Everyone knows it is going to happen! Just like at some point everyone knew that the internet was going to fundamentally change the way we work and play! Even during the deepest crash of the internet economy the life of the internet itself was never really in question. The only thing that really crashed about...Read More
I suppose everyone has heard about the research that was done in which minnows where put into a glass cylinder in an aquarium with a pike and after the pike had bumped his head on the glass cylinder about 7 times he quit trying to eat the minnows. Then when the glass cylinder was removed...Read More
Some critics have suggested that ”Hard Facts” borders on common sense but it is the apparent lack of common sense in business that often amazes and shocks me. In fact, the idea of common sense is exactly the type of the strongly held belief that ”Hard Facts” puts into question. As far as I can...Read More
Following is another simple marketing plan template that I have used from time to time in my work. Like my earlier entry ”The World’s Shortest Marketing Plan” this plan template is very short and should be kept that way! The Good Virtually all companies conduct some sort of planning, whether it be it the form...Read More
A Tool for Analysis of Global R&D Organizations BACKGROUND Creating the right organization and control system for R&D is always a difficult task even when confined to only one geographical location. Managing numerous R&D units spread all over the world increases the complexity dramatically. How well corporations coordinate their global R&D is one of the...Read More
Every product will eventually reach the end of its lifecycle. Some marketers use end of lifecycle as an excuse for there own lack of ability to address challenges of a competitive environment. Most products are not at the end of their life but need repeated rejuvenation. These rejuvenations are not really new lifecycles just product...Read More
You might argue that some industries really are commodity industries if they sell sand, iron ore or oil. I would argue that any business that succeeds for any period of time is surely differentiating itself in ways that are valued by its customers and therefore even if their products are highly commoditized their product offer...Read More
Inspired by Guy Kawasaki’s talent for identifying the “untruths” of the business world I thought I would try my hand at a few. The first on is the illusion of price erosion. Prices do not erode! What erodes is a company’s ability to be more successful than their competitors at satisfying customers. So called price...Read More
Some years ago I joined the management team of a new division that had been created in the company I worked in at that time. The head of that division gathered his new management team for our first off-site meeting so that we could ”team build”. Our new boss opened this meeting by saying that...Read More
