MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How to Launch Products in Uncertain Markets

  • 9m
  • Jan Hendrik Fisch, Jan-Michael Ross
  • MIT Sloan Management Review
  • 2018

In volatile times, uncertainty can be turned into a competitive advantage.

Predicting the needs of your customers has always been tricky. In one 2005 survey, for example, 80% of corporate executives said they believed they were delivering superior products to their customers — but only 8% of their customers agreed.1 It’s even harder to please your customer when things are as uncertain as they are today. Shifts in politics, immigration patterns, and trade policies are shaking the foundation of international commerce. Consumers are both more informed, thanks to the internet, and more fickle, thanks to social media. When you consider all that — and the rapidity and frequency of technological change — predicting the future needs of your customers may seem like a fool’s game.

Given the obvious costs of misjudging customer preferences, how should companies at the brink of a product launch behave in the face of great market uncertainty? Should they “wait and see” until uncertainty resolves? Or should they commit resources for a full-scale launch and ride it out?

In this Book

  • MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How to Launch Products in Uncertain Markets