Assignment 6A

Assignment 6A- Practicing Opportunity Identification 

1). Economic trend: US-China Trade War

A. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-china-tariff-full-list-of-goods-products-2018-6 

The opportunity exists right now for companies to search for ways to produce cheaper labor somewhere else, providing more jobs to people in the United States. Companies that would outsource their labor to China now have to find new sources for labor because of the tariffs that the United States has put in place. The prices within the United States are competitive with the prices aboard in China. Now manufacturers will get their labor here because it is cheaper. The manufacturers could also seek out other countries that could provide the same labor that China was providing before but for cheaper now. The prototypical customers would be other countries that can provide cheap labor, as well as companies based in the United States This opportunity would be easy to exploit if the manufacturers are already making the products here. Their business would be able to boom since more companies would buy their products because of the tariffs that are being implemented. However, it could be more complicated for companies that usually outsource their products to China. I saw this opportunity because this has been all over the news. The trade war with China is a very current topic and its something that could potentially have repercussions on our economy and is already showing the effects of it on China's economy. 

2). Economic trend: Shifting work demographics 

A. https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/six-key-economic-trends

The opportunity exists right now for younger people to enter the workforce. As older people retire from the office jobs there are more hiring opportunities available for younger people. With unemployment levels very low, there are fewer options for people to join the workforce. There is a slow growth for the current workforce because of a lot of the older generation is currently retiring. More jobs are beginning to open for the current generation. The customer for this opportunity are younger people that are looking to join the workforce. This opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because companies are giving the opportunity to younger people to join the workforce. I saw this opportunity because as someone that is graduating soon, I'm looking to join the workforce soon. 

3). Regulations: Plastic straw bans are spreading all over the world

A. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/news-plastic-drinking-straw-history-ban/

The opportunity exists right now for more companies to make their own version of straws that are biodegradable. It started in San Fransisco, where there started to be a ban on the use of plastic straws because of the amount of plastic that was going into the ocean. Companies are starting to be more environmentally conscious and they are making decisions to help reduce the amount of waste by a significant amount. There are some options out there of straws that are metallic and they are able to be reused. The issue with the metallic straw is that it would have to be cleaned each time it is used and also that it would cost more than a plastic straw. You would also have to remember to take your straw everywhere. Others have provided straws that are made of paper, but the straws are very easily destroyed when left in a drink for a decent period of time. The prototypical customer for this opportunity are companies that use plastic straws. They have to come up with a feasible way of another kind of straw. This opportunity would be easy to exploit if they are able to come up with a good working biodegradable straw. There would be a potential problem if companies get rid of straws altogether because there are many people out there with disabilities that require the usage of straws. I saw this opportunity because plastic has been a very harmful thing to our environment. When companies started to talk about phasing out plastic straws it would reduce waste and hopefully they would take the initiative to reduce waste in other ways. 

4.) Regulations: Overfishing 

A. https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/regulation/overfishing-is-a-huge-problem-here-s-what-you-need-to-know

The opportunity exists right now for a more aggressive approach to regulate fishing. Overfishing has become a problem because our population keeps growing. This has caused an imbalance in the ocean's ecosystem. More fish are being taken out of the ocean than the number of fishes that are being able to reproduce. This also causes a problem because there are a lot of different animals that also get caught in nets posing a threat to their existence. Fishing boats are able to go into international waters where there are almost no regulations and they can do whatever they want. There is also a lot of fish that are close to extinction due to the amount of overfishing. The prototypical customer for this would be nonprofits organizations that dedicate their time to protect the ocean. This opportunity would be difficult to exploit because the ocean is very large and it would be difficult to regulate the number of boats that are constantly coming in and out of the ports. I saw this opportunity because there are almost no laws protecting the ocean from harm. There are a lot of nonprofit organizations looking to change that.