RC TOM Challenge 2018

November 13, 2018

Read The Full Prompt

The TOM Challenge provides an opportunity for you to continue exploring organizational learning and innovation through the lens of process improvement and/or product development, the focus of RC TOM’s second module. In this challenge, you will investigate how an organization is grappling with machine learning, additive manufacturing, or open innovation. These megatrends are likely to significantly affect how organizations manage process improvement and product development in the coming years of your career. The TOM Challenge requires you to (1) conduct research and write an essay that examines how one organization is facing a particular aspect of one of these megatrends, and (2) write six comments that share your reflections on some of your section mates’ essays.

Your essay should address four questions in the context of the organization you choose:

  1. Why do you think the megatrend you selected is important to your organization’s management of process improvement and/or product development?
  2. What is the organization’s management doing to address this issue in the short term (the next two years) and the medium term (two to ten years out)?
  3. What other steps do you recommend the organization’s management take to address this issue in the short and medium terms?
  4. In the context of this organization, what are one or two important open questions related to this issue that you are unsure about that merit comments from your classmates?

Your essay should convey facts, analysis, and your recommendations. It should focus on a single organization (e.g., a single company, non-profit organization, or government agency) and a concern related to one megatrend. It is fine if the concern you choose relates to other megatrends that the organization is facing, but that’s not required. Roughly a third of your essay should be dedicated to each of the first three questions, with just a few sentences dedicated to the fourth question. Your essay should be at least 700 words but no more than 800 words, and must conclude with a word count in parentheses (such as 778 words).

When posting your essay to Open Knowledge, be sure to enter “Machine Learning”, “Additive Manufacturing”, or “Isolationism” in the Topics field.

More details on research, sourcing, deadlines, and other matters are provided in the RC TOM Challenge: 2018 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://aiinstitute.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/how-to/.

Submitted (926)

What would you do with a bounty? Decentralized collaboration on an open innovation platform
SatoshiK
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 1:18 am
Would you like to create a bounty to get your trash picked up without registering on Handy? Would you like to receive a bounty by giving someone a lift on your way home without being an official Lyft driver? Would [...]
Machine Learning in Credit Assessment at Capital One
KW
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 7:13 pm
Capital One is banking on machine learning for new product innovations, but the bank should leverage their machine learning resources to develop machine learning for credit risk assessments, using predictive technology to identify good customers using broader sets of data. [...]
Open Innovation in the NFL: Player Safety
Joffrey Baratheon
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 6:55 pm
How the NFL is using Open Innovation to address concussions
Fitbit: Will Machine Learning Help Fitbit Change Consumer Health and Regain Leadership in Tech Wearables?
Jake Chouinard
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 6:43 pm
Fitbit has recently been passed by Apple as the leader in tech wearables. In response, Fitbit has been shifting its strategy towards Healthcare aided by the use of machine learning to develop new product offerings. Will this change be enough [...]
Desktop Metal Aims to Increase Accessibility of Metal-Making Capabilities [1]
Arthur Dief
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 10:08 pm
Affordable metal 3D printing could democratize manufacturing once and for all
The Growing Market for Identifying Fake IDs
Courtney H
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 7:41 pm
As commerce increasingly transitions to digital platforms, there is an increasing market for identity verification that does not come at the expense of user experience. Companies like Jumio are leaning on advancements in machine learning to support that transition.
Stitch Fix: The Fashion Maven of Machine Learning
John Harvard
Posted on November 8, 2018 at 7:35 pm
Stitch Fix is utilizing machine learning to be your personal shopping assistant--changing the retail landscape one algorithm at a time.
3D Printing & The Future of Army Resupply in Remote Areas
Al Borland
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 9:07 am
The US Army has long struggled to resupply remote combat outposts. With advances in additive manufacturing, that need may disappear.
Additive Manufacturing…For the Body?
Georges Badawi
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 5:39 pm
Envisiontec “Additive Manufacturing”, or in simpler sexier terms, 3D PRINTING has been at the forefront of the technology and innovation discussion. Created for recreational uses, the concept of mechanically building components by adding layer over layer has expanded to construction, [...]
Straight to the Source: Open Innovation at Buzzfeed
Tyrion Lannister
Posted on November 14, 2018 at 8:34 am
Buzzfeed uses social media to stay abreast of viral trends. Can they do the same with credible news?
Robots To The Rescue of Lost Trust In Banks
MV
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 7:14 pm
Banks can regain lost trust through a virtual assistant that will be customers true ally in managing their finances
Xiaomi: Fueled by Open Innovation
vertigo
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 2:42 pm
“We must curb the tendency for greed and win absolute trust from consumers. So we’re now deliberating, I think we may write this into the company charter, that we will not, in perpetuity, exceed a certain number of percentage points [...]
What does Machine Learning mean for a technology services vendor?
The biltmore
Posted on November 14, 2018 at 12:18 am
Machine learning is disrupting Zensar's business model in the short term but also creating significant opportunities over the medium and long term
Glossier: Changing the Face of the Beauty Industry by Crowdsourcing the Magic Formula
GlossierMasker
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 3:48 pm
Glossier became the “first socially driven brand” by crowdsourcing innovation and soliciting real-time feedback from its millennial cult-following [1].
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