It is not just small companies that have no imagination when it comes to identifying opportunities for improvement. And yet the folk round the photocopier or the coffee machine would be able to identify all sorts of things that could be improved. How many household names have disappeared in recent years? While some companies have gone because others recognized their worth and bought them out, others, with apparently competent (and certainly well-paid) management, have failed usually because they did not recognize changes in the environment in which they were trading. The changes may have concerned global recession, interest rates, or the impact of new technology. However, as often as not, competitors were able to steal a march on them by offering a greatly improved product or lower prices. Let me cite three examples, each involving difficult decision forced by changes in the marketplace.
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