Written by Heather Li Oracle was just announced as the title sponsor for Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing in a deal estimated to be worth almost $500M, officially changing the team name from Red Bull Racing Honda to Oracle Red Bull Racing. For those outside the sport, this may seem strange – why would a racing team want to work with a computer technology company over a traditional car manufacturer? Formula 1’s adoption of innovative and data-driven technology allows the sport and its business to operate at a high level of efficiency and development, which provides an entertaining and…
Written by Mary Yu June 2020 Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, the once most glamorous and hectic streets of New York City, has shuddered to a standstill. The cobbled streets with a number of elegant luxury boutiques, including Fendi, Celine, and Chanel, were now boarded up with vast sheets of plywood. Indeed, it was the previous night when the SoHo area of Manhattan had looters broken into a significant number of stores. In anticipation of further riots and civil disobedience, high-end stores throughout New York City boarded up their windows, surrounded by echo with whining power. The condition was even…
Written by Liwen Xu Airbnb, Uber, WeWork. Everyone’s heard of these unicorns— in just a few years, they grew from spur-of-the-moment ideas to full fledged platforms with over $10 billion valuations. These companies helped create the sharing economy, where demand meets supply by sharing partially available resources with others in need— an extra seat in a car, room in a house, desk at a workspace. A key differentiator that propelled their growth was their low fixed costs; the companies themselves owned little other than their brand and platform. Even WeWork, which has to rent buildings via long term contracts, does…
Written by Sven Mesihovic – – – Technology is consuming our time – now more than ever – in some way, shape, or form. Yes, it helps us maintain relationships and business functions during the pandemic, but let’s confess, there are lots of low-value “technological” activities that just swallow up our attention. Knowing how harmful these activities can be to productivity, friendships, and personal well-being sometimes isn’t enough to stop us from using them. I was wary about what habits I would develop upon entering quarantine. Fortunately, my roommate recommended me the book Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport on the…
Written by Avani Patel and Doris Wang – – – As students exploring the world of consulting, we’d repeatedly heard the term “The Big Three,” which is short-hand for three most prominent strategy consulting firms: McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group. However, we found it difficult to get a grasp on how these firms differed. We wondered, “could we find differences between the firms from reading and analyzing their research, articles, and insights on Covid-19?” (March – May, 2020) What we found difficult Starting amidst the world transitioning to an online platform and working to combat the coronavirus, we came…
Written by Elizabeth Grund – – – As more states begin to slowly reopen and people venture out of the house, we must resist the urge to think that life is returning to “normal.” The lack of normalcy can be uncomfortable to think about. The life as we knew it at the beginning of 2020 is not the life we will be living for the remainder of 2020, or even for the years to follow. However, this is not a negative thing. With great amounts of change comes great amounts of opportunity for improvement. In fact, the months we have…
Written by Julia Song – – – My mother has taught me an expression “shǒu zèng méi guī, liú yǒu yú xiāng” (手赠玫瑰，留有余香), which is Mandarin for “in the hand that gives a rose, the fragrance will remain”. Having recently read Adam Grant’s Give and Take, I’ve come to a new appreciation of what it means to give. Grant adds that being a giver means a network that celebrates their successes, a reputation of being big-hearted, and a virtuous cycle that may transform others into givers as well. Especially faced with an uncertain future under the global pandemic, givers have the…
Written by Josh Papson – – COVID-19 is turning the world on its head and companies are turning more often to debt to keep their businesses afloat amid slowing consumer demand. With interest rates at their lowest ever, it seems foolish not to be grabbing as much free money as possible… right? If companies are now at their weakest, investors at the most feverish, and the world at its most uncertain, how do we (the investor, student, professional) look at the markets today? And, with everyone and their mom (Hey, Mom!) raising record amounts of debt, where does that leave…
Written by Alyssa Posklensky – – – COVID-19 has turned our every routine, habit and ritual upside down. This, in turn, has led to dramatic changes in our consumption patterns. We no longer go to the store and browse the shelves leisurely, mulling over our purchase. Instead, we are simply purchase online. Convenience and speed of delivery seems to be the main factors for decision making. Since brands are built on consumers’ values, priorities, and preferences – what happens when these change overnight? Do brands matter in a COVID world, or does ease and convenience become king? Brands mattered in…
By Bobby Wilson – – – With confirmed cases now over six million worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is striking like no other. Fortunately, damage control in the form of hand washing, social distancing, and global quarantining has mitigated the spread. However, a proactive approach—a vaccine—is what the world needs and impatiently awaits. Why, then, is it so hard to get a vaccine? While a vaccine is more important now than ever, the business model for vaccines is unappealing on all counts. The vaccine’s commodity, exorbitant cost, and risk leave little room for profits, and by extension, a business model. The…