Executive Thought Leadership

In September 2003 Cisco Systems and the Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck School of Business held the fifth Thought Leadership Summit on Digital Strategies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. More than 20 CIOs, senior executives, and academic leaders participated in a roundtable discussion exploring the issue of increasing customer loyalty in the face of slowing demand, new competitors, and the threat of commodity pricing. Industry participants came from such Fortune 500 companies as Eaton, Staples, Hewlett-Packard, Lowe's, and Whirlpool—leading companies that are addressing the shift to a more customer-centric approach.

Thought Leadership

The session moderator was Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine and a highly engaging thinker and presenter. Key academic participants included Roger Blackwell, Professor of Marketing at the Ohio State University and Raymond Burke, Professor of Business Administration at Indiana University. The thoughts and insights of this group, including dealing with the volume of customer data and building a customer-centric organization, are synthesized in the article "Enabling a Customer-Focused Organization," which appears in this issue of the Executive Thought Leadership Quarterly.

Guru Q&A

Complementing the article, this issue’s Guru Q&A includes a conversation with George S. Day, Co-Director, Mack Center for Technological Innovation and Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Day shares his views on achieving the right customer focus through an intimate understanding of customers, competitors, and channels. Leveraging these insights, he says, companies can improve their market strategies and gain competitive advantage.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Executive Thought Leadership Quarterly .