MIT Sloan – “Products Often Ignore Customer Needs”

This story helps to explain why you get 400 cable channels when all you really want is ten… and it confirms the research study by Bain & Company from our earlier post which indicated that business executives felt they didn’t know enough about their own customers needs.

Now we learn why…

MIT’s Sloan School of Management’s business journal says “knowing what consumers want from a product – is often ignored.” Businesses focus on product designs that are irrelevant to customer buying decisions leading to situations in the words of the late Peter Drucker, “the customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells them.”

Just another argument for involving your customer and member throughout the product or service development process.

Cradle to Cradle – Intelligent Product Design Explored

 

As we discussed in an earlier post, Cradle to Cradle is all about “intelligent product design” where product value and production complements the ecosystem.

This link outlines five separate case studies presented by Bill McDonough covering the following industries and companies:

• Carpet: BASF, USA
• Textile: Victor Innovatex, Canada
• Automotive: Ford Motor Company, USA
• Office Furniture: Herman Miller, USA
• Activewear: Nike, USA

Business 3.0 – Examples of Efforts Underway

Steelcase’s Answer product line received Cradle to Cradle certification and was included as a Fast Company “Fast 50″ profit making solutions designed with sustainable business in mind.

Comprehensive article titled “Business 3.0″ in last month’s Fast Company along with this year’s Top 50 Business Ideas.

Kudos to FC for letting their own readers create and vote on their own innovations list.