Aviation Week publishes, “New Strategic Imperatives For The Defense Industry”, a commentary by Steve Grundman that employs marketing guru Theodore Levitt’s famous query, “What business are you really in?”, to consider the defense industry’s readiness to service the military’s transition to a new way of war.

14 May 2021 • 0 Comments

Writing in Aviation Week & Space Technology, Steve Grundman employs marketing guru Theodore Levitt’s famous query, “What business are you really in?”, to consider the defense industry’s readiness to address the military’s transition to a new way of war. Prodding them to appreciate the depth of the question, Levitt liked hammering home to his students, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they want a quarter-inch hole!” In turn, Grundman asks if now is not the right time for the companies addressing national defense to take up Levitt’s challenge and ask hard questions about whether the businesses in which they think they are engaged address their customers’ needs or instead reflect a preoccupation with selling their versions of Levitt’s quarter-inch drill.

View Aviation Week column here

View expanded commentary here

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