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“Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make, but knowing what to make.”

Phillip Kotler, Author of “Marketing Management” (one of the most popular marketing textbooks of all time, first published in 1967)

 They Both Have It Wrong

Whomever wins the election today, the presidential candidates (and respective parties) have very different views about the economy in general, and taxing and redistribution of wealth in particular.  Clayton Christensen, perhaps the world’s foremost expert on innovation (see his book  “The Innovator’s Dilemma”), thinks that both sides have it wrong.   If you are wondering why corporations who are flush with cash aren’t hiring  or why recessions seem to take longer to recover from, then check out Dr. Christensen’s compelling article in Sunday’s New York Times, “The Capitalist’s Dilemma”,  in which he suggests that  we have too little of one of three possible types of innovation and therein lies the solution to the employment problem and much more.  This is a great article.

 Case Study: Ballmer’s Dilemma

While we’re on the subject of dilemmas and innovation,  check out this brief case study by technology watcher Robert X. Cringely.    Cringely looks at giant Microsoft and the efforts of its CEO Steve Ballmer to reenergize it..and concludes that perhaps its problems may arise from the fact that it is just making too much money.  Learn more about Ballmer’s dilemma and the price of success.  Maybe even consider selling your Microsoft stock.

Econ Recon: Healthcare and Unintended Consequences

Something as massive and complex as the Affordable Care Act must have unintended consequences, regardless of your position on it.    Vistage Staff Economist and President of the Institute for Trend Research Alan Beaulieu looks at the likely impact of this legislation on part-time employees and in turn the recession he is predicting for 2014.  Take a quick look at his blog entry  Healthcare Reform Will Have Unintended Consequences for the US Economy in 2014.   

Family Business Fundamentals

Harvard Business Review this month features a brief, research based article on why large publicly held family businesses often fare better than their non-family counterparts. The key is resiliency. If you are a small to midsize family business that aspires to be a large one,  the article suggests that a key difference to greater resiliency can be found through seven practices of these family run companies.  These might be good for non-family run firms as well.

1. They’re frugal in good times and bad.
2. They keep the bar high for capital expenditures
3. They carry little debt
4. They acquire few and smaller companies
5. Many show a surprising level of diversification
6. They are more international
7. They retain talent better than their competitors do.

You can learn more about each of these by downloading the entire article at  http://hbr.org/2012/11/what-you-can-learn-from-family-business/ar/1

Have a great week, and be sure to vote today!