Robert Nesbit's Profile

Interesting article. I have used apps to track my progress down the mountain before and I can attest that seeing my runs, how fast I was going, and seeing every run I have taken added to the experience. Plus having the ability to track the entire groups movements helped with coordinating where everyone is for planning purposes. Having used a similar technology on a group scale the data generated on a larger scale could have significant impact on improving ski resort operations.

Interesting article. Hourly Nerd seems to be a unique threat to the traditional management consulting industry. As previously stated above in a comment, there has been a trend recently of the top firms focusing on operations and implementation more then in the past. As this the rapid growth of operations practices slow down I would be interested to see how clients respond to high cost consultants doing operational work and whether the cost per engagement will result in clients switching to cheaper alternatives like Hourly Nerd.

Interesting article. I do agree that a major factor for the proliferation of autonomous trucks will the laws and restrictions placed on the industry from the regulators. Many of the distribution centers for large retailers are based on or near major highways and it has been proven that the rate of fatalities are less on interstates/highways then local and urban roads. When regulators give approval for this technology to be used actively on the highways I see regulators limiting the use of the trucks to non-urban areas, which already aligns with our existing hub approach to retail distribution.

Interesting article and technology. I would be interested to see if a major player in the large variety beer scene, such as World of Beer, doesn’t eventually turn to technologies even on a pilot basis. Given the rapid growth of craft beers the quantity of beers locations need to keep on tap or in bottle seems to have grown significantly over the last 5 years and appears to still be growing.

Interesting article. I agree the museums should be weary of allowing a single player to monopolize a potential museum VR platform, but a concern I have for this not occurring is the limitations of many copy right laws. Once VR technology becomes more widely spread I could see every major attraction within museums digitized and then made available online. All the users would have to say is the website is dedicated to education and commentary and I believe it would be difficult for the museums to fight, especially if they start to experience significant declines in revenue/resources.

I appreciate you including an article associated with the food industry. An opportunity that has been raised recently often regarding reducing the environmental impact of the agricultural industry is increasing the produce yield actually consumed by the American people. I believe a great opportunity for a large player in the Agricultural industry to make an impact on the environment, though admittedly it might hurt their bottom line, is sponsoring/supporting the effort to increase our produce yield. It is estimated that between 40-50% of produce is wasted during the growth, supply chain, and retail processes. Most of that produce is good quality but does not meet size, shelf life, or visual criteria imposed by retailers. If any of my fellow classmates are interested in reading more about the subject I have included two articles below.

https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/08/22/how-food-actually-gets-wasted-in-the-united-states/

I appreciate you including an article about the trash industry and methods to reduce the environmental impact. While an undergraduate engineering student I had the opportunity to visit a Waste Management Waster Energy facility, owned by a previous subsidiary Wheelabrator. One of the additional benefits of the waste to energy process was the ability to extract metal following the burning process. They had vibrating tables that removed the ash leaving the metal products on the conveyor and then a large magnet used to separate the ferrous and non-ferrous. The extraction of the metal was a win-win for the company since it provided them an additional revenue stream and reduced the amount of landfill space needed for the ash.

I strongly agree that it will be critical for oil and gas (O&G) companies to diversity into additional revenue streams over the coming decades. In the past as when the upstream O&G industry was being negatively impacted by a downturn in the oil commodity prices the super major oil companies relied on their downstream and midstream operations, which were relatively counter cyclical, to reduce the impact of the prices on overall profitability. As Exxon sells more of its downstream operations it will need to diversify its portfolio and their ability to manage large scale capital intensive projects will be an asset if they transition into renewable power generation.

I appreciate you writing about the implications climate change will have on the US Navy. Mentioned above is the push for nations to potentially begin taking advantage of the Polar Ice Cap melting in order to take advantage of the resources. Supporting your point, a Forbes article recently focused on Russia’s expansion of Artic Oil Drilling, which is unique since it poses both an additional strategic resource available to Russia, and as the oil industry presence expands provides an economic incentive for Russia to improve the capability of their ice breakers (potentially improving the navigability of the Russian Northern Fleet during the winter months).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/08/22/a-deal-with-the-devil-russia-kicks-up-arctic-oil-drilling/2/#1a5d03bd700d

I appreciate your analysis of Vail resorts and its efforts to reduce the impact that it has on global warming, a direct threat to its traditional revenue stream. An interesting article about snow making that also would support the case of the ski resorts lessening the environmental impact they have is from the National Ski Areas Association can be found via the URL below.

It says that ” Most of the water diverted from streams return to the watershed. Although it varies from region to region, a number of state studies show that approximately 80 percent of the water used for snowmaking returns to the watershed” in essence showing the limited impact the process has on local water supplies. (“Facts on Snowmaking – NSAA.” N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2016.) It is believed that as climate change continues to change the environment water conservation will be critical to preserving the environment.

“Facts on Snowmaking – NSAA.” N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2016. http://www.nsaa.org/media/248986/snowmaking.pdf