Digital music service Spotify has released its own Spotify Apps platform. By using it developers and media partners will be able to build apps which run in the company’s desktop application. According to Spotify’s chief executive Daniel Ek these apps will bring more effective features including better recommendations, ticketing and editorial content to the service, with partnering companies, like the Guardian, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Songkick, Last.fm and TuneWiki.

Spotify’s new platform is going to influence on the competition between Spotify and Apple’s iTunes. The trick is that Spotify is trying to become an open platform similar to Facebook whereas the iTunes system is more closed instead.

The new Spotify apps will work for the Spotify’s desktop clients. However, according to Ek the mobile services may be added to the platform of apps within the coming few years as well. The apps will be available to free and paying users of the service. Instead, the developers can not charge for them yet.

I find this subject very interesting and I’m looking forward for more news of development in the scene of digital music services. Spotify is obviously going to grab the leading position in the competition with Apple, since turning the Spotify platform into a Facebook-style open service will help to get more users with the help of social networks, which are going to be made.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2011/nov/30/spotify-apps-platform

Everyone, who has watched news, has sure heard the term credit rating. The credit rating agencies such as Moodys, Standard&Poors or Fitch has lots of power in the world today. Only these three actors are determined by the U.S. legislators to set the ratings to the organizations. The credit agencies are paid for their customers who wants to get acces to watch rating information.
These companies determines for how easily some company or a Country can get a loan and what is the expected interest to the loan. It affects much to dairy life of the countries and corporates. Almost every country have loan. The price of the money affects the budget of countries and that way money is major part of the politics also. Credit rating agencies are for creating information that how sure the certain institution will pay the loan back. The investors which are loaning money, for example as in bonds, wants to know how sure they will get the interest and the capital paid back. “Before you can get a credit card, banks run a credit check on you. Similarly, the ratings agencies run credit checks on companies, countries and financial products“.
Germany has a top credit rate (AAA) so it means that it has to pay low interest for its loans. Actually lately its interest for the short term loan has been negative. This means that investors are willing to pay for that they can get their money safe to the Germany. For example, in Greece during last years, investors wake up for its situation and started to sell their Greece-bonds. That lead a whole country into chrisis because they had to pay more and more interest to the bonds and got their bonds rated as junk bonds and now those bonds are almost worthless. That way the situation affects to corporations which have invested money to these bonds, for example French and German banks.
It has been criticized that these rating companies had starring role in the financial chrisis and they have fed the global mania against the risky investments. Critics also note that the agencies are paid by the very entities they rate, raising questions about their trustworthiness. The agencies invoke to the thing that it’s up to the markets to decide for themselves what to do with that information.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/06/business/eu-sp-eurozone-explainer/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

http://www.taloussanomat.fi/rahoitus/2012/01/09/historiallista-saksa-myi-velkakirjojaan-miinuskorolla/201220547/12

Politics. It is there more often than one would think. And it comes in many forms. It is not always tied in politicial parties or decision making that happens in Arkadianmäki, Helsinki. Have you ever thought in class that the studybooks could be more updated or why it is so hard to get an appointment with the school nurse? If you have, congratulations, you just scratched the surface of studentpolitics and it’s educational and social sides. As human beings, we all have agendas, plans and goals. We try to get others on our side, convince them with our reasons and have things done the way we see the best. The point is to have influence on decision making. Politics is based on that.

What about the political parties then? Why so many think that it it something that feels far and unreachable? Not to mention that it feels dry and uninteresting.  Basically, they are just a group of same-minded people who have the same picture in their heads how things should be. Their work done is based on values that are closest to them. Values and goals are also the things that make them different. A decision needs to be made. Opinions about how, when and why vary. Kansanvalta.fi tells shortly how and why political parties work and what they are for.

There might be plenty of more reasons, but these are the ones that I have come across:

- Will that mean I’ll get a certain stamp on my forehead if I  join?
- Do I have to agree on everything that has been already decided?
- Why would I even do anything, will it even matter?
- Why to even care about such things?

I personally don’t feel that way. I don’t see a stamp or a glowing sign above me. No one wouldn’t even know unless I open my mouth and tell them about my opinions. Most certainly I don’t agree on everything that people I work with agree on. Instead I can speak up and make them see things how I see. It depends on ones own decisions.

And it will matter. Even the smallest things can make the difference. It will take time and effort. But it needs only  a really short moment and the effort of just raising your hand and asking. And why care? Simply because those things will show in our daily life. Even when we don’t even notice it.

So, is it so? How do you feel about it?

Sources: http://www.kansanvalta.fi/

Various discussions with students who are active in either studentpolitics or member in different political parties.

Piracy over internet has become a way to reach great amount of people,  because of it’s low expense. Therefore nowadays it is an powerful tool to marketing experts all over the world.  Amazon for example which sells all kind of goods, virtual and real has became a place where pirate items can raise your items value. Good example is the children’s book: Go F**k to sleep, which was leaked in internet before it was published. Leak caused the book to be an internet joke, and the PDF file circulated amongst internet users and getting more google hits than ever.  This leaded to nr.1 ranking in amazons  most interesting e-books. Because of the demand, they published an real book, with cover design and elegant illustrations.

Book authors got marketing worth over 1000 00$ , just with common user interest in facebook and other social medias. Is that a bad thing?

And the link to the famous product  http://www.amazon.com/Go-F-Sleep-Adam-Mansbach/dp/1617750255
“a new bible for weary parents” -new york times

-Tarmo Ranta

sources: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2011/tc20110516_746484.htm

IKEA is a Swedish furniture shop which offers well-designed and functional home furnishing products. IKEA wants to keep their prices so low that allmost anyone are able to buy their products. This ideology follows IKEA’s every step from raw material choices to selling products.

History

The story of IKEA starts in 1926 when Ingvar Kamprad the founder of IKEA is born in Småland. Kamprad started to do business by selling matches when he was only 5-years-old. In 1943 Kamprad established IKEA. The name ‘IKEA’ comes from Kamprad’s name (I.K) and from his birhtplace (Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd). At first Kamprad sold ballpoint pens, wallets, frames, clocks, jewellery and nylon socks. In 1948 the furniture came along. Consumers liked the furniture so Kamprad decided to expand his collection. In 1950′s IKEA published it’s first catalogue. In 1956 IKEA’s staff invented the space-saving packing system which has been the main reason for IKEA’s success. The first IKEA department store in Sweden was established in 1958 and the first IKEA restaurant came along in 1960.

In 1960′s IKEA started to expand it’s business to foreign countries. At the same time IKEA developed new products as an answer to demand. Many of these products are still available in IKEA’s department stores. In 1980′s IKEA started to invest in regular customers by developing customer club called IKEA FAMILY. In 1990′s they created an environmental policy which guarantees that everything that IKEA do is done with environmentally friendly methods. Shopping by Internet came possible in year 2000.

IKEA nowadays

Nowadays IKEA has 287 department stores in 26 countries and 127 000 employees. It’s annual sales were 23,1 billion euros last year. All IKEA’s deparment stores work by franchising. IKEA’s vision is to create a better everyday life. IKEA’s Swedish roots play an important role in IKEA’s everyday business. Also every product IKEA sells is designed in Sweden. IKEA uses entirely it’s raw materials so that nothing goes to waste.

Why IKEA has achieved so large success?

Our opinion is that IKEA has created it’s success very wisely. We think that the most important issues have been the innovative packing system and concentrating on offering low-priced products. Also the timeless design of products has probably influenced IKEA’s success. IKEA invests in continuous development and tries constantly answer to customers demand. We think that IKEA is a great example of a Nordic success story.

Elina W. & Elisa V.

Sources:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/fi_FI/about_ikea/index.html

Picture: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/798823

Piracy is a huge phenomenon and international problem around the world right now. China seems to be the worst case of scenario. Piracy seems to flourish there and they try to copy everything from electronic appliances to furniture. They even tend to copy a whole concept of a certain company’s business. This problem is getting bigger and bigger and the ‘thieves’ are getting more arrogant every day.

For example Ikea is now struggling with Chinese piracy. According to Kauppalehti’s article “Kiinan piratismi yhä roisimpaa: Nyt käydään oikeutta Ikea-kopioiden patenteista” the Chinese are trying to patent their copies of Ikea furniture! This proves how rough the piracy and copying is nowadays. It’s not enough that they steal the ideas of somebody else’s product, but they are actually trying to get benefits with their fake patents and products.

We are amazed that the government of China hasn’t intervened to this injustice. They have allowed this problem to go on too long. We don’t know if the government has tried to stop this, but if it has, it’s failed miserably. It is understandable that it’s difficult to supervise the copying of small electronic devices, eg. mobile phones that are sold in the street markets. It’s almost funny how local fast food restaurants have so obviously stolen the logos and appearance of multinational companies like McDonald’s and KFC. From a long distance it looks like there were a KFC restaurant (Kentucky Fried Chicken) but when you get there, you notice that the sign really says ‘OFC’ (Obama Fried Chicken) with Barrack Obama’s face in it.

The piracy is also reducing the will to found a business in Chinese markets. Big international companies are hesitating to go to China and some of them have withdrawn from the markets because of piracy. It’s understandable due to the competition being unfair and the biggest competitor is the piracy companies that can sell their products in a ridiculously low price. In our opinion the withdrawing is the best option for all the companies that want to put an end to piracy. In this way other countries could put some pressure on to the government of China and make them do something concrete to stop the madness!!

Sources:

http://www.kauppalehti.fi/5/i/talous/uutiset/etusivu/uutinen.jsp?oid=201204146613

Pinja Viitanen and Perttu Anttila LT09S3

Finnish banks have made collaboration
with foreign banks and financing markets since 1950. At first it was mainly
about money transmissions and trade financing. In the 1980 when national financing
markets opened and restrictions decreased, trade abroad increased rapidly.
Capital started to move fast from country to another and investments were made beyond
borders. In 1984 The Bank of Finland allowed banks to set up branch offices and
subsidiaries to other countries and that helped Finnish banks to operate
abroad. We might think in that way internationalization of banks is kind of
young business, since it has operated fully only 30years. Huge effect for
Finnish banks was the Euro in 1999 when they started to use it as account
currency and in 2002 every transaction was made in Euros. Now so many EU countries
are also part of monetary union and 17 countries are using Euro as their
currency, so the banking inside these countries is much easier.

Pohjola is responsible of OP-Pohjola’s
international services like financing-, investment-, cash management- and
transaction solutions. Pohjola’s largest market is The Baltic Countries and
Russia, because they are the main partners with Finnish companies. Pohjola
wants to provide close service also for Finnish companies abroad. The idea of
Pohjola operating in other countries is usually partnership with reliable and
trustworthy banks in target country. The research before partnership is made
very carefully so that customers from Finland may rely on the service no matter
what is the location in the globe. Pohjola is participant in Unico-group which
is a group of cooperative operating banks in Europe. So it is doing close
collaboration with France, Germany, Italy, Netherland and Austria. Pohjola is
developing their international actions continuously, and companies are the main
focus who they want to provide easy service abroad.

The new conquer is China. China has increasing
markets and many Finnish companies are going to expand their operations in
there. So the banks must follow rapidly to offer their clients the best
possible service. Pohjola has made a partnership agreement with The Bank of
China to set up a branch in their premises in Shanghai. Mutually The Bank of
China can set up their branch in Helsinki. This is a huge collaboration, because
it is first of a kind with China and Europe and it gives Finnish companies lots
of benefits in Chinese markets. Language barriers and culture know-how is
easier to handle this way. This is a huge benefit for companies who want to go
on increasing Chinese markets; in many cases it lowers the barrier to entry.

Author: Paula Metsänen, IB112

References:

Picture 1: https://www.pohjola.fi/pohjola?cid=391250921&kielikoodi=en&srcpl=4

OP-Pohjola, Pohjola makes more collaboration with The Bank of China, 29 March 2012(trans), viewed 4
April 2012 <https://www.op.fi/op/op-pohjola-ryhma/uutishuone/?id=80300&srcpl=1#/uutiset/3140/pohjola_tiivistaa_yhteistyotaan_bank_of_chinan_kanssa!1333568007>

Pohjola, bank operations, international actions, updated 14 March 2012
(trans), viewed 4 April 2012 <https://www.pohjola.fi/pohjola/konserni/liiketoiminnot/pankkitoiminta?id=353110&srcpl=3>

Anne Turkkila, 31 July 1992, The Bank
of Finland discussion papers, Finnish
banks internationalization (trans), Helsinki 1992