editor's blog

At the start of the 2008 recession, we had featured a series of entries in this blog about the post-materialism trend of consumers willing to do more with less, and being very comfortable with it. This trend has not only sustained, but seems to have become resurgent in the face of the continuing economic woes.Read more

The scenario where we have perfect data lives only in the textbooks of management theory. In the real world we all make assumptions. Usually there is just not enough data and most often, not enough time, money and resources to go get that data. So we rely on a combination of experience and gut instinct to make assumptions both of the external world as well as internally about the business we work in.

This approach has some serious downfalls:

• Much of the knowledge in an organization can be anecdotal or hopelessly outdated.Read more

The latest survey run by Reuters published last week revealed that a majority of Americans are planning to spend less this year over the holiday season than last year. I can almost see the bumper sale stickers from over-wrought retailers already.Read more

Many companies, especially in the financial services industry, are centralizing in a fury of cost-cutting and "rationalization". The savings look compelling when presented on a consultant’s slides and many such initiatives are being pitched as attempts to create Centers of Excellence (CoE) that will theoretically improve quality and scale. However companies need to be aware of the hidden costs to such moves.Read more

The future of growth in many emerging markets is being shaped by significant megatrends. The fundamental driver of these trends is the global population that is expected to have reached 7 Bn. already and is expected to increase by another billion souls within the next 20 years. Read more

Peter Drucker famously commented that:

- "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only two--basic functions: marketing and innovation."

- “Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."Read more