SC's Profile

Interesting article, Andrew! Although I agree that Nintendo made great strides in expanding past hardware to areas like mobile, I’m not sold on your optimism on relying so much on alternative gaming. The barriers to entry to the mobile space are incredibly low; for every lucky win Pokémon Go, there are numerous failures as well. It’s not realistic to think Nintendo’s business model will sustain purely on this mobile or AR platform. In my opinion, Nintendo will still need to rely on solid innovation in the hardware space. Recall our LEAD case with Valve, and how even a successful software company needed to diversify into hardware in order to remain relevant in the industry. The Wii was absolutely revolutionary in the video game industry, and that is the type of hardware innovation that Nintendo will need to recapture in order to properly compete with Microsoft and Sony in the future. Mobile Apps and AR will supplement hardware success, not replace it.

This reminds me a lot of my Target experience in the US! Target’s app, Cartwheel is very similar but requires more customer engagement as it requires consumers to scan barcodes. In a past life, I had served a retailer and the type of data that could be captured from Beacon technology would have saved thousands of hours of in-store observations! In terms of application, I see the most impact in how retailers might be able to redesign stores – whether it’s the floor plan or the aisle space!

On the flip side, I wonder what this would look like once Beacon technology is fully adopted. In a world where the retailers know the consumer’s shopping habits – would they use this information to their advantage? For example, Macy’s could begin to introduce dynamic pricing where different customers have different prices (not just different promotions). Importantly, how does that change Macy’s relationship with its suppliers? Macy’s could force suppliers to bid for promotions to influence the customer’s journey and experience through the store. Whilst I think Macy’s has a lot to gain with this technology, I wonder how it can convince the other players in the supply chain to adapt to it.

At least for the UK, Dash was predominantly launched to raise awareness that Amazon had ventured into groceries and consumables. Historically a books and media business, Amazon has struggled with adapting its systems and processes to other types of products – think softlines (apparel) and of course, consumables! It was a huge marketing plug for the company and was generally met with mediocre customer experiences (see http://business.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=020001BZTH3O)! The data collection point is not as strong, as Amazon already sits on a mountain of data that allows it to gauge how long you will need a replacement, dash button or not!

I echo a lot of the sentiments that other comments have raised about the financial viability is, but I would say that Amazon is invested in growing the industry and that it’s willing to take the short term hit. For example, Prime Now also loses money! In fact, I’d argue that it hasn’t gone far enough – for example, while it does have dash, the prices of consumable products on Amazon was often more expensive than the UK grocers (Tesco, Sainsbury) and required the customer to buy in bulk! Initiatives such as Subscribe and Save have also not been very successful because the savings for a subscription model often doesn’t give the consumer incentive to do so (except for in Baby related categories).

Great post – I think the intersection of technology and education is incredibly interesting! The general consensus of the industry seems to be moving towards personalized learning, but I hope that they also focus on training the teachers so that there is a smooth transition to this new model. Importantly, how does the role of the teacher change? Does she/he spend more time on developing the emotional intelligence of the student, because they don’t have to spend as much time on teaching to the “average student”? Also, although I am excited about the future of how technology can improve education outcomes, I am concerned about this IoT model. I wonder how the students will feel if they are constantly monitored and tracker – it seems a little 1984! Will this data-obsessed culture create more pressure on the student – love to hear to your thoughts!

Very interesting, Raphael! This reminded me a lot of the National Theatre Live shows in London, but I think Broadway HD takes it further by bringing the show to your living room (vs the cinema). While I agree that it increases accessibility, and may be a good way to introduce theatre to a larger audience, I wonder it simply makes the industry even more competitive. For example, wouldn’t people be more likely to test a new show via BroadwayHD? In that scenario, people will be less inclined to watch the new shows in person, putting further pressure on new shows?

I would love to understand whether the industry is exploring in alternative ways such as VR to attract a new audience or whether they can enhance the theatre experience to make it essential for the audience to go to the physical theatre despite watching BroadwayHD!

Definitely did not know that Target had such significant involvement in sustainability. I think you are spot on that Target, being the dominant player in the supply chain, needs to take the lead to influence the other stakeholders. Incentivizing suppliers in water and waste management would be great examples of how Target can scale up its impact. On the flip side, as a customer of Target, I do think that Target can use their brand to influence end users. I am assuming that many of the customers do not know that this is an initiative. Target could take a page from some other retailers’ books, such as H&M’s and introduce World Recycling Week – this could also generate additional goodwill for the company. Fixing the inefficiencies of the supply chain can only go so far, Target also needs to educate consumers on the demand side.

This is fantastic! I was strongly reminded of the Australian version called Lord of the Fries (http://www.lordofthefries.com.au)! I didn’t realize they were vegetarian until someone actually told me, which is exactly the same case as Impossible Foods! I have a couple of points. 1)I think the difference between this case and the others we have discussed in class, such as Ikea is that this has direct implications on humans as consumers. For example, I think it’s great that Ikea is looking after the environment, and I’m willing to pay a premium for the “sustainability feel good factor” but there is no harm to me as a consumer. Contrastingly, I wonder what the nutrition value of these burgers is! 2) I question scalability and accessibility of Impossible Burgers! Its impact on sustainability could be low if it is only accessible to middle to high income earners.

Very interesting, Andrew. I think this article resonated a lot with me because we have the same issue with the Great Barrier Reef in Australia! In fact, Australia has exactly that – a long term plan that has a roadmap until 2050! Check it out here – http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan

I agree with both you and the other commenters that there are long term measures that need to be taken, but given how reliant they are on tourism, it’s probably easier said than done. A couple of things that I thought that may help in curbing the demand of tourism is 1) restricting demand through pricing (although the Maldives is already an expensive location) and 2) replacing some of the access with virtual reality!

Very interesting, Bhargav! As someone who often falls into the marketing trap of buying “organic” for a feel-good factor, these statistics alarmed me to dig a little deeper when I make purchasing decisions. My question would be if we were in the scenario where WhiteWave vertically integrates and secures more stable demand in other geographies, I wonder what are the political levers the Californian government would pull? In Australia and Europe, the farmers carry significant regulatory sway!

Thanks for this article, Jakub! I had no idea that Hilton was so engaged into the sustainability initiative. Like NC, I have always thought that the “hang your towel” was a cost-saving initiative more than anything else. I’m quite impressed by what they’ve done so far but like you, I wonder if that’s enough. I agree with you not the competition point – that sustainability is no longer a differentiator, but a hygiene factor that you need to address. However, I’d take it one step further and ask how it might be impacted by their broader competitors of Air BnB – which arguably, could curb a lot of the wastefulness from the demand side!