The first with the most wins. The need to be first is binned into our collective business psyche. The first with a novel service, product, or promotion usually takes the lumps but may seize opportunities to siphon off premiums or lock up the choice customers, Examples abound in which "first-mover" or "pioneering" advantages accrued to the earliest innovators. First-mover strategies contributed in large part ,to achievements like Wrigley's (Chicago, IL) chewing gum, AT&T's (New Yotk) long-distance service, and Pioneer Hi-Bred" s (Des Moines, IA) hybrid seed corn. The onslot of current agbiotech novelties--like Monsanto's (St. Louis, MO) Roundup Ready soybeans, Calgene's (Davis, CA) Flavr Sjavr tomato, and several firms' advanced, turf-type, Buffalo grasses--may force many to reconsider the potential benefits and risks such companies have undertaken to become first movers. Is there a way to understand the important and delicate nuances of a first mover's strategy?
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