RC TOM Challenge 2017

November 15, 2017

Read The Full Prompt

The TOM Challenge provides an opportunity for students to learn more about supply chain management by exploring how organizations are grappling with some megatrends: climate change, digitalization, and the growing influence of isolationist political movements on international trade policies.  These 700-800 word essays should address four questions:

  1. Why is (or should) your particular aspect of one of these megatrends be of concern to the management of the organization you have selected?
  2. What is the organization’s management doing to address this concern in the short term (the next two years) and the medium term (3–10 years out)?
  3. What other steps do you recommend the organization’s management take to address this concern in the short and medium terms?
  4. What are one or two important open questions related to this concern in the context of the organization you selected that you are unsure about, which merit comments from your classmates?

When posting your essay to Open Knowledge, be sure to enter “Climate change”, “Digitalization”, or “Isolationism” in the Topics field.

More details on research, sourcing, deadlines, and other matters are provided in the RC TOM Challenge: 2017 note.  For assistance with the Open Knowledge platform during business hours (9:00 am – 5:00 pm M-F), email openknowledge@hbs.edu. A short video with instructions on how to post an essay to this platform is available at https://goo.gl/yyXK2H.

Submitted (924)

Amazon Works to Balance Growth with Sustainability
Megan
Last modified on December 5, 2017 at 4:51 pm
While Amazon is making tangible progress in its approach to sustainability, can it ever be truly environmentally conscious within its current business model?
Harvard’s Role in Boosting the Innovation Supply Chain
Dave Anderson
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 11:04 pm
Harvard plays an important role in boosting the innovation supply chain
A taste of their own medicine – GSK disrupted by 3D printing
KS
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 4:35 pm
GSK needs to carefully evaluate incorporating 3D printing in its supply chain before disrupters steal its market share.
DIGITIZING THE MAKERS OF VIAGRA
Solomon
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 12:50 pm
It's hard to tell whether the lack of innovation in the healthcare industry has been driven by heightened regulation or risk-adverse corporations, but one thing is certain: Industry leaders like Pfizer must start to embrace digitalization or risk losing some of [...]
Can the World’s Largest Retailer Scale Farm to Table?
Caroline Hornok
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 6:16 pm
To sustain growth in China Walmart needs to manage a reliable and safe food supply. Their solution partnering with IBM is blockchain. Blockchain will allow consumers to trace the source, environmental impact, treatment, and transactions of any product they buy.
BP: Blockchain Petroleum?
A. Judge
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:06 pm
British Petroleum (BP) is currently developing blockchain technology that will enable efficiencies in the oil and gas supply chain.
Healthcare Digitization: Saving lives one data point at a time at BJC HealthCare
TOM
Last modified on December 1, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Healthcare has seen significant transformation in the United States over the last decade.  As Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) become more prevalent, health systems will be paid not for the quantity of services provided, but for the quality of care patients [...]
Allianz: Underwriting a Sustainable Future
RC Tom 313
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:57 pm
Aligning Allianz's operational strategy with its vision for a sustainable future
Not Your Grandma’s Newspaper – Restructuring the Journalism Value Chain to Digitally Engage Consumers
MJ
Posted on November 11, 2017 at 11:02 pm
As the consumption of media continues to shift away from print, The New York Times is implementing a successful digital transformation. But challenges remain in optimizing the digital supply chain to generate and deliver authentic content to the consumer.
Pharma Supply Chain: Source or Savior of the Opioid Crisis in America?
Bo
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 7:24 pm
A digitized supply chain in pharma has unfortunately failed to mitigate the growing opioid crisis in America. Can it and will it?
Kellogg’s Leadership in Fighting Climate Change
DGessese
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:44 pm
Kellogg is committed to reducing GHG emissions in its supply chain to prevent long term costs of climate change-driven disruption and cost inflation
“Maintain the Pace”: Digital Disruption in the Aviation Maintenance Industry
Shlomi Pasternak
Posted on November 9, 2017 at 9:48 pm
Digitalization disruption in the aviation maintenance industry changes the traditional supply chain structure and generates new expectations among customers
LaCroix-vey! Climate change and the business of (cool) carbonated water
katiedobscha
Posted on November 12, 2017 at 8:31 pm
How will today's coolest carbonated water remain relevant (and operational) in the face of climate change?
Smart Pasta: Barilla’s Digitization of the Food Supply Chain
AYZ
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 10:51 pm
Barilla Group is employing digitization in its food supply chain to increase consumer transparency and enhance food safety.
CMA CGM: digitalization in the container shipping industry
student123456
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 9:17 pm
The container shipping industry will undergo major digital disruption over the next 50 years. Is CMA CGM - a worldwide shipping group headquartered in France - on the right track?
General Motors and the 54.5 Miles per Gallon EPA Target
OAL
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 5:49 pm
GM's efforts to comply with EPA regulations by increasing sales of fuel efficient vehicles.
Protectionism Threatens to Cripple US Solar: Spotlight on Sunrun
Sumit Malik
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 10:45 pm
Sunrun faces the unintended consequences of the US solar market's shift toward protectionism, a paradigm that can severely undermine the very industry it intends to protect.
Digitalization of Surgical Intervention
pmaederyork
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 7:49 pm
How robotic surgical instruments improve operative supply chains and threaten medical device manufacturers.
The Empire Strikes Back – Disney is mobilizing to take on the digital world order
Ninad Kulkarni
Last modified on November 14, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Digitalization has disrupted the entertainment and media supply chain, leading to unprecedented realignment and M&A activity in the industry.
Digital Transformation at LabCorp
James Arnold
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 2:40 am
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) provides diagnostic solutions and drug development solutions in approximately 60 countries. Its diagnostics subsidiary, LabCorp Diagnostics, provides over 4,800 different testing options and accounts for approximately 70% of the parent company’s revenues. In the [...]
Economic Protectionism: A Weed Choking Monsanto’s Supply Chain?
Sarah McIntosh
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 7:58 pm
Is agribusiness threatened by its dependence on innovation and intellectual property in an age of economic protectionism?
Samasource: Increasing productivity in the US while reducing poverty worldwide – is it possible?
Laura Oller
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:07 pm
A Ford insight in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
H&M Aims to be Climate Positive by 2040
UK
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 9:48 pm
H&M is leading the fashion retail industry in sustainability initiatives with a new ambition to be Climate Positive by 2040 across the retail value chain.
How can Vietnam’s government integrate into global supply chains after American abandonment of the TPP?
David Maher
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 8:00 pm
When President Trump walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership to put America First, the biggest loser was the people of Vietnam. But the Vietnamese government has other means to integrate into global supply chains.
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