O Brave New World: Driving Profitable Growth in the New Demand Economy

"The business world will never again be the same. For more than twenty years, the growth formula for American business has been simple: increase revenues by expanding product offerings while reducing supply chain costs. In other words, fill up the store shelves and keep the consumer's attention by constantly offering new variations on existing products, packaging and prices. Meanwhile, use the powerful new palette of Supply Chain Management tools to manage and drive down the cost of production to maintain constant productivity improvement. As a strategy, this growth formula worked brilliantly for a generation . . .long enough for both business executives and academics to forget that this strategy was merely the appropriate response to a distinct economic era, not a fundamental law of business. Now, we are being punished for that forgetfulness."