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)

Leveraging Machine Learning at Spotify
Clark Kent
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Will Discover Weekly and other sources of differentiation allow Spotify to survive?
Nike’s 3D Printing: Just Do It
Alex Attard-Manche
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 9:31 pm
One of the world's leaders in sport innovation reveals their latest additions to 3D printing
Chasing Glory: How Ferrari S.p.A. is embracing Additive Manufacturing to Win Again
rtillman@mba2020.hbs.edu
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Tired of finishing second to its racing arch-nemesis, Mercedes, Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A is leading Ferrari's charge into the future by teaming with Renishaw, a British engineering firm that specializes in additive manufacturing (AM). Ferrari is looking to ride the wave [...]
Chariot: Changing Transit through Crowdsourced Co-Creation
ABP
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 8:51 pm
Chariot offers an innovative, yet simple solution to designing city commutes: asking their riders where they want to go.
Machine Learning: The end for America’s Most Hated Company?
CreditBureauKarma
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 7:56 pm
AI enabled alternative credit scores: A threat to Equifax?
Hackers Wanted: Crowd-sourced security at the United States Department of Defense
Christine Keung
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 11:39 pm
Data breaches and cyber attacks are becoming more prominent and less predictable. To manage ever-increasing cyber risk, the U.S. Department of Defense created a bug bounty program for security vulnerabilities and used crowdsourcing to invite hackers to break into their [...]
How machine learning will disrupt mineral exploration
Short Apple
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 6:08 pm
Goldspot Discovery Inc. is revolutionizing the mining industry by exploring and discovering mineral deposits with the aid of machine learning techniques.
iFLY uses Open Innovation to (Sky)dive into the World of Virtual Reality
Hermione
Posted on November 9, 2018 at 9:50 am
Can a growing experiential entertainment company revolutionize its product offering? Leveraging open innovation and new technologies allows iFLY to soar to new heights!
Can Additive Manufacturing become a powerful humanitarian technology?
KT
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 5:43 pm
Learn how 3D printing is revolutionizing disaster relief!
Major League Baseball and Machine Learning: Can the San Francisco Giants Compete in the Analytics Arms Race?
Omar Little
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 8:17 am
Can a storied franchise recreate itself amid the predictive analytics wave in sports?
How Stryker Hopes to Win with Additive Manufacturing
Hersh Patel
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 2:01 pm
While Stryker has launched 3D-printed medical implants in the past, it recently made significant investments in additive manufacturing technology that it hopes will make it a leader in the medical technology industry.
Ford Races Ahead in Additive Manufacturing
TOM199
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 9:58 pm
Ford has a successful track record using additive manufacturing - and a bright future ahead, with industry-leading technology and high-potential options to explore
Grupo Aval: Utilizing open innovation to build a new business model
Ignacio L
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 7:14 pm
Grupo Aval, the largest financial group of Colombia, is using open innovation to counter emerging fintech competition.
Using Machine Learning To Rule – The Chinese Communist Party
Muneeb Ahmed
Last modified on November 15, 2018 at 9:39 pm
A brief overview on Chinese government's vision for AI and its role in governance.
How Will 3D Printing Impact Sonova?
MH
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 3:08 pm
Additive Manufacturing or 3D Printing – frequently thought of as the technology that is going to make traditional manufacturing obsolete. What many individuals fail to recognize is that this technology has been around since the 1980s (1) and is far [...]
Invisalign: A Pioneer of Mass Customization through 3-D Printing
Tom Dief
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 2:12 pm
Align Technologies disrupted dentistry with Invisalign, a 3-D printed alternative to braces - but now the wide availability of additive manufacturing technology threatens their competitive advantage.
Revolutionizing an entire supply chain: additive manufacturing and the US Army
JL
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 12:36 am
The US military's logistics and distribution system is one of the largest in the world, costing US taxpayers over $34bn per year. How will additive manufacturing change the way distribution is done in the Army?
Choosy: Give the People What They Want…To Buy
ABCDEF
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Solving the billion dollar unsold inventory problem in traditional retail
AI Comes to the Magic Kingdom
Kabir Melwani
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 7:05 pm
Artificial Intelligence has started to play a prominent role in the Media & Entertainment industry, enabling companies to use data to create customized content and user experiences. While streaming companies such as Netflix have led this movement to date, no [...]
Chez Glossier: How the Millennial Beauty Brand Built a Community Prime for Collaborative Innovation
S.P.
Posted on November 12, 2018 at 5:53 pm
On a mission to democratize beauty, cult makeup and skincare brand Glossier leverages their Into The Gloss blog, social media pages, and Glossier.com platforms to crowdsource product ideas from a community of highly loyal beauty lovers - yet maintains the [...]
Machine learning as a tool to predict future earning power
David St. Geme
Last modified on November 12, 2018 at 6:03 pm
This post discussed how a machine learning algorithm can be applied to predict student earnings post-graduation.
The democratization of energy: How machine learning is empowering both the consumer and the utility
Rocco Puno
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 7:54 pm
The advent of technological advancements in the power industry is fundamentally changing how we produce and consume electricity, improving grid management as well enabling the creation of new business models: Enel Green Power ('Enel') is at the forefront of this [...]
Boeing: Additive Manufacturing Adding Enough?
Tristan Sansbury
Posted on November 13, 2018 at 7:52 pm
Boeing is a leader in implementing 3d printing processes on commercial airliners. But are they leveraging the benefits of 3d printing enough to reduce costs and manufacture more efficiently?
Predix at GE: Machine Learning in Industrial IoT
Someone
Last modified on November 12, 2018 at 4:08 pm
Predix is GE's attempt to harvest data from the industrial 'internet of things' and employ machine learning algorithms to optimize industrial systems.
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