AT's Profile

Thank you for sharing! While the technology itself is impressive, the entire business model is a bit concerning to me. In reading this, I am not convinced that the technology is necessary (and one can easily say that much of what has been digitized in today’s world is luxury). While the HomeKit affords convenience to consumers, I wonder if it’s too convenient. More specifically, will users be forced to rely on their smartphones for basic home activities and possibly be vulnerable to safety concerns if their phone is lost, stolen, or locked inside the home? While the technology allows us to get rid of our keys and other mechanisms used in the home, it also increases our dependence on our phones and technology.

Thank you for sharing, Tuyee! While I am hopeful for mPharma’s success, I agree with your concern regarding funding for such a program. Having worked in the health-tech space in the US (and yes, I understand US healthcare prices are among the highest in the world), I would assume that rolling out a system like mPharma would be tremendously costly ($ Millions). While patients, healthcare providers, and pharmacies may be on board, cost and gaining buy-in from hospital IT services may be key bottlenecks for mPharma. Do you know if/how mPharma designed its operating model to mitigate these risks?

After reading this, I cannot imagine how much work retailers put into tracking promotions, pricing, and competition before the advent of this technology. While this seems like a very efficient way for retailers to aggregate industry data and assess themselves relative to the market, I wonder whether EDITED will ever provide this information in consumer form. Specifically, the ability to filter similar products and compare sale prices and promotions across the industry is a feature I’d pay for. While some online clothing search platforms like Shopstyle and Polyvore help with aggregating similar products and comparing price, they often partner with certain retailers and only promote specific brands. However, I would pay for an app like this that were agnostic and allowed me to scan almost any retail product SKU before I made my final purchase.

This is very interesting- thank you for sharing Joy! Given that the organization launched the Digital Cookie platform as the girls’ interests transformed, I wonder whether the Girl Scouts is interested in incorporating digital and/or engineering education in its 100+ year programming. While the business model of the organization has sustained generations and generations of girl scouts, I think it’s critical for the organization to move beyond earning badges for exploring the outdoors and selling cookies. Given the demographic shift, I wonder if the Girl Scout operating model would support incorporating programming like computer coding and/or STEM based activities for girls. If the operating model would support it, do you think it would fit into the business model or would restructuring the programming completely change the business model altogether?

This is great! I think this is a very clever way for Disney to 1. Improve the customer experience and 2. Easily gain access to consumer information. While I understand the privacy concern, I highly doubt that there is an inch of the Disneyland property that is not already under heavy video surveillance and monitoring (with or without the wristband technology). My first thought when reading this post was to use the wristbands in order to locate missing children on the park grounds. Additionally, it’s an effective way for Disneyland to increase ride utilization by showcasing wait times for all rides throughout the park and worker utilization by reassigning staff based on activity level.

You bring up several valid points- especially challenging readers to look behind the shiny Tesla to the resources that were utilized in order to mine the raw materials to create it. While I do not know much about the mining industry, I wonder whether companies are restoring the land where older mines that have been stripped of all resources used to be. While this does not completely eliminate the impact mining has on climate change, I think restoring the environment can send a signal of corporate responsibility to the public that demonizes the industry.

This is very interesting. I agree with your recommendations so far as gaining additional funding and increasing expertise in additional markets. While Plumpy’Nut has deemed to be very successful, I wonder whether the organization itself can invest funds to research alternative ingredients with similar nutritional benefits. For example, instead of nut based products, I wonder whether investigating lentil or bean based alternatives may help mitigate issues related to procurement and forecasting given challenges of climate change.

Very interesting company choice! It is easy to disregard hospitals such as Kaiser as a corporation or business that can contribute to the harmful effects of climate change since most people go to hospitals only to seek care. However, a hospital is in fact a business that has inputs, processes, and outputs very similar to the goods and service oriented businesses highlighted in other blog posts. I think Kaiser’s scale (including hospital network and insurance organization) offers an advantage to make a larger impact and set a standard for other hospitals and insurance groups to follow. However, I wonder how Kaiser is balancing certain sustainability metrics like reducing water usage, reducing waste, and increasing reusable technologies. Having working in the medical device space, I know the long term cost savings reusable products provide to institutions. However, reusable products require additional water usage (for washing and sterilization processes). On the other hand, relying simply on single-use products/devices increases incremental costs and waste. How do you think Kaiser balances these metrics that seem contradictory?

Given the popularity of soft drinks and other bottled beverages in India, I wonder whether other beverage production plants are facing similar challenges with government authorities? If so, it would be interesting to see what measures similar companies have also instituted to help mitigate the risks posed by climate change. In particular, I wonder whether Indian beverage companies like Ransa, Limca, and Thumbs up also face similar governmental scrutiny, and if so, how have they responded to these challenges compared to international companies like Coke and Pepsi?

I would have never guessed that a company like Mars employs meteorologists to predict weather patterns for supply chain purchases- it’s brilliant! It would be interesting to know whether Mars and/or similar chocolate companies have always hired meteorologists given how delicate the Cocoa plant is or if these companies began recruiting meteorologists when they noticed the effects of climate change. I also wonder what initiatives the governments of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia have instituted locally assuming that cocoa production is a high proportion of GDP and job provider in these countries.