The Era of Behavior

Tom Friedman's Op-Ed in the NYT's today was titled "A Question from Lydia". In it Tom addressed a question a 10 year old Greek girl wrote at the site of the Marfin Engatia Bank, which was firebombed a few weeks ago. The question was "In what kind of world will I grow up?". Tom answered, "that's a good question Lydia", and I agree. Good news is that world is changing to a place with great potential for not tolerating such bad behavior.

My writing proposes that 6 degrees of change are increasingly emerging as the result of the revolution created by technology, global ism and demographic shifts:

1. Transparency modality becomes essential;

2. Traditional institutions vanish;

3. Orchestration strategy dominates;

4. Participation explodes;

5. Wealth increasingly is redistributed;and

6. Human conciousness profoundly evolves.

The increasing adoption of transparency as a requirement for doing things cannot be ignored or discounted. This will be driven by hyper-connectivity and a world where people's behaviors will not be able to be hidden.

This view is shared by thought leader Dov Seidman, and articulated in his recent book: How, Why How We Do Anything Means Evertyhing . As Tom mentions in his NYT Op-Ed:

When Greeks binge and rack up billions of euros of debt, Germans have to dig into their mattresses and bail them out because they are all connected in the European Union. Lost in Athens, felt in Berlin. Lost on Wall Street, felt in Iceland. Yes, such linkages have been around for years. But today so many more of us are just so much more deeply intertwined with each other and with the natural world. That is why Dov Seidman, the C.E.O. of LRN, which helps companies build ethical cultures, and author of the book “How,” argues that we are now in the “Era of Behavior.”

Of course, behavior always mattered. But today, notes Seidman, how each of us behaves, consumes, does business, builds or doesn’t build trust with others matters more than ever. Because each of us, each of our banks, each of our companies, now has the power to impact, for good or ill, so many more people’s lives through so many more channels — from day-trading to mortgage-lending to Twitter to Internet-enabled terrorism.

Watch Dov's lecture below. Dov calls this , "The Era of Behavior". After reviewing the book, I recommend it highly thanks to Tom's editorial.

Apple Posts Record Profits as iPhone Sales Surge

Mobile devices continue their surge and Apple's vision of the rapid emergence of the mobile environment for computing is paying off. iPhone sales doubled to nearly 7 million units in Q2 - largely from internal sales improvements. Mac sales also improved. As the WSJ noted Apple's Earnings Call Reporting a "Staggering" jump in iPhone sales. Here's an excerpt:

The results were well above Wall Street expectations; analysts had expected a rise of about 37%, compared with earnings a year ago adjusted for an accounting change.

“We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever,” said Chief Executive Steve Jobs in the company’s release.

On its earnings call, expect Apple to give more details on sales of iPhones and Macs, as well as its newest product, the iPad, which launched this spring. Apple Analysts also will be looking for information on Apple’s guidance for the next quarter. Apple said it expects fiscal third-quarter earnings of $2.28 to $2.39 a share on revenue of $13 billion to $13.4 billion, but the company is typically conservative in its forecasts.

Here is the recording of the 2010 Q2 earnings report. Watch the video overview from WSJ below.

CK Prahalad - Visionary of Global Management Passes at 68

On occassion we are fortunate and benefit from the insights and work of special people. When they pass it is noteworthy and sad. Such is the case with the distringuished professor CK Prahalad, who was internationally recognized for his research in corporate strategy and the best ways top management can navigate the often-complex waters of running large, multinational corporations.

As a Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Strategy in the Ross School of Business, Prahalad was a well-respected and deeply admired member of the community, both as an expert in his field and as a teacher. In 2009, he received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman — an award given by the president of India to men and women who make exceptional and praiseworthy contributions in their respective fields. In the same year, the Indian government honored Prahalad with the Padma Bushan — the third highest civilian award in India — for his distinguished service to the nation. The Times of the United Kindom also named Prahalad the most influential business thinker on its The Thinkers 50 List in October 2009.

For many reasons this Harvard professor and author attained notarity. Among many publications, he had several international bestselling books, including “Competing for the Future,” “The Future of Competition” and “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits.” A visionary who saw the unique contributions the emerging global middle class is and will have on the world, he once was quoted as saying:

If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up.

Innovation - Collaboration With the Global Poor

The game is changing. The convergence of rapid advancements in technology, shifting demographic trends and global ism are creating new methods of achieving great outcomes. Professor and author C. K. Prahalad explores how G.E. took a local innovation, designed to help those in the poorest and most remote villages in India and China, and turned it into a global, game-changing product. In his book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, he argues that this is no anomaly, but rather the future of innovation. Watch !

Important Trends for the Future of Business

The future ahead for fitness and wellness or any business or industry for that matter will be increasingly difficult as growth will become harder to achieve in mature markets like the U.S. and the E.U. Doug Anderson, SVP, Research & Development, The Nielsen Company, confirmed this assertion in his recent summary report on what future consumers look like.

Here are the 5 key trends that can be taken from the report with a sixth thrown in for your consideration:

1. The less-developed world will comprise the clear majority of growth and the rise of the impoverished in the less-developed world will fuel increased demand in those markets.

By 2030, world population will have grown by around 20%. Only 3.2% of this growth will come from the more developed world. U.S. fertility rates have fallen by 44% since the Baby Boom peak and are projected to continue to fall by another 12% over the next several decades. Falling fertility, combined with rising life expectancy and the large Baby Boom generation just nearing retirement age, equates to an aging population.

By 2037 nearly one in three households in the U.S. will be headed by someone over the age of 65.  Household size will decline across the board with a large share of the population living in one or two person households.  Middle and upper middle classes will shrink the share the most and these consumers fuel the majority of demands for consumer products including fitness and wellness services.

2. Businesses Focus Will Need to Be on Market Share

The share of households that have children will continue to decline as a result of an aging population. By the middle 2020s, the share of U.S. households with children under 18 will fall below 30%.  This is a key demographic for fitness, wellness and other consumer and product industries. As a result players will increasingly have to focus on retaining their customers and taking customers away from others in a stable to shrinking marketplace.

3. Messaging to a Multi-Cultural Marketplace Will be Essential

Multi-cultural marketing will be critical when promoting a business. The majority of population growth in the U.S. will come from new immigrants and the children they have in this country. Since most immigrants are young, families with children will become more ethnic, more quickly, than the total population. By 2025, the majority of families with children in the U.S. will be multi-cultural. Less than half of families with children will be native born non-Hispanic White.  The industry will need to appeal to this emerging demographic.

4. New Needs Will Emerge From A Maturing Market

Boomers will rewrite what it means to be old as they have rewritten what it means to be children and adults.  According to Daniel Pink, author of DRIVE, "The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us", 100 Boomers turn 60 every 15 minutes and they are seeking "Purpose" for the rest of their lives.  This is a demographic that research suggests is connected online 98% of the time ! Hence my item 6 below.

5. Spending on Consumer Goods & Services Will Decline

As population slows in the U.S. Household size will decline across the board and so will consumer spending. The impact of these two trends means that after 2020, per household spending will start to fall.

6. To Be Competitive Social Media Will be an Important Tool

Social Media is a missing trend.  Those competitors that have an experimental sense of social media's possibilities will benefit.  There is no clear blueprint for how to proceed. Social media strategies are a new frontier. The efforts are flexible, motivational and engaging when done well. And, if you make a mistake, they are pretty easy to correct. Reach your customers more effectively and less expensively.