Mel Searches's Profile

The European Union may feel that Google is benefitting too much from Europe’s resources and is pushing back not because they are American but because they aren’t providing the value the European Union would like. Google is an American company listed on the American stock exchanges but they employ the resources of the European Union’s high tech and sales workers. Their complex subsidiary structure allows them to avoid paying large taxes so the EU is not benefitting from either the profits or the taxes Google may otherwise return if they were based in the EU. Google could appease the EU by investing in building the education pipeline and startup ecosystem that would allow the EU to benefit from future Google’s of their own.

Given that Delphi, its employees and its customers have so much on the line with the renegotiation of NAFTA, it might actually be advantageous for Delphi to refrain from taking a vocal position on the agreements. Delphi is likely lobbying along with the auto industry to provide an agreement that is beneficial for them. Coming out publicly might hurt their behind the scenes negotiations or make them a target in a very harsh and controversial political climate. It’s a fine line for Delphi to walk in order to stand up for their brand and what they believe in while also ensuring the best outcome for the long term.

While I agree that the initiatives Levi’s implements internally will not be able to reverse the impacts of climate change on cotton, I think Levi’s can use its position to inform consumers. Levi’s could implement the same type of forward integration with their consumers that they tried on their suppliers by identifying the specific behaviors which contribute to climate change and suggest ways of fixing them. Many consumers do not understand or put much importance on their impact on the environment relative to the impact made to the environment by everyone else. If consumers understood that they were the problem and understood how specifically they could change, I think they would be more receptive to change. If Levi’s has already studied this to determine 58% of the problem is due to the consumer, they should share their findings more specifically to enact change.

Pinnacle Foods should continue to invest in responsible eco-friendly practices but I don’t know if this will be enough to reduce the risk they will face due to climate change. If they implement all of these initiatives fully, will that decrease the risk of crop yield declines? Figure 1 seems to suggest that even in this “best” case scenario, Pinnacle will face shortage of raw materials. Pinnacle may need to develop a contingency plan for this future. Can they encourage their suppliers to develop new crops that are more resistant to fluctuations or change their recipes to avoid the products which may be most at risk?

The introduction of telemedicine will only further this need for digitization and household diagnostic equipment. If consumers are talking to doctors from their home over video conference, they will likely need to provide their own diagnostic inputs to the doctor remotely. Telemedicine has also been used in remote areas to bring healthcare to underdeveloped markets where infrastructure challenges make it difficult to access care. In these regions, household diagnostics might be the only option for providing high quality care. LabCorp stands to gain from getting ahead of these trends

I agree that this could help Hancock succeed in the long term but I worry about the implications of sharing health data with these life insurance companies. There are already strict regulations around handling patient data that is collected at a doctor’s office and consumers are aware of their need to be secretive about their health information. Given that biometric data is so much more revealing than height and weight taken once a year in a medical record, would the financial reward Hancock could offer be enough to entice customers to take on this risk of sharing their data? In implementing these plans, Hancock needs to be aware to position this program appropriately to consumers to get their buy in.