Economy: Now a critical time for business organizations

Now is a critical time for business organizations to position themselves for success in the 21st century. 

We know this because it happened 100 years ago, in 1909. 

Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. Before 1909, Edison's company was the leading seller of phonograph machines and recorded music. Then came the Banker's Panic of 1907 (sound familiar?) and a recession hit the country. (sound familiar?)

Edison's sales dropped 30%. Edison's main competitor, Victor or Victrola records, saw their sales drop 40%. (sound familiar?) But Victrola repositioned itself, running mass advertising, putting the phonograph player in a beautiful wood cabinet. The public also like Victrola discs or records, with music lasting 4 minutes instead of 2 minutes on Edison's music cylinders.  As a result, 1909 was the first year that Victrola sales beat Edison's.   From then on, Victor/Victrola was dominant. Edison's phonograph faded and went out of business in 1929. 

The Lessons:  1) with all organizations experiencing a drop in sales, the playing field becomes more level;   2) after the current recession, some organizations will move quickly forward, others will be too slow to catch up;   and 3) NOW is the time for organizations to reposition themselves for the new economic environment of the 21st century.

Comments

[Antique Cabinets]

I think you are right about that, most economist predict that the recession will end in 2009, so a company is struggling right now, they need to look at the long term investment that they can make now, another to be ready once everything changes for the better.