In the introduction to Selling Change, I cite the trend away from vertical integration as one of the forces changing the business landscape. I also coined the term “The Great Reboot of 2009″ to refer to the trend of companies overhauling their businesses, setting them on entirely new courses.

Reading recent business headlines, it is clear that companies, and even industries, will be undergoing significant changes for years to come. However, the data is mixed regarding a discernible trend toward vertical or virtual integration.

Vertical Integration

Examples of Vertical Integration

Vertical integration is the notion of companies acquiring key suppliers and customers in order to control the entire supply chain in an industry segment. Due to the ailing financial health of many companies, entire industries are rapidly consolidating into a few companies (see “More Companies Prone to Go Vertical“, Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2009). Read more

I recently ran across a couple of comments about “secrets” of success.

One is from Mark Sanborn’s blog (best selling author of The Fred Factor).

Another is from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling.

By the way, if you are one of the few people that don’t own both of these books, I highly recommend you add them to your library.

There Are No Secrets

Both authors note there is no such thing as a “secret” to success. In fact, thanks to Google, Microsoft, and other search engines, as well as communities such as Wikipedia, there is really no such thing as a secret, period. The word “secret” might as well be removed from the next version of…let’s see, what is the most important dictionary these days?…Dictionary.com. Read more