Karl asks some questions about Wal-Mart and it’s impact on jobs, especially in his little commonwealth. Specifically Karl was looking at the loss of traditional industry jobs in Pennsylvania and the rise in jobs at the retailing behemoth. I have a few words for him:
Technology has replaced manufacturing jobs, even though the specific positions may not be with companies that sell tech products. Wal-Mart is probably one of the best examples: aside from possibly Amazon, it is the most tech-obsessed company in retailing and most others are doing their best to copy everything Wal-Mart has done. This has been true for at least a decade. Every store’s computer systems were linked via satellite and private network to headquarters long before the rise of the Internet; all the data was processed nightly to maximize inventory turn and better the purchasing department’s understanding of what sells best where–very early adopters of data mining, essentially.
Most successful companies today, regardless of industry, are essentially the same. They’re sophisticated information processing systems focused on one particular market, or set of markets. I realized this while working at a commercial insurance firm in the early ’90s–I doubt this observation is original to me and I make no such claim. These days, for most industries, competitive advantage lies not in designing a better good, since most innovations are easily reproduced. The advantage must be made in the overall system, being faster to develop new products, understanding how to stay closer to customers, hiring the best people. This is a major reason why new innovations in computing can sweep through the economy with such massive impact.
BillSaysThis 