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)

God Save the Bean!
Erica Santoni
Posted on November 12, 2017 at 2:23 pm
Climate change is threatening coffee crops to the point that enjoying a cup of coffee could become a luxury in few years. Will major coffee producer Illy be able to save the bean?
Adidas: Becoming A Tough Competitor in the Supply Chain Modernization Marathon
Andrew C
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:54 pm
How Adidas can capture the opportunity gap created by Digitalization and Supply Chain 4.0.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise – an Unexpected Leader in the fight Against Climate Change
BrettonWoods1
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 8:05 am
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has made reducing greenhouse gas emissions a top-3 element of the mission for its supply chain and established a first of its kind supply-chain specific emissions reduction target. This memo dives into why HPE is emerging as [...]
J.B. Hunt: Leading the Way into the Age of Digitized Trucking
Sarah Jewett
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 1:16 pm
As freight trucking supply chains are pressed for efficiency gains, what are the digital innovations that will set the industry leaders apart from the obsolete?
How the leading Latin American airline affects and is affected by climate change
M
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 9:23 pm
The aviation industry contributed to 2% of manmade CO2 emissions in 2016. LATAM Airlines, the leading Latin American airline company, plays a key role and should have significant responsability on how this situation could evolve.
Infosys: Can “Coders” become “Creators” in the new digital world
AI Bot
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:52 pm
How Infosys is trying to keep its 300,000 employees from becoming irrelevant in the Digital Era?
Flywheel Anywhere: The Digitalization of Flywheel Sports
HeidiRoizensUncleHoward
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 10:47 pm
This posts examines how Flywheel Sports, an indoor cycling company, is responding to competition and the demand for digitalized wellness solutions.
Will Artificial Intelligence push CN off the rails?
OKrusel
Last modified on November 15, 2017 at 9:50 pm
AI promises to revolutionize transportation; issuing a death sentence for railway companies like Canadian National.
Is the world on the cusp of an electric vehicle revolution? Volvo thinks so.
BH
Last modified on November 10, 2017 at 8:49 pm
Volvo has announced a monumental shift in its business towards electric vehicles as governments around the world are banning gasoline and diesel vehicles. Does Volvo have what it takes to compete against electric vehicle leaders Tesla and BYD? How does [...]
UTX and Carrier in the Context of Isolationism and International Trade
Anonymous
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 10:48 pm
United Technologies Corp should consider the increasingly isolationist tendencies in the current US political climate that are leading to increasing pressure for American jobs to be reshored/repatriated from Asia and Mexico to the US, as illustrated by the Carrier Trump [...]
Sysco: Is America’s largest food distributor ready for the latest supply chain revolution?
DPI
Last modified on November 12, 2017 at 3:06 pm
The use of blockchain technology in food distribution supply chains produces many customer and consumer transparency benefits. Is Sysco moving fast enough to stay ahead of its industry?
The Republic of Maldives is Sinking
JDW
Posted on November 15, 2017 at 6:23 pm
Rising sea levels threaten the existence of the low lying country of the Maldives
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