One of the most common criticisms of generational theory is that it is nothing much more than pop psychology. While it is true that many people use generational theory in its crudest forms, applying it when all they know about it is what they heard in a one hour keynote session at a conference, this does not mean that the theory itself has no substance. It is also true that some people use it as a “blunt instrument” - applying it with no regard to other dynamics and segmentation models. Again, just because some people use it badly, doesn’t discredit the theory itself.
There are many formal research projects on generations, and almost all of them confirm the basic theory and its findings. A recent study now focuses on the younger generation, known as Generation Y. The global survey was conducted by the Economist Business Intelligence Unit and Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company. It looked at how consumers born between 1982 and 2001 will impact the customer experience, asking C-level and senior executives from around the world how they are creating a customer experience to attract and retain Millennials. Of the 164 executives who took part in the survey, 29% came from North America, 31% from Europe, 30% from Asia-Pacific and 10% from the rest of the world. Participants represented 19 different industries. One-third of respondents’ organisations had annual revenue greater than US$1 billion and just over one-half (51%) had less than US$500 million in revenue. Board members and CEOs comprised 30% of respondents. CFOs, CTOs and other C-level executives made up an additional 19%. The remainder was split among other senior and middle management functions.
The headline results and executive summary of the findings is very interesting:
Continue reading ‘Generation Y studied by Economist Business Intelligence Unit’
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One of my favourite PodCasts is 
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Founded by HarperCollins, 
I am not the greatest fan of the publishing industry. The first paperback book, a massive innovation in the industry, was published this week in 1935, and sometimes it seems that was the last innovation the industry has seen. As a published author, the lead times in the industry are seriously frustrating and the processes archaic. But, hey, I suppose I shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds me (well, part feeds me - in a world dominated by the increasing valuation of intellectual capital and decreasing value of manual labour and intermediation, the publishing industry, with their paltry standard 12-15% of wholesale price paid in royalties stands as a bastion of anochronism).
Here’s a 
I live and work between Johannesburg and London. For the past few months, South Africa has been plagued by the short supply of electricity. This is due to lack of planning for the sustained economic boom we have experienced over the past decade. As early as 1998, forecasters were warning that South Africa would run out of electricity in about 2007. Well, to be clear - that we would reach the point where demand and supply were so closely aligned that any blip in the system would result in blackouts. That is precisely what happened.
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In the same way that freelancers are flocking to 
The Olympic torch has left Athens, Greece on its traditional torch run around the world until it eventually arrives at the Beijing Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony. Right from the first day, it has been met with something that the Chinese officials did not anticipate: protestors. In an unprecendented move, the torch was actually extinguished in Paris so that it could be loaded onto a bus and rushed away from growing violence amongst the protestors. TV news scenes from London, Paris and San Francisco show police beating protestors, dragging them into prison vans and frog marching them away - none of these are scenes that add to the Olympic brand and mythos.
Here I sit, at another conference without power. Don’t get me wrong - I am not talking about the content. I am at Gary Hamel’s latest thing: “The Future of Management”, a full day session with the innovation guru himself. “Live and in person”, just as the advertising promised! The guy is good, and probably the best academic on the issue of innovation in business. So, the content is great.
This is how new markets are made, and how worlds are changed! Today, Tata released their latest car. It was a car that all of their rivals said could not be made. About 5 years ago, Tata announced that were going to build a car that would cost less than 100,000 rupees, or US$ 2,500 (the price of a DVD player in most luxury cars).
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