Economic –
United States Economic Forecast: Update
a) I initially discovered the opportunity for increased
profit within restaurants when Florida opened up after quarantine. I then found
on Deloitte Insights that once this happens, the economy should recover quickly.
b) An opportunity for increased profits within the restaurant
industry exists. With the States reopening from the COVID-19, many people will
go back to their old spending habits as opposed to their shopping for necessity
/ home items only. This leads me to believe that there is a market to target
shoppers in order to help the economy recover from the pandemic.
c) The prototypical customer would be people / families who
typically went out to eat multiple nights of the week prior to the COVID-19
causing the quarantine period. We need people to spend money in order for
others to make money.
d) I believe at the moment this is slightly difficult, because
some people still strongly believe in social distancing in order to reduce the spread
of COVID-19. Although restaurants have started opening while following the new
regulations, they are not fully back at capacity. This will be a process.
Opportunity: I saw this as an opportunity, because while
many restaurants were able to adapt and offer curbside food and drink, many of
them were still missing out on additional money as opposed to if customers were
physically there, able to continue to place multiple orders instead of just
one.
Economic –
In an uncertain economy, does fresh produce spoil revenue
growth?
a) I initially thought of fresh produce when I was thinking
about how the difference of supply was during quarantine. In the initial
stages, I could barely get my hands on an avocado. Now, at this point, they are
selling 3 for $5.00, at a reduced rate.
b) Since the stay at home order has been lifted, many people
are starting to buy their premium products again. People will always need to eat,
and produce is evolving by being able to be offered at a lesser price.
c) The prototypical customer includes everyone – since everyone
must eat. In particular though, the ones who focus on health and wellness. The
market for healthy foods is continuing to thrive.
d) I believe this is relatively to exploit, because people
are always purchasing groceries and the market for more healthy / natural
options has been more popular. I also think people are being more cautious
about their health due to the pandemic, so this could work in the favor of
produce increasing profits.
Opportunity: I saw this as an opportunity when I noticed
that even during the lockdown, grocery stores such as Publix were still packed.
There wasn’t one time I went where the parking lot wasn’t packed.
Regulatory –
Financial services cloud computing regulation
a) I’ve recently become familiar with the cloud via Apple products
– my iPhone, Apple watch and iPad are all backed up to the cloud. I have also
been exposed to the cloud professional at my job with the server access we have
within the company network.
b) While financial services have started to heavily rely on cloud
services for their businesses, security risks have increased. This gives
hardware an opportunity to bounce back with a more secured option. While the
United States is very advanced when it comes to technology, many people are
still facing fraud and identity theft.
c) The prototypical customer would be a business that has
very sensitive information. This could vary from just basic customer information
to government confidential files.
d) I think this will be harder to exploit, only because it
does seem like we are taking a few steps backwards. I feel like many business
owners will overlook the cloud risks because of how much more convenient it is.
Opportunity: I saw this as an opportunity when I was taking
a computer class last semester (ISM3004) and realized how many email addresses
have been “phished” and how many breaches within big named companies that have
occurred.
Regulatory –
2020 Health Care Regulatory Outlook: Hospital price
transparency: 2020 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) update
a) Last week, I had an allergic reaction and broke out into
hives. While my mom begged me to go to the hospital, I took some Benadryl and
slept it off. I did not want to pay the costs of a hospital visit, even with
health insurance.
b) With the OPPS, President Trump is focusing on controlling
pricing in order to benefit the health care market. Price transparency will help
hospitals build rapport with the public.
c) This will directly affect the public. They will be able
to negotiate rates, shop services and be more aware when it comes to their
charges and their penalties.
d) I believe this will be easy to exploit, because medical
care is in high demand, especially now. With that being said, many people do
not want to seek care due to not having medical insurance or funds to cover the
service.
Opportunity: I saw this as an opportunity when COVID-19
offered free testing. Many people took advantage of that option. By no means am
I saying hospital fees need to be free, but I believe the honesty with
transparency will help.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI like your first regulatory trend story a lot and I feel like a lot of people could resonate with it since so many of us have used or been exposed to the cloud. Almost all of my electronics are apple products, and I barely know how the cloud works, but I do know that all of my stuff is supposedly stored in there. But I have always wondered how secure the cloud really is. I liked the point you brought up about how even though the US is pretty technologically advanced, a lot of people are still becoming victims of fraud and identity theft. So this really makes me wonder how I know that my stuff is protected with Apple?
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI thought your second economic story about supply and demand for produce was interesting. When the stay-at-home orders for the pandemic began, a lot of people started to “panic buy” items like cleaning products, produce, meat, and dairy products in much greater quantities than they would normally purchase, creating huge supply and demand issues. While the supply for some of the fresh food like produce is already starting to rebound from the shock, other products like disinfecting wipes are still in super high demand with a very limited supply. You may have more success exploiting this opportunity if you focus on in-demand cleaning products, simply because there is a bigger difference between supply and demand than with healthy food items. Hopefully supermarkets will be fully stocked soon, before hurricane season begins and people start to alter their buying habits again.