Friday, January 27, 2006
New Economy Less About Immediate Gratification Than We Thought
byJohn Hagel’s Edge Perspectives blog provides some interesting insights into globalization and the impact of the Internet on the global economy.
Among the problems he identifies in several posts is the tendency of companies to focus on short-term savings from suppliers, thereby creating an ongoing adversarial relationship that doesn’t ultimately serve either party well. Hagel suggests that a better solution is to cultivate long-term supplier relationships that can lead to better responsiveness and greater flexibility. He identifies this as one of the major problems that has placed U.S.-based automakers behind the competition.
That position represents something we’ve known for a while — price is not the only driver of sales. Buyers want a fair value for their money, but in many cases the relationship with a particular seller is a value-added proposition. Nowhere is that more evident than online: the Web is providing an opportunity for many retail outlets to provide customers with consultative relationships, which have traditionally been reserved for big-ticket sales.
