¶ … espoused the statement "effective doctors and teachers listen to people they serve" (Pettit, 2008, pg. 234). If this statement is true, then it is an excellent example of a service provider becoming consumer-centric, or centered around the consumer. The question is, are physicians, other medical providers and teachers the only ones to be concerned with this trend towards consumer centered activities, or are other firms and industries following their footsteps?
Some, if not all, of Singapore's manufacturing plants might provide the answer. Singapore is a small South Pacific island near Malaysia. The country boasts over 8,000 manufacturers and plans to double that within the next 12 years. How does an island country barely the size of California draw so many manufacturers to its shores? "The secret to Singapore's success, in a nutshell, is customer-driven product development" (Blanchard, 2006, pg. 7). According to the Blanchard article, a recent tour of the island found that most of the manufacturers were singing the same song and that it was a tune that the American automakers haven't even been humming. Blanchard writes "The U.S. auto industry...knows everything it needs to know about Japanese production methods, and yet the Detroit Three are still in trouble. "Why? Because of their products. Product development is what interests the consumer" (Blanchard, pg. 7). Perhaps the automakers should take note.
One toy manufacturer does an excellent job of marketing to the consumer. Mattel uses an ongoing tracking program in its efforts to sell more Barbie dolls.
The last decade has seen over 40 differently featured Barbie dolls for sale in approximately 140 countries. Recently Mattel discovered they no longer had to change the features of Barbie (at least in Asian countries) because "market testing led an official from Mattel to proclaim: "Blond Barbie sells just as well in Asia as in the U.S." (Cross, Smits, 2005, pg. 874). Now it is possible for children almost everywhere in the world to be happy with their new Barbie dolls. That is a fine example of consumer-centric activities.
References
Blanchard, D.; (2006) Are your best practices getting the job done?, Industry Week, Vol. 255, No. 12, pg. 7
Cross, G.; Smits, G.; (2005) Japan, the U.S. And the globalization of children's consumer culture, Journal of Social History, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 873-890
Pettit, M.L.; (2008) an analysis of the doctor-patient relationship using Patch Adams, the Journal of School Health, Vol. 78, No. 4, pp 234-238
