Turning Over a New "Stone"

We often hear a form of the idiom "turning over a new leaf" and generally take that to be a positive restart or a change for the better (Cabrera, 2021). But what if we fail to realize the change requires more than one leaf? Such is the case of organizations like Firestone Tire & Rubber, which may have had a good plan to tackle new technology introduced by a competitor (Sull, 1999). Yet, something still went wrong due to circumstances beyond their control or, more so, their failure to respond effectively and take appropriate action.

Use Case: The Radial Bias

Firestone was a leading player in the tire industry, and while it failed to meet the challenge of change, it was not for the reason you might think (Sull, 1999). The managers of Firestone had a clear vision of their positioning and strategy amongst the other tire manufacturers. But then Michelin, a French manufacturer, introduced the more economical, safer, and longer-lasting "radial tire" to the U.S. market in direct competition with traditional "bias tires." And with Ford declaring that all its new cars would be equipped with "radial tires" in 1972, their U.S. market dominance became clear.

Firestone, however, was prepared to deal with the introduction of "radial tires" to the U.S as it was already aware of its adoption in the 1960s by the European market and had developed forecasts that predicted similar acceptance (Sull, 1999). While they took immediate action by investing $400 million to build and convert several factories for the production, they did not wholly replace and replicate the new higher quality production process. Instead, it delayed closing many of its "bias tire" factories despite imminent obsolescence. 

Although tire sales in the U.S. plateaued because "radial tires" lasted twice as long as their "bias tire" predecessor, Firestone's CEO was carried by the inertia of past assumptions that there is still an ever-growing demand for tires and refused to start shutting down plants. Ultimately, despite the previous quick actions and analysis, Firestone suffered devastating losses to their share of the market before being acquired in 1988 by a Japanese company by the name of Bridgestone

Sociotechnical Plan Relevance

While Firestone was privy to the change in innovation and was unaffected by economic barriers, it still fell victim to those stemming from behavioral, organizational, and structural blocks (Tidd & Bessant, 2020). More specifically, within behavior, they were deeply affected by the inertia of their production and rationality around plant decision points. This was in part blinded by their organizational power or influence and their culture and stakeholder relations while deeply anchored with sunk costs with their structural infrastructure. These examples showcase why it is essential to consider all four potential barriers with potential competing innovations with data protection and remain vigilant, agile, and resilient.

Forces to Factor

In the world of cybersecurity and the protection of data, we are looking at technological challenges and the legal aspects of its storage, use, and export around the world. As we continue to move to the Cloud and place more social and economic activities online, the importance of privacy and data protection continues to be recognized globally (UNCTAD, n.d.). This includes the collection, use, and sharing of personal data to third parties without notice and consent of consumers, where 137 countries to date have enacted legislation such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). And while this is expected behavior, the positions, and directions each country may choose to take are not. Accordingly, we will not only need to continue to innovate the ways to protect data with the likes of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for the present but also address these varied privacy protections that could require AI and ML 2.0.

 

References

Cabrera, J. (2021, January 29). Learn english idioms: Turn over a new leaf. International Bears. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://blogs.missouristate.edu/international/2021/01/29/learn-english-idioms-turn-over-a-new-leaf/ 

Sull, D. (1999, July). Why good companies go bad. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://hbr.org/1999/07/why-good-companies-go-bad 

Tidd, J., & Bessant, J. R. (2020). Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change, Enhanced Edition (7th Edition). Wiley Global Education US. https://coloradotech.vitalsource.com/books/9781119713197 

UNCTAD. (n.d.). Data protection and privacy legislation worldwide | UNCTAD. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://unctad.org/page/data-protection-and-privacy-legislation-worldwide