First Russian woman in International Space Station

Week Beginning 22.09.2014

BBC News posted an article about a 38 year old engineer, Yelena Serova, who launched of on Friday to the ISS as the first Russian woman. This is the first time since 17 years that a woman from Russia was send to space. The last woman at the International Space Station was the astronaut Karen Nyberg from the US in 2013. This mission is a cooperation of the Nasa and Roscosmos (USA and Russia), where the astronauts and cosmonauts will stay at the ISS for six months.

Ms Serova was trained the last seven years for this role. She is the fourth Russian woman in space and at a conference she mentioned that she feels great honour and responsibility for this role and towards the people, who trained her.
Adding to that Serova was asked several times about how she will take care of her hair in the orbit. She replied very cleverly and asked why they were not interested in the hairstyles of her male colleagues. Furthermore some reporters asked how her eleven year old daughter will handle her absence. All in all she said that this was her job and that she prepared for it a long time. This mission comes amid political issues of Russia and the US.

This article shows clearly that women are in business nowadays, but it also states the thoughts of society. Serova was asked several times about her hair and how she will handle it in space, because most of the people in society don't associate a woman with space. I personally think asking these kinds of questions is not bad, but I wonder why her male colleagues were not asked the same questions.
The article of BBC News also links to the current situation of the USA and Russia. That is why I find it pleasing to hear that they are having a cooperated mission. Furthermore this article links to the change if women in society and business. Women are working nowadays, also in mens profession. Although the first woman in space was also from Russia in 1963, people still dont take it for granted.

Burger King Sells Gay Pride Whopper

US TODAY posted an article by Bruce Horovitz about Burger Kings new campaign supporting gay rights. For the 44th annual San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade the company offers the Proud Whopper, which does not differ from the usual Whopper except the rainbow coloured wrapper saying on it "We are all the same inside". Burger King even saw people keeping their rainbow wrappers. Burger King also sponsored the Gay Pride Parade for the first time, where they sold burgers to participants and passed out Burger King rainbow crowns.

The Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management at Burger King said that this campaign shows who they are as brand and what they stand for. Burger King believes in self expression. their new slogan: "Be your way". Through this campaign Burger King can easily connect with their customers, mainly because gay rights are a strong issue all over the world.

All Proud Whopper sales will be donated to Burger King McLamore foundation, where Burger King gives out scholarships to students.

So far they have only had good responses from customers and supporters saying that it is a great marketing strategy and shows that the company understands the diversity of the topic. If a big company supports gay rights it makes a difference and can chnage minds.

This campaign is a very good investigation and a great way for marketing. Especially if a company like Burger King supports gay rights, people will think differently about it. Ethics are a huge part of business, because companies use donating and ethical business behaviour for marketing. Many companies also donate money to help others and try to encourage others to do the same. I think this campaign is a great idea and should be continued in the future to give gays more support and change peoples mind about this topic. If Burger King support them others will too in the future.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/07/01/burger-king-gay-pride-burger-parade-fast-food-gay-rights/11903861/

Tunisia's Video Game Business: Digitalmania

BBC News posted an article called "Tunisia's first video games boss's global ambition" by Naveena Kottoor, telling the story of the 31 year old Walid Sultan Midani.
He is the Founder and chief executive of Digitalmania, which is Tunisia's first video game company. He already was interested in video games since his early years of childhood and has a degree in information technology. When he graduated from university he wanted to start his own business, but struggeled with his start up capital, because the Central Bank of Tunisia has a limit on converting foreign currencies to and from dinars (Tunisia's currency). Therefore Walid could not use crowdfunding websites and had to get finacial support from his family. The company had a tought first year. This was mainly, because of financial issues and the political situation in Tunisia in 2010 (Arab Spring).
18 months later, 2011, Digitalmania got a business loan from the BFPME Bank and they could officially launch. Today they have created 34 video games, four of them under their own name. 99 % of their revenue is mainly achieved in foreign countries like Germany, Italy, UK and France. They are still a small business with only 13 employees, but Walid Sultan Midani hopes to expand his company and works towards a successful video game like Candy Crush or Angry Birds.

Walid Sultan Midani's story shows the advantages and disadvantages of establishing an own business and being a sole trader. It also relates to a cultural aspect, because his conditions in Tunisia are not the same as in the MEDCs, due to the Arab Spring in 2010.  I personally think it is an interesting article, because it is the first video game company in Tunesia. It shows every hard beginning of a company and that it is possible to start up an own business with an idea and hard work.

Tunesia's first video games boss's global ambition, n.d. photograph, viewed 7 September 2014,
<http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28837004>.