Reinventing the Product audiobook cover - How to Transform your Business and Create Value in the Digital Age

Reinventing the Product

How to Transform your Business and Create Value in the Digital Age

Eric Schaeffer and David Sovie

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Technology & the FutureEntrepreneurship

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Reinventing the Product
The Outcome Economy+
Customer Experience Shift+
Product-as-a-Service & Platforms+
AI & Agile Operations+
7-Step Digital Roadmap+
Measuring Success+
Case Study: Faurecia+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
According to the authors, what characterizes the 'outcome economy'?
  • A. Businesses focusing exclusively on the initial point of sale to maximize profit margins.
  • B. Companies selling ongoing services and results rather than just standalone physical products.
  • C. A business model where physical manufacturing is entirely outsourced to third-party platforms.
  • D. The strategy of lowering physical product prices to outpace legacy competitors in emerging markets.
Question 2 of 7
How should modern companies alter their approach to product development, as illustrated by the camera manufacturer example?
  • A. By shifting focus away from standalone product features toward the continuous journey of the customer experience.
  • B. By reducing the number of accessories available to simplify the customer's purchasing decision.
  • C. By focusing strictly on hardware durability so that software updates are no longer necessary.
  • D. By relying primarily on traditional in-store experiences rather than online digital engagement.
Question 3 of 7
Why is Research and Development (R&D) increasingly critical in the modern 'experience economy'?
  • A. Because reducing R&D budgets is the fastest way to digitize a legacy company's core operations.
  • B. Because physical raw materials are becoming more expensive and require constant laboratory testing.
  • C. Because the focus is on the ongoing relationship and continuous improvement of the product-as-a-service.
  • D. Because platform providers like Apple and Google require strict hardware patents to join their ecosystems.
Question 4 of 7
What is the primary purpose of the 'two-pizza rule' advocated by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos?
  • A. To ensure that product development meetings are kept to a strict time limit.
  • B. To guarantee that company budgets prioritize employee perks and workplace culture over top-down hierarchies.
  • C. To mandate that every new product undergoes at least two distinct phases of consumer testing before launch.
  • D. To limit the size of teams, keeping them small, empowered, and agile enough to experiment quickly.
Question 5 of 7
What is a common financial outcome for legacy businesses that successfully implement a digital transformation program to digitize their core business?
  • A. They typically experience a permanent increase in overhead costs due to software licensing.
  • B. The transition effectively pays for itself by ultimately reducing operational costs.
  • C. They generally see a drop in stock value but a rise in long-term brand loyalty.
  • D. They are forced to sell off physical manufacturing plants to fund the digital pivot.
Question 6 of 7
According to the text, what are the four human-like capabilities that modern Artificial Intelligence possesses?
  • A. Listen, speak, calculate, and predict.
  • B. Observe, analyze, manufacture, and distribute.
  • C. Sense, comprehend, act, and learn.
  • D. Read, write, execute, and store.
Question 7 of 7
How did the automotive supplier Faurecia successfully pivot to remain competitive in the digitally connected age?
  • A. By building a platform ecosystem through acquisitions and partnerships to create intelligent, digitally connected automotive cockpits.
  • B. By outsourcing all its digital systems to Google and focusing solely on manufacturing traditional car seats.
  • C. By abandoning the automotive industry entirely to manufacture smart household speakers and voice assistants.
  • D. By reverting to a traditional top-down hierarchy to strictly control and reduce the R&D budget.

Reinventing the Product — Full Chapter Overview

Reinventing the Product Summary & Overview

Reinventing the Product (2019) takes an in-depth look at what it takes to compete in today’s increasingly digitized marketplace, outlining all the steps a company needs to take to pull itself out of the past and into a future where the marketplace is ruled by smart, digitally connected products.

Who Should Listen to Reinventing the Product?

  • CEOs, CIOs, and entrepreneurs
  • Business managers who want to stay on the cutting edge
  • People curious about the future of business

About the Author: Eric Schaeffer and David Sovie

Eric Shaeffer has spent 30 years with Accenture, a company that helps industrial organizations grow through digital innovation. He currently works as a Senior Managing Director and uses his background in engineering to help clients around the world transform their businesses by embracing digitally connected innovation. He is also the author of Industry X.0 (2017).

David Sovie is also a Senior Managing Director at Accenture, where he specializes in helping businesses shape and execute their plans for technology-based reinvention. With a background in electrical engineering and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Sovie assists and supports businesses worldwide in their efforts to embrace new digital technologies.

 

© Eric Schaeffer & David Sovie, 2019. This Summary of Reinventing the Product is published by arrangement with Kogan Page.

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