Businesses worldwide are starting to tackle the immense challenge posed by the current paradigms of products and consumption. They are also confronted by the difficult task of dealing with the emergence of an economy based on social, environmental and realistic financial expectations. The approaches taken by these organizations may sometimes seem divergent and even at odds with the final result. Some companies are working on their image while others are investing heavily on “cleaning” and making their operations more eco-efficient. Regardless of the strategy, these initiatives have managed to raise red flags for proponents of radical change. Some would like to see change happen quickly; without an ear/eye to the ground where the change has to happen. The question no longer is about the technologies necessary or the will of companies, but in the transformation of both internal and external culture as well as the dramatic re-engineering of infrastructure to sustain this kind of change.Most of the companies we work with do not have a large budget allocated to the transformation of their manufacturing, business and marketing practices. As a matter of fact many don’t even have a strategy in place. We believe that this is often fertile ground for change. What starts as a test to make money doing something outside of their own markets becomes a gradual cultural and business transformation.
The standards by which customers have been “trained” or “accustomed” to judging products and services are changing slowly. This is no surprise as the decision making process is deeply rooted in consumer culture and heavily influenced by the media. Unfortunately the expectation is that companies will turn on a dime and more worrisome, that customers will embrace new values over night. This is not only unrealistic but dangerous to the momentum that environmentally and socially driven product lines, companies and organizations have achieved in the past few years.
A period of adjustment is necessary in order for things to change. This usually means a period of unrest for markets, consumers, manufacturers and marketers. By my estimates we are five to six years into this wave of change and we will require over a decade to achieve significant transformation in “consumer values”. What we are left asking ourselves is: what is an acceptable rate of change? What technological leaps are necessary? The answers are being determined everyday and all of us have not only the opportunity but the responsibility to choose.
