Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends
1) The first regulatory-change
opportunity I found was a proposal for "Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection. The Food Safety and Inspection
Services (FSIS) are proposing more lenient inspections by allowing the
slaughterhouses to remove any violations before the inspector looks. This means
sick, diseased, etc. animals, both live and dead carcasses. "FSIS
projects that the new system is unlikely
to result in a higher prevalence of Salmonella on market hog carcasses" (Regulations.gov). I believe that there may be an opportunity for a third-party
company to inspect the slaughterhouses and offer consumers a different label to
assure them of the safety of their pork product. I have to credit
a student whose name I did not catch in the ENT3003 lecture; their
knowledge of third-party companies providing organic certification prompted me
to have this idea when I came across the regulation.
a) I found the
opportunity on Regulations.gov.
b) I believe this opportunity exists based on my visceral reaction to the proposed changes to swine slaughter inspection as well as the comments on the website board.
C) The prototypical customer with the opportunity may be anyone who purchases or consumes pork products. Most likely, the prototypical customer is going to be already very concerned with their food sources. The slaughterhouses themselves would ultimately be the customer. Slaughterhouses that want to gain an advantage over others may seek this additional inspection service to have the validation on their packaging.
D) This opportunity is relatively difficult to exploit, because FSIS is a government agency. Getting permission to go above and beyond the FSIS expectations to turn a profit may not be approved by the licensing agency.
E) I think I saw this opportunity because I am one of those conscious shoppers/eaters that I named as a prototypical customer. I will pay more for a product, especially an animal product, if I believe the process was more humane or if the product is a higher quality. I also worry about food-borne illness from meats.
2) The second regulatory change I found was "The Forest Service is proposing to revise its NEPA procedures with the goal of increasing efficiency of environmental analysis" (Regulations.gov). Basically, they are looking to save money and make cut-backs in order become more "efficient." This may be an opportunity for the formation of an organization that can supplement the Forest Service.
A) I found this opportunity on Regulations.gov.
B) I believe this opportunity exists because the national parks and forests are a large part of our country's beauty and there are a lot of people that care about them.
C) The organization may have to be somewhat volunteer-based in order to be successful. The customer would be the National Forest Service.
D) Again, this opportunity may be difficult to exploit as the apparent purpose of changing the NEPA procedures is to save money. Cut-backs, whether in personnel or other resources, will undoubtedly be part of the changes.
E) I saw this opportunity because I am actively concerned about the environment and what is going to happen to the beautiful land we live in. I see it every day in my own small town, as they tear down historic oaks and pave way for generic strip malls.
3) An economic-related opportunity I found is "The Identity Theft Resource Center reports the number of U.S. data breaches reached an all-time high in 2017" (Hardekopf, 2018). Despite the number of security measures taken as technology advances, breaches are still occurring even more frequently than in the past. There must be an opportunity here for additional security.
A) I found the opportunity in an article on Forbes.com.
B) The opportunity exists because people will take measures to protect themselves against fraud. Banks and credit card companies will, too, because most of the time those institutions end up taking the monetary loss.
C) The prototypical customer could be the card-issuers, the cardholders, or the online retailers/companies that are being breached and having customer information stolen. The target customer depends on the approach you take to remedying the problem.
D) I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because the issue could affect anyone who uses a debit or credit card, the banks and credit companies, or the retailers that accept the fraudulent card. With so many angles to approach this issue, there is certainly an avenue to profit.
E) I saw this opportunity because I worked in banking for seven years. Other people may not blink at an article about data breaches, but I remember what it was like when Target was breached and every customer we had called the office to report fraud, check their account, ask questions, etc. As I am thinking this through, I realize that another way to exploit this opportunity might be a company that handles the resolutions for massive breaches such as the Target fiasco.
4) Another economic trend from Forbes is the future of big companies. An article on their site predicts that mega-companies may only have a CEO in the future thanks to out-sourcing and freelancers.
A) I found the opportunity on Forbes.com.
B) The article clearly states one opportunity that exists from this change:" As freelancing grows, more platforms offering W-2 like benefits will emerge" (Morad, 2018). There will be a lot of additional needs from companies.
C) The prototypical customer may be the freelance worker who needs to assist with 401K, insurance, etc. that employers often hire HR departments to help with.
D) This opportunity is easy to exploit. There will be a need for these services and companies and employees both will pay the price. It will be less expensive for the companies to hire freelancers and other managing firms than it would be to have a roster of full-time employees. It will likely be more beneficial to the freelance employee as well since they will have more freedom and say in their benefits and pay range.
E) I saw this opportunity because it stood out as a massive change to the current employment system. I was a teller for part of the time I was in banking, and it often occurred to me how much of my job could be replaced by a machine. While replacing full time employees with freelancers is not necessarily the same idea, both concepts disrupt the current flow of standard employment in America.
b) I believe this opportunity exists based on my visceral reaction to the proposed changes to swine slaughter inspection as well as the comments on the website board.
C) The prototypical customer with the opportunity may be anyone who purchases or consumes pork products. Most likely, the prototypical customer is going to be already very concerned with their food sources. The slaughterhouses themselves would ultimately be the customer. Slaughterhouses that want to gain an advantage over others may seek this additional inspection service to have the validation on their packaging.
D) This opportunity is relatively difficult to exploit, because FSIS is a government agency. Getting permission to go above and beyond the FSIS expectations to turn a profit may not be approved by the licensing agency.
E) I think I saw this opportunity because I am one of those conscious shoppers/eaters that I named as a prototypical customer. I will pay more for a product, especially an animal product, if I believe the process was more humane or if the product is a higher quality. I also worry about food-borne illness from meats.
2) The second regulatory change I found was "The Forest Service is proposing to revise its NEPA procedures with the goal of increasing efficiency of environmental analysis" (Regulations.gov). Basically, they are looking to save money and make cut-backs in order become more "efficient." This may be an opportunity for the formation of an organization that can supplement the Forest Service.
A) I found this opportunity on Regulations.gov.
B) I believe this opportunity exists because the national parks and forests are a large part of our country's beauty and there are a lot of people that care about them.
C) The organization may have to be somewhat volunteer-based in order to be successful. The customer would be the National Forest Service.
D) Again, this opportunity may be difficult to exploit as the apparent purpose of changing the NEPA procedures is to save money. Cut-backs, whether in personnel or other resources, will undoubtedly be part of the changes.
E) I saw this opportunity because I am actively concerned about the environment and what is going to happen to the beautiful land we live in. I see it every day in my own small town, as they tear down historic oaks and pave way for generic strip malls.
3) An economic-related opportunity I found is "The Identity Theft Resource Center reports the number of U.S. data breaches reached an all-time high in 2017" (Hardekopf, 2018). Despite the number of security measures taken as technology advances, breaches are still occurring even more frequently than in the past. There must be an opportunity here for additional security.
A) I found the opportunity in an article on Forbes.com.
B) The opportunity exists because people will take measures to protect themselves against fraud. Banks and credit card companies will, too, because most of the time those institutions end up taking the monetary loss.
C) The prototypical customer could be the card-issuers, the cardholders, or the online retailers/companies that are being breached and having customer information stolen. The target customer depends on the approach you take to remedying the problem.
D) I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because the issue could affect anyone who uses a debit or credit card, the banks and credit companies, or the retailers that accept the fraudulent card. With so many angles to approach this issue, there is certainly an avenue to profit.
E) I saw this opportunity because I worked in banking for seven years. Other people may not blink at an article about data breaches, but I remember what it was like when Target was breached and every customer we had called the office to report fraud, check their account, ask questions, etc. As I am thinking this through, I realize that another way to exploit this opportunity might be a company that handles the resolutions for massive breaches such as the Target fiasco.
4) Another economic trend from Forbes is the future of big companies. An article on their site predicts that mega-companies may only have a CEO in the future thanks to out-sourcing and freelancers.
A) I found the opportunity on Forbes.com.
B) The article clearly states one opportunity that exists from this change:" As freelancing grows, more platforms offering W-2 like benefits will emerge" (Morad, 2018). There will be a lot of additional needs from companies.
C) The prototypical customer may be the freelance worker who needs to assist with 401K, insurance, etc. that employers often hire HR departments to help with.
D) This opportunity is easy to exploit. There will be a need for these services and companies and employees both will pay the price. It will be less expensive for the companies to hire freelancers and other managing firms than it would be to have a roster of full-time employees. It will likely be more beneficial to the freelance employee as well since they will have more freedom and say in their benefits and pay range.
E) I saw this opportunity because it stood out as a massive change to the current employment system. I was a teller for part of the time I was in banking, and it often occurred to me how much of my job could be replaced by a machine. While replacing full time employees with freelancers is not necessarily the same idea, both concepts disrupt the current flow of standard employment in America.
Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billhardekopf/2018/02/02/this-week-in-credit-card-news-a-record-number-of-data-breaches-starbucks-enters-credit-card-market/#27fd79ff7346
Morad, R. (2018, February 1). This CEO Predicts We'll
See A $1 Billion Company With Only One Employee By 2025. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemorad/2018/01/31/this-ceo-predicts-well-see-a-1-billion-company-with-only-one-employee-by-2025/#71a8f5664c4f
Regulations.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FS-2018-0004-0001
Regulations.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FSIS-2016-0017-0001
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