the edge

what gives successful organizations an advantage over competition?

…nothing lasts forever.

‘the edge’ always changes

ownership utilization

owning the ‘edge’ is the first step; later, utilizing it becomes key

natural resources were the earliest

…oil, coal, ore, land…

coal and cotton gave britain a head-start in the industrial revolution

oil continues to be a bone of contention

…and gold (wealth) too

the presence of capital drives commerce

soon, utilizing resources became key

henry ford’s assembly line concept put them on top

the race for ownership gave way to the race for optimum utilization

better banking used wealth better

the next ‘edge’ was ‘demand’

owning and utilizing resources efficiently took care of ‘supply’

marketing, or creating demand, assumed importance after that

those who owned consumers, owned demand

strong brands help own consumers

the need for strong brands gave rise to advertising

soon, demand had to be utilized better

walmart utilized their consumer base effectively

strong corporates diversified on the back of historical brand appeal

technology came nextibm used it’s headstart in technology

using available tech better went further

the ipod was based on current technology

nintendo’s wii used available technology to outrun competition

the internet was the new battleground

early portals quickly gained ground

google’s superior search engine and better interfaces won the battle, though

web2.0 uses the net better

so, what next?

factories, banks, brands, technology & the web generate & store…

…data.

data is the new ‘edge’

firms have led by owning data

research agencies survive on the quality of their data

technology firms have specialized in helping manage the data

so, harnessing data comes next

this is called analytics

capital one used massive consumer database to drive it’s ‘information business strategy, that took it ahead’

there have been some initial successes…

pureplay analytics specialists are cropping up

…but there is a long way to go, yet.

use your data better get ahead

mobius.view@gmail.comhttp://mobiusview.blogspot.com

a presentation by mobius view

thanks!images from

– the flickr pages of thomas hawk, raterrell, ryanbooth, guy with a camera, jim reeves, steve webbel, emily (artbear), scott wills, cliff dwelling, ian s, benben, sandman, ilovebutter, tuminelli, sou, photo david

– wikipedia