This group business analysis of the Boring Company (specifically the hyperloop) was completed as a final project in UMD's Business and Organizational Management course. This project gave me a better understanding of the intricacies that go into completing a project and structuring a company. Reading over the following investigated questions below will give a further explanation of what the paper will evaluate.
Investigated Questions
Before we could begin our project, we needed to address questions about The Boring Company. How is The Boring Company able to more efficiently dig tunnels? What processes do they use? Do they use something innovative and different? What are the specifications of the tunnel? How deep is it? How safe is it? What is the potential for pollution? How will the project be funded? Is this innovation even necessary? We found that is was privately funded, and that the tunnels will be smaller than traditional tunnels to help reduce construction time and costs.
We also asked about Elon Musk himself. How does his outlook and strategy with his other companies play into The Boring Company? How efficient is he as a person, running multiple companies? What ideas does he apply to The Boring Company? We found out that he himself is an incredibly efficient person and translates that into his companies, which is why The Boring Company is as efficient as it is. Furthermore, we found out that he continuously reuses technology to improve processes, such as using a electric vehicles in the tunnel drilling process.
Finally, we asked about how our project will relate to the class. Does lean control, leadership, corporate social responsibility, globalization, SWOT analysis, and PESTEL analysis apply? As we progressed through the project and learned more about each of these topics, we were able to narrow down what we thought would be best to discuss. Overall, we discussed many questions while working on this project, all of which helped us to move closer to our goal.
Information Gathering and Research Process
Our team was assigned the topic of transportation for our semester long group project, and this is where our information gathering/research process began. We started by brainstorming about people, technologies, and companies that are trying to change the world through the means of transportation. Throughout this process a few names were proposed but we came to a consensus to conduct our research on Elon Musk’s Boring Company. The next step for our group was to do research into The Boring Company so that we could understand who they were, what they hoped to accomplish, and what steps they were willing to take to reach the goal of transforming transportation. Since The Boring Company is relatively new, being established in 2016, we wanted to draw from a credible source that would provide us with enough resources to answer the questions we sought. Our main source for the information gathering/research process was the official Boring Company website, because it had all the details we needed to become experts on this company.
These details included pictures and videos of the projects, overviews of the tunnels that they are currently developing or will develop in the near future, and a FAQS page. We spent majority of our time on the FAQS page because it contained tons of useful information for the project. Information on this page answered questions about why tunneling was necessary, what the loop technology was, costs of using the technology, safety concerns, and even how this company is different from an everyday subway system. Throughout this research process we truly became experts on The Boring Company.
Other avenues that we used for research into The Boring Company included social media like Twitter and popular video website Youtube. For a CEO and Founder, Elon Musk has been very active on his Twitter page, tweeting updates about funding for The Boring Company as well as keeping those interested with the project up to date. Elon Musk has tweeted about scheduled test dates or cancellations, improvements to the technology, and plans for where the company is heading and its future, which was very useful in providing us information. Youtube was also a great tool because Elon Musk has interviews online where he discusses the company and gave informational sessions that really help to visualize some of the concepts for the loop. News outlets also posted videos on Youtube covering how the technology will help revolutionize transportation and brief explanations about how it worked. Also, we had to look at the websites of competitors like Hyperloop One and Terrafugia to understand their technology and plans to compete in the market.
We were not finished yet, the next step was to relate the information we learned about The Boring Company to the course material. To do this we looked at the “Principles of Management” coursebook for this class, as well as lecture slides, and our notes to aid in picking our topics. From here, we were able to correlate Elon Musk and The Boring Company to class concepts like leadership, corporate strategy, globalization, and triple constraints.
Findings
Our information discovery process involved a thorough amount of research to fully understand Elon Musk’s company and motives. We utilized the company’s website, social media, and other sources that talked about what competitors were doing across the world.
When we decided to pursue The Boring Company and loop technology as our topic, our first major task was to familiarize ourselves with what Elon Musk was doing. We discovered that Elon Musk created a website for this potential transformation in transportation. The first thing we found was why Elon Musk was pursuing this invention initially. He mentions how traffic has been a major issue in our country today and has led to an increase in people’s commute time as well as in the number of accidents. In order to solve these problems, the idea of flying cars is being embraced by a lot of people. However, Musk points out that people aren’t realizing the fact that having this increases noise pollution, the anxiety of people below these vehicles, and potential hazards during harsh weather conditions. As a result, Musk is focusing on going the other direction which is underground. We learned that not only does this idea solve most of the issues that flying cars pose, but “a large network of tunnels many levels deep would fix congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew” (The Boring Company). As a group we discussed how Musk’s desire to stray away from the current 2-D road system to a 3-D one will truly change the way we see transportation.
After learning about Musk’s intention, we then diverted our attention to how this was going to be done. We found that the focus of the company was to create a series of loops connecting cities together and then to eventually create hyperloops. We learned that loops and hyperloops facilitate underground transportation where the former is meant for short distances while the latter involves a vacuum suction method for longer distances. They both have either electric skates or pods that transport 8-16 passengers at speeds ranging from 150-200 miles per hour (The Boring Company). We found this interesting and were very surprised by the fact that progress towards a loop system was already being developed in Hawthorne, CA. We also discovered other areas in the country that Musk was focusing on such as Chicago as well as a system that allowed people to travel between Washington D.C. and Baltimore in about 15 minutes!
From there, we unsurprisingly found that this large scale project has some constraints. One of the major ones was the cost to fund the test project in California. To build a tunnel that just covers 1 mile costs nearly 1 billion dollars. Musk intends to decrease the massive cost by reducing the diameter of the tunnel itself which is possible due to his electric skates idea. He believes that doing this will reduce the cost by 3-4 times (The Boring Company). A few other areas of concern were noise disruption and where all the dirt being dug up was going to go. Musk said that with the Tunnel Boring Machine, there would be minimal noise since the digging will be happening nearly 30 feet below the surface. With the excess dirt, the company is trying to convert it into bricks so that they could be used for building structures.
As a group, we understood how these were constraints, but we were not aware of how serious they were until the Hawthorne test project was cancelled (through several posts on Twitter) due to the local neighborhoods suing the company. Learning this made us think how the project as a whole relates to the triple constraint concept because time, cost, and scope were three significant factors with this project.
With this in mind, we decided to learn more about Elon Musk as a leader. He founded Tesla, SpaceX, and now The Boring Company which all are based on innovative ideas. He is a strong believer that people should be working 80 hours a week because “nobody has ever changed the world on 40 hours” (Digg). He can be compared to people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg because of his transformational leadership through intellect and innovation. This has led to him creating successful companies like Tesla. His intention is to focus in on impossible solutions and see what can be done to make them possible. Musk’s strategy thus allows him to bring different ideas to the table that have never been thought of before. However, we have learned that although ideas like the loop seem amazing, they are very large in scope. Regardless, Musk engages himself in them without much thinking of the problems he might face.
A question that we looked into after another group brought it up during our peer proposal reviews was the safety and environmental implications with an underground transportation system. We found out that the electric skates used to transport people are very safe because they are fully stabilized vehicles that eliminate human error and any chances to go off course (The Boring Company). We also learned that traveling underground is safe if any earthquakes occur (considered to be one of the safest places to be) and the electric skates emit no hazardous gases whatsoever. There also would be emergency exits throughout the tunnels just in case anything serious occurred.
Despite this loop idea being fairly new, we were very curious whether there were any other competitors trying to revamp the transportation market. We found that there were 2 major competitors – Hyperloop One and Terrafugia. Both are United States based companies trying to take transportation to the next level. Hyperloop One is focused on creating above ground hyperloops that travel at airline speeds in order to connect cities together (Hyperloop One). What differentiates them from The Boring Company is that they are pursuing hyperloops in areas worldwide such as Dubai. On the other hand, Terrafugia is focused on making flying cars in order to alleviate the excess traffic on the ground. They are already in the process of developing a concept model known as the TF-X which is a 4 seat hybrid car that can turn into a flying car in seconds (Terrafugia). We concluded that both competitors would significantly impact The Boring Company’s success based on how fast they are moving towards accomplishing their ideas.
All of this research allowed us to connect The Boring Company to the leadership, strategy, globalization, and project management concepts that we learned throughout the semester. We definitely learned a lot about the future of transportation with all the information we gathered and the role technology will play in it.
Course Relations
Our presentation related to the course with a few topics. The first topic was the importance of leadership. As demonstrated with our presentation, Elon Musk is a transformational leader since he is able to inspire his employees to explore the impossible. Something that was utilized was the wildstorming technique exhibited through Musk’s leadership and different companies that he has founded. For instance, he successfully mainstreamed American electric cars with Tesla.
Strategy was another topic that we included into our presentation. Specifically, we introduced the differentiation ideology. This is relevant to the Boring company and Musk’s leadership since the differentiation ideology is a strategy in which a company looks to distinguish itself from competitors through the perceived quality of products or services (Bauer, Talya, et al.). This company is different to its competitors since they are the only one to introduce the ‘Loop’ technology. Also, they are one of the first companies to have a product that would be affordable for most people, whereas with competitors, customers would need to pay high prices in order to use their services. In addition, another strategy topic that was discussed was lean control. Lean control is a control rooted in the mentality of doing more with less, with the goal of producing an improved product or service with reducing waste (Bauer, Talya, et al.). This is demonstrated throughout the Boring Company’s practices with the introduction of reducing the tunnel diameter size from 28 meters to 14 meters, which reduces costs by 3-5 times. Another way they implemented lean control is with the use of the electric skate instead of using diesel locomotives.
Globalization played a key role in this presentation since this is the process by which businesses develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. This is relevant to our topic since globalization is closely related with Friedman’s 10 flatteners. With this product able to eliminate physical distance since it is a much faster mode of public transportation compared to the means that exist now. Furthermore, the loop can act as another one of Friedman’s global flatteners since the distance has been “flattened” by the use of technology so that the digital distance is none.
The final topic that was discussed in our presentation is the concept of Triple Constraints. This pertains to the Boring Company since the triple constraint includes three main parts: cost, schedule, and scope. All of these constraints also affect the quality of the product or service. With this company, Musk didn’t factor all three of the constraints, which resulted in the test tunnel, that was supposed to be launched on December 10th, to be cancelled. He has factored in the cost and schedule constraints, but did not consider the scope since he wasn’t taking into consideration how this project was affecting local residents of the area. As a result, the city of Los Angeles had sued the Boring Company for obstructing these residents’ peace and quiet.
iSchool Curriculum
Our project highlighted aspects of the INST335 course that are critical in developing a well-rounded understanding of information science. The University of Maryland iSchool’s mission states, “We prepare future information leaders, researchers, and entrepreneurs. Together, we use information to move the world forward” (“Mission and Vision”, 2018). The focus is heavily on utilizing information to bring success to the individual, as well as organizations and the world in general. Students in the major have a passion for breaking down how people “... think, live, and engage with the world” (“Mission and Vision”, 2018). INST335 is a foundational stepping stone that information science majors must understand in order to do successful work.
The team’s focus with the Boring Company was on the strategy, leadership, globalization and other course related topics. At its core, Information Science is the usage of technology, people, and information to benefit a company. With its focus on benefitting citizens with cutting edge technology and innovative thinking, the Boring Company truly embodies the studies surrounding the core Information Science principles. Studying this type of material gave us a holistic view of the inner workings of an organization that aligns with iSchool premises. An individual in the iSchool can use this knowledge to decipher information, and then apply it in a way that correlates to the strategic development of a company. Thus, becoming a unique and valuable asset to that organization.
Having this connection helped integrate learning from the INST 335 course into our knowledge of Information Science as a whole. Adding a focus on that connection between the organization and iSchool curriculum will better help students understand where the major falls within the job world. The best way to do this would be to require the organization selected for the final project of INST335 to be directly applied to the blending of technology, information, and people. Overall, the students would benefit by establishing a mental connection between class, major, and project.
Works cited
Vision & Mission. (2018, October 04). Retrieved from https://ischool.umd.edu/vision-mission
“The Boring Company.” The Boring Company, www.boringcompany.com/.
“Hyperloop One.” Hyperloop One, hyperloop-one.com/.
“The Future of Personal Transportation | The Flying Car Is Here.” Terrafugia, 2018, terrafugia.com/.
Rousseau, Steve. “Digg.” The Batshit Weaponry Of The Middle Ages, Digg, 27 Nov. 2018, digg.com/2018/elon-musk-40-hour-work-week.
Bauer, Talya, et al. Principles of Management 3.0. Flat World Knowledge, 2017.
