Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 Ranked Problems

1. Modernization of developing market—Shifting from a developed market to an emerging market can move jobs from one area of the world to another. With outsourcing being the main concern, preparing a developed market for this shift is imperative for continued growth and prosperity.

2. Water Pollution—Pollution of the oceans has taken a devastating toll on the quality of food sources from the ocean and the quantity of species ability to repopulate.

3. Air Pollution—Depleting the Ozone layer and increasing world temperatures, with shifts in global weather patterns, air pollution with continue to be an issue in the future.

4. Distribution of natural resources—With newer technologies and other advances, natural resources are needed to create these products. The issue is that some countries around the world control the world’s supply of specific resources.

5. Socio-political-cultural migrations—Migrations of people from their home countries to others can put a strain on their temporary hosts. These migrations can create housing issues and strain on food resources.

Top 5 Ranked Implemental Solutions

1. Modernization of developing market— Using job market research to create an education program that will impact high school students thinking of what future jobs may be exhausted by the time they graduate college. Utilizing this program can give a developing market the opportunity to prepare for those occupational shifts because of outsourcing due to technological or educational developments in emerging markets.

2. Socio-political-cultural migrations— Building in areas with ease of access to transportation and waterways in preparation for such events. Partnering experts in creating small-township like communities with convinces of their homeland.

3. Water pollution— Creating a need for change in regulations around oceanic pollutants and their clean up. The cleanup can create opportunities for job growth and development.

4. Air pollution— Utilizing cleaner technologies in developing countries first since costs are lower initially with lack of switching costs.

5. Distribution of natural resources— Creating an alternative way to produce or utilize a different resource to create these products.

Why were my first world problem and solution my first choices out of my top 5 list?

The reason I chose modernization of developing/emerging markets as the top problem I foresee is due to the increase of competition and push for lower cost labor. With this in mind, many emerging markets can come to a screeching halt if, like established markets, are not continuing to push the reaches of innovation and education. As we continue to see technology shift and mold new niches for every market set, we will find that emerging markets have the opportunity to adjust faster given their weaker infrastructure when it comes to education and job training. This is why my solution for the modernizing emerging market is the most implementable. With the right people and vision, creating an educational structure to meet market demands, while forecasting new opportunities, will ensure that outsourced jobs do not continue to become outsourced to the next emerging market because the current market is prepared for the rising occasion.

Week 3 Reading Reflections

Week 3 Reading Reflections

Through this week’s readings, I found the study of and examination of the dark side of entrepreneurship interesting. The various types of risk associated with maximizing an opportunity to create value around the solution can have risks financially, on a career track, for family, socially, not to mention the psychic risks that can all lead to stress on the individual or the other aspects of their life. The reading overall this chapter I felt was rather straight forward focusing on the pitfalls of risks and while balancing ethical dilemmas. Two questions I would like to ask the author would be:

1.       What role does the obstacle of controlling stress play in the longevity of successful entrepreneurs?

2.       How has the incorporation of ethics in entrepreneurial decisions effected the innovation and playing field for entrepreneurs versus larger corporate entities?

There wasn’t anything that I’d disagree content wise with the author. I felt as though the content in the chapter helped shape a new perspective on how things have changed since the financial collapse of the early 2000s and how that has shaped entrepreneurial decisions.

Identifying Local Opportunities

Identifying Local Opportunities

·         “Andres Oppenheimer: The future of our jobs.” –Miami Herald, Miami, FL

o   Synopsis: This article discusses the potential technology has of wiping out over five million jobs over the next five years. Data examined at last week’s World Economic Forum showed that many of jobs (like sales persons, cashiers, assembly workers) will be phasing out with the new advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology.

o   Issue: With many countries continuing to develop and utilize technology more daily, many people who do not have the technical skills cannot keep up with the job market demands. It is estimated that 65% of children entering primary school today will be working in jobs that do not exist yet. The root of the issues is how each country’s education system is going to redevelop itself in order to produce more mathematicians, engineers, computer scientists, and architects for the future job markets.

o   Whose problem: Every country around the world will face this problem. The sector that is most involved with the issue is each countries’ education system, both public and private.

·         “Misconceptionsof holes population lead to challenges for some”—Dothan Eagle, Dothan, AL

o   Synopsis: A human interest story that discusses the misconceptions of what defines homelessness. The focus of the article is centered around a man who holds a job, seeks financial advice from his local bank, and yet is homeless. Looking past his story and into the bigger picture you find that there are many misconceptions of who and what homelessness is. Also, homelessness could comprise of those who are incapable of holding a job due to mental illness, single parents that cannot afford child care or have access to child care services, and people with substance abuse afflictions.

o   Issue: Many rural areas do not have accurate counts or statistics to provide federal agencies on their homeless population to receive adequate funding to support charities or assistance programs. Without proper funds communities cannot provide the support or service needed to assist their homeless population.

o   Whose problem: In this article the city of Dothan and the Alabama Rural Coalition for the Homeless are the entities citing the problem; however, this is an issue for many rural cites and areas that have a misunderstanding of the new look of homelessness.

·         “Rapetest kits; Rapists must be identified”—The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, FL

o   Synopsis: The state of Florida has a back log of over 13,000 rape kits that have not been tested. With so many rape kits untested, 1,300 alone in the Jacksonville area, rapists and serial rapist can continue to commit these crimes.

o   Issue: Florida has no statutes or laws on record stating a specific time frame for when a rape kit should be processed. Also, there are no procedures on record on how to prevent future back logs of untested kits. One point the article does not bring up is what are the resources the state has available to test these kits, or is there the opportunity for the state to source an independent lab to do the testing of the kits? Another problem not mentioned in the article is funding of the testing of these kits and would tax payers pay for the processing…if so, how can the state keep costs down.

o   Whose problem: The problem lies within the state of Florida and its laws that do not require for testing.

·         “FreeParking—In 2014, Sarasota’s parking manager was prepared for a seriousconversation about the need for paid parking — so why have officials continuedto delay that discussion?”—The Sarasota Observer, Sarasota, FL

o   Synopsis: The city of Sarasota is having issues creating revenues for its parking fund, which is running a deficit. City officials are now addressing the issue once again, however not able to come up with any alternatives that make sense.

o   Issue: Since the city is having issues creating parking policies for funding, the city’s parking fund is creating a deficit. Also, the recommendations that have been made do not make logical sense according to city officials appointed to resolve the issue. For example, a suggestion to only have people pay who use the street for parking, while people who use parking garages remain unchanged.

o   Whose problem: The citizens and city official of Sarasota.

·         ” PanamaCity Beach urges court not to delay new Spring Break rules”—The News Herald, Panama City, FL

o   Synopsis: The city of Panama City Beach has provisional ordinances that would prevent drinking alcoholic beverages on the beaches during the month of March, the primary month of Spring Break. With its history of having a strong insurgence of college students ready to party off their semester blues, the city is tired of the overstretching of resources, increase in criminal activity, and increase in first responders calls Spring Break has created.

o   Issue: Locals are fed up with the excessive partying college students have during spring break and all the problems it creates. The city has created protocol to address the citizens’ concerns, but not without its objection. A number of business have entered a class suit against the city saying it is infringing on their rights and pursuit of commerce.

o   Whose problem: The city of Panama City Beach, surrounding communities, citizens, visitors, and business owners of the City of Panama City Beach

*Article titles are hyperlinks to news articles.

Bug List

Bug List

1.       The traffic light at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 23^rd street takes too long to change if you’re trying to go across 23^rd street. If a vehicle pulls up to the traffic light on 23^rd street, the traffic light on Michigan Avenue changes almost immediately.

a.       Why: The City views 23^rd street as a main roadway to get traffic in and out of the town onto highway 98 or onto highway 231. 23^rd street would be considered more of a priority than Michigan Ave.

2.       Trying to find the right product on Amazon.com through using product reviews written by other purchasers. (Example: buying bedding)

a.       Why: Amazon.com welcomes the feedback of its customers; however, when a customer gives a review they may not have followed the care instructions properly or did through research on the product before purchasing it themselves. Also, you have customers who have never used the product giving a review being paid by the manufacturer to give a higher rating, equating to higher orders for the product.

3.       The possibility of a ban on plastic microbeads used in facial and body cleansers, like Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Exfoliating cleanser.

a.       Why: The plastic microbeads used to give a person a gentle exfoliation are leading to waterway pollution. These tiny microbeads are being eaten by fish, clogging up water treatment facilities, and do not break down in the environment; thus, leading to a ban on them being used in body care products. (I need a gentle exfoliate though…)

4.       WOW cable provider changing its channel programming creating few channel packages for customers at higher prices.

a.       Why: WOW has been having issues keeping costs lower to customers because they are saying television stations want more money for using them in their cable packages.

5.       Trying to find men’s denim that does not have stretch in it at American Eagle Outfitters.

a.       Why: The merchandise buyers foresee a trend of stretch denim being the next “big” thing in men’s since women’s denim sales have increased with the addition of the material into the denim fabric.

6.       A water, sewage, and garbage bill over $90.00 a month from the City of Panama City.

a.       Why: With the addition of adding city water to outlying areas, the City of Panama City has lost money on the venture trying to make up losses through charging citizens more.

7.       Finding help at a Kohl’s department store during the middle of the week.

a.       Why: Most retailers have been doing minimum scheduling of labor to cut expenses during the week, saving most payroll expenses for the weekends. Also, cutting positions and delegating those responsibilities among other employees.

8.       Not enough checkout lanes open at Walmart on 23^rd street during mid-afternoon.

a.       Why: The supervisors are not making the employees take their breaks during the first rush of customers, so when an unexpected rush of customer come through multiple cashiers are on break creating longer check out times.

9.       Trying to remember to bring loyalty cards to retailers when shopping.

a.       Why: There are so many different stores I frequent and keeping them all in one place is difficult because some are so small.

10.   Collared shirts becoming too tight in the neck, yet fitting through the body of the shirt.

a.       Why: The fit I need is slimmer through the body of the shirt, but a wider neck size because of having board shoulders.

11.   Keeping up with all my email accounts.

a.       Why: Between work, school, and personal email accounts, there are so many that I have to check. Always wish it was easier to check them all at once.

12.   Trying to dispose of paperwork with sensitive information.

a.       Why: I always let paperwork pile up that has sensitive information. Home office paper shredders cannot handle the capacity of documents without overheating.

13.   Having to search for the right gift for someone you do not know that well.

a.       Why: With very few clues to go based off of, trying to find the most appropriate gift for someone, that you do not know that well, can be very difficult and stressful.

14.   Bags inside of cereal bags

a.       Why: They are not re-sealable bags, which makes the cereal stale quicker over time.

15.   Chrome by Google has stopped supporting internet Flash.

a.       Why: Google stopped the use of supporting Flash because of the lack of internet security that software feature offers.

16.   Breaking in uncomfortable men’s dress shoes.

a.       Why: Men’s dress shoes are typically made with hard leathers or structured with plastic shapers making them uncomfortable, not to mention no traction on good leather soled dress shoes.

17.   Grocery shopping at different stores to find the better deals.

a.       Why: Grocery stores offer different deals or have better pricing on particular items. By the time you go from store to store picking up what you though was the better price, your spending more time and money which makes it the same price as its competitors.

18.   Having to wait for a server to bring the bill to the table or walk off with my debit/credit card to charge the card.

a.       Why: Many times you’re ready to leave the restaurant your server may be busy with other guests or side work that has to be completed before the end of their shift. Also, not allowing a card to be within eyesight of the customer allows the opportunity for overcharging, fraud, or identity theft to happen.

19.   Paying more at the gas pump for fuel using a debit/credit card versus paying cash.

a.       Why: Many gas retailers try to offset the cost of transaction fees incurred by their merchant service provider.

20.   Not having more options for public transportation or private transportation services in the Panama City/Panama City Beach area.

a.       Why: With the lack of options of public and private transportation services increases the amount of traffic on road ways and can make it difficult for those who seek employment but cannot afford a personal vehicle. The lack of private options also leads to higher transportation rates for customers who use their services.

What I found difficult about this particular assignment was finding things that bug me that I could provide positive solutions to or create a value out of the need formed. It was quite difficult to come up with a list of 20 things that specifically bugged myself.

World's Biggest Problems

1.       Gender Inequality—Poses a problem because of globalization, many cultures are having to face the reality that women are in the workforce. Also, the acceptance of gender equality can enable a culture or region to become a more viable area for development.

a.       Solution—Creating a non-profit organization or a for profit consultation firm that is aimed to aiding business in these areas recruit, hire, and develop campaigns around inclusion. Not to forget to aid in supporting these areas with more viable business development partners.

2.       Lack of Nutrition—The world continues to have a shift from whole foods to modern convenience foods, which lack nutrition. The lack of meeting human nutritional needs is costing the world with higher medical expenses.

a.       Solution—Developing relationships with larger brands for nutrition initiatives or medical providers to show the cost of bad nutrition.

3.       Society’s shift to Urbanization—With the world’s population becoming more modern, there has been a shift for people to move to more urban developments. This move creates a devastating outcome on many smaller towns and economies. Also, it creates overcrowding issues and strain on urban developments.

a.       Solution—Moving start-ups to areas, where the availability of resources meet their business model, and rebuilding small economies through job creation. Another tactic that could be useful would be inquiring on tax breaks for business that create new jobs.

4.       Distribution of natural resources—With newer technologies and other advances, natural resources are needed to create these products. The issue is that some countries around the world control the world’s supply of specific resources.

a.       Solution—Creating an alternative way to produce or utilize a different resource to create these products.

5.       Socio-political-cultural migrations—Migrations of people from their home countries to others can put a strain on their temporary hosts. These migrations can create housing issues and strain on food resources.

a.       Solution—Building in areas with ease of access to transportation and waterways in preparation for such events. Partnering experts in creating small township like communities with convinces of their homeland.

6.       Trade barriers—With the possibility of countries wanting to keep resources or wanting to become independent trade barriers themselves. Trade barriers could disrupt the world’s economy as a whole.

a.       Solution—Capitalizing on alternative products or solutions, creating a consultation firm of experts for businesses, educational, and financial institutions to utilize to overcome these obstacles.

7.       Water Pollution—Pollution of the oceans has taken a devastating toll on the quality of food sources from the ocean and the quantity of species ability to repopulate.

a.       Solution—Creating a need for change in regulations around oceanic pollutants and their clean up. The cleanup can create opportunities for job growth and development.

8.       Air Pollution—Depleting the Ozone layer and increasing world temperatures, with shifts in global weather patterns, air pollution with continue to be an issue in the future.

a.       Solution—Utilizing cleaner technologies in developing countries first since costs are lower initially with lack of switching costs.

9.       Age demographic effects on occupational outlook—With the rise of a larger elderly population, that is living longer with more disposable income, the occupational outlook needs to shift with more services and products geared to that age range.

Solution—Developing an occupational outlook to give to millennials. The outlook can provide an “app experience” that will show the future of possible income levels, educational requirements, and education consulting.

10.   Modernization of developing market—Shifting from a developed market to an emerging market can move jobs from one area of the world to another. With outsourcing being the main concern, preparing a developed market for this shift is imperative for continued growth and prosperity.

Solution—Using job market research to create an education program that will impact high school students thinking of what future jobs may be exhausted by the time they graduate college. Utilizing this program can give a developing market the opportunity to prepare for those occupational shifts because of outsourcing due to technological or educational developments in emerging markets.


(Photo by Didier Hannot Photography, Flicker)

Week 2 Reading Reflections

After reading this week’s selection, I was quite surprised by the “The Myths of Entrepreneurship” section of the text. The one myth that made me rethink the images of business moguls was entrepreneurs are not born but made. I had always heard the reference “well they are just business savvy”, and always assumed the person being referred to has always been successful in every venture they have taken on. Like the notion that leaders are made not born, entrepreneurs learn and evolve through a series of mistakes, learnings, and connecting with others. Through their evolutionary journey an entrepreneur refines their mindsets and focuses on what is working in order to be successful. What I found confusing about the text was the integrative approach to the entrepreneurial process. The concept of the integrative approach is easier to understand on the model than it was written in the text, in my opinion. Two questions I would ask the author would be:

1.       Why was there not anything brought up about how economies of scale effect the survival of gazelle companies in the data presented?

2.       With the global economy continuing to evolve and merge, what external factors do you think will affect entrepreneurs more in the future than today?

The bullet point of how entrepreneurship does not impact an economy simply through higher numbers of entrepreneurs, in the section of “The Entrepreneurial Revolution: A Global Phenomenon”, is one concept that I would disagree with or rather explore deeper. I know the author was focusing on the quality of entrepreneurs within a particular market; however, if there is a large number of entrepreneurs would the failures/successes effect the market’s economy from a job creation/loss statistic. Another point to consider is how the failures/successes of a high concentration of entrepreneur effects other businesses as in suppliers, for example. Also, would the failures/successes lead to a decrease or increase in regulations within that economy. These are a few points that I considered when thinking about the overall impact of an economy’s entrepreneurial concentration. I understand the author was pointing out that the more quality measures (growth, innovation, and internationalization) provide better understanding in the study of entrepreneurship; however studying the effects of larger concentrations of entrepreneurs within an economy, or even specific markets within the economy, can provide a wealth of data toward understanding the impact entrepreneurs have on whether positive or negative on an economy.

My Entrepreneurship Story

     An experience I had as an entrepreneur was more around the entrepreneur mindset. I was the store manager for a women’s clothing brand. The store I had taken over was a smaller volume location and had been through quite a bit of turbulent times between staffing changes and lack of team morale. Being new to the company, I had to win over my team and clientele. One goal that I set for our team was to be the best improving store for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital “Thanks and Giving” campaign we hosted every holiday season. For me it was more about creating a vision and a passion around something larger than the four walls of our store (essentially driving team morale). Our role as the store manager was to oversee the success of the campaign by collecting as many donations as possible. After being given our direction for the initiative, I made it my personal mission for our associates and clients to not only feel connected to the cause, but to possess a sense of passion for these children and their families.

     Where I had to start to my mission was transforming the thought process of my team and create a powerful connection to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s mission… “Finding cures. Saving Lives.” Connecting each individual associate to my personal vision and mission was imperative to our success. With much work and coaching, our team was set on the goal to do our best for the children and families at the hospital. After many weeks of asking for donations, educating our clients on their impact to the cause, and keeping a focus on our mission, we succeeded with raising over $6,600. (A location record with the previous year of $2650.) My team and our clients were elated to see the results.

     I had the pleasure of doing a second “Thanks and Giving” campaign in the same location. We had the same mission and vision; however, we wanted to do more for the hospital. This year we had raised our goal to strive for $10,000 (which was unheard of for the volume of store we were). My team and I were focused on our mission to create experiences that inspired our clients to give. We had a more difficult time trying to keep momentum going, and it was through those moments we found how we needed to improve or start from scratch in re-energizing our clients, and each other. After all was said and done, our store did achieve the goal with over $10,350 in donations throughout the campaign!

     To me a manager would have tried to achieve the objective and focus on the “how are we going to succeed”. After reading our Entrepreneurs’ Mantra, I realized we created an entrepreneurial mindset. We focused on with creating a need for both our associates and clients to get behind, we had taken our failures transforming them into opportunities, and maintained a vision to create a better world for those around us. Focusing on what we wanted to achieve and building up those around us created our success.

     I enrolled in ENT 3003 to figure out how to be more visionary and how to overcome setbacks. Many entrepreneurs have failures or setback, yet it is their drive that keeps them going. I would love to see how they overcame their pitfalls to become better business leaders in their fields.

(The photo above was taken during a visit to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in May 2015. The artist is a talented young patient that captured my heart.)

Introduction

Hello everyone,

     My name is Nicolas Sasser. This is my second semester attending UF through the UF Online program. My goal is to attain my Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration. Before coming to UF, I was born and raised in the northwest panhandle of Florida. I grew up in a town less than 400 people right at the Florida/Alabama state line. Does that make me a misplaced Alabamian? My parents are amazing and my inspiration to continue my education. They have been married for 42 years and raised my siblings and I, while continuing to foster parent since having an empty nest. I grew up as the middle child of three with an older sister, who has four kids, and a younger brother.  I’ve had the pleasure of traveling to a few different countries and experiencing their cultures in my teenage years. Between, Brazil, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, I’d have to say Brazil was my most favorite and want to go back at some point.

     Currently, I live in Panama City, FL and enjoy the beach life. Some of my hobbies include going to the beach, hanging out with friends, dining out, reading, and day/weekend trips. I have to say my relationship status is single; however, social media doesn’t have the ability to say that I am in a relationship with Netflix while having a love affair with Starbucks. (It’s a nasty love triangle, I know.) There have been many transitions I have made since starting back to school. I have change careers and taking more time to enjoy my friends and family. I love to try new things. After a 14 year career in the retail industry, I decided to shake things up and go into banking. I thoroughly enjoy the people I work with and my job at my branch. If I had to sum up my life in one image it would be a selfie I took of my feet in the sand overlooking the amazing beach we have here. That particular photo is a reminder that you have to enjoy life’s moments and not get caught up in any daily stresses.

Entrepreneur's Mantra

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