Harvard Business School professor whose 'Marketing Myopia' (1960) is the most reprinted article in Harvard Business Review history — arguing that companies fail by defining their business too narrowly.
Marketing Myopia: the core insight is that companies should define themselves by the customer need they serve, not the product they make. The railroads failed because they thought they were in the railroad business, not the transportation business — and didn't respond to airlines and automobiles. The Hollywood studios nearly failed because they thought they were in the movie business, not the entertainment business. Defining your business by customer need rather than product keeps you alert to competitive threats and identifies opportunity. One of the most widely cited and applied frameworks in business education.
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