AF's Profile

Interesting read! I agree with you in the fact that one of the most important challenges JLR will be facing is attracting talent. With such amount of competition, and in an industry that is at the verge of disruption, I would definitely be worried about talent retention. I do not believe that partnering with Uber or Alphabet is very feasible, considering they are already working with other car manufacturers, but if I were JLR I would look into new products and markets. In a similar fashion to Volvo and Mercedez, which produce other types of vehicles. I would think about building those in other markets, away from the UK in order to diversify my portfolio and mitigate some of the risk.

I think Trump’s measure will be more harmfull than helpful to the American jobs as you suggested. Even though the impact on Mexican plants in huge, the labor expertise in Mexico and the infrastructure is already in place, and if not Ford, there are other international manufacturers that could use mexican labor force. Just as suggested, instead of increasing american jobs, these will only shift to China. I think the best move Ford has to move is lobby against the change and really work with NAFTA negotiators in order to ensure an outcome that will be favorable for all parties.

Really interesting. It was very surprising to read that Shake Shack has only 5 beef suppliers. Eventhough I understand it is part of their customer promise I find it difficult to believe there is only 5 good beef suppliers in the markets where Shake Shack is expanding. One of the first things I would do is to actively look for more – quality proven – suppliers. If management decides there is actually no supply available, I would partner with my supplier to increase capabilities and prevent a complete shortage of supply.

In therms of the app, while I believe that the app is a nice feature for Shake Shack to have I think the problem will remain if they only do that. Most of the app orders will still come in rush hours, and if you don’t improve your process inside the store, people could start receive cold burgers or still wait in line, even if they pre-ordered.

Interesting to read how 3D printing can affect a company like DHL, especially how big the threat is. I would really like to dig deeper into DHL number’s to see how much or their revenue comes from shipping things that can eventually be 3D printed. Considering it is an important figure I would definitely be thinking in how to best serve the portion of the market that can not be 3D printed. I do not believe DHL should enter the 3D printing business, especially for the mentioned risk of proprietary information that seems unlikely to be shared. Looking into the future, DHL should be thinking in how to differentiate itself from a customer service, operational effectiveness and overall supply chain perspective in the products that cannot be disrupted by this technology. If they play ahead of the game, they can prevent some of the impact.

This article was such an interesting paradox. The surfers who are “consuming” the surfboards are endangering their own surf-spots in the long term. It was very interesting to read about this connection. I believe Firewire is doing a great job in trying to address this issua, but the impact that surf – as a standalone sport – can have in climate change is fairly limited. If I was Firewire I will try to seek partnerships with other sports such as water-skiing, kitesurfing, sailing, etc.. (or even going further with more traditional sports) in order to create an impactful campaing that raises awarness in people about the consequences of their own products. One example I can think of is water-skiing. Eventhough there is debate whether water-skiing has a neutral, positive or negative impact on climate change, alliances can be formed between different sports to raise awarness, promote acological products and eventually safeguard their “playing fields”

Thanks for the insight. It is surprising to realize how impactuf a shortage of cocoa could be for companies like Hershey’s and how they need to plan ahead in order to prevent a complete shortage or extremely high prices for the raw materials. I liked the ideas that Hershey’s is already implementing, like the distribution of better trees and trainig the farmers. I see how this can help Hershey’s directly but also improve the queality of the product in general.

Thinking about the shortage of supply, and adding to the previous proposed ideas of looking for other places in which to invest and plant trees, I believe Hershey’s should be focusing on one of your last thoughts: attracting new farmers to cocoa production. By building cooperatives of small farmers in different markets Indonesia, Brazil or Mexico for example, Hershey’s could work with local governements to locate areas with underutilized land or resources, where farmers could grow cocoa (and where they might not be aware of it). Also, at the management level they should be thinking about operational effectiveness to reduce their costs, just in case the shortage is unevitable and prices do increase to an unexpected level.