RC TOM Challenge 2017

November 15, 2017

Read The Full Prompt

The TOM Challenge provides an opportunity for students to learn more about supply chain management by exploring how organizations are grappling with some megatrends: climate change, digitalization, and the growing influence of isolationist political movements on international trade policies.  These 700-800 word essays should address four questions:

  1. Why is (or should) your particular aspect of one of these megatrends be of concern to the management of the organization you have selected?
  2. What is the organization’s management doing to address this concern in the short term (the next two years) and the medium term (3–10 years out)?
  3. What other steps do you recommend the organization’s management take to address this concern in the short and medium terms?
  4. What are one or two important open questions related to this concern in the context of the organization you selected that you are unsure about, which merit comments from your classmates?

When posting your essay to Open Knowledge, be sure to enter “Climate change”, “Digitalization”, or “Isolationism” in the Topics field.

More details on research, sourcing, deadlines, and other matters are provided in the RC TOM Challenge: 2017 note.  For assistance with the Open Knowledge platform during business hours (9:00 am – 5:00 pm M-F), email openknowledge@hbs.edu. A short video with instructions on how to post an essay to this platform is available at https://goo.gl/yyXK2H.

Submitted (924)

Beating the Global Hunger Crisis through Digitalization
Anonymous Fuego
Last modified on November 16, 2017 at 7:04 am
Are the government and the United Nations the only means to solve global hunger? Maybe not.
Personalized Medicine, Personalized Supply Chain?
Author
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 8:49 pm
How will digitalization help manufacturing of Car-T cell therapies scale when patients are part of the supply chain?
UnitedHealth: Losing Ground to New Entrants
Faraz Ka
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 8:54 pm
UnitedHealth group struggles to defend its core business from the new digital startups like Oscar Health and Bright Health
Climate Change and ABI
MeghanK
Last modified on November 12, 2017 at 9:49 am
Global beer company AB-InBev has made great strides over the past few years to address global climate change's affect on their supply chain.
Youngstown City School District: Modernizing The Yellow School Bus
Sana
Posted on November 12, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Leveraging digitization to create safer transportation for students
Healthcare – Where Supply Chain Digitalization is Life or Death
Healthcare Enthusiast
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 9:04 pm
How supply chain digitalization in healthcare can change the competitive landscape
Will RFID Revolutionize Retail (at last)?
EHM
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Levi Strauss & Co. is increasing its investment in RFID technology to revolutionize its supply chain with nearly 100% inventory visibility [7].
Netflix Can’t Afford to Chill: Content Wars in Digital Streaming
Artemis
Last modified on November 13, 2017 at 11:11 pm
As Netflix faces increasing competition from fellow media titans, can its original content production supply chain become a competitive advantage?
CAN VERTICAL FARMING REDUCE AGRICULTURE’S IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE?
ClareSimonis
Posted on November 14, 2017 at 1:18 pm
Can Plenty, Inc. scale the vertical farming model and combat agriculture's impact on climate change?
If you build it, will Tariffs come? BMW in the World of Trump
Robert Blume
Last modified on November 14, 2017 at 5:13 pm
President Trump has threatened manufacturers with a 35% import tariff if they build factories abroad. How does BMW convince the President and other politicians that protectionist trade policies hurt American workers?
Textron Marine and Land Systems: Technology of the future, IT of the past
MilBrat
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 4:14 pm
A military vehicle company with 80 years of experience faces tough decisions on how to improve production planning systems after significant financial losses.
CMA CGM: digitalization in the container shipping industry
student123456
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 9:17 pm
The container shipping industry will undergo major digital disruption over the next 50 years. Is CMA CGM - a worldwide shipping group headquartered in France - on the right track?
Tata – Leading the way in dealing with Steel’s black sheep?
Nico K
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 6:34 pm
Who should take the lead advancing the response to climate change in the heavily polluting industry? Should it be community focused Tata Steel, who will risk pricing themselves out of a commoditised market, or majority producers China, who have not [...]
Tesla Versus the World: Can Insourcing Beat Outsourcing?
Melon Eusk
Posted on November 13, 2017 at 4:37 pm
Tesla has chosen to produce their parts and products in-house. Will this start a new manufacturing trend or lead to the demise of the company?
Vertical Urban Farming: The Food Supply’s Savior from Climate Change?
Stephen Lantz
Posted on November 14, 2017 at 6:40 pm
Will new startups focused on high density urban farms save us from increasing prices and the environmental impacts of increasing farmland conversion?
Is Amazon Prime Driving Unrealistic Customer Expectations?
Kimberly
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 9:58 pm
Speed and low prices are driving recent eccomerce retail strategies - but is Amazon setting them up for failure in the future with their Amazon Prime program?
Hitting Guac Bottom: Agricultural Consequences if Climate Change gets Avocontrol
GF
Posted on November 14, 2017 at 10:37 pm
Avocados are the newest trendy food - but will climate change eventually make them extinct?
Can Blue Apron Compete Against Digital Giant Amazon?
Sonia Elavia
Posted on November 14, 2017 at 11:12 pm
If Blue Apron can innovate their supply chain and go fully digital, they might have a fighting shot against Amazon's meal kit delivery service.
Hawaiian Electric’s Supply-Chain Transition to 100% Renewables
EMC
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 6:39 pm
How will Hawaiian Electric Industries, the largest utility in Hawaii, achieve the state's goal of 100% renewable generation by 2045 while continuing to deliver reliable and affordable service to its customers?
Drugs, Digitized: Merck Leads Pharma’s Delayed Adoption of Supply Chain 4.0
Marissa Dearing
Last modified on November 14, 2017 at 3:12 pm
Forget self-driving cars - Merck looks to create a self-driving supply chain with artificial intelligence calling the shots
bext360: Blockchain for the Coffee Suppl(AI) Chain
-
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 12:25 am
bext360 develops technologies to streamline critical global commodity supply chains. Its platform, “bext-to-brew”, is transforming the coffee industry by utilizing blockchain, IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Trade wars for aircraft OEMs: Can Boeing keep cruising?
Lynn Nehme
Last modified on November 14, 2017 at 5:27 pm
International trade has "democratized" the aircraft industry. Can major players sustain control over an increasingly global supply chain and survive the threat of international OEMs?
Water Usage in Onshore Oil and Gas: Pioneer Natural Resources Leading the Way
Richard Richardson
Last modified on November 16, 2017 at 12:26 am
Pioneer Natural Resources: Leading the Way in Onshore Oil and Gas Water Use Responsibility
Made-To-Order: Can Zara Make the Shift to True Mass Customization?
aapl
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:59 pm
Arguably the original “fast fashion” retailer, Zara has been lauded for its products’ speed-to-market and in many respects, is an exemplar of the digitalized, vertically-integrated supply chain. However, with customers increasingly demanding one-of-a-kind, bespoke products, Zara must begin to invest [...]
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