Skills Showcased 

This piece is showcasing my research and critical thinking skills. It shows this by showcasing my integration of sources in a way to a new light on a part of a company. The piece also shows how I can write about a theme. 

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Netflix is an American media production company that has been streaming online for more than a decade. However, their business model did not start off like that. At first, Netflix was a DVD rental and sales company that would mail its products to its customers. Netflix still does that, but now they have changed their model to online streaming and creating their own original content to compete with other streaming sites and Hollywood. This shift has made it an international multibillion-dollar company publicly owned company meaning that it has shareholders who are the ones to control the corporation by electing the board of directors. In addition, Netflix takes on an international accounting framework such as IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). The IFRS requires that an entity discloses the amounts used in calculating and diluted earnings per share and to the weighted number of original shares used as a denominator in tackling basic and diluted earnings per share. “IAS 33 sets out principles for determining the denominator (the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period) and the numerator (‘earnings’) in basic EPS and diluted EPS calculations.” (IFRS) Netflix does both with its stock. It makes sense that Netflix would use the IFRS as it’s now an international entity they would like to use a framework that is agreed-upon internationally. Even if it’s not used in the United States. 

The hierarchy of corporations is shareholders at the top, then Board of Directors, then president, vice president, and other officers then employees of the corporation at the bottom. “The ultimate control of a corporation rests with stockholders who control a corporation by electing its board of directors.”(Wild 491) Netflix is an interesting case because its corporate structure is somewhat diluted by the fact that employees can also own stock as Netflix gives them an option when they are hired. Netflix doesn’t hide this fact by including a spot in its annual report about employees owning stock. This shows clear transparency that the IFRS would look highly on. “IFRS Standards bring transparency by enhancing the international comparability and quality of financial information, enabling investors and other market participants to make informed economic decisions.” (IRFS) Netflix makes it very clear that their employee’s stock exercise prices are greater than the average market price of stock when excluded from the diluted calculation. In class, it was learned that companies try to make it impossible for a hostile takeover and I believe that this situation showcases that Netflix is trying to stop that from happening. Netflix is a very marketable and profitable company especially with its original content, so it makes sense that they would give their employees stock as they are in the company‘s best interest and hopefully keep any hostile takeover from happening.

Netflix is a great company to look at if you want to see a company that follows the stock requirements for the IFRS. They do their best to be very transparent about their practices in their annual report and do the procedures that are asked of them for the IFRS at least for the stock part of it. It’s also interesting to see that their corporate structure is a bit different than a lot of corporations as their employees can be stockholders themselves which puts a little bit of the power back into Netflix as employees are more than likely the ones that have Netflix’s best interest. This also keeps Netflix from getting into the wrong hands. All in all, the stock part of Netflix is annual report is a transparent one and one that gives a lot of insight into Netflix is structure.

Work Cited

IRFS. “IAS 33 Earnings per Share.” IFRS. www..ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ias-33-earnings-per-share/

IFRS. “Why Global Accounting Standards?” IFRS. https://www.ifrs.org/use-around-the-world/why-global-accounting-standards/

Wild, John. Financial Accounting Fundamentals + Connect. Irwin Mcgraw-Hill, 2015.pg. 491.

Skills in This Piece

This piece is showcasing my research skills. It shows this by showcasing my research of an entrepreneur. The piece also shows how I can write about someone. 

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When looking for someone to do this project on, I came at a roadblock. I have always had plenty of ideas for a business. I’ve got about opening up my own restaurant or starting in a place that teaches children foreign languages. I’ve always had a niche for this. This is why I was excited to do this project. However, I had to do a lot of thinking about who I want to do. I looked through plenty of people. Then it came to be the person that I want to do. Someone that was there for me since the beginning. I haven’t talked with them in years but I thought they would give me great insight into how to be an entrepreneur. The person I chose was Mrs. Lil. Miss Lily was my caretaker when I was younger. I remember when she took care of me at our house that’s when it all started. Her business or small in now after years of working at it she owns three daycares. The first ones in Ellenwood. The second one is in Stockbridge and the third is in McDonough. I thought it was very interesting and could give me a lot of insight into how do I own multiple businesses which is something I’m interested in. Thus, is why I started an interview with her. I learned plenty of things from her such as passion, research, and business skills. All of these names I asked her because I felt like they were important attributes to an entrepreneur need it and she also felt the same. Furthermore, I had also gotten more insight into how an entrepreneur needs to find a balance between all of these attributes as they can affect the outcome of the business. 

Daycare you’re all started with a passion just like most ideas. Started when she was a little girl with her mother. She enjoyed helping out and taking care of other kids. Thus, when she got older she wants to do that. It started in a little house. At first, she only had a couple of kids, but then she wanted more. However, she couldn’t do it in that small house is just too small so she had to expand. I believe there is good to start a business on a passion that you love. Makes the business venture more interesting for yourself and also make sure that you put a lot of love into it because you care about it. This is the say that ideas that are not passions of the entrepreneur can’t be good but it says that if it is your passion and you’re going to put a lot more love and work into it. That’s what I got from this interview. I can see her love and passion for the work. Is something she loves to do and something she’s been doing for years. That is a lot of passion as most people would call a job after just a few years just because they don’t like you anymore or just because they were never into it in the first place. Although, passion does affect research later on. 

When the biggest is it Mrs. Lil had run into when she tried to expand was her lack of research. She didn’t understand zoning, laws that were in place for watching children, and resources that were already at hand that could help with the funding of the business. She just thought she could just open up a business and watch children because that was all she wanted to do. This somewhat goes back to my point about passion. Passion is important but it could also cloud a person’s judgment and need for knowledge.  Was Louis should have done more judgment but her past assessable for business and her passion to do it made her feel like she didn’t really have to do much. Because of my being that comes out with a lot of entrepreneurs they believe their passion alone is just something that could make the business run. Even though I do like that idea it’s just not possible. You have to do your own research before you start a business you have to look into all the details. Even if it might come off as a little monotonous, it’s still good to have more information than less.  Of course, this will take a lot of work but you have to do a lot of work when you’re in this business.

My next question is was about how much work they did for the business; how many hours do they put in.  She laughed at this question because it was every day. Even though she now owns three daycares and plenty of employees, she still has a lot of work to do. When I came over her house she had just gotten back from the store because you need to buy more food for daycares. She also told me about how they would still call her and ask her questions about how to do this and how to do that. She wonders why she even hired them if they couldn’t even answer those questions. She also talked about savings. She said save your money when people have a business because I didn’t really save my money at first. She thought, why would I save my money when I was going to get it right back next week? She would use that money and spend it on things for the business that she thought was nice. I saw this one has a very easy lesson to learn because I understand situations may come up where I really need the money and if I didn’t save it well I wouldn’t have it. You need to spend your money on things that the business needs and not just what you would think is nice for the business. I also saw that the employees need to do their own work and not ask Mrs. Lil for advice all the time. If their job is to make decisions, then they need to make decisions. Of course, if the decisions are big, then yes you would need to call Mrs. Lil. 

The last question I asked Mrs.Lil is how would she define success? She didn’t know the answer to that question at first. She thought and let it roll in her head until she found it. She said seeing kids grow up and being something important in their lives. That answer hit me because I want to affect people’s lives with my business just like Mrs.Lil. 

Featured Image: “Millenium bridge across the Liffey” by binarydreams is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Skills Showcased

This piece is showcasing my critical thinking skills. It shows use the things I’ve learned from my business major to reflect on myself. The piece also showcases my knowledge of business. 

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I want to become an entrepreneur and writer. I want to one day start my own restaurant and other businesses around the world. Additionally, I want to write and translate books that people have never read before. The course also gives me credit for my major. Thus, it made sane to why I would take this class. It would be easy with nothing I haven’t heard before, but I was wrong. I learned a lot during my term. It made me reflect on myself and what I want out of life and my career. Parts of the course that did this the most were International Business, Project Management, Marketing, and the trip to Turner. These experiences changed the way I look at the business. I’ve learned a lot from these sessions and reflected on them, Thus, I want to share them with you. I came to Agnes Scott College wanting Student Design Major in International Business. I was very interested in how business relates to the global world. I was not able to, so I became a Business Management and Creative Writing. However, I’m still captivated by International Business.

I like International Business because I one day was to travel around the world and do business. Thus, I learned a lot from the class. There were two things that I learned from International Business. It was how culture affects business and how different governments affect business. Culture is a system of values and norms shared by a group of people. Culture is vital to learn. As people around the world don’t go by the same rule as you do because of that you have to learn concepts of culture. Folkway is one of those concepts. Folkways are ways of people. Individualism and collectivism are those ways. The U.S is individualism meaning they value the individual while Japan which is collectivism values the group. Social Mobility is the movement of the social ladder. Social levels can affect communication, thus making it hard or easy to move up or down the social ladder. Non-verbal communication is communication that doesn’t come with speaking. It can be different for different countries. Power Distance Index is the level of challenging authority. Masculinity is trait that can be seen as male and female. Uncertainty Avoidance Index is the level of taking a risk. Long term Orientation is when you are focused on the future. Time is the value of a fixed schedule. Don’t apply your culture to another culture. Tariffs are taxes levied on imports. Tariffs are placed to protect domestic production from foreign competition by raising the price of imported goods. Tariffs are also used to raise revenue for governments- until the income tax was imposed. Subsidies are government payments to domestic producers. It’s sometimes used a way to protect a new industry or industry. An import quota is a direct restriction on the quantity of some good that may be imported into a country. International Business has always been an interest of mine. I wanted to do more with it, but it did not know-how. The session really opened my eyes to International Business and opened my eyes to the countless possibles that I have in my hand. International Business is broad meaning I can go in different directions, What direction can I go in with International Business? One of them is project management. Project Management was a session that I knew nothing about. I didn’t even know what project management was. However, I learned quickly what it was and I became interested. A project is a temporary undertaking. Projects have a beginning and an end. It has a unique purpose. Projects are not done for just anything. Thus, having a specific goal. Resources are used to do the project. Activities and Schedules are coordinated and managed. Lastly, the project has risks. Good project managers talk to the employees about the goals of the project before doing the work as people come in with different goals. They help their employees is the scope of the project. The scope is the goal/ what needs to accomplish. The schedule gives the idea of what timeframe the project needs to complete. Although, it should be taken into account what the cost is for the project.

They are integrated in the triple constraint and is a fundamental principle. After the project management session, I became interested in becoming a project manager in the future. This was also the same as Marketing. I’ve been interested in Marketing for a while. Marketing has always been a creative field of business for me, so I’ve thought about going into it. Although, I did still learned a lot from this session. Marketing is to create and sell a product that people want. Five C’s is one-way Marketing to people. Five C’s are Company, Collaborators, Customers, Competitors, and Context. The four P’s are also another way. Four P’s are Price, Product, Place, and Promotion. Price is important. It’s a combination of Pricing objectives, Competition, Geographic Pricing Terms, Discounts and Allowances, Price over the life cycle, and Price Flexibility. Your target audience is determined by your Product, Place, Promotion, and Price. Economic Needs, Psychological Variables, Social Influence help people make decisions. Purchase Situations can also affect the process. As Marketers, you try to appeal to the broadest audience. There is no right answer. Buyer’s journey is the path of the buyer, It starts with Discovery. Discovery is loosening of status and committing the change. Then, it’s a consideration. Consideration is exploring possible solutions and committing to the solution. Lastly, it’s the Decision, justifying it and making the selection. Segmentation is the process of splitting people into groups. To do this you can use targeting. Targeting is focusing on a segment. Positioning is another. Positioning is differentiating yourself from the competition. The power of emotion is essential to marketing as it is thought that people can’t make decisions fast without emotions. Marketing is a combination of creativity, business, and psychology. Three things that I love and want to understand more. I’m hoping to use this in career. Possibly, for my career at Turner. Monday, August 20, the class went to Turner. At first, we did a tour. The tour was interesting as it showed me that there are more people that are running a show. It’s just a group, but a team of people from different departments, After the tour, we had a meeting with Stacey Rivers. She talked to us about Turner and corporate culture in general. Stacey Rivers taught the class B.R.A.V.E. B.R.A.V.E means be ready for various experiences. She also taught us P.I.E. P.I.E means Performance, Image, Exposure. Performance is understanding the business, develop your skills, be open to change-understand how the business will change, and know your role. Image is dressing appropriately, speak clearly, project a positive attitude, be mindful of your activities on social media-have private and professional pages, and dress for the job you want no the job you have. Exposure is raise your hand for assignment-do extra jobs you like and sometimes do jobs you don’t like, volunteer to broaden your reach-job club group and non-job club groups, eat lunch with someone new, and always use discretion-be cautious. I took those things away from the business, but also took a few big things away from the meeting such as have mentors, Face your fears, and create your own brand. Big and small things are important in business. These are things that never thought about. These are the things that I need if I want to be in the business and be successful. Overall, I feel a lot more confident about my place in the workforce.

My dream when I dream when graduate from Agnes Scott College is a jumping-off point for starting my own business. The business will start off as a small business and become other small businesses that will spend around the world. These businesses will eventually be encompassed in a corporation. Therefore, I have chosen the path of a double major in Business Management and English Literature-Creative Writing. These long-term goals are the reasons why I saw Bridge to Business as a great opportunity. Bridge the Business gave me three whole weeks to look at different fields of business. Fields that I like the most was International Business, Project Management, and Marketing. International Business is the field that hopes my career goes into one day. To do this I have to understand the culture, free trade, and foreign trade which I did learn during the session. Project Management is a field that I knew little about. Project Management is the managing of projects. I like projects; creating and running. Thus, the field seemed perfect for me as it is somewhat similar to being an entrepreneur. Marketing was a field that was already interested as it is a combination of psychology and business. The program also helped me network and educate me by professors who have been in the field for years. I met employees at Turner that taught me about the workforce. They gave me an educational perspective on how business works first hand. This program put me in a whole new environment at Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech was a new environment with new concepts that I helped me learn and explore. Overall this program, helped me develop my skills to become the best entrepreneur that I can in the future.