Rol says,
> In a rapdily growing industry, the emphasis is on speed, orders of magnitude,
> insight into the biggest opportunities. If you travel over to the mature
> industry -- sorry about the terminology -- most companies are nearly optimized,
> and the empasis is on fine-line analysis that identifies slim margins of
> opportunities. Investing in detailed analysis is ok and actually much more
> necessary than in the fast-growing industry. Looking for opportunities in
> non-intuitive areas takes a lot more analysis, a lot more deep thought.
I think your theory is right on. One of the problems we have in measuring
customer satisfaction in my industry is that our competitors are
constantly releasing new products, with new features/functionality, and
new service programs. Thus, our customer's requirements are in a
constantly state of flux.
Speed, speed, speed is the name of the game in my industry. Since thinking
that perhaps the industrial age model wasn't so good for the
knowledge-based industry I work in, I began to do some serious research.
So far, my research is showing me that if we are slower than our
competitors we will not be in business long. In our industry, within a few
years, there will no room for second best.
* The profit margins will be too low
* The development cycle will be too fast
* Customers will be too educated and impatient
* Resellers will align with competitors
Thus speed is everything.
While it is exciting working in such a fast paced industry, it is also
very stressful. Those that excel in my department easily spend an
additional 20 to 30 hours a week learning, so they can perform at peak
levels during their normal 40 hour work week. And, they know full well,
that what they learn today will be outdated within two to three years, if
not sooner.
It takes a unique type of person to play this game. Those who play it well
are absolutely driven by an unquenchable passion to constantly learn.
But, then I've never worked in a "mature" industry. . . my entire
professional life has been spent in the fast-paced software industry. It's
all I know.
--Benjamin B. Compton ("Ben") | email: bcompton@novell.com Novell, GroupWare Support Quality Manager | fax: (801) 222-6991
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