Replying to David Birren's comment that "...advantages aren't sustainable
because of the information available in the system":
I was reminded of that hoary Vince Lombardi grunt, to the effect that he
didn't care who knew his strategy, since he'd consistently outclass his
competition in implementing the strategy.
A couple of probably more relevant comments: (1) Information that's
available is not necessarily information that's used intelligently or
creatively or successfully. (2) I come back to Joe Pine's notion of
Learning Relationships, and of the explicit role the customer plays in
creating "sustainable competitive advantage." Pine suggests that "in
learning relationships, individual customers teach the company more and
more about their preferences and needs, giving the company an immense
competitive advantage. The more customers teach the company, the better
it becomes at providing exactly what they want -- exactly how they want it
-- and the more difficult it will be for a competitor to entice them
away." (This quote is from Pine's (and others') collaboration in HBR
(March-April 1995) titled "Do You Want To Keep Your Customers Forever?")
Obviously, this is not a walk in the park for any organization. But I do
believe the payoff is as Pine and others suggest -- and those others
include a lot of the folks who got interested in organizational learning
in the first place. It's not easy, but it's essential.
-- Ron Mallis 12 Chestnut Street Boston, MA 02108 617-723-8362 ron2785@eworld.com