Get off that phone!

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy, Student life.

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 »

Swooping in

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy.

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

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy.

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

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy, Financial Reporting and Analysis.

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

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Corporate Strategy.

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

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy, Managerial Accounting.

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

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy.

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 »

Facebook Workplace

Posted by & filed under Corporate Strategy, Cost Accounting.

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?

Posted by & filed under Canadian Economy, Corporate Strategy.

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 »