$|$Assignment #$1$: Investing in Competitive Advantage through Data

Due Date: October $14$

Objective:

This assignment will help you evaluate how businesses leverage customer data to create

competitive advantages. You will analyze real$-$world examples and decide, as both an investor

and a potential employee, which company you would choose to invest in or work for, based on

their data strategies.

Instructions:

Watch the video: "When Data Creates a Competitive Advantage $-$ and When It

Doesn't" $($available here$).$

Find Examples: Identify four real$-$world examples where companies based their core

business model on using data and learning from data to build competitive advantages.

These examples should focus on how customer data or data$-$enabled learning built a

sustainable edge over competitors. Try using more local and newer examples you have

recently heard about.

Make a Decision: For each example, decide:

As an investor: Would you invest in this company based on how effectively it

uses data to create a competitive advantage? Why or why not? $($You do not need

to explain other factors like your interest, market analysis, etc.$)$

As an employee: If you received equal job offers from all four companies, which

one would you choose to work for? Why or why not?Are there any other factors

related to data usage $($e$.$g$.,$ ethical considerations, clarity over data usage,

environmental considerations, their vendors$)$ would be of your concerns?

Present Results: Summarize your final analysis and decisions in a table format. The

table should include:

The name of each company, and their website.

A brief description of how the company uses data to create competitive

advantage.

Your decision as an investor $($yes$/$no$)$ with a justification.

Your decision as a potential employee $($yes$/$no$)$ with a justification.

Keep the table concise. You do not need to put all your justifications and

explanations in the table, you can explain them outside of the table and put a

keyword, or title of the reasoning in the table.

I will randomly ask you to explain one of the applications you present in this

assignment, in the class.

You are not allowed to use generative AI for this assignment.

Suggested Table Format: