A further word on Carol Anne Ogdin's response to the quote from Joe Pine's
article having to do with learning relationships, where she says:
"However, this strategy *also* means the company is ill-suited to create
*new* market niches, or follow changing market trends. Some follow those
customers and their needs right down the rat-hole (IBM comes to mind as an
example). "
On the face of it, it's unclear IBM was, in fact, allowing its customers
to teach it anything (and that's even assuming IBM was asking -- and
asking for -- the right questions). And are you suggesting that it was
IBM's customers that went down the rat-hole?
-- Ron Mallis 12 Chestnut Street Boston, MA 02108 617-723-8362 ron2785@eworld.com