|
THE SECOND CURVE
How to command new technologies,
new consumers, and new markets.
Ian Morrison
Ballatine Books, 1996..Ian Morrison is a futurist, and he speaks
the language of "curves." The first curve of a company is the business
it generates based on its traditional or current revenues. Companies can
do very well with their traditional sources of income, and then suddenly
find themselves with high quality standards, satisfied customers, and even
clever innovations on traditional products, and not doing so well. Welcome
to the world of the Second Curve. The Second Curve is where you are not
yet functioning, and probably don't even really know where and how you
should be functioning to get there. This phenomenon, Morrison maintains
is "fueled by massive forces of change over which you have no control:
new technology, new consumers, and new markets."
 When a company moves from one curve to the next,
the challenge is not only getting on the right curve, but moving there
at the right time. Jumping prematurely mean you have no market, even
if you have a brilliant idea. Jumping too late mean you never catch
up with your competitors. What's a person to do?
One thing Morrison recommends is to strategize,
strategize, and then strategize some more. But above all, he warns, don't
sit and wait for the marketplace to sort itself out. You'll find yourself
behind the curve. He does give some hints about the trends that are driving
these changes, and in this regard Morrison says pretty much the same things
that every other futurist says. Namely, technology is faster, better, and
cheaper, and it's fueling massive change. No surprises there. Secondly,
the new consumer wants everything, all the time, and wants it everywhere.
The future demands customer satisfaction at low prices, and at the same
time, customer loyalty is increasingly difficult to achieve. Finally, the
growth of the emerging Asian, Eastern European and Latin American markets
is creating both new markets for products and services, but also is creating
new competitors.
At bottom line, Morrison says we all have to
learn how to live comfortably with all the change that is occurring in
the world. We have to operate simultaneously on our first curve (traditional
business) and our second curve (where we are going). He argues that living
on both curves (actually on the first curve, and perhaps virtually on the
second curve) produces a creative tension that can help us glide from one
to the other--perhaps.
Now, here's where you have to read the book.
Morrison uses language well, and analyzes the New Technology, the New Consumer
and the New Marketplaces in depth. If you are in the retail business, health
care or financial services, Morrison devotes entire sections to these three
industries. You will either learn a great deal from this book or go to
bed scared--probably both! But one of the major conclusions Morrison draws,
is that the Second Curve always works for all the players involved--the
consumers and the manufacturers or service providers--or it won't survive.
If this is the case, consider your customers when you make business decisions.
If you are keeping them happy, they'll probably keep you financially healthy
as well. And that's a concept that has been around for a long, long time.
 Previous
"Owl Book Review Grove" pages:
#1, #2
|
