The Future Of Competition Co Creating Unique Value With Customers

The Future of Competition

In this visionary book, C. K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamy explore why, despite unbounded opportunities for innovation, companies still can't satisfy customers and sustain profitable growth. The explanation for this apparent paradox lies in recognizing the structural changes brought about by the convergence of industries and technologies; ubiquitous connectivity and globalization; and, as a consequence, the evolving role of the consumer from passive recipient to active co-creator of value. Managers need a new framework for value creation. Increasingly, individual customers interact with a network of firms and consumer communities to co-create value. No longer can firms autonomously create value. Neither is value embedded in products and services per se. Products are but an artifact around which compelling individual experiences are created. As a result, the focus of innovation will shift from products and services to experience environments that individuals can interact with to co-construct their own experiences. These personalized co-creation experiences are the source of unique value for consumers and companies alike. In this emerging opportunity space, companies must build new strategic capital—a new theory on how to compete. This book presents a detailed view of the new functional, organizational, infrastructure, and governance capabilities that will be required for competing on experiences and co-creating unique value.

The Future Of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value With Customers

Consumers have greater product variety today than ever, yet they are less satisfied. Top management has more strategic options, yet they deliver less value. What do these paradoxes suggest about the future of competition? C.K. Prahalad, co-author of the landmark bestseller Competing for the Future, and Venkat Ramaswamy argue that we are on the cusp of a very different world one in which the distinct roles of firm and consumer converge and the sources of value creation change dramatically. Prahalad and Ramaswamy show that the traditional, firm-centric view of value creation is being challenged by active, connected, and informed consumers coupled with the mingling of technologies and industries. No longer does value lie in products and services created by firms and delivered to customers. Increasingly, say the authors, value is being jointly created by the consumer and the company. In this framework, consumer-company interactions and personalized co-creation experiences enabled by technical and social infrastructures allow each consumer to co-create unique value with a network of companies and consumer communities. To compete effectively, CEOs and senior managers must focus on building new strategic capital. This involves enabling managers to enhance their effectiveness by experiencing the business consumers do. This book sets the agenda for top management for co-creating the future, by revealing unprecedented opportunities for value creation and innovation.

The Future of Competition