The Future Belongs To Those Who See It Coming

One of the things the makes business a fascinating thing to study, it the real-time observable fight for sustainable survival going on at in front of our eyes. What the outcomes will be will only be obvious with hindsight.

All Microsoft needs to do make Vista™ a success is develop a new web services business model (if they don’t they risk going out of business) and fight off Google.

Sony are trying to become a functional, integrated business, rather than the competing silos of the recent past. Is the PC battery problem, the yet again delayed (and currently buggy) PS3™  and missing the boat on digital music whilst having the them dominant Walkman™ brand, all connected?

Which company spends the most on R&D currently? Not who you might expect.  Ford spend nearly $10bn pa. A staggering amount given the product set they currently have. Will spending their way out of trouble work?

Marks and Spencer are enjoying a real revival of fortune, although still short of the £1bn profit they made in the late 90s, which raises the spectre of sustainability. Stuart Rose’s biggest challenge (which he has acknowledged is to create a sustainable business growth engine built on core M&S values), is something no recent CEO has managed.

Google are running away with the market with their transformational internet advertising model. Their ability to monetise parts of the internet that others didn’t see will now be challenged with the acquisition of YouTube.  Can they make money from it and deal with the copyright infringement risks that are circulating around the now worthy of suing company?

Media companies have to reinvent themselves – fast. Social networking sites, peer to peer networks and platform convergence are forcing a pace of change not seen for many years.  News International’s purchase of MySpace, Virgin & NTL’s courtship, and  ITV’s near death experience are all about the tectonic plates of this sector fundamentally in motion.

SalesPathways work with organisations who are looking to create new futures, through the development of new forms of competitive advantage.

Claudine McClean
T:  01789 734400
E: claudinem@salespathways.com

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