CEO's Route to the Top Is Changing

The route to the top of the corporate ranks is changing. Per Eugene Jennings, Michigan State professor and author of numerous books on corporate climbing, tomorrow's CEOs of major industrial companies will come from positions within the material supply chain (MSC). Jennings says corporations are already placing their promising pack of leaders in this leg of business, even if they are from other disciplines.

Source of CEOs

World War II to 1960 . . . . . . .	Manufacturing
1960s . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	Sales
1970s . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	Finance
Current . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .	Marketing
Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	Supply

Key Values of Mature Market

Surveys pinpoint key values of the mature market, those age 50 and up, as autonomy/self-sufficiency, social/spiritual, altruism, personal growth, and revitalization. These individuals fear dependency but also fear loneliness. The most effective ads to this market are those demonstrating how a service or product can help self-sufficiency and those showing older adults enjoying being with others.

Some in the mature market find themselves raising children once again. Statistics show that 1 in 10 American grandparents raises a grandchild for at least six months; one in five takes care of the child for 10 or more years. The average age for these grandparents is 59.4 years. Seventy-four percent live in urban areas and more than half (57%) have completed high school. Close to three quarters (72%) began care-giving before the child reached five years of age.

Male Children Plan to Follow Their Mothers' Career Path

A survey of 1,200 grade-school children shows that 30% of boys plan to follow in their mother's career footsteps compared to 12% who want to follow in their dad's. Thirty-six percent of girls plan to follow their mother's; and 5% their father's. This choice may be driven by the fact that kids know more about their mother's job: children are three times more likely to have visited their mother's workplace than their father's.

Friendly Internet Sites

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CASE STUDY: Healthcare

In 1995, an established mid-sized hospital contracted STR to conduct an image positioning study. This facility, located in the Midwest, had never conducted external research to learn where it stood with the community and its potential for improving market share.

Using telephone interviews with healthcare decision-makers, STR discovered how this hospital compared with larger, nearby metropolitan facilities. The research results specifically pinpointed problems with the community's view of its overall quality of care, cardiac care, surgery, and obstetrics. The research also quantified a problem with employee responsiveness to patients and coworkers.

In response to the detailed findings and recommendations, the hospital implemented an image advertising campaign, sponsored community events, and developed a physician and employee-based speakers' bureau.

The tracking study, conducted 24 months later by STR, showed significantly improved ratings on 8 of 11 critical issues such as medical staff quality, up-to-date technology and personnel attitudes. More community residents rated this facility as "Best hospital or medical facility" for each of its service lines. Many times the increase was double or triple the initial percentage rating.

Understanding the issues and addressing them directly allowed this hospital to attract new patients, enhance patient loyalty and, therefore, compete more effectively in its market.

Bullets

• Over one third of Americans (34%) would beinterested in spending 14 vacation days aboard a NASA spaceshuttle and be willing to pay, on average, $10,800 for the experience.
• Ninety-three million adults volunteered an average of 4.2 hours per week in 1995.
• Catalog shoppers spent $58.2 billion in 1996. This number reflects a 13% increase over the previous year. Most catalogs are in paper form however, online catalog sales are expected increase rapidly.
• Almost half (43%) of adults say they are "still trying to figure out" the meaning and purpose of life.
• The average American home changes ownership once every 11.9 years.
• Sixty-five percent of newspapers have their own Web site.
• About 5% of baby boomers have begun some type of voluntary downscaling of their lifestyles over the last few years. Futurist Gerald Celente expects this to grow to 15% by the year 2000.
• Most adults (58%) are "indifferent" to the idea of the beginning of a new millennium. Eight percent think it is "kind of scary"; 28% say it is "kind of exciting."
• Fast food brands such as McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut are being integrated into food services at hospitals, colleges, convenience stores and other nontraditional venues says Find/SVP. This market is expected to reach $7 billion in 1997 and grow 10% annually through the year 2002.
• Term to learn: US netizen. An American who is an Internet user.
• A survey asking Generation Xers (age 16-24) what they would want with them if stranded on a deserted island found that 29% of them would want their parents. Other items included music (24%) and their computer (21%).
• Orchestras based in the United States played 30,000 concerts to 31 million people during 1995.
• The average employee of a technologically updated office of a large corporation receives a total of 178 messages each day via e-mail, faxes, overnight packets, voice- mail and conventional mail.
• The U.S. market for vitamins, supplements and mineral products rose dramatically from $570 million to $5.3 billion between 1992 and 1996.
• Approximately 13 boxes of Jell-O brand gelatin are purchased in the U.S. every second.