The Next Century (continued)

Language, culture and heritage will not be lost. In fact, technology will enable communities to preserve that which might otherwise have died out. Trend #12 We are witnessing a dramatic shift from conformity and uniformity to customization and individuality. Individuality is a recurrent theme in the coming millennium. Mass markets demanded mass production, so houses looked alike, cars looked alike, products looked alike. Without computers it was difficult to keep track of workers, so compensation packages all looked alike. Workers were "sorted" by job description rather than qualifications, expertise and performance. The corporate hierarchy was not just the result of the need to manage workflow and responsibility, but a lack of technology to manage each person individually. Every worker will be an entrepreneur in a company of one. Every individual will be a market of one.

The result: mass customization. It is the standard that will have to be met by every single company that markets a product or service. It is changing forever the relationship In the era of mass customization it is not market share we seek, it is customer share. Profitability comes from selling more to fewer customers, but selling them exactly what they want. Not something close, but exactly. Technology makes it possible. The most widely recognized example of mass customization, in which the buyer gets exactly what he wants and needs, is the model created by Dell Computers. Dell does not have a single PC in inventory. What it has is the possibility to obtain parts from various sources to create an individualized personal computer. And the company does much of its work in cyberspace. It's a virtual corporation, selling very real products very profitably.