At this point in the pandemic, most American consumers have faced some supply issues – be it waiting for a part for your car, or not being able to get the perfect present during the holiday season.

This episode’s guest explains why we are plagued with supply chain issues – and how we as a society can fix them.

G. 'Ravi’ Ravishankar is a faculty member at the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Operations Division at the Leeds School of Business. He is an expert on supply chain issues, lean transformation, product innovation strategies, and technology transfer from national laboratories.

We talked to him about how the pandemic upended our supply chain – and the cracks in the system that were there all along.


EPISODE QUOTES:
On the changing nature of who is an “essential worker”
[00:06:48] If the circumstances change enough, who becomes essential is going to change. If you have a war, soldiers are essential; if you have a famine, food production is essential. So everybody is essential at different points in time, and we need to look at the entire labor pool in that manner.


On where products are made
[00:07:50] We don't make stuff in this country. We mostly import anything that is made. And that is a fundamental problem when all of a sudden, where something comes from is disrupted. It doesn't matter what that item is. If you don't make something, then you need to ensure that the supply from wherever it is coming from is rock solid.


On implementing lessons from recent pandemic problems
[00:26:17] The supply chain problems have got tentacles that go in a thousand different ways. We are just facing the ripple. We've tossed a rock in the pond, and all of a sudden, this ripple is playing out, and it's making us rethink. My fear is that you let things alone for too long, that ripple will die out, and it'll be back to business as usual until something else happens. And I guarantee something else will happen. It’s just a matter of time.

S1E1: Professor ‘Ravi’ Ravishankar – Untangling the Supply Chain

Two years ago, it would’ve been hard to imagine a Disneyland devoid of happy families and beloved characters. But for months, the park was mostly empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the crowds are back – but the experience has been updated to account for the new normal. 

Clark Jones is Senior Vice President and CFO at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, is a 26-year veteran of the Walt Disney company's theme park business – and he’s been at the helm of efforts to ensure Disneyland’s success for generations to come, even amid a pandemic. 

EPISODE QUOTES:
On balancing change and tradition
[00:23:15] With the legacy that Disneyland has, especially with its avid fan base, anytime you make a change can be challenging … [but] once you make a change and put it into the environment and let the guests actually then interact with it and participate with it, in most cases, they realize, “You know, sometimes change is good, and sometimes, it's better.” You're never going to make everybody happy all the time, but, if we don't make some changes, we're just going to be the same Disneyland we were, you know, ten years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. And, I think, our guests expect more from us.  

On his advice to people new to the workforce 
[00:20:48] As somebody brand new to the workforce, you're bringing that to the table. You are bringing a brand-new perspective to organizations and to companies. And I don't think you should be afraid to say what you're thinking and say how you might change an organization. Because I think that is your expectation that the company should be listening. And I think we, as leaders, know that that's your expectation, and we need to create an environment in which you can do that. So don't be afraid to come in and provide perspective, add value, and question things. 

On the wisdom of ‘Encanto’
[00:13:29] One of my favorite quotes right now is coming from the film Encanto, which, hopefully, the listeners have had a chance to see. And it's such a great film, and there's a character in there who is the perfect daughter. She says, “It doesn't have to be perfect. Sometimes it just has to be.” And I think when you think about planning, it doesn't have to be spot on all the time. But you have to have [a plan], and you have to be thoughtful about it, and it needs to be there, so when the time does come, you're ready to act upon it.

S1E2: Clark Jones – Riding Through the Pandemic at Disneyland

Professor Sarah Zechman is Chair of the Accounting Division at Leeds, as well as an expert in financial communications and disclosure. She’s been researching SPACs – short for special purpose acquisition companies – and their sudden popularity, especially among celebrities.

This episode digs into what SPACs are, why they’ve been in the news more, and what listeners should consider before going in on SPACs 

EPISODE QUOTES:
Why are SPACs an alternative to IPOs?
[00:05:39] People at this point are looking for alternative investments. I've seen a lot of creative investments out there and SPACs are one of them that are a bit different. It's difficult to obtain stakes in a traditional IPO. Even those entities that have access are often constrained in their allotment.  If you want to invest in early-stage investment, there's very limited options for many entities and individuals. But SPACs expand the pool of investment opportunities available.

A brief history on the popularity of SPACs
[00:21:00] The first SPAC was actually back in the 1990s, but they were extremely infrequent until 2003. And even from 2003 to 2017, there were maybe 20 a year. So still very infrequent. Then, in 2018 and ramping up in 2019 and certainly 2020 they've exploded quite a bit. In 2020, there were 200 SPACs that raised over $70 million.

S1E3: Sarah Zechman – Unpacking SPACs

Smells like a youthful jam

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Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Karmakaio & Auyo Flow Hypertechno Remix)


This episode, our last from “GURK,” the Global Enterepreneurship and Innovation Research Conference held in Boulder in June 2024, features a conversation with another one of Jeff’s academic heroes and GURK founder, Mike Lenox. He's a Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, of which Jeff is an alum. Mike’s influence helped Jeff focus his interest on CleanTech entrepreneurship, and the two have published several papers together.

Our bartender today is none other than Brad, who mixes his signature Manhattan while Jeff and Mike reminisce a bit about their Darden days before getting into more serious discussion about how clean entrepreneurship bridges our dichotomous political chasm on climate change. In cases where new clean tech demonstrates superior effectiveness over carbon-intensive technologies, the markets do their thing and the clean tech wins.

They also poke holes in the Panacea Hypothesis, which holds that entrepreneurship alone will solve all the world’s problems. Mike, Jeff and Brad concur that it’s really the interaction between markets and the policy that guides them that’s the key.

Whether it’s big issues like climate change, or AI — which our conversation also touches upon — Mike firmly believes that — especially in today’s fractured political climate — “extreme centrism” is the way forward. Our discussants agree that embracing and understanding the world’s complexity in order to solve big issues is the fundamental role of today’s entrepreneur. 

Unsurprisingly, they also agree that Brad’s Manhattans are excellent.

Enjoy and cheers!

——

This episode of Creative Distillation was recorded during the Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Conference, held in Boulder in June 2024.

Unfortunately, there’s no link to Brad’s Manhattans, but here's that recipe for the Raymond Hale. It looks pretty tasty.

The Raymond Hale:

2 parts bourbon
1 part elderflower
1 part lemon
top with ginger beer

Learn more about Mike Lenox on his faculty page at UVA’s Darden School of Business (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty-research/directory/michael-lenox)

Mike’s two clean tech books, “Can Business Save the Earth” and “The Decarbonization Imperative,” can be purchased from his website, michael-lenox.com

--

Learn more about CU's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship: https://deming.colorado.edu

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at CDpodcast@colorado.edu.

Thanks for listening.
- An Analog Digital Arts Production for the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Produced, recorded and edited by Joel Davis

"Whiskey Before Breakfast" [Traditional] performed by Jeffrey York and Brad Werner. Recorded, mixed and mastered by George Figgs

___

CREATIVE DISTILLATION

University of Colorado-Boulder professors Jeff York and Brad Werner distill entrepreneurship research into actionable insights.

Jeff York | Associate Professor | Research Director jeffrey.york@colorado.edu

Brad Werner | Instructor | Teaching Director walter.werner@colorado.edu

Deming Center for Entrepreneurship | CU Leeds School of Business 303.492.9018 | deming@colorado.edu

82: Mike Lenox (UVA): Brad’s Manhattans and “Extreme Centrism”

University of Colorado-Boulder professors Jeff York and Brad Werner distill  entrepreneurship research into actionable insights.

82: Mike Lenox (UVA): Brad’s Manhattans and “Extreme Centrism”

Creative Distillation

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