There’s many claims over the last year or so that “manufacturing is returning to the West” and “China’s days as the world’s factory are numbered”{{1}}. […]
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The destruction of traditional retail
A steady stream of news stories is trying to convince us that online is killing retail, that online has an unfair advantage and show rooming […]
Continue readingDavid has the edge on Goliath
Is success in business due to luck or hard work? It used to be that if you worked hard and invested astutely in your business that you could expect to be rewarded. Build it and they will come. Times have changed though, and more and more often it seems that all that hard work goes to waste when an unknown (and previously unseen) competitor emerges from nowhere to steal the market from under your nose. Success has become random with the business environment perpetually unstable and in constant flux. The market is hit-driven rather than being based on careful investment. Success now depends on coming up with the right product at the right time, and having a fairly large dose of luck. Business development used to mean investing in your business and building up the assets under its control. Now it means maximising your business’s luck (or minimising the luck of others).
Continue readingAs retail dies, who will be the winners?
The high street is dying. Retailers are struggling to attract customers to their stores. When they do manage to get them in the retailers worry about the same customers using their smartphones to buy a product they’ve just pick up from the shelf from an internet retailer. Retail gurus are telling the high street that they need to make their stores more inviting if they want to continue attracting an ever more fickle public; ensuring that there’s accessible parking for baby boomers who don’t like walking, QR codes on all the products for smartphone wielding Gen Ys, and so. This ignores the fact that globalisation, the internet and mobile phones have fundamentally changed the way we shop. Consumers haven’t just become more fickle, how we go about buying the goods and services we need is in the process of being transformed and any retailer that is little more than the last step in someone else’s supply chain has a poor chance of surviving.
Continue readingTaking innovation to the edge
Deloitte were kind enough to invite me to present last week at the Melbourne leg of their regular CIO forum. The topic was innovation in […]
Continue readingWhat recession?
The global financial crisis hit nearly four years ago in 2008 but America and Europe appear to still be stuck in the mud. Even the Asian market has softened. But is this a recession? Or are we seeing a reconfiguration of the economy as the technological seeds laid over the last few generations finally germinated and bear fruit?
Continue readingYou can’t buy innovation
Why is it so hard to incent our companies or teams to do anything innovative? Something tangible that makes a difference to the top or […]
Continue readingOutsourcing in an increasingly complex world
Pressure on margins is driving organizations to increasingly rationalize and externalize supporting functions as they search for more efficient and flexible delivery approaches.
Continue readingDeath of the shopping mission
When did you last go on a mission to buy something? Something specific that you had decided you needed. Were you looking for a book […]
Continue readingInnovation [2010-11-29]
Another week and another collection of interesting ideas from around the internet. As always, thoughts and/or comments are greatly appreciated. John Sculley On Steve Jobs: […]
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