Written for current and future MBA candidates by Justin O'Brien in his role as MBA Director for Royal Holloway University of London full time and distance learning MBA programmes.
Saturday 21 November 2015
MBAs thinking outside the box: a hotel made from shipping containers ?
Take a peak in Pinterest and you'll see shipping containers put to good use beyond their intended purpose. Swimming pools, mobile pizza oven, university dormatory blocks, a bar, green house even as large scale art installations.
Kevin McCloud (orange hard hat above) has used his popular Channel 4 hit TV show Grand Designs to campaign for residential home building innovation and his personal sustainable passion for the environment. In this linked episode he follows a Northern Irish architect who chose to build his dream home on a farm using four shipping containers. Watch out for the chocolate stick visual modelling (Kit Kat).
Fast Food pop up restaurant situated near the taxi rank on Frankfurt International Airports kerbside. |
Used as promotional, temporary storage during the 2015 Rugby World Cup |
BBC used blue containers for their TV studio at London 2012 Olympics |
Containers offer a practical building solution for glacier visitors in Iceland |
Royal Holloway MBAs have been challenged by Thorpe Park Resort to consider 'what next' for their highly innovative Shark Hotel. Link here for more details. It is one of four live business consultancy challenges that have been woven into the general management programme for work experienced professionals.
Royal Holloway MBA:
Thinking outside the box ?
Thursday 5 November 2015
WoodTrend.co.uk Live MBA consultancy challenge
Lynne Schey approached Royal Holloway with a real challenge.
Lynne Schey |
What did her successful wood flooring, cladding and decking company need to do to its website to remain competitive ?
Could the fresh, business experienced MBA minds be engaged in critically reviewing the dynamic market place WoodTrend.co.uk operates in she asked. Yes, of course !
Sustainable Amazonian Hard Woods |
WoodTrend is a premium, sustainable company which has taken painstaking care to ensure that its Brazilian forestry complies to the highest levels of contemporary ethical business. Imitators have copied innovative 'hidden nail' joinery design that had been a source of competitive advantage. Increasingly sophisticated web based shop windows have seen strong price transparency emerge, driving commodity-price focussed consumption. Architects on large, high end construction projects are increasingly under pressure to 'value engineer' their designs to offer a luxurious look on a lean budget, putting further pressure on margins.
Rodrigo in discussion with the group |
Justin O'Brien, MBA Director at Royal Holloway, was delighted at the high levels of energy and enthusiasm demonstrated by the students, who were mid-way through their first term of an intensive study programme. This was the first of four real, live business consultancies the hard working group have woven into their demanding and practically oriented full time masters degree.
Monday 2 November 2015
Ambushing Rugby World Cups marketing scrummage
The favourites New Zealand chalked up their second successive Rugby World Cup victory in a competition dominated by the southern hemisphere teams. But who were the winners among the global corporations seeking to stand out in the marketing scrum? The tournament sought to keep its doors closed to the kind of unofficial marketing that leaves official sponsors furious, but an American rapper may have rattled their cages.
The RWC is now firmly established as a top ten world sporting event that can boast a hike in sponsorship revenue of more than 50%. Huge leaps have been made to give the sport global scale.
You could see the practical impact of this as deep-pocketed sponsor Emirates airline’s brand appeared on match officials' shirts, a first for the tournament, and a move which illustrates a willingness to create new marketing assets.
Read the full story: click here
First published under creative commons copyright in theconversation.com
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