HBS2018's Profile

Interesting post, Reilly! I actually met with Marty Walsh in his office last year and he was showing my group all the data he has been collecting on Boston, but I didn’t know that it extended to the fire department! As someone who has a few friends who work as fire fighters, I think this is a great step in making their jobs safer! I think that having the blueprints and data is great, but I was wondering if there were any technology advances that could help the firefighters once they were on the scene. One of the biggest problems with fighting fires is that fire can be very unpredictable. While the data on hazards will be super helpful, I wonder how often it will be updated, and even if it is updated everyday, there can and will be surprises on the scene. It turns out that the Melbourne fire dept has begun using a quadrocopter, which is a “remotely controlled aerial camera platform capable of hovering above fires, detecting hotspots and sending real-time vision back to a central control station” [1]. I think that this will be helpful in allowing the firefighters to see exactly what they’re walking into, when they walk into it.

[1] http://www.suasnews.com/2011/01/melbourne-firefighters-deploy-quadrocopter/

Interesting post! This kind of reminded me of the Team New Zealand case in that the simulations allowed them to test different iterations before having them made. I think that the digital age will have a significant impact on airplanes in the future. With the modeling and 3D printing capabilities that will available in the future, I foresee airplanes becoming lighter, faster, safer and cheaper. In fact, I was curious if there were plans to make solar powered airplanes, and there has already been an around the world trip powered only by the sun [1]. The use of solar technology could have a huge impact on an industry that is so dependent on oil.

[1] http://www.solarimpulse.com/our-story

Interesting take on Target. I think that the business that is most threatened by Amazon is Target’s apparel business. I read online that Target does 19% of its business on apparel vs. 7% for Amazon, but that by 2020, Amazon will increase to 19% as well [1]. If Amazon were to become a major player in apparel, Target would definitely need to change its strategy. For starters, Target would need to re-brand its apparel brand as its own stand-alone brand that consumers seek out instead of a brand that consumers happen upon. In addition, Target is going to have to ramp up its in-store experience for its customers. This will mean creating an experience for the customers from the second they walk through the door. If they’re not able to do this, and if Amazon ever decides to open brick and mortar stores, Target is in real trouble in the future.

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/morgan-stanley-reveals-amazon-is-crushing-target-2016-5

Interesting post, Nancy! I agree with “Milkman”, I didn’t know that the Yellow Pages were still around. I actually find it shocking that 40% of people still use it once a month, I thought that number would have been less than 10%. I will say, I am impressed with their will to survive despite being irrelevant in the digital age. Looking at the numbers, it definitely looks like they need to continue selling the hard copies of the yellow pages to actually grow, but I don’t think counting on the 60+ year olds is the way to go. That generation is becoming more tech-savy and the ones who aren’t will probably not be around for long, unfortunately. Instead, I think YP needs to focus on growing their digital section and increasing the money they make off it. One idea is to completely re-brand and just focus on being a marketing/advertising consulting company. I think they could still print the hard copies (as long as it’s profitable) but that is where their focus should be.

Interesting post, Michael Alan! I agree with you that body cameras are not the correct long term solution and that police officers need to focus on training and trust, but in the short term, especially with Donald Trump winning the election, I’m extremely concerned for people of color in America. Despite the fact that stop and frisk was considered unconstitutional, Trump is a strong supporter of a national roll out [1]. This, combined with his “Restoring Community Safety Act” from his 100 day plan which plans to “reduces surging crime, drugs and violence” [2] makes me a strong proponent of body cameras. While I don’t believe that it will change much in terms of behavior, I hope that it will help in terms of prosecution. However, my biggest problem with body cameras is the fact that officers have the ability to turn them off and on. There have been many documented cases over the last few years of officers being heard saying “turn [the camera] off” [3] or simply not having the camera on when participating in something that they know they can get in trouble for. While the amount of data that would be collected is an issue, I think that the cameras should always be on and be streamed to an off site location for 48 hours. If, during that 48 hours, something happens that needs to be reviewed, that video could be downloaded and saved, if not, it would automatically be deleted. I don’t think it’s a perfect plan, and it’s definitely an expensive plan, but in comparison to the price of life, I think it’s worth a shot.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/09/28/trumps-false-claim-that-stop-and-frisk-was-not-ruled-unconstitutional/
[2] http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days
[3] http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-turn-body-cams-stomp-suspects-neck/

Interesting article, Amrita! I agree, I think given the platform that Disney has, and the impact they’re having on our planet, they can definitely do more! While I think partnering with foundations that support their mission is a start, I wonder if they could also include it in their movies. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen the movie Ferngully (it’s a cartoon movie about a logger who gets shrunk to the size of a fairy in the Australian rain forest and he has to work with the other fairies and things in the forest to protect their home from other loggers and pollution) but it’s 100% a PSA on climate change and I watched it as a child having no idea that not only was I being entertained, but I was also being educated about the impact of climate change and the impact that humans are having on our rain forest! I also think that Avatar did a good job of showing the dangers of entering other people’s (or animal’s) home and exploiting it to get what we (the corporations want). I think these types of “advertisements” on the dangers climate change are a step in the right direction and something that Disney can also adapt.

Interesting post, Nancy! I never knew that two countries produced most of the world’s chocolate! I think the suggestions you made are great, but I also wonder if Hershey could take a page out of Indigo’s book and genetically modify the cacao bean to be able to flourish in the warmer and more volatile climates. They could then use meteorologists to understand how their climates will change and get ahead of it with their modified beans. Bloomberg has an article about it that I think you might find interesting. In it, it talks about how Ecuador has come up with a strain of chocolate that is immune to witches broom (a fungus that impacts chocolate) and yields 7x the chocolate of regular beans, but the taste is bad. If you would like to learn more about this, please visit this site: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-14/to-save-chocolate-scientists-develop-new-breeds-of-cacao

Interesting article! I agree that the Great Barrier Reef needs to make changes to address climate change, but I’m curious about the recommendation that you think they should pursue. I believe that Australia, especially Queensland, needs to be at the forefront of decreasing emissions to help limit the impact of global warming on the reef. In fact, I found a website laying out what they are doing in both the short and long term, to help protect it. This includes investing $200 million dollars a year in the reefs health and permanently banning the disposal of port related capital dredge material in the entire World Heritage Area. I agree with you that the Reef shouldn’t turn into Myrtle Beach, but I think instead of finding other uses for it, they need to focus on maintaining and sustaining it. Please feel free to check out this site to see what else they are doing to restore and maintain the Reef: https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/protecting-the-reef

Very interesting post! In addition, I wonder if there’s any environmental impact of making snow and how they plan to offset it. In addition to snow farming and wrapping the snow in blankets, I wonder if they could invest in a technology to keep the ground colder to retain the snow. For example, many driveways now use heaters under the cement to warm the concrete and melt the snow. I think the ski resorts could do the opposite.

I also think that becoming a 4 season destination will be very important for them, but I think they should also think about indoor activities such as water parks and indoor rock climbing because climate change doesn’t just mean warmer weather, it means more extreme weather.

Interesting post, Mary! I never knew the impact of the fashion industry on carbon emissions! I’m curious if H&M can take a page out of Ikea’s book and require that their suppliers also maintain a level of sustainability in line with that they are trying to achieve. Also, as an H&M shopper, I have seen their recycling program, but being ignorant of the impact that the fashion industry is having on the environment, I have never considered participating. I think that H&M needs to do a better job of explaining to their shopper why it’s so important to recycle their clothes and at the same time, find ways to use more than 20% of recycled clothing through an increase in R&D.

Interesting post, Wissam! I agree with you that most people are only thinking about the impact of climate change on warm weather businesses/climates and are neglecting to think about the impact on cold weather industries. I wonder if Vail has looked into setting up a system to keep the ground colder, similar to how some driveways have systems to melt snow/ice with warmers under the concrete. This could help them retain the snow they receive longer (as well as their artificial snow).

I’m also curious about how climate change, which involves extreme weather changes, will impact Vail in the summer. Will it ever become too warm on the mountain for their outdoor activities? If so, do they also need to have indoor activities, such as water parks or indoor rock climbing to offer a variety of both indoor and outdoor options to combat whatever mother nature has in store.