Market insights are now critical

Academic jargon aside, pay close attention to the McDonald's story in the Wharton marketing professor George Day's conversation about his recent book Strategy from the Outside In: Profiting from Customer Value. This conversation is timely, since in recessionary periods, the easy fixes are not as effective as in growth periods. It may seem obvious, but my past experience tells me that this topic needs constant reintroduction. I spent years with pressure to add more outlets to reach that monthly bottom line, rather than the entire management team taking a systemic look at what might create real growth. According to the article in Knowledge @ Wharton, Professor Day's research, the "outside in" approach to marketing is as rare as ever - an idea whose time comes again and again - renewed in every business cycle.