MIT Sloan Management Review

A global survey reveals that focusing explicitly on value is a catalyst that both instigates and manages change.

Organizations today must quickly and continually assess which parts of their value chain are vulnerable, which parts are defensible, which alliances make strategic sense, and which threats are deadly.

All companies wish they could produce exactly what customers want when they want it. The ability to be that precise would not only delight customers but reduce costs. The challenges, however, are formidable, and most companies settle for manufacturing standard products in bulk, guided by long-term forecasts.

Electronic markets may soon affect the evolution of the national information infrastructure (NII), or in formation superhighway, as well as the emerging global infrastructure. As the NII is connected to consumers’ homes, market activity will rapidly expand.