Evaluate the reasons for the success of two contrasting businesses

Facebook:

Facebook is undoubtedly an enormous success. It's also starkly different than it was during Zuckerberg's brief Harvard days. It's added huge numbers of new features and interface adjustments, lifted registration limitations, launched some of the world's most successful mobile apps, acquired other hugely successful apps, and it's had major shakeups in its executive team.

1. Facebook is easy to use

When people think of Facebook they also think of Twitter. They're rivals, right? Well, Facebook and Twitter are two entirely different beasts, but they both have something in common: social networking. Most people use them to socialise and network with friends, family, fans, businesses, and acquaintances. Unfortunately for Twitter, Facebook is just easier to use for most people.

Facebook doesn't do any of that. Although it now recognizes and supports @ for tagging and # for trending words, Facebook doesn't rely on them. For instance, on Facebook, you can start writing the name of a person in a status, and Facebook will understand what you're doing and allow you to tag that person. It's easy.

In fact, all of Facebook's features are easy. That's why your parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents can use it. You don't have to be a computer hacker like Zuckerberg to figure it out. And with such ease of use, millions upon millions of people have embraced Facebook and stuck with it for so long.

To use Twitter effectively, you have to understand @ symbols, hashtags and other such idiosyncrasies. These features are part of what make Twitter an ideal tool for seeing what's trending, sharing bits of information, finding news and so on. They're also what makes Twitter so confusing.

2. Constant upgrades

Facebook loves to push out upgrades to its products. Some may argue that these upgrades cause the most uproar among users, but none of them to date have actually caused the social network to haemorrhage users.

Facebook's user interface has changed repeatedly over the years, for instance. It has added a news feed, timeline, cover photo, the list goes on. Facebook clearly wants to evolve, and not just on the web. The company's suite of mobile apps also receives extremely regular upgrades. That's because Facebook is more than willing to develop and test changes, even if users groan and complain about them via a million status updates.

3. Engaging features

Facebook is addictive. And that's because Facebook has some really engaging features. The website alone offers a news feed, messaging/chat, voice and video calls, the ability to like, follow, subscribe, Marketplace and more.

Apart from the UI and product tweaks, Facebook has also repeatedly rolled out new features. Some of them - such as Facebook's Messenger platform - have become very popular, while others - such as Facebook Beacon - have fizzled into nothing. But still, the company perseveres.

4. Mobile movers

Facebook didn't waste any time moving to mobile. When numbers started suggesting a few years ago that people were using their smartphones and tablets more and more to access Facebook, the social network didn't skip a beat.

5. Buying successfully

Facebook has acquired tens of companies. The key double though, are WhatsApp and Instagram. Facebook's record purchases are the $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, $2 billion purchase of Oculus and $1 billion buy of Instagram.

6. Worldwide users

You can't talk about Facebook's success without talking about its users, and they're worldwide. Facebook has around 2.3 billion users, approximately 85 per cent of whom are outside the US and Canada. Not only are they spread out across the globe, but they also range in age and sex.

7. Forcing people to identify themselves

Facebook tries to eliminate anonymity on the web, which in turns makes it appear safe and more inviting to people from around the world. Former Facebook President Sean Parker once explained how Facebook began with colleges and forced college users to authenticate their email addresses. This limitation actually implemented a one person, one identity token practice that Facebook has roughly stuck with, though it now allows any user with a verified email to join.

8. Facebook Connect

In 2008, Faceboook announced an extension of Facebook Platform called Facebook Connect. It made it easier for Facebook users to take their online identity with them across the web, according to Zuckerberg.

It also enabled them to share what they do online with their friends and stay updated on what friends doing, without having to create separate accounts for every website or app. They could simply use their Facebook login wherever Facebook Connect was available.

A small idea like Facebook Connect is an ideal example of how Facebook just gets it right. It also suggests that Facebook is forward-thinking. Because let's be real: a company with a vision for the future has a better chance of succeeding than one that doesn't (hello, again, Myspace).

9. Going public

When Facebook went public, many people thought it was absurd. Others however realised Facebook was cementing its place in history. Facebook didn't want to become a fad site; it wanted to be around in another century or two. To accomplish such a fantastical dream, Facebook had to make a switch to probability (beyond advertising).

To be honest, Facebook is also more powerful as a public company. Facebook's cash pile ballooned quite a bit after the IPO, giving it the resources to battle giants of the internet like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, all of which have heaped mounds of cash.

10. Pivot to video

It's been shown that the huge majority of users (95 percent) retain information much more easily in a video compared to around 10 percent of users who retain it if it's written in text.

While YouTube was obviously at the forefront of the online video revolution, the growth of video on Facebook has been exponential over the last few years. According to Tubular Insights, over 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every day, while the reach of a Facebook video hugely outweighs a photo. They're staggering numbers.

Financial:

Facebook posted a net income of $10.285 billion on $33.671 billion in total revenue for the fourth quarter of its 2021 fiscal year the three-month period ending Dec 31, 2021. Approximately 97% ($32.639/$33.671) of the quarter's total revenue, or $32.639 billion, was advertising revenue. The remaining revenue contributors were the company’s Reality Labs segment and other sources.

Revenue grew 20% year over year in Q4 FY 2021 decelerating from the 35% Year over year pace of growth in the previous quarter. Net income fell by 8% year over year in the fourth quarter, compared with a rise of 17% year over year in the previous quarter. Meta’s total operating income, used as a profit metric for its business segments was $12.585 billion down 1% compared with the year-ago quarter.

DEWA:

In Dubai, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, DEWA has a clear direction for the energy sector to achieve the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of the energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. DEWA’s strategy to ensure energy security and sustainability includes three main pillars: producing more clean energy, especially solar energy; decoupling the water desalination process from electricity generation and desalinating water using Reverse Osmosis (RO) and solar energy; and disrupting the role of utilities by digitization using the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, UAVs, energy storage, blockchain, and the Internet of Things, among others. The way DEWA sets its goals to achieve contributes to the major success of its organization. We continue to implement the projects of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model globally, with a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030. We are also implementing various projects for energy storage including the use of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in the 4th phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which combines CSP and photovoltaic solar panels with a production capacity of 950MW. The project will have the world’s largest global thermal storage capacity of 15 hours, facilitating energy availability around the clock. DEWA is also implementing a 250MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Hatta, the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf region. It will generate electricity using the water stored at Hatta Dam with a storage capacity of 1,500 MWh. In collaboration with Expo 2020 Dubai and Siemens Energy, DEWA has inaugurated the Green Hydrogen project, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to produce green hydrogen using solar power. The project was implemented at the outdoor testing facilities of DEWA’s R&D Centre at the solar park.

We will continue to implement pioneering projects to diversify Dubai’s clean and renewable energy sources to include all available technologies in Dubai to achieve wise leadership’s vision for a brighter and more sustainable future for our future generations. We pledge our allegiance to the UAE and our wise leadership, guided by their insightful vision and directives. We will do our best to serve our dear country, protect its gains and ensure further achievements, so that the UAE becomes the world’s leading nation by its Centennial in 2071.

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