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•158 The 100 Greatest Business Ideas of All Time

delivery sitting round the corner from the manufacturer in the supplier’s delivery
lorries until the just in time order came.

Idea 92 – Getting productivity through job security? (IBM)

In the depression IBM decided to maintain its prime objective of offering secure
employment. So at a time when competitors were contracting, IBM grew as new
products and markets simply had to be found. They found that productivity stayed
high, since, unlike almost everyone else during this period, employees were not afraid
that they would work themselves out of a job.

‘The average IBM’r has lost sight of the reasons for his company’s existence.
IBM exists to provide a return on invested capital to the stockholders.’

John Akers (b. 1934)

Idea 93 – Come on, customers, put your back into it

The process of self-service, which has revolutionised petrol station forecourts and
supermarkets, involves the spectre of price cuts, normally not conducive to good
margins. But the cuts are in effect value transfers from the supplier to the customer,
riding on the back of the customer’s forced labour. This may seem odd, but actually
lines up with the need for speed and control even if you are being exploited at the
same time.

Idea 94 – Improve the packaging, improve the sales

In the world of books the invention of the illustrated paperback cover proved that