Tom Richardson's Profile

Very interesting, I had no idea how critical China was to the poultry industry in the US. I have to disagree with your recommendation to develop the chicken industry in China. From the perspective of the Georgian farmer, this is likely to harm their ability to offload valuable chicken feet to China. I would suggest focusing their effort on trying to bring down trade barriers to keep the chicken flowing.

Given the unpredictability of the outcome of Brexit negotiations, it would be difficult for JLR to justify new manufacturing investment in the UK. It appears to me that the only logical strategy is to focus on the shift to overseas manufacturing that you mention, even for electric and self-driving technology. Although this may be unfortunate for the UK, it is the inevitable result of the Brexit vote. Furthermore, I wonder if the actions by JLR to lobby the UK government are too little too late. It almost certainly would have been more effective to focus their efforts fighting Brexit instead of trying to manage the fallout.

Great article, I think you have highlighted a critical issue regarding the prevailing consensus on solving climate change. Specifically, we can’t expect solutions to be successful if they are not economically viable. It is not realistic to think that we can police every company to change cups. The real answer is to focus our efforts on developing new eco-friendly materials that are also cost competitive. If we can bring out new innovative solutions that save companies money, then we won’t have to worry about using social pressure to drive sustainable solutions.

Interesting read, I will finally have something to talk to the barista about when I’m getting an expresso. Regarding Starbucks response to these new threats, I wonder if they are genuinely focused on supporting coffee growers. I suspect that instead, their objective is mainly building their image as an eco-conscious company. It would be interesting to see if they would invest in more controversial solutions such as genetic engineering or increased pesticide and fertilizer use. I believe that they would dismiss these methods, even if proven to be more effective because they are more concerned with public perception then increasing coffee production.

Rephrasing your first question, given the pace of technology change, will a new CIoT officer be outdated in a short period? I agree that creating new c-suite executives sends a powerful message, but there is a limit to how many direct reports a CEO can efficiently manage. Therefore, Coca-Cola may be better served by having new technology introduction led by a single fixed C level function such as the CTO. This will allow Coca-Cola to respond to the arrival of new technology and ideas without the need to enlarge the executive team.

Mr Harvard, I agree that CVS is threatened by the looming digital transformation of the pharmacy supply chain. However, I wonder if they are embarking on a fool’s errand by attempting to compete with Amazon in prescription delivery. It seems unlikely that CVS could achieve the necessary logistical scale and expertise to beat Amazon in the home delivery space. By pushing consumers towards this model, CVS may be paving the way for Amazon to enter the pharmacy delivery market and steal their customers. Instead, CVS could focus on more value-added digital services that leveraging their existing network of local pharmacists.