Tricks of the information trade

“We planned to enter a new market with process equipment licensed from our European parent,” said Parks Souther, President of Parkson Corporation, a subsidiary of A. Johnson & Company. We thought, given our top‐down, macroeconomic look and careful strategic planning, that our high quality would immediately garner a large market share. But to check our plan tactically, we also took a bottom‐up microeconomic look. Much to our surprise we found that all the market leaders had high quality. Position depended on having the best distributors—nearly impossible for a new entry. We also found, to our dismay that the market wasn't growing as fast as we thought it was. We saved $5 million with that bottom‐up look!”