[But] globalisation will progress in a way that preserves identity.”Has the current anti-French feeling in America affected Nissan’s business? “It’s a factor, but I don’t know how to measure it,” replies Ghosn “I think it’s an issue based around the Iraqi war. I don’t think it will be sustained.”Back in Tokyo, Ghosn will start working out where the business should develop post-Nissan 180. “I need to have my own beliefs, make my own case, before we open up the discussion,” he says. “The only thing you learn in a company is that you have to be ready for the future The future always starts with small pieces It only makes sense afterwards.”.

It may sound like heresy, but the customer is not always right. Harassed call-centre and front-line staff know this to be true. But there is one set of customers who are more dangerous than those giving grief to the receptionist They’re the ones who try to help us We ask them questions for some market research We tabulate their replies and act on them And then disaster strikes The customers are making us do the wrong thing. The customers are making us do the wrong thing.
There are three reasons for this.* Customers do not always know what they want. We did not know we wanted the internet, frappuccinos, mobile phones or MP3 players until they were offered to us Research can inhibit innovation. Try the following questions:”Do you want to pay £2 for a coffee instead of getting it for 50p elsewhere?”"Do you want to pay £10 to send your mail instead of 28p?”"Do you want your airline to cancel its inflight service, reduce seat size and pitch, fly from secondary airports at awkward times, and give you neither a ticket nor a seat reservation?”These questions would have led to dumb disbelief on the part of the consumer.

And in the process Starbucks, FedEx and discount airlines would never have got started. In each case they were taking on entrenched competition that should have known what their customers wanted. But the entrenched competition were asking the wrong questions, getting the wrong answers and missing the growth markets No manager is ever fired for missing a new market. Instead, whole divisions are fired when senior management belatedly discover that upstart competitors have taken their market from them.* Customers try to be polite to service providers Or rather, they try to be polite to the market researchers. Most humans do not enjoy conflict or embarrassment, so instead we damn with faint praise We give three out of five for barely adequate service.