Facing the Forces of Change: New Beginnings

By now, you have seen the announcement that the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence and IBM’s Institute for Business Value will collaborate to produce the next Facing the Forces of Change^® report. Click here to read the press release.

The Facing the Forces of Change^® series is the only major research study analyzing the future of wholesale distribution within multiple industries. I encourage all wholesale distribution executives to take a few minutes to add their insights and opinions to this important research.

To take the online survey, go to http://www.ibm.com/services/bcs/benchmarking/survey/ms/ and enter the authorization code: NAW2010.

I am proud to have contributed to this long-running and prestigious series. I had the privilege of writing the three most recent Facing the Forces of Change^® studies (published in 2001, 2004, and 2007 and pictured on the right) and editing three companion Outlook books (published in 2002, 2005, and 2008). I believe these books have helped wholesale distribution executives to prepare their companies for the future.

Last summer, I declined the opportunity to write the next edition of Facing the Forces of Change^®. This was a difficult decision for me because I greatly value my relationship with NAW and its research foundation. However, I felt that it was time for another organization with an alternate perspective to carry this important research forward.

I am extraordinarily pleased that NAW’s Institute of Distribution Excellence chose IBM’s Institute of Business Value to develop the next edition. IBM has been a strong supporter of the wholesale distribution industry for many years. I also have a long-standing relationship with IBM, such as their sponsorship of my recent 2010 Economic Outlook for Wholesale Distribution.

I am also looking forward to the new results because IBM included many questions from my prior surveys, which will enable the forthcoming report to update important trends from previous editions as well as identify emerging issues.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my involvement with this research over the years. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Ron Schreibman, who encouraged me to work with NAW back when I was a graduate student in the early 1990s.

What have I learned about facing the forces of change? As Niels Bohr said: “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.”

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