Post-consumer society

II. The Coming Post-Consumer Society
Over the last twenty years, the mantra of globalization has been at center stage of American and European business thinking. This is often equated with cost reduction, centralization, streamlining value chains and other such topics.
I have done extensive research on the issue of globalization and I have come to believe that it has resulted in serious imbalances in the international economy and that these imbalance are detrimental to the American and international business environment. Much of it has been caused by our own behavior and our unwillingness to deal with issues in a balanced manner.
The embedded crises of confidence that are striking our world with increasing regularity are the direct result of these imbalances, although the expert (pundits, economists, politicians and anyone with a megaphone), don’t present it that way.
I also believe that business executives need to give serious consideration to the various scenarios that may unfold during the next two to three years if they are to protect the business assets they are entrusted with.
I have expressed my views, presented in conjunction with extensive analysis of quantitative and qualitative developments over the last thirty years, in a series of articles, entitled America Export Nation? To many of my clients, this is an inconvenient truth that requires a line of thinking that is not always comfortable.
Based on this research I have come to the view that there is a new world coming and that world can be characterized as “The Post-Consumer Society”. This transition follows in the wake of another such transition, started some thirty years ago, when the world moved towards a Post-Industrial Society. We have reached the end of a cycle, with the services economy operating at its peak and being at a mature level of saturation.
The transition to a Post Industrial Society seemed to be painless, flattering and generally beneficial to all. An inconvenient truth about the transition to a Post-Consumer Society is that it may not be as painless, it is not flattering and it will challenge all in terms of adaptability, innovation, and risk.
The conclusions I arrive at in this context, pass two “value” tests, the test of “urgency” and the test of “importance”. I articulate this view with my clients and I outline what it means for them specifically in terms of overall strategy, recruiting, production, sourcing, and all other aspects of their business models. Some embrace my message fully; others use it as a second opinion.