Consumer Evolution

The development of the Internet has changed the fundamentals of modern business. Not since the invention of Gutenberg's press has there been such a dramatic shift in our ability to disseminate information across vast spaces so quickly and easily. This has led to two major changes that businesses must confront in order to survive: the consumer's new demand for better customer service, and the employee's new expectations for the work environment. In Consumer Evolution, Charles Grantham and Judith Carr explain how the Internet has affected the minds of customers and of employees and effectively changed the rules of business.
Companies no longer drive the interactions that lead to profitability. Instead, customers now choose the time and place of business interactions, deciding whether they take place in person, on the Internet, or both. Meanwhile, the new wired mentality of the informed modern worker demands that organizations develop adaptable, nonhierarchical, and highly networked corporate cultures. In essence, employees demand workplaces that provide them with higher social capital. Organizations that fail to comprehend the new social psychology -- and fail to take account of these two major shifts -- will lose competitive advantage in an era in which change is the only constant.
Consumer Evolution offers nine effective business strategies that take these psychological changes into account. Over the length of nine concise chapters, it presents vital insight into the constantly changing buying patterns of consumers and lays the foundation for a competitive strategy in an environment in which customer relationship management has become a driving business force. Managers will find expert advice for developing branding and advertising programs that connect them more closely to their customers while also discovering fresh business strategies for maintaining market position, exploiting the business cycle, competing globally, and defining customer need.
Psychological issues in the workplace are covered in detail to help executives understand the people who comprise their organizations. Concrete strategies are provided for maximizing organizational technology, simplifying operational structure, and dealing with the demands of the new distributed workplace. Consumer Evolution presents managers with the key to understanding the new psychology of markets, customers, and employees while giving them the tools to develop and implement a sustainable competitive advantage based on the new rules of business.

• PART 1: UNDERSTANDING YOUR CUSTOMER'S BELIEFS.

• Chapter 1. Is There a "New Economy"?
• Chapter 2. What's Has Really Changed?
• Chapter 3. Who Do Customers Think They Are?

• PART 2: THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF BUSINESS.

• Chapter 4. Have Business Cycles Changed?
• Chapter 5. Globalization: The Key Concept.
• Chapter 6: The REAL Value Proposition.

• PART 3: STRATEGY IN TODAY'S ECONOMY.

• Chapter 7. Preparing for the Unknown.
• Chapter 8. Integrating People, Process, and Technology.
• Chapter 9. Integrating Product, Content, and Service.
• Notes.