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ASOS: Leveraging Network Effects in High Street Fashion
elleenem
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:29 pm
ASOS closely follows pop culture through social media and is obsessed with understanding their customers’ hobbies, Facebook “likes,” and daydreams. By tapping into their consumers’ digital world, they create value by quickly producing fashion that fits into both their everyday [...]

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On December 10, 2015, LaToya Marc commented on Post-Conflict Turnaround: The Sale of a Country on a Thousand Hills. :

Such an inspiring turn around story! Incredibly strategic for the Rwanda government to take such an approach to rebuilding the nation – I am taking notes for how to repair some communities here in the US. Having the video link really allowed me to understand all that Rwanda has to offer – such a wonderful narrative of an African country, one that I would love to see and hear more of. The RDB has clearly established a very clear business model and the investments in their operating model support the system very well. I see a great future for Rwanda and I hope to visit and even invest in the country someday. My hope is that as the RDB takes on different investors and partners, they are careful to preserve the rich history and culture in Rwanda. While taking on more Western advancements and investments is necessary for economic advancement and global competition, I believe that the people of Rwanda maintaining their land, natural resources, and pride to build their own generational wealth is critical. I’d love to hear more about how the Rwanda government is also investing in the human capital, experience, and public services process for their citizens – creating true economic value in their citizens’ quality of life. I loved reading this and am excited about your passion and commitment to the betterment of your country – it’s beautiful. Very well written!

On December 10, 2015, LaToya Marc commented on Excellence in Education: Demonstrating what’s possible when a school aligns its mission, model, and operations :

Excellent example of strongly aligned business and operating models, and I LOVE that it is in the education sector! I deeply appreciate Brooke’s human capital management strategy with the clear focus on continuous improvement and professional development of teachers. Having that embedded into the culture and operations of an organization is a winning recipe for great outcomes in any operating model. While I think this is a great model, I do wonder if it is truly scalable and able to produce identical outcomes across students from all low income backgrounds. It seems like Brooke is pretty small – serving under 1,500 students – and I wonder how much of the population that they serve is truly representative of the highest need students. Could this model be replicated down south, where the opportunity gap is more prevalent due to the challenging history? I’d also be curious to learn more about their enrollment policy, discipline strategies, and parental engagement – to better understand the population they serve and context in which they have garnered such remarkable success. A criticism that I have of charter schools is there privilege to pick and choose who they teach – sending students back to their assigned schools if they have behavior challenges or their parents are not as engaged in the process; that approach tends to widen the opportunity gap rather than narrowing it. I wonder how Brooke’s operating model handles this aspect given their business model. All in all, this model is truly inspiring and I hope they are able to sustain success and growth. They are clearly creating great value for a subset of students in Boston – changing their lives by creating access to better opportunities. Lots of businesses could learn a ton from them. Great read – very well written!

On December 10, 2015, LaToya Marc commented on INSTACART: Fresh Food Fast :

I love Instacart! As a mom and full-time student, I can’t possibly explain how much value this service has created for my sanity. I appreciate that they are investing in their human capital by offering part-time positions and benefits to their delivery drivers – I wonder if Uber will take notice and follow suit. It is interesting that Mehta decided to squarely focus the scope/boundary on grocery stores first. The rationale for getting great in one market before expanding is great, but Drizly has already tapped the alcohol delivery service and I wonder if that was a missed opportunity for Instacart to tackle earlier. Overall, I agree that this is clearly a winner. I think they will have to start getting creative to keep their competitive advantage, but they are certainly ahead of the curve. Great read!