Blog Entry # 16: World’s Largest Corporations

After months of studying CE 22, and,sort of, experiencing how to be a business woman or accountant, I cant help but admire all the successful businesses world-wide. In those times, I was able to take hold of the knowledge of the details needed in starting up a business, and I learned that it would never be easy.

Below are the Top 5 world’s Largest Corporations (2010)
From http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2010/

1. Wal-Mart Stores
Rank: 1 (Previous rank: 3)
CEO: Michael T. Duke
Employees: 2,100,000
Address: 702 S.W. Eighth St.
Bentonville, Arkansas  72716
Country: U.S.
Website: http://www.walmartstores.com
Despite the global recession, the discount retailer’s bargain prices lured consumers worldwide under new President and CEO Michael Duke.

2. Royal Dutch Shell
Rank: 2 (Previous rank: 1)
CEO: Peter R. Voser
Employees: 101,000
Address: Carel van Bylandtlaan 30
The Hague  2596
Country: Netherlands
Website: http://www.shell.com
The recession cut energy demand, causing prices to fall far below their record highs of 2008, but CEO Peter Voser took bold steps to make the company more competitive, selling assets, merging divisions and cutting jobs.

3. Exxon Mobil
Rank: 3 (Previous rank: 2)
CEO: Rex W. Tillerson
Employees: 102,700
Address: 5959 Las Colinas Blvd.
Irving, Texas  75039
Country: U.S.
Website: http://www.exxonmobil.com
The recession meant the oil and gas company faced the same challenges as its peers, but ExxonMobil still continued to expand its global reach into emerging markets.

4. BP
Rank: 4 (Previous rank: 4)
CEO: Anthony B. Hayward
Employees: 80,300
Address: 1 St. James Sq.
London  SW1Y 4PD
Country: Britain
Website: http://www.bp.com
Despite lower demand and falling prices, it managed to post hefty profits. It’s also moving forward with a handful of new projects including a site in Indonesia that is expected to generate about 7.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas for export per year

5. Toyota Motor
Rank: 5 (Previous rank: 10)
CEO: Akio Toyoda
Employees: 320,590
Address: 1 Toyota-cho
Toyota  471-8571
Country: Japan
Website: http://www.toyota.co.jp
The automaker reported a surprise profit in its fiscal fourth quarter and is forecasting an earnings increase for this year as it boosts Asia sales and cuts costs further. A much-needed image boost will come from the introduction of the $350,000 Lexus LFA, a carbon-fiber sports car of which only 500 will be built.

Blog Entry # 15: Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS is coming out this March 27. The highly anticipated game allows users to choose between a normal mode (pretty much the same as the view in the previous DS lines) and a 3D mode, where the users could interact with the game in 3D without the 3D glasses. Neat huh? However, it comes with a warning: “3D Mode for ages 7+. Warning: Viewing of 3D images by children 6 and under may cause vision damage. Use the parental control feature to restrict the display of 3D images for children 6 and under.”

According to the article that I have read [1], Dr. Ahna Girshick, a Postdoctoral research fellow at UC Berkeley’s EECS Department, said that 3D media allows the eyes to focus on the display but converge them to the 3D content. She followed that, many researches have been done for adults. However, the effects on children, whose visual systems are developing, still needs clarity.

Another article contradicts the previous [2] by pointing out, through Dr. Lawrence Tychsen, professor of pediatrics and opthalmology at Washington University in St. Louis, that research has been conducted to Rhesus monkeys, wearing 3D glasses and being subjected to 3D imaging, and that there is no difference in visual growth between monkeys subjected to 3D imaging and those that are were not. He followed by saying that the bigger concern is whether or not parents should allow their 3-year-olds to play video games.

Whether the warning is true or not, it would still be good to remain cautious. Better prevent than cure, as we always say.

Reference:
[1] http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/513-nintendo-3ds-and-young-eyes-should-parents-really-be-concerned
[2] http://www.1up.com/news/eye-specialists-disagree-3ds-warning

Blog Entry # 14: Kindle

Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6″ Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology
The following are the specs of the product:
ll-New, High-Contrast E Ink Screen – 50% better contrast with latest E Ink Pearl technology
Read in Bright Sunlight – No glare
New and Improved Fonts – New crisper, darker fonts
New Sleek Design – 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6″ size reading area
15% Lighter – Only 8.7 ounces, weighs less than a paperback
Battery Life of One Month – A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
Double the Storage – Up to 3,500 books
Books in 60 Seconds – Download books anytime, anywhere
Free 3G Wireless – No monthly payments, no annual contracts
Built-In Wi-Fi – In addition to the 3G wireless, you can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots
20% Faster Page Turns – Seamless reading
Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
New WebKit-Based Browser – Free 3G web browsing (experimental)

Blog Entry # 13: Trader’s Joe

The more products you choose from, the more you lose the capability to select which one to buy. – This was stated by one of the analysts that studied the Trader’s Joe, a privately held chain of specialty grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. for so many years now, the Traders Joe has never spoken to interviewers to disclose some tips on to how they make it a successful business. But for two months, according to the article that I read, analysts studied the stores in 2 months. They claimed that they were able to determine the secret behind the great success of this business. The analysts said that Trader’s Joe keep the number of brands per product to a minimum. They observed people in different supermarkets, and for those who cant decide which brand to choose among numerous brands, the customer would still be calling a different person for consultation. In the event that he or she failed to choose, most likely, he or she won’t buy at all.

What i learned from this article is that, thereal secret behind business suuccesses is being able to develop the mostsuitable marjet strastegy  for a business.

Blog Entry # 12: Top 10 Secured Jobs

From http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/11/16/top-10-most-secure-jobs-in-2011/

1. Nurse
Nursing is a field that runs perpetually lean anyway; but as health care demands expand in every direction, opportunities for both LPNs and RNs will continue to expand along with it. With job growth predictions hovering in the 21 percent-22 percent range by 2018 the already very large industry is expected to see more new jobs over the next several years than any other occupation.

2. Physical therapist
Driven primarily by aging baby boomers and technology advances that improve survival rates for trauma victims and children with birth defects, the demand for physical therapy is on the rise and is expected to continue growing by as much as 30p ercent by 2018. The greatest needs are in departments where geriatric patients frequent (acute hospital, skilled nursing, and orthopedic) as well as in rural and low-income areas.

3. Pharmacist
Employers have already been reporting difficulty finding and keeping enough pharmacists and as the population ages demand will only continue to increase. The Department of Labor predicts job growth for pharmacists will rise a total of 17 percent by 2018, which when added on top of the current shortage, makes for a very favorable job market in the field.

4. Physician and Surgeon
Tighter health care budgets and cost-cutting measures may keep the demand for doctors and surgeons at a more modest growth rate compared to other health care jobs (22 percent by 2018), but the fact remains that the expanding health care industry will keep the jobs coming. The job forecast is positive for all physicians and surgeons — but especially those willing to work in rural and low-income areas.

5. Computer systems analyst and Administrator
Technology is at the center of both business and pleasure these days, so it’s no wonder technology analysts and administrators are in high demand. All areas of the field are growing, but the most expansion (53 percent growth by 2018) is in network systems and data communications (network architects and engineers, Web administrators and developers) as more companies upgrade technology and as the Internet and wireless systems gain traction in the business world.

6. Computer Software Engineer
Our increasing dependence on technology is spurring demand for not only those who can analyze and repair high tech systems but also those who can make the most of them by creating new and improved software applications. Software engineers with expertise in mobile and wireless technology, networking, and the internet are in especially high demand and overall the field is expected to boom by 32 percent by 2018.

7. Biomedical and Environmental engineer
As a whole the engineering field is expected to grow at an average pace; but those specializing in biomedical and environmental engineering can expect to see significant increases (31-72 percent) in the demand for their skill set as an aging population and growing health care industry call for improved medical devices and an ever-increasing environmental awareness spurs companies to seek help meeting new regulations and heading off environmental problems before they arise.

8. Accountant, Auditor, and Financial advisor
Due to ever-changing financial laws, business growth, and an aging population nearing retirement, job prospects for financial experts are estimated to grow by 22-30 percent by 2018. Also helping to boost job security in the financial field: the increasing push toward transparency and accountability when it comes to high-stakes money matters and business management.

9. Veterinarian
Not only are more people making animals a part of their family (cats especially) but they’re placing a higher value on their pets and are willing to pursue and pay more for advanced and intensive veterinary services. Due to the rise in demand and the limited number of accredited veterinary schools (there are only 28 in the United States) veterinarians are predicted to have 33 percent more job opportunities by 2018.

10. Lawyer, Paralegal, and Legal assistant
The law is only getting more complex and jobs for attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants aren’t going anywhere. Projected to grow by 13-21 percent over the next decade as other industries boom and require additional legal services, the legal field will produce the majority of new jobs in health care, intellectual property, bankruptcy, corporate and security litigation, antitrust law, and environmental law.

Blog Entry # 11: Earth Hour

I was browsing the homepage of one of the major newspaper lines in the country the other day and I stumbled upon an interesting story. A telecommunications company stated its participation on the earth hour happening on March 26, 2011, 830-930pm. The company has been a staunch supporter of the cause since 2008 and was able to conserve an accumulated 304,335 watts of electricity from its offices and signages.[1]
I probably started my second sentence wrong by making the “telecommunications company” the subject. What I really want to focus on is the earth hour. For people who don’t know what it is, the earth hour is an effort to conserve energy by allotting a single hour during a set date where all of a household’s appliances, lights, etc., would be turned off. Its doesn’t really take much to participate but the benefits are great. Just imagine, for the telecommunications company, an hour of off-time caused them to save 304,335 watts. That’s 3043 hours of television, around 770 hours of PC usage [2], and 600 hours of a running refrigerator [3]. That saves a good amount of money for the company. But more than that, it saves a lot of resources for the earth. Imagine, that conserved electricity could be the difference between a blackout in times of a calamity, or perhaps, the running capacity of an incubator.
With that, I would like to encourage everyone to participate. If you don’t think you could turn off everything, then just do it to some: the lights in the comfort room, or perhaps the refrigerator, or the television. By giving something so little, not only you or your family, but the world can gain so much. These little steps, little sacrifices, go a long, long way.

[1] http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20110322-326967/Telecom-firm-campaigns-for-Earth-Hour-participation
[2] http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/01-02/RE_info/hec.htm
[3] http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1793740

Blog Entry # 10: “Pabili nga ho ng colgate – yung Close Up!”

Pabili nga ho ng colgate – yung Close Up!

Nakaktawang isipin na may mga gawing ganito ang mga Pilino. Kahit sa ating lenggwahe ay makikkita kung ano ang mga brand ng mga kagamitang gusto ng mga mamimili.

Pabili nga ng pampers. Umiinom ka ba ng nescafe? Gumagamit ka ba ng rexona? At ito ang pinakasikat – Ate, Paxerox nga.

Pero kung iisipin, ito ay ang mga brands na dati pang naging mabenta, at hindi ito nangangahulugang ito parin ang mga mabebenta ngayon. Halimbawa na lamang ay ang tatak ng toothpaste na Colgate. Matagal na itong pumasok sa industriya kaya naman karamihan ng mga Pilipino noon ay ito ang nakasanayang gamitin. Ngunit kung titignan ang mga resulta ng ibat ibang mga surveys ay makikitang napakaraming mga brands ang ginagamit ng mga Pilipino. May gumagamit ng colgate, may gumagamit ng Clos up. Lumalabas din ang mga sagot na Hapee, Crest a t AquaFresh. Ngunit ang kadalasang mga sagot ay Colgate at Close at , Close Up.

Naiisip ko lang na kakaibang nakikita rin natin ang epekto ng mga produkto kahit hanggang sa ating lenggwahe.

Blog Entry # 9: Top Selling Products

From Buzzle.com
By Medha Godbole
Published: 6/11/2010

Everyday, hundreds and millions of netizens log onto the net and do trading of same amount of items. It is practically impossible to imagine the number of items sold and brought online by the uncountable Internet users the world over. But there is one thing which can be surely done. With the help of research on the Internet (Again! Do we have any option here?!), we can definitely get to know which are the top selling products generally and as far as Internet shopping is concerned. A low down on the same is coming up!

Best Selling Products

Just as I am writing this, probably an antique deal on eBay or amazon is already being cut. Yes, sir, when you are talking of selling things online, eBay is the word the world knows. The point was that you can practically sell anything on eBay. Moreover, if it is something like antiques and vintage things, they are up for grabs like crazy. Therefore here is a list of the top selling products on eBay.
Art
Books
Bizarre Things/Miscellaneous
Cars
Clothes and Apparel
Comics
Dolls & Bears
Jewelry
Motorcycles
Musical Instruments
DVDs and Home Videos
Showbiz and Sports Memorabilia
Stamps
Tickets
Toys
Coins & Currency
Collectibles
Cosmetics and Health Products
Video Games
Flowers and other gift items.
Computer related items
Domestic and small electronic appliances
Environment friendly items
Realty
Home services
Seasonal Wares
Whoa! This is definitely a big list. This is also what sells the best on eBay. Consequently a majority of top selling products online are the same as these.

Someone might say these are not the products, but to be specific these are the categories of
products. The reason behind that is as mentioned the innumerable items being traded online at a given point of time. If you say that a particular book, lets say a fiction is the best seller online today, you never know what is going to be the picture a few days later. Hence the safest bet is to describe the categories when it is about online shopping trends. This was the list of top selling items already existent. What if you want to sell something online? What are the factors which make the items in these categories the hottest selling items? Well lets take a look.

What Makes These the Best Selling Items?

To begin with, this is a very obvious question, (isn’t it) as to why are these the top selling products in the US or anywhere in the world? The first answer is that if you would have noticed, all these categories have things which are not easily perishable. Further, there is hardly any chance of these things getting spoiled. All of these are products which the people are always buying and would continue to do so for a long time to come. However, here the aspect of safe online shopping tips too comes in the picture. May be some of these items are better available in shops actually than online. Still, there is a huge number of people buying books, for instance online. Home videos and dvds have captured the online markets like eBay and others. In addition to this, with the awareness about environment increasing, people are buying a lot of eco-friendly stuff on the Internet and otherwise. Another aspect of buying and selling thing online is that you first need to be convinced and feel good about what you are selling. If you can do that, then your product can be amongst the top selling products, be it the virtual world or an actual shop!

Now if you look from the perspective of the buyer, a seller has to understand what are the things which a buyer or a commoner cannot avoid buying. Consequently the seller can carve a niche for his or her products. It is actually not very tough to gauge what the buyers want. Just put yourselves in the buyers shoes and get your product in the top selling products list! Eventually, the Internet has rather made these things very easy and you can definitely give e-trading a thought. Have a great time e-trading!

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/top-selling-products.html

Blog Entry # 8: Axiata – Advancing Asia

Browsing through the Fortune Magazine, a phrase made me stop and look for a certain page. “Advancing Asia” – This is the, sort of a, tagline of the company named Axiata. It was my first time to hear this and so I really became interested and went on in reading the article regarding the said company.

Axiata is one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies focused on high growth low penetration emerging markets. Axiata’s vision is to be a regional champion by 2015 by piecing together the best throughout the region in connectivity, technology and people, uniting them towards a single goal: “Advancing Asia”.

Axiata is Advancing Asia by bringing affordable connectivity, innovative technology and world class talent to the countries whose needs tehy do cater. They are focused on doing things better, and more efficiently and effectively towards generating long term economic, social and environmental value to all their stakeholders. They are constantly reviewing their practices and efforts, embracing innovation as the key enabler towards achieving the ambitions. Axiata approaches CR from the following perspectives: Marketplace, People, Environment and Community.

I can’t help but admire this company for having a vision so wonderful that it covers quite a large range of countries.

Blog Entry # 7: Cars

Since I was a kid, I always wanted to have my own luxury car. Haha! And I was telling myself that, if given enough  money, I will buy one. Just this morning, I searched in the internet for these cars and I was cmpletely amazed.

1.  Bugatti Veyron $1,700,000. This is by far the most expensive street legal car available on the market today. It is the fastest accelerating car reaching 0-60 in 2.6 seconds. It claims to be the fastest car with a top speed of 253 mph+. However, the title for the fastest car goes to the SSC Ultimate Aero which exceed 253 mph pushing this car to 2nd place for the fastest car.

2. Lamborghini Reventon $1,600,000. The most powerful and the most expensive Lamborghini ever built is the second on the list. It takes 3.3 seconds to reach 60 mph and it has a top speed of 211 mph. Its rarity (limited to 20) and slick design are the reasons why it is so expensive and costly to own.

3. McLaren F1 $970,000. In 1994, the McLaren F1 was the fastest and most expensive car. Even though it was built 15 years ago, it has an unbelievable  top speed of 240 mph and reaching 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. Even as of today, the McLaren F1 is still top on the list and it outperformed many other supercars.

4. Ferrari Enzo $670,000. The most known supercar ever built. The Enzo has a top speed of 217 mph and reaching 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. Only 400 units were produced and it is currently being sold for over $1,000,000 at auctions.

5. Pagani Zonda C12 F $667,321. Produced by a small independent company in Italy, the Pagani Zonda C12 F is the 5th fastest car in the world. It promises to delivery a top speed of 215 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.5 seconds.

6. SSC Ultimate Aero $654,400. Don’t let the price tag fool you, the 6th most expensive car is actually the fastest street legal car in the world with a top speed of 257 mph+ and reaching 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. This baby cost nearly half as much as the Bugatti Veyron, yet has enough power to top the most expensive car in a speed race. It is estimated that only 25 of this exact model will ever be produced.

7. Saleen S7 Twin Turbo $555,000. The first true American production certified supercar, this cowboy is also rank 3rd for the fastest car in the world. It has a top speed of 248 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. If you are a true American patriot, you can be proud to show off this car.

8. Koenigsegg CCX $545,568. Swedish made, the Koenigsegg is fighting hard to become the fastest car in the world. Currently, it is the 4th fastest car in the world with a top speed of 245 mph+, the car manufacture Koenigsegg is not giving up and will continue to try and produce the fastest car. Good luck with that!

9. Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Roadster $495,000. A GT supercar, the SLR McLaren is the fastest automatic transmission car in the world with a top speed of 206 mph+ and reaching 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. It is a luxurious convertible with a really powerful engine, which results in outstanding performances and style.

10. Porsche Carrera GT $440,000. A supercar with dynamic stability control and a top speed of 205 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. The Porsche Carrera GT applies the absolute calibers of a true racing car to offer an unprecedented driving feeling on the road.

Looking at the specs and apperances of these cars, I told myself that I really wanted to see me in one of those in future. But looking at the prices, I totally changed my mind.