Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/57872
Bookshelf Everyone hates a phony, but customers may hate phonies most of all. In an economy where consum- ers are not just buying goods, but experiences, the genuine- ness of the product will be what determines buyer satisfaction. So say James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II in Authentic- ity, which examines how everything from pervasive technology to break- downs in social institutions has led customers to long for experiences that are more human, more real, and more believable. Though it seems somewhat counterintuitive to learn how to render authenticity, the authors offer exactly that sort of guidance. They say consumers will find products and services to be authentic if they are: "earth-based," such as products made with natural ingredients; based on unique or original designs; done with exceptional care or offered with exceptional personal service; drawn from historically accu- rate traditional sources; or seen as capable of exerting consequential influence on other enti- ties, a description true of many environmentally friendly products. The payoff is huge, say Pine and Gilmore: "When consumers want what's real, the management of the customer perception of authenticity becomes the primary new source of competitive advan- tage—the new business imperative." (Harvard Business School Press, $26.95) 68 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 Maybe the world isn't flat after all. Harvard and IESE professor Pankaj Ghemawat certainly doesn't think so, and he's con- cerned about current attitudes toward the inevitability of globalization. In Redefining Global Strategy, he argues that the world is not going to become one huge, border- less free trade zone any time soon. What he envisions instead is "semiglobalization," a slower and more rea- soned approach to expanding global trade. He recom- mends that companies hoping for international expan- sion first closely examine what they have in common with their target countries, based on the framework he calls CAGE—that is, factors aligning along cultural, administrative, geographical, and economic dimensions. Do the potential trading partners share a language, a border, legal systems? Their chances of a compatible match are much higher. Ghemawat refines the framework to examine how a global expansion is more likely to succeed if the industry itself translates well from one country to another as judged by the CAGE factors. "If businesses want to cross borders successfully, they need to pay serious attention to the sustained differences between coun- tries in developing and evaluating strategies," he says. It's clear he's not expecting corporations to stop their global development—he's just warn- ing them to slow down. (Harvard Business School Press, $29.95) The world has moved from a land- based to a capital-based to an information-based economy, and even innovative products are quickly copied and com- moditized. In such a world, says Dov Seidman in How, it doesn't matter so much what a com- pany makes or sells; what will distinguish a corporation is how it produces goods and interacts with customers. That's par- ticularly true because pervasive technology makes it harder and harder to hide bad behavior or defective processes. Seidman explores all sorts of fascinat- ing side roads about human psychology—trust, altruism, and the development of values—as he repeats his central message that we live in a time where sharing and collaboration offer the best chance of competitive advantage. "The tapestry of human behavior is so diverse, so rich and so global that it presents a rare opportunity, the opportunity to outbehave the competition," he writes. He makes his points with elegance and convic- tion. (Wiley, $27.95) Intellectual property, like physical property, receives protection under the law, but that protection is constantly sub- ject to reinterpretation as technol- ogy improves and attitudes change. "Marking off the boundaries of GEORGE DIEBOLD/GETTY IMAGES