CHAPTER 3
Product and Service Blunders “I F
THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT”
in any given international market is directly proportional to the amount of effort invested to determine how appropriate the product is for the intended market. Some firms face a serious quandary on this question: Are they willing to compromise and market a product overseas in a way that might undermine what is perceived as the company’s core competency if that will meet the needs of that particular market? Or should they attempt to actually “sophisticate” the target market by raising its level of both taste and expectation? To some this is one of the key issues that success in the global marketplace rests on, while others see it as a blend of corporate and cultural arrogance—a choice between “dumbing down” or “lifting up.” There’s a story told about a multi-million-dollar defense project aimed at designing the ultimate combat aircraft. Engineers and designers were assembled and given carte blanche to design an aircraft that could meet every possible tactical requirement. At the same time, they were to utilize all the existing technology to make it the fastest, “stealthiest,” most technologically advanced, and combatworthy “super plane” in the entire world. About a year later, the plans were unveiled and a computer-graphic mock-up of the aircraft was created. Experienced test pilots were called in to test-fly the aircraft, but every attempt to get it to perform to design specifications ended with the pilot crashing at high speed into the “ground.” Pilot after pilot tried to take advantage of the airplane’s obvious attributes, but none was able to master it. The problem soon became evident. The design team had labored for months to engineer a plane that ended up so sophisticated that no human could fly it; the capabilities of the “super plane” exceeded those of any of the pilots attempting to master them. Their reach had exceeded their grasp.
THE SUCCESS OF A PRODUCT
Iridium Calls, But Nobody’s Home If there was a poster child made to order for the telecommunications industry boom in the 1990s, it was Iridium. Backed by international giant Motorola, the Washington, DC-based wireless “telecom” company was on the cutting edge in the development of wireless satellite communications. The idea for the company was conceived in 1987 when a Motorola engineer and his wife were planning a vacation on a remote island in the Caribbean. The wife, a real estate executive, was leery of traveling to a vacation spot where she’d be out of telephone communication with her home office. Just what would happen if traveling businesspeople had the wherewithal to “stay in touch” from anywhere
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