PabloBotero's Profile

One key asset that online retailers rarely use is the knowledge they build on customers. Unlike a traditional retail store, online retailers have the ability to generate panel samples that capture changing customer preferences over time. What if Zalora and its kind cashed-in this data with its brick and mortar partners to anticipate consumer demand and fashion trends. Could a spike in prices for one key material be avoided by anticipating the surge in demand, and hedging against it?

It is quite disturbing to think that our sources of quality information are endangered by our taste of bite-sized news. The survival of traditional news outlets will depend on making quality content that people pay for, and willingness to pay is becoming extinct. I am scared of the outcome, either death of reliable sources like the New York Times, or the trivialization of those sources by decreasing costs.

One alternative could be the implementation of an information tax to subsidize news outlets. Information has been a public good that, due to viable business models, did’t need subsidies. As those business models become more rare, should society pay for having reliable sources of information?

As a huge fan of printed books this is very exciting. I wonder what Amazon will do as the footprint of the stores grows, some flagship stores will have mainstream content, but as they grow the opportunities are endless. One of their best assets is their data on customer behavior. How will they be able to tailor the store experience using that data? It would be groundbreaking if somehow Amazon could translate customer knowledge into store transformation, and if they are able to do so with books, what is to stop them there? The likes of Walmart and Target should be attentive as their biggest online threat becomes a brick and mortar nightmare.

I wonder if the production of content will be enough to keep the viewers captive. Netflix has been very smart realizing that their Achilles heel is the acquisition of new content to keep its vast number of subscribers, but it faces two big threats:
1. New competitors with deep buckets like Amazon. Netflix was able to take down Blockbuster’s business model, but will it be able to outmaneuver Amazon in its own game? Will it be consistently able to capture the best shows and movies away from all other streaming services? And as the market becomes more and more atomized, will it be able to keep its prices high?
2. Vertical integration of content owners: HBO already has a huge arket with HBO GO, what will happen when Fox, Universal, MGM, Disney, and so on, decide to launch their own platforms? Will Netflix be able to come up with new “House of Cards” to keep the subscribers rolling?

As you said, they have the entrepreneurial attitude and the big-data to overcome a new wave of transformation. Time will tell if they make it.

After reading this article trying to figure out what was behind “brazenly belief-brimmed brains”, I had to check the web page for the hotel in New York. For $369 a night I could check out the folding beds next week, or for $295 I could take the booking.com deal for The Waldorf Astoria. For $74 less I was tempted to take the world-famous five-star hotel that Paris Hilton once called home, but I continued reading what Yotel offers: Fast WiFi, pay on arrival, gym, largest hotel terrace in New York, central location, luggage storage robot, 24/7 service, and mobile concierge app.

Basically, this hotel is offering to see a cool robot store you carry-on and having to install an app to do what is usually done by dialing 0# in the phone. Although the experience may seem like a novelty, I wonder how many travelers will book this hotel again instead of cheaper traditional hotel chains. Is the technology in Yotel part of its operating model to drive savings in labor and real state, and to transfer those to its users? Or is it more of an attraction? I can see a great future for low-cost high-quality hotels in expensive cities like New York. I don’t see on the other hand a promising future for Yotel if their value added is the tech experience at a higher price.

For coffee growers to remain viable one alternative could also be start investing in coffee varieties that can withstand adverse weathers and soil conditions. Coffee growers alone won’t be able to generate a change in the trend of climate change, but to remain in business they do have to find ways to overcome the change. Hedging against bad conditions in a short term relief, to be financially viable the product itself will need to adapt.

What if GM not only responds to a market niche of environmentally friendly cars, but actually drives the growth of the industry? The article captures perfectly GM’s strives to become a greener company, but by actually changing consumer preferences via strong marketing, GM could not only transform itself but force a transformation in the industry. That would not only create social value, but will give GM a much needed competitive advantage as one of the first players in this new market.

Joseph Phelps Vineyard wont be able to revert the effects of climate change on its own, but can certainly control its own level of impact and start and industry trend. For example, cork is an endangered species, and its use of one winery won’t change the trend. However, in the same way wineries can influence consumers to try new wine varieties, they can also train consumers on the consumption of sustainable wine. From its agricultural aspect, to its package design and supply chain, the vineyard can rethink wine in light of climate change, and lead the industry change.

The article captures the interventions of Wonderful for influence on Climate Change and mitigation of its effects on the company. However, doesn’t cover Wonderful’s responsibility on carbon emissions and sustainability. Some of the initiatives the company could pursue are redesign of their packages to become 100% renewable, revision of production and supply chain to reduce transportation emission, and redesign of product’s processing to minimize energy consumption.

The article poses a somber future for Ski, its resorts may survive by diversifying their service offering, but the picture portrayed is for the skiing itself to die. Some other alternatives different to artificial snow thrown in the mountains could include:
-Relocation or expansion of ski resorts in to areas of higher altitude or latitude, where the global warming is not limiting as much snow availability.
-Creation of indoor year-round ski parks, in the same fashion of water parks in the middle east, where the dependency on natural snow is eliminated. This could alleviate the water and power usage of artificial snow in the mountains and provide a financially feasible model.