by Bill Taylor
Summary.
When it comes to strategy, one way to meet radically new expectations in your industry is to draw from the impressive and surprising strategies that are being used in other industries. Why can’t interacting with an insurance company be as responsive and transparent as interacting with Uber? Why can’t checking into a hospital be as seamless as checking into a hotel? These are the sorts of questions that more and more customers are asking, and the questions that a winning business strategy must answer. You won’t find those answers if you limit your strategic vision to what other companies in your field are doing. Remember, your competitors aren’t always who you think they are.
Most executives think they know who they’re competing against — the major firms in their field or entrepreneurial “ankle biters” with a new technology or business model. But what happens when your competitors aren’t who you think they are? Specifically, how do you devise a winning business strategy when you are competing not just against incumbents or upstarts from your industry, but against the ever-changing expectations of your customers, whose encounters with products and services reach far beyond the established boundaries of your industry?
