DZhao's Profile

I agree with most people’s views that it is short-sighted for Boeing to align with U.S. government’s protectionist policies. From a macroeconomic perspective, government subsidies and outsized tariffs negatively impact free market forces and can deter healthy competition and innovation in the industry. While this may benefit Boeing in the short term, overly protectionist policy may hurt Boeing in the medium to long run. Other governments (i.e. China and Russia) may decide to pour even more resources into developing their domestic aviation industries, leaving Boeing at a disadvantage both commercially as well as at the trade negotiations.

One consideration for governments to support the aviation industry may be for strategic purposes. The department of defense and the U.S. military could be gaining a crucial edge over other countries due to the new technology developed at Boeing. This raises interesting questions around how should one promote free-market policies in an industry with military and strategic interests.

Great summary of the content supply chain Netflix delivers to its customers. While content creation will remain a large piece of the puzzle for Netflix going forward, I see a lot of risk further downstream in Netflix’s supply chain. Thus far, Netflix has built up a large subscriber base by delivering content in great technical quality through broadband and wifi networks into consumers’ homes. The issue of net neutrality aside, as consumers inevitably continue to demand more content in better quality faster, it’s imperative for Netflix to continue to improve its delivery system.

One of the portfolio companies of my prior firm built large data centers at the edge of major urban areas so that companies like Netflix can store data closer to the end consumer and significantly reduce data transport costs. While this addresses the short-term concerns for Netflix, can this model be scalable enough to satisfy escalating future demand?

Interesting read. The situation ABI is in reminds me a lot of the IKEA case we discussed in class. Just as wood is a core part of the IKEA supply chain, water is a irreplaceable part of ABI’s business. It is smart business practice to protect the source of this supply, look for ways to reduce its usage and attempt to make the supply more sustainable for the long run. While I question the motives of ABI’s sustainability efforts, I hope they succeed in their endeavors and can influence the rest of the industry to move in the same direction.

In my opinion, consumers are willing to shift to more environmental friendly behavior, but only if the price and quality of the product makes sense. A couple of examples that come to mind is a shift towards clean energy and towards more fuel efficient vehicles. I think there could be a shift towards more environmental friendly beer or even other alcohol products, but only if price and quality are not sacrificed.

Great summary of the threats and opportunities facing sports leagues, such as MLB, as we sit at a crucial crossroads for live sports content distribution. As Josh astutely pointed out, it is only a matter of time for the traditional way of delivering content through cable to be disrupted. The big questions in my mind are 1) who will be the winners coming through the other side, 2) what will be the format, pricing, and structure (e.g. local vs. national deals) for the next generation of products, and 3) how will government regulation affect the new ecosystem, including the impact of net neutrality. Regardless of the answers to these questions, the way we consume live sports content is likely to change significantly over the next 5-10 years, and BAM is well-positioned to continue to grow and prosper under Disney’s ownership.

Very interesting take on the massively complex topic of offshoring vs. reshoring. In my opinion, most business leaders and politicians focus on the cheaper labor cost part of the equation and don’t spend enough time thinking through the ramifications of the “talent drain” as more and more STEM jobs are taken up by other countries. GE seems to have recognized this issue by retraining workers and promoting STEM education. Is this enough? Will the innovation and creation process stay in the U.S. if the manufacturing and the “front-line learning” is done overseas?

While the possibilities for autonomous vehicles for the trucking industry are essentially endless, the impact the new technology will have on the environment and climate change is particularly interesting. It’s interesting to see that techniques, such as “platooning”, can reduce fuel consumption and an organization’s carbon footprint in the short term. However, I wonder if the lowered costs from autonomous trucks will lead to higher demand for transport in the long run, resulting in net more trucks, more miles driven and a larger impact on the environment.