Healthcare Enthusiast's Profile

Thank you for your thoughtful comments and analysis. This is certainly an interesting read. RE/MAX’s response to the digitalization threat of its competitors will be interesting to watch. I predict their outcome is binary in nature – either they go out of business by not adapting at all or they strengthen their value proposition to their customers in the ways you mentioned.

One of the other interesting threats (or opportunities) changing the real estate market is the adoption of virtual reality (VR) technology. For many buyers, this technology could replace the cumbersome process of visiting a countless number of homes prior to purchase. This technology would be particularly valuable to home buyers coming from far away locations. As RE/MAX decides how to adapt to the new digital threat, I wonder if they will consider VR. [1]

[1] Nav Athwal, Forbes: “The Rise Of Virtual Reality In Real Estate,” June 13, 2007, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2017/06/13/the-rise-of-virtual-reality-in-real-estate/#5d58a9f61989.

Thank you for your thoughtful commentary and analysis, Michael. This is certainly a fascinating case of digitalization in the supply chain that could have a profound impact on a number of industries. In addition to the limitations you mentioned, I see another challenge is that you are essentially developing your forecast through a ‘black box’. As more companies turn to this to replace the traditional finance function, auditors will have an even more difficult time reviewing these already subjective analyses. If Prophet and tools like it can be used to replace the human element of forecasting, how do we impose safe guards that will prohibit manipulation and implement appropriate oversight procedures? [1]

[1] Adam Compain, “AI, machine learning key to increasing forecasting accuracy,” https://www.joc.com/international-logistics/logistics-technology/ai-machine-learning-key-increasing-forecasting-accuracy_20170319.html, March 19, 2017.

Thank you for posting. I appreciate your perspective on potential short term and long term changes to the business model to make the business more defensible to isolationist policies. In the short term, your recommendation was to switch to local suppliers. While I agree that this would protect the business from the changing political environment, I disagree that this strategy would reduce costs. It may decrease transportation costs of input materials, however, the price of these materials would surely be more expensive than sourcing them from emerging markets such as China.

This increase in costs would be directly be at odds with Hyundai’s customer promise of offering good value cars to its customers. Do you believe Hyundai can sustain its value proposition globally if input costs rise?

One of Stitch Fix’s biggest competitive advantages is the ability to track customer data and aggregate consumer buying information to assess demand trends in the market. This data advantage informs the company’s buying decisions by having such close access to customer preferences.

Is there a way for Stitch Fix to further monetize this data by selling it to more traditional retail channels? Given Stitch Fix’s value proposition to customers, I don’t believe this would represent a threat to the business.

Thanks for the submission on this interesting topic. The digitalization of the mortgage industry has been intriguing to watch with the entrance of new competitors, like Rocket Mortgage and SoFi. In my opinion, this industry is ripe for disruption given the cumbersome, tiring process required to get a mortgage. However, I do find the idea of taking the personal element out of this transaction alarming. This makes me think of our FRC case on Handelsbanken, where the firm operated with a competitive advantage given its human approach to retail banking. This allowed the bank to achieve tangible results, such as lower default rates on loans and much greater customer retention.

Given the level of trust required to digitally provide a significant level of very personal information, how likely do you think consumers will be to adopt this new underwriting approach? I think this point is particularly relevant for Wells Fargo, as their recent headline-making transgressions in their retail business went a long way to erode consumer confidence [1]. With banks getting caught up in competitive selling tactics that lead to fraudulent business practices, how do you safeguard the digitalization of banking services?

[1] Matt Egan, “Wells Fargo uncovers up to 1.4 million more fake accounts,” CNN Money, http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/31/investing/wells-fargo-fake-accounts/index.html.

Thanks for you commentary, Matt.

I believe the opportunity for telemedicine is most promising in developing countries where lack of insurance, talent constraints and even travel costs required to access care alone are prohibitive. For example, in India, 75% of the population live in rural areas, while 75% of doctors operate only in major cities [1]. The efficacy of telemedicine has already been proven in India and fundamentally transformed the way that people in remote areas are receiving healthcare treatment.

However, this benefit comes with its challenges. Most notably, the initial investment to already resource-constrained hospitals make the implementation of telemedicine difficult. This presents a particularly paradoxical problem where the areas of the world that need this the most are the most challenging to places to implement. How do you think society, government and business should each play a role in quickening the pace of telemedicine adoption?

[1] Bagchi S (2006) Telemedicine in Rural India. PLoS Med 3(3): e82. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030082.