Help me stump my professor!
 

In last night's MBA Marketting class, my professor proposed that there is no business, no product, no service that is not affected by the "new economy"
The new economy is defined as:
[quote]...industries that fuel the development of or participate significantly in electronic commerce and the Internet, develop market computer hardware and software, and develop or provide any of the growing array of telecommunications services.[/qoute]
Source: Mullins, J. W; Walker, O. C; and Boyd, H. W. (2008). Marketing Management (6th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Simply put, the new economy embraces the digital age, but that the internet, wireless, cellphones, smartphones, tablets, cloud computing...etc.

So - is there a product, service, or industry that is exempt from the 'new economy?' Some examples in class which were 'shot down' by the professor:

1. Mainland China - while the internet is censored there, it is still present, not to mention cellphone technology.

2. Artwork and crafts - artists have websites to market their goods, and places like ebay & craigslist to sell them.

3. Glass makers -- but they do use internet for advertising and various distribution chain elements.

I thought of one other:

1. Remote, tribal groups -- while their commerce end to end (from the start of the supply chain all the way down to the end of the distribution chain) do not use any 'digital age' technology. But that is simply an 'untapped' market -- it certainly has the potential of using the digital world's tools.

So - what say you? Is there a market or industry which is exempt from the new economy? I don't believe any manufactured goods and products are exempt, but maybe services or some other market...

Discuss...

-Z-man.

Amish.

A lemonade stand in front of your house?;)

How about flea market / farmer's market type vendors, although I suspect that many of them browse the net for items / sales.

Good question ....

The worlds oldest profession?

Nope: Amish Furniture | Amish Country | Amish Lifestyle | Amish Made (has link to Amish furniture website).
And then there's the famous Amish gas-burning fireplace ads and website...
And a lot of their income is via tourism - and there are travel agencies that use online systems to book folks for Amish country vacations.

Nope:
Flea Market Guide for Flea Markets

Regarding lemonaid stands -- is your child on her smartphone texting her friends to come over for some drinks?!? Most likely, they are...

Well, I am afraid to search, but how many craigslist ads have you seen that cater to that type of business? :eek:

Keep the ideas coming....

-Z-man.

Any business can use publicity, even illicit businesses. The Internet is the easiest way to advertise. I don't see how any business couldn't benefit from the new economy. I used to provide tech support for folks that were connecting to the Internet via dial up. This is not surprising, but I have been on the phone with a deaf person using a text to speech type relay service. This was quite surprising, and I ran into it twice in the 4 months that I did that job. I was able to talk 2 different blind folks through getting on the Internet. It was actually much easier and faster than going through the relay for the deaf person because their computers had a text to speech converter that I could hear through the phone.

So, even blind folks use the Internet.

I guess if you were deaf and blind, you would have to have specialized equipment to utilize the new economy. I'm sure they have it though. Something that "reads" the computer screen and "displays" the contents on a braile display. I saw something like that on the TV show "Covert Affairs" the other day.

Tradesmen that know where Rick Lee lives.

The hard part is the term, 'significant'. Is any presence on the internet a dis-qualifier?

For instance, a steel mill probably doesn't get many customers from a website, but no doubt uses the web for ordering materials, etc.

Loggers?

Professional athlete (not their teams)?

Fishermen? Get in boat, find fish, sell fish.

Beat me to it.

Ice cream trucks.

Diamond trading. Don't let your professor say, "well they use the telephone." He can't say the telephone is an element of the New Economy as it's been around for well over 100 years.

And don't let him say, "well there are online purchasing outlets that drive demand which affects the fundamental supply/demand equation that drives it." That is also not true, Diamond pricing is set by a cartel, not by Blue Nile.

Look up "sightholder" and the way they do business, both here on 47th, Antwerp, South Africa.

Don't let him escape. Make him buy you dinner at Peter Luger's (the one in Brooklyn, not Great Neck)

:D But Rick's on the interwebs - and he must get some business from online...

Yep - since any presence on the internet is major exposure vs. traditional methods of doing business. Ex: a company may not advertise on the web, but their back office ordering deparment relies on networks to manage orders, fund transfers...etc.

'Zactly. They aren't exempt, unless their accounting systems are still done by hand. And if so, just because one steel mill still does things the old-fashioned way, that doesn't mean they can't use computers to be more efficient.

How do they keep in touch with the mill? Most likely via cell phones, text messages, and mobil email -- all of which have a far greater reach than two-way radio communication.

Nope -- I bet there isn't a single popular professional athlete who doesn't have a facebook or twitter aco**** to let his or her fans know what's on their minds...

Nope. How do they navigate? Most likely via GPS sytsems. How do they check the market pricing for fish? Probably the internet. How do they communicate with people back home? Radio and cell / satellite phones.

I am starting to think my professor is correct in his presumption... but keep them coming!

-Z-man.

Ice cream trucks -- how do they order their goods? How are the products promoted? How does the ice cream truck guy communicate with the ice cream supplier about more orders?

How are most diamounds cut these days? I think via computer controlled machines, vs. the old fashioned way.

And how do the cartels communicate their pricing strategies to the diamound sellers? Private courier? Most likely not -- probably via cellphone or email.

How are diamounds advertised?

But you may have something here...

-Z

prostitution.

Z-Man,

So what is the New Economy other than the substitution of former paper based tools for digital tools? If your professor is stating that the administrative part of the business world has subplanted the production and operation part, no wonder there is an erosion in the middle class. The production of digital tools is a product in itself, but it is not neccessary, at a basic level, for life itself. Maybe they need to rethink what an economy is.

And no, given the set of circumstances as well as the definition, administration effects everything and it is a support function that supports the work of providing services and goods. If there are no goods and services there is no need for an administrative support organization and therefore no need for a "new economy".

Hardware and software are just better tools than filing cabinets, carbon paper and pencils. The function is the same.

Remember, the hammer may be substantial but it is the little nail that does all of the important work.

the amish near us have better internet service, better phones, more expensive phone service/options, better web presence, better electrical service, and some have better trucks and cars than we do. We are not amish.


I would not sell the birds or hay or other things without the web and, especially, phone service. The "new economy" started affecting all this more than a decade ago, imho.


I would only see areas that do not have webservice potential as the "new economy" not being able to affect. If you do not have access to the economy and the tools then you cannot use them even if you knew how.

yer prof has put up a challenge of basically playing infinite degrees of seperation.

there IS no product, service, or whatever that is not connected to the internet. if there was, you by researching it, have caused it to be connected to the internet and have thus influenced the product/service by increasing (however inmeasurably) its visibility on the internet.

There is a religious sect in northeast Ohio (my understanding is they are Amish) that probably qualifies. You can tell their farms because there are no power lines going to them. They have no electricity and don't use any vehicle with air-filled tires. Strangest thing to see a backhoe with steel wheels with rubber treads bolted to them or a hay baler with a gas engine on it being pulled by horses.

Sprinkles. You know.....the kind that kids put on sugar cookies.

The Amish in my part of Maryland cannot use electricity for personal use but can employ gasoline engines and generators for business purposes.

The best small engine repair shops, Stilh dealer in the area are all Amish. I am proud that they know me as a friend.

I'll post some pictures later of the work one of the carriage makers did on an old pony cart I traded my sister for.

Z-man, the Amish here would absolutely qualify.

If that means acceptance of the internet as a primary advertising medium then he's got a catch-all.

With that said-

Fast food comes to mind.

Take In N Out- when was the last time you went to their website?

rjp