For all the lip service paid to putting customers at the centre of business – most companies continue to structure their operations around their products. According to Ivey Business School Professor Niraj Dawar, businesses need to shift their centres of gravity to creating value in the downstream – where the activities are led by customer interactions and where competitive advantage lies in trust, reliability of supply and service, experience, and brand reputation.
In TILT: Shifting Your Strategy from Products to Customers, Dawar shows why the companies that are grasping the importance of downstream, customer-led activities will dominate the competitive landscape of the future. He provides a guide for executives to reorient their own strategies around customer interactions to create and capture value.
Dawar argues that three critical aspects of business have shifted downstream: the locus of competitive advantage, the locus of activities that add value (those the customer is willing to pay for), and the primary fixed costs in the business. He shows how these shifts have had profound implications for strategy and the way businesses are measured, monitored, and managed.
To help executives understand these shifts – Dawar presents a four-part roadmap to show how businesses can tilt towards the downstream activities that provide a lasting advantage. Filled with real-world cases, thought-provoking questions, and practical checklists, TILT is intended to guide businesses to a new understanding of the competitive landscape – one that lies downstream with customers.
Niraj Dawar is a professor of marketing at the Ivey Business School and Hong Kong. He has worked with senior management teams in companies in the technology, banking and consumer goods industries.
Members of the media interested in receiving a copy of TILT and arranging an interview with Dawar can contact Ivan Langrish, Senior Manager Media Strategy at ilangrish@ivey.ca, or call 416-203-0664.
About the Ivey Business School, Western University
The Ivey Business School (www.ivey.ca) at Western University is Canada’s leading provider of relevant, innovative and comprehensive business education. Drawing on extensive research and business experience, Ivey faculty provide the best classroom experience, equipping graduates with the skills and capabilities they need to tackle the leadership challenges in today’s complex business world. Ivey offers world-renowned undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as Executive Development at campuses in London (Ontario), Toronto and Hong Kong.
Media Contact:
Ivan Langrish
Senior Manager, Media Strategy
416-203-0664
ilangrish@ivey.ca