Description: A recent survey indicates that 28 % of Canadians spend two hours or more on their smartphones each day. The rate jumps to approximately 50% for users between 18 and 34. Investors and others are urging phone makers – like giants Apple and Samsung – to do more to address the subject of smartphone… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Corporate Strategy
Swooping in
Description: Westjet Airlines, known for innovation in the industry, is entering the ultra low cost carrier (ULCC) by introducing its subsidiary Swoop. Come June 2018, you will be able to fly this new airline with the hot-pink Swoop logo for only $69 between Hamilton and Winnipeg. Don’t expect any frills though. You will pay for… Read more »
Nutrien benefits Saskatchewan
Description: The merger of Potash Corp and Agrium Inc is complete and the new company, Nutrien Ltd, started trading its shares this week. The new mega-enterprise stated the merger was to help it compete in face of declining prices in the potash business. But some Saskatchewan politicians fear that the merger might mean that good… Read more »
Blackberry turns from red to black
Description: Once one of the top handset phone makers in the world, Blackberry has been on steady financial decline since the introduction of the iPhone and various Android smartphones. But Blackberry is bouncing from red ink to black, with the latest quarterly results showing a profit of approximately $19 million. The profit signals possible success… Read more »
Quidi Vidi Brewery
Description: The Quidi Vidi Brewery is a good news/bad news story. After years of struggling, including a 1999 warning from their accountant about imminent bankruptcy, this Newfoundland craft brewery has seen a turnaround in more recent years, thanks in part to its Iceberg brand in its distinctive blue bottle. But the two founding investors are… Read more »
Westjet expands in Quebec
Description: In a move that challenges rival Air Canada, WestJet has announced it is expanding operations in the Province of Quebec. Westjet is adding over 100 new flights to its roster there, hoping to draw both business and leisure travelers through lower fares. Air Canada is expected to fight back, though low fares will be… Read more »
Digital ads dominating
Description: It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to most of us: digital advertising is continuing to profit while print is in trouble. But television advertising is also seeing its numbers slipping. TV execs are placing some hope in the arrival of “addressable TV” where each home would receive ads based on its… Read more »
Second Cup looking for a buyer?
Description: Coffee chain Second Cup may be looking for a buyer. It is revising its strategic plan in which it had targeted opening up to 85 new stores by 2018. With sales down 1.2 per cent this year, Second Cup might have trouble meeting an upcoming debt payment. But there are a couple of potential… Read more »
Facebook Workplace
Description: Facebook has built a huge business on its advertising based social media platform. But now, after a year of testing, Facebook is offering a new platform called Workplace to compete with the Startup company Slack. Workplace – like Slack – will combine various productivity technologies like e-mail and newsletters. Workplace will be sold to… Read more »
Food prices dropping?
Description: You might think lower food prices would be good news. But Sylvain Charlebois, Dean of Dalhousie Univeristy’s Faculty of Management says that we might want to hold off on the celebration. Agricultural commodity prices have dropped to about half of what they were in 2012, creating challenges for producers, retailers and processors. Date: October… Read more »