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A corporate strategy article by Thunderbird students Leah Burdick, Ilan Fehler, Nicholas Kincaid, Peter Klein and David Ryan

More so than traditional businesses, online businesses have the distinct advantage of acquiring more information about their customers. The more that is known about online users’ habits, needs and preferences, the greater the value that is derived from that relationship, as the businesses are better able to cater to the needs of those online users. An online network, a system of users, is enhanced not only by the relationship the business has with the user but also by the relationships that the users have with one other. Take the telephone for example. If you were one of the first three people to own one, you could only call the other two. Fortunately, today millions of people have access to telephones and anyone of them could theoretically call any other one. Therefore, a network of users derives greater value through the network’s size and ubiquity -- the larger the network, the greater the value to both businesses and consumers.

A corporate strategy article by Thunderbird students Manya Andrews Dotson, Wes Herche, Brie Lam, William Randle and Jonathan Walters

Abstract: Can a cut and paste application of the Chipotle strategy lead to another runaway restaurant success in an industry rife with pressures on profitability? Was it the business model that fueled Chipotle’s meteoric rise? Or was it that CEO Steve Ells took a food we already knew and loved, the burrito, and made it taste even better? Or, are the two inseparable? Will replicating Chipotle’s strategy yield another blue ocean success story?

Smartphone users are a notoriously fickle bunch. The slightest flaw in a phone sends users off to a new phone faster than you can say “service contract.” Research-In-Motion, or RIM, has remained relatively immune to all of this until recently.

More than a decade ago, RIM created its own competition-free market space when it introduced the Blackberry; the company created what industry specialists like to call a “blue ocean.” Nearly everyone in my salary-challenged office had to have one: a mobile device that offered email. By 2002, RIM added short messaging service (SMS) and Internet surfing, and then even the janitor had one (although it was only for a couple of weeks).

A corporate strategy article by Thunderbird students Cole Augustine, Cynthia Austin, Bradley Carson, and Jennifer Long

Redbox has seen a meteoric rise to the top of the movie rental business, despite their focus on a dying form of media. As the company's built in expiration date draws closer, Redbox must ask itself, "What Now?" This article will provide an overview of how Redbox got to the top, a preview into the future of the video rental industry, and suggestions for how Redbox can stay relevant in a changing industry.

A corporate strategy article by Thunderbird students Brett Davis, Don Dennis, Tras Obsuwan, Kyungwhan Park and Ryan Wegner

How comfortable would you feel if you boarded an aircraft that was entirely developed, manufactured, and assembled in China by a wholly-owned Chinese company?  That reality may occur in the near future. With global industry revenue projected to increase to $4 trillion by 2029[i], of which approximately 12% [ii] is expected to occur in the Chinese market, new competitors are quickly strengthening their positions in the historically duopolistic airline industry. Amongst these players is Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), a Chinese state-owned aircraft manufacturing company, which is focused on fiercely competing with industry leaders Boeing and Airbus. COMAC’s aspirations are to obtain market share and at the behest of the Chinese government reduce the country’s reliance on foreign airline manufacturers.

A corporate strategy article by Thunderbird students Joel Baughman, Srinivas Chundi, Mikhail Kholyavko, Chintan Patel and Chris Vadner

By M. Evans, L. Hammes, W. Herberger, B. Berg, T. El Wahsh, D. Rassloff

Banking in Post-Revolution Egypt Gets Upwardly “Mobile”

Without mobile phones, the Mubarak regime might still be thriving today. But political reform and social change are not the only ripple effects of widespread mobile usage. Mobile banking stands to create a dramatic new stimulus to the Egyptian economy. In a country where remittances from foreign workers contribute US$9.5 billion annually to the economy (Bloomberg News, 2010) and transfers between relatives within the country are common, one might think that transferring funds would be easy and convenient. Transferring funds should be an accessible service in a banking system that is well regulated and thrives on the competition between 39 banks. But for most Egyptians, these basic, common transactions are far from straightforward.

By Benjamin Steinsieck, Vikash Sharma, Erin Keefer, Matthew Miller, Tala Soubra, Clay McCarter

Tradition has it that the main gate at Brown University is opened only twice a year; once in the fall to allow new students to enter the campus, and again in the spring to allow graduating students to pass out into the wider world armed with an education from one of the world’s great universities. But is the notion of the leafy, cloistered university outdated?

On the face of it, many of the world’s most venerable academic institutions haven’t changed much in the last hundred years. But the world certainly has. Technological advances and shifting political climates mean that information and commerce know fewer borders. Today’s college students demand institutions that will prepare them to become residents in this new global community and businesses demand a workforce that is globally intelligent.

In response, many universities in the United States have embarked upon various projects designed to “internationalize” the educational experience. These typically include direct student and faculty exchanges with foreign universities, study abroad, international student recruiting, and research partnerships with foreign academic and research institutions.

Under Armour (UA) competes in an industry that faces ethical challenges in all operations.  The ethical standards of UA span to all sectors of the business to include the following: product production, manufacturing, operations, and global aspects of the corporation. Yet, UA is leading the way in concurring ethical challenges through successful tactics that make them stand out from competitors.  UA is a market leader, not only in innovation, but in ethical standards, eco-friendly operations, and business practices, throughout the active wear industry.

Athletic Apparel: A Tainted Industry?

True to the apparel industry, active wear has not been immune to labor issues as outsourcing to less developed countries has introduced questionable practices and possible human rights violations.  The lack of environmental and human labor regulations has given the industry a suspect reputation and often times a stigma that, “no news is good news” for the industry’s human labor practices.