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The Customer as Victim

I’m going to give you a scene, then ask you to tell me whether it was from a hidden-camera comedy program or modern corporate America: A shopper in the parking lot of a big-box retailer looks at the price of a product on her phone, a reasonable $69.99. As she walks into the store, however, the price shown on the app jumps to $99.99. When she walks back out, it reverts to $69.99. Bewildered, she shakes her head and gets back into her car. Cue laugh track. This has to be a cheap gag, right? Wrong. Target recently came [...]

By |2019-08-07T14:01:33+00:00August 7th, 2019|Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, Business, Customer Service|Comments Off on The Customer as Victim
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Lordstown Family Feud

After releasing The Trade Skirmish of 2018, a policy report on the early evidence on the economic effects of the tariff actions by the U.S. and global retaliation (http://glenn.osu.edu/research/) in April, I was asked to referee a family feud.  What follows is an edited version of the question and an expanded version of my answer. Good morning Mr. Hill, I am trying to understand what factors led GM to close the plant in Lordstown, Ohio. My cousin and I argue about Donald Trump and his policies non-stop. My cousin says that Lordstown has nothing to do with steel tariffs [...]

By |2019-08-01T17:55:22+00:00July 30th, 2019|Business, Manufacturing, Ned Hill, One-Handed Economist|Comments Off on Lordstown Family Feud
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Disruptive Technologies Offer Major Opportunities — and Headaches — for Manufacturers

New study finds some manufacturers are ready to leverage cutting edge technologies — while others fall behind New research finds that manufacturing leaders are worried about disruptive technologies — robotics, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, and analytics — and yet few are doing much about it. The MPI Disruptive Technologies in Manufacturing Study surveyed more than 400 executives at manufacturing companies around the globe and found that: 88 percent report that their industries and markets are vulnerable to disruptive technologies (29 percent “extremely vulnerable” and 59 percent “somewhat vulnerable”). 86 percent report that their own companies are vulnerable to disruptive [...]

By |2019-04-01T15:06:17+00:00March 27th, 2019|Growth, Information Technology, Innovation, MPI Manufacturing Study, Next Generation Manufacturing|Comments Off on Disruptive Technologies Offer Major Opportunities — and Headaches — for Manufacturers
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Life Cycles of the (Not-So) Rich and (Formerly) Famous

Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world and the founder of Amazon, recently predicted to a group of employees that “Amazon will go bankrupt.” He was reflecting on the recent bankruptcy of Sears, which not that long ago was as formidable as Amazon is today. “If you look at large companies,” he said, “their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years.” I know what you’re thinking: That doesn’t seem right. Large companies have enduring strength. Massive corporations such as those in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are cornerstones of our economy. We don’t think [...]

By |2018-12-19T16:59:23+00:00December 18th, 2018|Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, Business, Customer Service, Growth, Process, Small Business Advice, Strategy, Value Proposition|Comments Off on Life Cycles of the (Not-So) Rich and (Formerly) Famous
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