we have our own problems with American soldiers in Iraq, civil problems, national problems and so forth. But if you were to go look on this website, you might find something that will motivate you to act just as much as I was to write this posting.
In my own childhood, I, like any other child, had the right to curiosity, play and innocence. Truly, I would not want other children to be denied the same right.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Creativity & Innovation
Recently, I took a workshop called "Creativity & Innovation."
Companies tend to choose people who are similar to them and who think like them. We largely dislike conflict and challenge and think that it is unproductive and slows down the business process.
In groups where we've challenged and argued with each other, while simultaneously respecting each other's opinions, I gained new colleagues that I could respect and value. And whom respect and value me.
Creativity is the child's mind, or in Buddha's terms, the "monkey mind." This is the mind that thinks without censorship. Innovation is creativity translated into action.
I found that this can be a very powerful tool when people are able to combine the "whole company brain." Apple, Inc. is a famous example of this. If Apple hadn't gone beyond computers and hadn't created the iPod today, Apple wouldn't be the status symbol that it is today.
Google is another example. It revolutionized search. It gave us word document sharing, satellite-style mapping and the ability to apply Google search on our own websites.
Now, this is the product of putting many "monkey minds" to work.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Politicking
The world of business is not without politics.
As a young and amateur businessperson, the subject of communicating, politicking and ethics hasn't become intuitive yet. When I say that it hasn't become intuitive, I mean that it is still easy to see the world through rose-colored glasses.
My definition of "politicking" is this: when people start to do things that others are not aware about and make decisions for their own benefit. So basically, there isn't honesty and there isn't accountability for one's actions.
In Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep points out to her assistant that she had to step on some people to get to where she was. Is this really the truth about business? Economically, we talk a lot about how we do things to ensure that everyone receives value in what they invest in. Ideally, business should be about fair exchange.
I do believe that it is possible to do business honestly. The question is when do you know where the line is between honest and dishonest "business-doing"?
There have been several situations involving Enron, Apple, and other companies where issues that initially seem very small become huge issues of miscommunication, mismanagement or what have you.
One of the books that I read on communications emphasized that all members of an organization maintain open and honest communication with each other. In one situation, two partners in a business had such bad relations with each other that it was ruining the company. The consultant comes in and improves their business relationship and the company is saved.
Sounds ideal, right? The truth is that it is not so easy to do, it takes time, and the truth is that miscommunications happen very easily even with all good intentions involved.
These are just some initial thoughts and my hope is they will become more well-informed thoughts as I start to pay more attention to these sorts of issues.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
On Excess, Efficiency & the Environment
It is true what Starbucks says about itself: it is not about the coffee, it is about the people. While this makes a very good business model, and it creates loyal customers and loyal employees (not to mention that Starbucks doesn't show any signs of stopping expansion), it is also a business that creates a great deal of excess and waste.
Many companies create products that people buy because they feel it is worth it to them, but the seller usually creates wasteful by-products. Starbucks is a famous example, because of the number of paper cups it hands out every day. According to NPR in 2005, over 150 billion cups are discarded every year.
The question that I have about Starbucks is why all the paper cups? It takes a lot of energy, limited resources, and money to create a paper cup. When I went to Montreal, Canada, I noticed that coffees are automatically served in glasses and mugs first before they are served in a paper cup.
On a similar note, in regards to plastic, Ireland recently posed a tax of 15 cents per plastic bag in grocery stores. The implication behind this initiative is that people must pay a tangible cost to compensate for highly limited natural resources.
The bottom line is: Companies, governments and organizations have to change the way they do business. We see that it is possible in other countries, so why not in the US? While many companies claim that they are "socially responsible," it seems that they should not just change the way they produce their products, but they must change the model of the company.
Of course, organizational behavior theory teaches us that this is not so easy to do, because often times, the secret success of a business is embedded in the company culture that has developed. (Think Toyota and competitors' difficulty in imitating Toyota standards).
Even so, many Americans live under the illusion of being rich. We are a nation of debt but contrary to economic law, we continue to spend money. We cannot continue to think that our resources are unlimited. A serious cultural change must be made. Companies need to change their approach towards business to consider the limitations of other resources besides money.
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