Business Etiquette

Hey guys,

Recently we have been discussing about business etiquette lately.

There are some important rules you should keep an eye on concerning business meetings and other things in business life. I want to share with you my Top 3 most important points:

1) Say "Please" and "Thank you"
Always say these two words, even in a very casual professional atmosphere, this basic form of courtesy is still imperative.

2) Be punctual!
Being on time schows others that you value their time.

3) Watch your language!
Be careful and choose your words wisely. Rude or offensive language is unacceptable aswell as slang.

In my opinion these three points are the most important in business, so I wanted to give you a quick insight on these. I hope I could help you master your working day with those impressions.

Yours,
Kevin

NGO's for Human Rights

International Federation for Human Rights:

(FIDH : Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’Homme)

Is a non-governmental federation for human rights organisations. It was founded in 1922 and it is the second oldest international human rights organisation worldwide.

It brings together 184 members organisations in over 100 countries.

For FIHD, transforming societies relies on the work of local actors. Therefore, FIDH’s activities aim to reinforce their capacities and their influence.

Its core mission is to defend all human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural – as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Its actions are founded on three strategic pillars: securing the freedom and capacity to act for human rights defenders, the universality of rights and their effectiveness.

Survival International:

Is a non-governmental human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples. Survival International calls these peoples “some of the most vulnerable on earth”.

Survival International is in association with the Department of Public Information (DPI) at the United Nations.

Survival has supporters in 82 countries. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the USA.

It works on three complementary levels for these people: education, advocacy and campaigns.

It also offers tribal people a platform to address the world, while connecting with local indigenous organisations.

Survival’s vision is a world where tribal peoples are respected as contemporary societies and their human rights protected.

Amnesty International:

Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization from London, which focuses on human rights. The organization claims to have over 7 million members and supporters around the world.

The stated objective of the organization is to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end abuses of human rights, and to demand fairness for those whose rights have been violated.

Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961. This organization draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws. The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "campaign against torture".

In the field of international human rights organizations, it has the third longest history, after the International Federation for Human Rights. It is also known by many people all over the world.

Fair Trade - Good or Bad?

Hi guys,

today, at school, we were talking about Fair Trade. We had to research some basic information about this topic. Afterwards we had a discussion in class where we should present the up- and downsides of Fair Trade.

I also found an interesting statistics which I wanted to show to you.
In this chart you can see the worldwide revenue of Fair Trade International products from 2004 to 2015.

H&M faces up to challenge of online competitors

Hi guys,

a few days ago, I was reading an article titled “H&M faces up to challenge of online competitors” in The Financial Times and it talks about the problems of H&M in online selling.

I thought you might be interested because almost everyone of you bought something at H&M or ordered clothes on the internet.

Basically, what the text is about is that the company H&M has to accept that more and more competitors such as Zalando, Zara or Asos are growing in their online presence while H&M gets stuck and has to face a lot of selling problems on the internet.

It is also said that H&M has to change some things in their general concept. What the author mentions here is that the company needs to offer for example free delivery and returns such as the competitors, but without a big hit to margin.

The author also mentions that analysts at Société Générale say that H&M’s operating profit margin has fallen enormously in the last ten years and will drop further in the next years. As mentioned could implementing free delivery and return help the company to rise their profit margin.

What personally surprised me the most was that the Leader of the company Mr. Persson thinks that the online business is as profitable as the physical stores.

In my opinion the online business is more profitable than stores you can go to. The reason for this is that more and more people simply just don’t want to go shopping any more or don’t have the time for this. For these people the online store is very important. I also think that H&M has to change some things to make their online store more attractive to costumers otherwise there won’t be many people any more who are going to buy things at H&M.

What do you think about this issue?

Let me know.

Fat-Free and Happy

Hey guys,

recently I've been reading an article called Fat-Free and Happy from "Time Magazine". The article talks about the clichés of America and what the country is like in reality.
I thought you might be interested to hear some facts because maybe you want to go to America one day in your life and would like to know what to expect.

Basically, the text talks about, that we Europeans think, America has a complete different culture compared to ours. The author writes about his trip to America, where he was a bit surprised that there are a lot of clichés which are simply not true. For example he talks about that the city Boston is a very elegant and educated place to live.

But the author also mentions, that some of these clichés are true aswell. In addition, the author writes about, that in America, everything is bigger starting at the shopping malls all the way to the glasses of Coca-Cola. The author also points out that Americans are very tolerant according to gays and lesbians, which in my opinion is very important.

In my mind everybody should make their own image of a country and not believe in all the clichés that are out there, even though some of them might be true.

What do you guys think about this issue?
Let me know in the comment section.

Yours,

Kevin

Ice Breakers

The other day in school, we were talking about things how to know each other a bit better.

To start a good conversation with someone it can be very important to have an effective way to break the ice.

Here are some good examples for Icebreakers:

• If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why?
• What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
• What are your favourite hobbies?
• What is your goal to accomplish during your lifetime?
• What is your favourite meal?
• Who would you like to talk to (celebrity, ...) and which question do you want to ask him/her?

The 8 Companies that love Valentine's Day

Hi guys,

recently we were talking about Valentine's Day in school. We were reading an articel about companies that make the most profit around the time of Valentine's Day.
So I'd like to share some of my thoughts with you.

Companies that make the most profit are ones which are selling flowers or other presents for example 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. or Tiffany & Co.
But also Limited Brands Inc. makes a lot of profit with their lingerie products from Victoria's Secret. There are also a few other companies that are doing very well during this time.

I think that it could be a bit of a problem, that these companies are almost only making profit during this time and during the other time of the year almost none, except very few companies. But you have to say that these companies are making so much profit that days, the profit is almost even with other bigger companies.

So that's what I wanted to share with you, I hope there are some things you can agree with and feel free to comment your thougts.

See you!