Alex's Blog for 340

TO : Clark Hansen, CEO, AMDP  FROM : Alexander Gross, Research and Development Analyst, AMDP  DATE : June 30th, 2021 SUBJECT : Proposal to Invest in United Airlines Recently, I came across a business that is re-emerging into the market and already an industry leader in sustainability.  United Airlines  has been battling the effects of the pandemic but are now positioned to reclaim its pre-pandemic highs.  Not only are they already financially stable from previous record lows, but they are committed to values that align with the standards of AMDP. Before my analysis of United Airlines, I want you to keep the following AMDP standards: AMDP Standards Triple Bottom Line Firms commit to this concept by measuring their “social and environmental impact—in addition to their financial performance—rather than solely focusing on generating profit, or the standard ‘bottom line’” (HBS). The structure is the 3 P’s: People -  Does the firm commit to...

 Night and Day Lights, shows, the Strip. I always saw Las Vegas as extravagant adorning the brightest lights, best shows, and infamous Strip. The earliest memories I have area about a decade ago. I was a kid that had never seen anything like it. I lived in San Diego my whole life and never knew about the towering hotels and neon lights in the middle of the desert. It's one of the only places in the US I have visited. Before going, I only saw it on postcards, movies, or somewhere on the internet. I still remember the drive, barren, flat, and hot, very hot. The A/C at the time barely worked well enough and rolling down the window only made it worse. A seemingly long six hour drive was all worth it. Eventually I saw the buildings in the distance, but in the day time there was not much of an awe factor. I was more tired than anything and stepping out into the heat made it worse. We pulled up to the Golden Nugget Hotel and settled in. My most vivid memory from there was the pool. In all...

American Like Me has been one of the easiest reads I have enjoyed. Not because it is short or lacks depth, but because each story follows another interesting one. Rather than telling their life story, I get to learn about snippets of their lives that led to the development of their identity. It felt at first that I was going to read a similar story about 100 times and start slowing down. However, what stood out to me the most through each story was the voice coming from the words. I could tell that there was emotion and each story came from a special place. Writers used comedy, personification, a brief snapshot, or a description of their years in high school. Eventually, I read from some people's beginnings, endings, and everything in between. It helped to be able to relate to the stories and see how a piece of someone's life reflected on mine. I never thought about my life growing up as in depth as each writer did. Closing the book, I had more of an urge to better understand...

 When Will My Dog Speak to Me?   Like most children, I grew up watching cartoons. I watched everything from Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, and even Boomerang for the older cartoons. One thing that cartoons can accomplish that most shows can't are talking dogs. They could drive cars, become secret agents, and occasionally rulers of the world. Even as a kid I knew that was crazy, but I had hope that I could one day talk to my dog. That I would wake up one morning and suddenly understand her. Unfortunately, I got older, and that reality also started to slip away.  What I didn't realize at the time was how much my dog was already talking to me. It might not be the same way that you and I would talk. I never got a handwritten note or anything like that. Obviously, dogs must have a way of communicating with each other. Dog barks are the most obvious indicators. Another subtle, yet common, form is smell. The blissful moment when your dog puts their face as clos...

 American Like Me  I dreaded having to read another book for class. I enjoy reading, but it feels different when I have to read it. At least this time I had a choice, and all the books were unique. I went through the Amazon page of each one and read the reviews. I planned to choose the book that had the best rating and glowing recommendations to read it. I cross-referenced searches, filtered down results and eventually landed on American Like Me. For anyone that didn't choose this book, Amazon describes it as a "collection of first-person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures". About every 12 pages is a story from someone new. Some people I know, most of them I don't. The part about culture is what stood out to me. I was excited to learn about all the cultures that might be in the book. The US is a melting pot of cultures and there are dozens of stories. However, I completely missed what the book was going to be about.  ...

My current internship is my first one ever. When I first got the call for the position, I only had a slight idea of what I was getting into. At the end of May, I started my position as a market intelligence analyst of an aerospace and defense company. I thought it must do something with marketing, being intelligent, and analyzing data.    After doing more research, the best definition I found is to  oversee and profile competitors and competitive products and review market and competitor data to uncover market opportunities and address business issues . It is a small part of the marketing team, me being the second of two analysts in the whole company. To dissect this role more easily, the main components are to profile, compare, and assess competitors with ourselves. These help to find new opportunities and expand the company.     The process results in two presentations, a competitive product comparison (looking at a specific market) or a competitive brief...