The "tech revolution" may not have been all it was made out to be, but it has been extremely growth-oriented. It has improved sales inventory management, reduced lead times for delivery, improved personnel decisions, etc. The list is endless.
This sounds like the old bubble talk used to justify statements such as Cisco could grow earnings 30 to 50% indefinitely because they were so efficiently managed. But in reality, companies are not only facing many of the same old business problems, but many companies appear to be making more costly mistakes than ever while facing newer, bigger problems. Witness Cisco's 2 billion dollar inventory write off a couple of years ago. I strongly suspect more worthless inventory has been written off in the last three years by companies than any other three year period in history. Do you ever hear anyone talk about "just in time inventory" anymore? What about the fact that so much of Cisco's ands Oracle's wonderful earnings have necessarily disappeared in stock buybacks to offset stock option dilution? Was the stated fantastic "earnings growth" really even there before the bubble popped? What about all the people that had to be laid off in the last few years? Companies can't predict and manage their personnel needs any more efficiently than they have in the past. Why can't Tom Siebel with the supposed greatest customer relation software in the world predict demand two months out? This supposed "new economy" with all its wonderfully, managed efficient companies is a myth in my opinion, not to mention the problem that many public companies are managed for the short term objective of milking outside shareholders so the insiders can cash out their stock options and retire wealthy.
Having said that, I will acknowledge that technology has helped companies manage their businesses, but it also helped the competition manage their businesses, as well as presented many new sets of problems and challenges. The net result is that business remains business; technology hasn't magically made all companies grow faster, earn more, be better managed, and there is no "new economy".
JMO, Huey |
