Curiosidade do dia

Imagem retirada de "Why everyone is so keen to agree new trade deals"

Mais um exemplo

Mais um exemplo da força crescente da customização, da personalização, em "Customisation takes off as Hem launches online service in US":

"Design brand Hem is to launch its online furniture customisation service in the USA, amid signs that mass customisation is becoming big business.
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"It's just the start," said Hem founder and CEO Jason Goldberg, who said over half of the brand's revenues in Europe now come from customers who are designing their own furniture via Hem's online tools.
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"The internet is starting to fulfil the promise of mass customisation and mass personalisation," Goldberg told Dezeen. "It's about half of our revenue in Europe. We have thousands of orders.""

Acerca do poder da autenticidade

Um artigo, "Where Your Favorite Imported Beer Is Really Made" com material interessante para reflectir acerca do poder da autenticidade:

"What is the advantage of claiming foreign roots? One advantage is the association in consumer's minds between "import" and artisan-like quality--the aura of handmade authenticity. Marketing professors call this the concept of "contagion." The general idea is that a consumer is more likely to infer "quality" about a product, if she believes it was made in its original manufacturing location.
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It is well established that differences in manufacturing location can impact consumer preferences through lay inferences about production quality... Specifically, we find that due to a belief in contagion, products from a company's original manufacturing location are seen as containing the essence of the brand. In turn, this belief in transferred essence leads consumers to view products from the original factory as more authentic and valuable than identical products made elsewhere.
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The main takeaway here is that consumers place a higher value on products they believe contain the aura of authenticity."

O pensamento tradicional sobre a criação de valor

Uma boa descrição do mindset que domina o senso comum e impregna a linguagem que utilizamos:

"Traditional thinking about value creation in business sees every company as occupying a position in the value chain, adding value to inputs and then passing the output to the next actor in the chain. In a value chain, value creation takes place inside a company through its own activities, and companies act autonomously with little or no interference from customers. Consequently, the value-added is equalized with the cost incurred by the supplier company. [Moi ici: Por isso, quando falo em subir preços, as pessoas nas empresas pensam logo em produtos ou serviços premium, pensam logo na quantidade de custos a acrescentar, para suportar, para justificar o preço mais alto] This traditional business logic based on goods-dominant logic (GDL) suggests that value is embedded in the units of output (value-in-exchange), and the outputs present the fundamental units of exchange. Interaction takes place mostly at the end of the value chain, and the value chain stops when the end-customer has bought a product or service. GDL highlights the supplier company’s process as primary, and the role of a customer is to fulfil scripts defined by the supplier."

Trecho retirado de "Adapting Business Model Thinking to Service Logic: An
Empirical Study on Developing a Service Design Tool" de Katri Ojasalo e Jukka Ojasalo

Ainda acerca do futuro das plataformas

O @parvalhoti chamou-me a atenção para um interessante artigo sobre o pricing das plataformas, "A Rake Too Far: Optimal Platform Pricing Strategy":

"Many Internet marketplaces also have a rake or vig. The percentage rake is the amount that the marketplace charges as a percentage of GMS (gross merchandise sales), which typically represents net revenues for the marketplace.
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It may seem tautological that a higher rake is always better – that charging more would be better than charging less. But in fact, the opposite may often be true. The most dangerous strategy for any platform company is to price too high – to charge a greedy and overzealous rake that could serve to undermine the whole point of having a platform in the first place.
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High volume combined with a modest rake is the perfect formula for a true organic marketplace and a sustainable competitive advantage. A sustainable platform or marketplace is one where the value of being in the network clearly outshines the transactional costs charged for being in the network. This way, suppliers will feel  obliged to stay on the platform, and consumers will not see prices that are overly burdened by the network provider. Everyone wins in this scenario, but particularly the platform provider.
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Most venture capitalists encourage entrepreneurs to price-maximize, to extract as much rent as they possibly can from their ecosystem on each transaction. This is likely short-sighted. There is a big difference between what you can extract versus what you should extract."

Por um lado, relacionar com "the mindset of extracting and the alternative of feeding" e, por outro, relacionar com o tema da evolução das plataformas "Acerca do futuro das plataformas".

Curiosidade do dia

• "BBVA prevê que a recuperação da economia portuguesa continue e estima crescimento de 2% este ano";
• "Contas externas atingem saldo positivo. Excedente sobe para 186,3 milhões";
• "Desempregados inscritos nos centros de emprego baixaram 3,4% em Maio";
• "Citigroup: Economia portuguesa terá acelerado no segundo trimestre";
• "Portugal entre os países europeus que criou mais emprego no início do ano";
• "Setor do turismo prevê ano de 2015 melhor do que 2014"

E a sua empresa, revê-se nestas tendências?

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Lembra-se do tempo em que se falava e suspirava pela retoma?

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Não espere por boleias, não espere que outros façam por si, o trabalho que só a sua empresa pode fazer.

Portugal faz bem

É pena não se fazerem estas comparações, não serem explicadas, não serem salientadas e elogiadas até à exaustão.
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Primeiro, um convite para apreciar a comparação das marcas Portugal e Espanha no mundo agrícola em "A marca Portugal"
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Depois, esta postura portuguesa "Não nos interessa exportar mais volume, interessa-nos exportar mais valor" e o desempenho espanhol "Quem é o maior exportador de vinho? Olhe aqui para o lado".
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Os espanhóis ainda estão neste campeonato "El precio de venta del vino español es el más bajo del mundo"
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Como escrevi recentemente aqui:

"Competir pelo preço mais baixo não é para quem quer, é para quem pode e, há sempre uns "vizinhos espanhóis do "Mar del Plastico"" que têm vantagem competitiva nesse campeonato. Vender com preços unitários mais elevados exige estratégia e alinhamento."

Por que não se pensa em estratégia?

Interessante ver o que se passa no Reino Unido com a quebra no preço do leite e, as reacções de produtores e distribuição em "Dairy farmers warn supermarket milk price war is crippling their industry".
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Sem diferenciação, sem estratégia, estamos perante uma espécie de Tragédia dos Comuns. Quanto mais alguém produzir mais baixa o custo unitário, mais pode comoditizar o preço e mais pode vender em quantidade. Contudo, se todos fizerem isso, ganha quem crescer mais depressa.
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Apesar disto ter acontecido:

"Last year alone more than 40 dairy farmers in Wales quit the industry, with many fearing that their livelihoods were simply no longer sustainable.
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Some 9,960 dairy farmers in England and Wales have left the industry since 2002, with 60 farmers giving up milk production in December alone in the face of falling prices."

A produção continuou a crescer.
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Recordar:

"In June 2007, the UK dairy herd was estimated at two million animals. Since 1995, the number of UK dairy farms has fallen by around 43 per cent, but average herd sizes have actually risen during this time from 71 cows in 1994 to 92 animals in 2004. Similarly, average milk yields have also risen from 5,299 litres per cow in 1994 to 6,770 litres per cow in 2005 (figures from Defra). Future trends suggest herds will get larger with fewer farmers staying in the industry." 

Por que não se pensa em estratégia?

Não se ria, muitas empresas... talvez a sua também, perante o mesmo problema, agem da mesma forma.

E mudar de .... ? (preencher o espaço em função da sua realidade)

De certeza que em Portugal isto levantará velhos Velhos do Restelo para mais umas rodadas de providências cautelares e outras ilusões fáceis, enganadoras e transitórias, "Carmakers launch peer-to-peer vehicle sharing":

"Three of the world’s biggest carmakers have jumped into peer-to-peer vehicle sharing, as the automobile industry scrambles to stay relevant in the age of Uber and BlaBlaCar.
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Within hours of each other, Ford, General Motors and BMW announced Airbnb-style schemes on Wednesday – with each manufacturer claiming to be the first to let car owners earn money by renting out their new vehicles to other drivers.
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“I think car manufacturers are rapidly waking up to the fact that part of their current and future clientele are not interested in owning cars any more,” he added." [Moi ici: Corrente que está longe de chegar a Portugal, país onde o preço relativo de um automóvel é dos mais altos e, no entanto, onde mais cresce a compra dos ditos cujos]

Pense na sua empresa... pense no seu negócio...
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Estes gigantes do mundo automóvel, são capazes de fazer experiências, de testar novos modelos de negócio, de alterar as suas propostas de valor.
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E a sua empresa, e o seu negócio, enquanto o mundo à sua volta, muda o que faz? Vai para as TV e jornais pedir um apoio, um subsídio, uma protecção, uma barreira artificial?

"Dan Ammann, president of GM, last month outlined the dilemma for city-dwellers who rarely use their cars. “It’s the last thing you should do because you buy this asset, it depreciates fairly rapidly, you use it 3 per cent of the time, and you pay a vast amount of money to park it for the other 97 per cent of the time,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
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“However, demand for personal transport in cars continues to increase. The more cars get used – ie shared – the faster they wear and need to be replaced. So pooling and sharing isn’t necessarily negative, unless one fails to get involved.”
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The other benefit for manufacturers is they can introduce young consumers to their products."

E mudar de estratégia? E mudar de modelo de negócio? E mudar de proposta de valor? E mudar de canal? E mudar de clientes?

Outra fonte "MINI relaunches its brand and offers Airbnb-style sharing to car owners"

Porquê um balanced scorecard?

"Managers should always try to maximize profits, except when they should not. The occasions when they should not are when other strategic priorities must be considered, and are explicitly taken into account.
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poor alignment on priorities is a serious obstacle to capturing value.[Moi ici: Recordar a série "Tecto de vidro"]
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With such trade-offs to manage constantly, it can be hard for companies to make unambiguous decisions about priorities. But the confusion runs deeper than that. In the real world, the decision-makers are not companies but rather people within those companies. Individual objectives often are not aligned."

O desenho de um mapa da estratégia e, depois, a sua conversão num balanced scorecard, permite alinhar, focar, canalizar e explicitar:

• atenções para um conjunto de prioridades;
• acções concretas que se reforçam;
• recursos sintonizados com as prioridades;
• mensagens com um conteúdo em torno da proposta de valor; e
• prioridades em função dos clientes-alvo. Recordar que ter inimigos nos negócios pode ser um bom sinal

A sua empresa tem um balanced scorecard? E um mapa da estratégia? 

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Não?! 

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Estará na hora?

Trechos retirados de "8 Reasons Companies Don’t Capture More Value"

Curiosidade do dia

"Os dados da execução orçamental mostram que, em universos comparáveis, o défice das Administrações Públicas aumentou 108 milhões de euros até Maio, quando comparado com o período homólogo. Está agora nos 1.098 milhões."

Trecho retirado de "Défice orçamental agrava-se em 108 milhões de euros até Maio"

"O défice da Administração Pública atingiu 868 milhões de euros nos primeiros cinco meses do ano, uma redução de 123 milhões face ao período homólogo, revelam as Finanças em comunicado."

Trecho retirado de "Défice melhorou 123 milhões de euros até Maio"

Rápido, sem olhar, responder à pergunta:

- Qual o nome que assina o artigo do JdN?

Sim, eu sei, fácil demais.

Imagine que a sua empresa percebia o porquê...

"Employees don’t know your strategy
Surveys suggest that 50 percent of employees don’t have a clear understanding of their company’s strategy."

Concordo com a resposta de Ron Shevlin à pergunta:

"Why do 50% of employees NOT have a clear understanding of their company’s
strategy?"

Cá vai:

"The company doesn’t have a clear strategy.
 ...
Many people believe that Peter Drucker said it best when he said “strategy is as much about figuring out what you won’t do, as it is about what you will do.” Few people, however, seem to like my corollary: “If you don’t figure out what you won’t do, you’ll find yourself in a lot of doo doo.”"

Infelizmente, demasiadas vezes a resposta às perguntas:

• o que vos distingue?
• o que vos diferencia?
• em que é que são realmente bons?
• qual a vossa vantagem competitiva?
• por que é que o vosso melhor cliente, a pensar no que é melhor para ele, opta por trabalhar com a vossa empresa?

É um ou mais rostos cheios de dúvidas, de incertezas, de opiniões cheias de "perhaps", cheias de nevoeiro, ...

"STRATEGY FOG: A state of being in which an organization is unable to clearly see where it is, how it got there, where it’s going, and/or where it should go."

Imagine que a sua empresa percebia o porquê...
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Uma coisa é empurrar, outra é ser puxado por um propósito, por uma bússola, por um destino.


Trechos  retirados de "Clearing Up The Strategy Fog"

Amâncio Ortega era um pacato subcontratado, até que um dia [em 1975] aconteceu-lhe uma desgraça..."

"Amâncio Ortega era um pacato subcontratado que produzia em regime de private label para quem o contratasse. Até que um dia [em 1975] aconteceu-lhe uma desgraça..."
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Primeiro, os resultados:

"Inditex, the fast-fashion retailer's parent company based in Spain, recently said profits in the first quarter jumped by a whopping 28%. Sales were up by an impressive 14%."

Segundo, a justificação, um modelo de negócio diferente:

""Unlike fast-fashion retailers, which have buying teams sourcing current trending fashion from third-party vendors, traditional specialty retailers have design teams creating product they believe is going to be trending 12 months out,
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Zara's unconventional business model eliminates this risk [Moi ici: have a "fashion miss," it means markdowns,].
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The company's strategy involves stocking very little and updating collections often. Unlike brands that update only once a season, Zara restocks with new designs twice a week, [Moi ici: Os membros da tríade ficam à nora com estas cenas que arrasam os modelos baseados no Homo racionalis]
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it encourages customers to come back to the store often. It also means that if the shopper wants to buy something, he or she feels the need to buy it to guarantee it won't sell out.
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"They broke up a century-old biannual cycle of fashion," an analyst told Hansen. "Now, pretty much half of the high-end fashion companies" — Prada and Louis Vuitton, for example — "make four to six collections instead of two each year. That's absolutely because of Zara."
Specialty retailers will need to follow suit in order to succeed, according to Goldman."

Recordar:

• Etapa 1: a narrativa (Dezembro de 2009)
• E que tal agarrar o destino com ambas as mãos? (Março de 2011)
• Para macro-economistas, políticos e comentadores de coisas económicas (Março de 2012)
• Modelos de negócio: escolhas e consequências (Novembro de 2012)

Trechos retirados de "This clothing company whose CEO is richer than Warren Buffett is blowing the competition out of the water"

Acerca do futuro das plataformas

Esko Kilpi continua a fazer-me pensar na evolução das plataformas com "From Firms to Platforms to Commons":

"Traditional business economics focus on economies of scale derived from the resource base of the company, which scales much slower than the network effects these new firms build on. The start-ups have a huge advantage over incumbents.
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A platform company should therefore be as open, as accessible and as supportive as possible, to as many users as possible. This is unequivocally the route to optimum value creation. Internet scale economies can create almost boundless returns without the (core) company growing at all.
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The central aggregator of enterprise value will no longer be a value chain, but a network space, where these new firms are fully market facing and the customer experience is defined by apps.
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The previous iteration transformed firms to platforms. Perhaps the next evolutionary step in the life of firms is a transformation from platforms to open commons with shared protocols."

Recordar:

• "Reflexão-previsão acerca do futuro das plataformas" 
• "O poder das plataformas (parte II)"

Acerca do pricing

• "The Price is Complicated"

"Many chains use a cost-plus approach. That is, prices are based on food costs plus a labor charge and an overhead factor. The problem with cost-plus pricing is that it is a short-term, inside-out approach. Not only does it leave you vulnerable to variability in commodities pricing, but it also doesn’t reflect the full margin potential of your offerings. Customers may be willing to pay more for some items, but cost-plus pricing essentially treats all products the same. Pricing should be decided from the outside in.
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You should approach pricing as thoughtfully and strategically as your menu.
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Reinforce your brand identity. Use price to communicate what your brand stands for.
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Be clear about your competitive positioning. Don’t be afraid to charge more if you’re competing on quality, exclusivity, or a superior experience.
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Vary price to emphasize brand differentiation and value. Variable pricing draws attention to the value you offer or to the one dimension that most meaningfully differentiates you from competitors.
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Vary price to target customer segments.
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Anchor your pricing. Price anchoring uses cues to set the customer’s expectations.
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Pricing is too important to be made as an arbitrary decision. And just because consumers have cut back on spending doesn’t mean pricing is simply a game of  “how low can you go.” With a strategic approach, you can use price as a helpful tool in your brand-building toolbox."

• "10 Classic Studies on Pricing Psychology" 

"1. Similarity Can Cost You Sales...
Sometimes marketing (and pricing) needs to help customers get the difference between products, because as it turns out, too many options can be demotivating to consumers.
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if two similar items are priced the same, consumers are much less likely to buy one than if their prices are even slightly different.
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2. Utilizing Price AnchoringWhat's the best way to sell a $2,000 watch? Right next to a $10,000 watch!
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By placing premium products and services near standard options you can create a clear sense of value for potential customers, who will then view your less expensive options as a bargain in comparison.
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3. The Secrets of Weber's Law...
the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is directly proportional to the magnitude of the stimuli.
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4. Reduce Pain Points in the Sales ProcessAccording to neuroeconomics experts, the human brain is wired to "spend 'til it hurts."
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Reframe the product's value.
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Bundle commonly bought items.
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Sweat the small stuff.
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Appeal to utility or pleasure.
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It's either free or it isn't.
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5. Try Out an Old ClassicEnding prices with the number 9 is one of the oldest pricing methods in the book...
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6. Emphasize Time Spent vs. Saved...
study shows that consumers tend to recall more positive memories of a product when they are asked to remember time spent with the product over the money they saved.
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7. Never Compare Prices Without a Reason...
the act of comparative pricing can cause unintended effects in consumer evaluations if there is no context for why prices should be compared.
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The focus should be on why prices are cheaper, not just that they are.
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8. Utilize the Power of Context...
Where you buy is just as important as what you buy.
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9. Test Different Levels of Pricing...
Some customers are always going to want the most expensive option, so adding a super-premium price will give them that option and will make your other prices look better by comparison.
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10. Keep Prices Stupidly Simple"

• "Improving Your Sales Through Strategic Pricing" 

"Let the consumer – not your competition – determine the value of your product and remember that it is much easier to lower your price after a product launch than it is to raise it down the line."

• "Steal These Tips On The Power of Effective Pricing"

"no great companies can be all things to all people; you have to choose what sort of organization you are-- and exactly what value you're delivering. They divide the world in three: Are you primarily a product company? a customer-service driven operation? or an operationally efficient enterprise?
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Until you decide what kind of company you are, you can't develop an effective pricing strategy. Product-oriented companies can command premium prices because they deliver truly distinctive goods and services. Customer-centric companies have to be middle-of-the pack in their pricing, though they can command a degree of a premium based on outstanding service. Companies grounded in operational efficiency present a value-based model, and so must price themselves below the midpoint. What are you? You can be some of all three. But you have to major on one."

• "A Penny Saved: Psychological Pricing" 
• "19 Pricing Strategies for Your Business to Try"
• "The Psychology of Pricing: A Gigantic List of Strategies"

Curiosidade do dia

"As exportações portuguesas de bens para Espanha cresceram 10,1% nos primeiros quatro meses do ano, para um total de 3.468 milhões de euros, indicou à Lusa a delegação de Madrid da AICEP.
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As manufacturas de consumo (têxteis e confecção, calçado, brinquedos, joalharia e outros produtos de consumo) representam 18% do total e registaram um acréscimo de 11,7% (mais 65 milhões de euros).
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Os bens de equipamento cresceram 12,1% e o sector automóvel aumentou 10,8%."

Trechos retirados de "Exportações de bens de Portugal para Espanha cresceram 10% até Abril"

"Portugal exportou para Espanha quatro milhões de euros por dia em serviços nos três primeiros meses do ano, num total de 364 milhões de euros, indicam dados provisórios do Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) espanhol.
Este valor representa um aumento de 3,3% face ao mesmo período do ano anterior."

Trecho retirado de "Portugal exportou para Espanha 4 milhões de euros em serviços por dia"

Ponto da situação

Ontem ao princípio da noite, um desafio do @pauloperes permitiu desenhar esta figura, para sistematizar o nosso progresso:

Um JTBD e vários contextos possíveis (recordar link "Não começar sem saber qual o trabalho e o contexto seleccionado")
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A unidade de análise é a combinação JTBD e um contexto concreto.
O serviço prestado por uma organização é contratado pelo cliente para realizar um trabalho na sua vida, no âmbito de um certo contexto, para atingir um resultado (outcome).
Falamos de resultado (outcome) como uma consequência na vida do cliente, como um benefício, como uma experiência procurada e valorizada. Não falamos de ouput, não falamos de uma coisa concreta que é transaccionada e que tem especificações independentemente do cliente concreto. O cliente não procura a coisa, o objecto, o produto! O cliente procura o que a coisa faz na sua vida.
A coisa, o objecto, o produto transaccionado, é um recurso processado pelo cliente na sua vida para produzir o benefício, a experiência procurada.
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Durante esse trabalho o cliente vai sentir resistências e problemas (barreiras). Por exemplo, porque não tem o know-how ou a paciência, para tirar o melhor partido dos recursos que lhe são disponibilizados. A monitorização do progresso, durante a realização do trabalho, pode dar força para seguir em frente, criando uma espécie de espiral de motivação positiva:

"People don’t want just the outcomes; they want the progress outcomes represent."

Recordei os objectivos proximais, para vencer as barreiras.
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O olhar para trás no fim é o sublinhado a amarelo daqui:

"When you design for outcomes, you’re designing for your customers’s future past — the moment, at some end, when they look back and evaluate."

Como Kahneman e Gigerenzer escrevem, o que recordamos das experiências não é o mesmo que o que sentimos durante a sua vivência inicial. Há aqui qualquer coisa de Damásio?

Falta incluir a co-criação na primeira figura.

Perguntas críticas cheias de sumo

Uma lista de perguntas críticas cheias de sumo:

"WHO are you trying to reach? (If the answer is 'everyone', start over.)
HOW will they become aware of what you have to offer?
WHAT story are you telling/living/spreading?
DOES that story resonate with the worldview these people already have? (What do they believe? What do they want?)
WHERE is the fear that prevents action?
WHEN do you expect people to take action? If the answer is 'now', what keeps people from saying, 'later'? It's safer that way.
WHY? What will these people tell their friends?"

Texto retirado de "Every marketing challenge revolves around these questions"

Para reflexão

"Yet the future is about more than just technology. Health and economic trends, population growth and climate change, just to name a few, will also create massive challenges—and massive opportunities. The time to prepare for the future is always the present.
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Most executives are busy people. We embed ourselves into the networks of our companies and industries. So, not surprisingly, the issues we spend the most time thinking about are focused on the present - customer demands, competitive moves, supply chain snafus and the like.
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Yet Dr. Canton urges managers to take a broader view. How do they see their business in 20 years?
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Yet look 20 years ahead and the concerns are quite different.
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A big part of his job is not only getting his clients to see that these issues exist, but to prepare them to take effective action.
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So to become truly future ready, trendwatching and analysis are necessary, but not sufficient. Leaders today need to act.
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“you need shape your future before someone else does. Those that lack the courage to predict and shape their future may become victims of an unwelcome destiny.”

E na sua empresa, quem pensa no futuro?
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Trechos retirados de "To Prepare For The Future You Need To Shape It—Or Someone Else Will"

Quantas vezes?

Um exemplo concreto deste postal "Prisioneiros das rotinas..." neste artigo "The story of the invention that could revolutionize batteries—and maybe American manufacturing as well". Meio incrédulo dei comigo a ler:

"The reason battery factories are so huge ... goes back to a chance event at the birth of lithium ion.
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But Sony also had to quickly figure out how to manufacture this new kind of battery on a commercial scale. Providence stepped in: As it happened, increasingly popular compact discs were beginning to erode the market for cassette tapes, of which Sony was also a major manufacturer. The tapes were made on long manufacturing lines that coated a film with a magnetic slurry, dried it, cut it into long strips, and rolled it up. Looking around the company, Sony’s lithium-ion managers now noticed much of this equipment, and its technicians, standing idle.
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It turned out that the very same equipment could also be used for making lithium-ion batteries. These too could be made by coating a slurry on to a film, then drying and cutting it. In this case the result isn’t magnetic tape, but battery electrodes.
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This equipment, and those technicians, became the backbone of the world’s first lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant, and the model for how they have been made ever since. Today, factories operating on identical principles are turning out every commercial lithium-ion battery on the planet."

Interessante como nunca ninguém questionou a dimensão das fábricas, os pressupostos, apesar das centenas de milhões de dólares, até arrepia.
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Quantas vezes isto acontece na vida das empresas?
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BTW, ao ler a parte final do artigo:

"In a new report, McKinsey describes a broad new age of manufacturing that it calls Industry 4.0. The consulting firm says the changes under way are affecting most businesses. They are probably not “another industrial revolution,” it says, but together, there is “strong potential to change the way factories work.”
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For decades, the US has watched its bedrock manufacturing industries wither  away, as they’ve instead grown thick in Japan, in South Korea, in China, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the US lost about 5 million manufacturing jobs just from 1997 to 2014. This includes the production of lithium-ion batteries, which, though invented by Americans, were commercialized in Japan and later South Korea and China.
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So Chiang’s innovation could be a poster-child for a new strain of thinking in the US. This says that, while such industries are not likely to return from Asia, the US can possibly reinvent how they manufacture. The country wouldn’t take back nearly as many jobs as it has lost. But there could be large profits, as the country once again moves a step ahead in crucial areas of technology."

Não pude deixar de recordar "Mais especulações"