Sun, 07 Mar 2004 16:46:49 GMT

Commodities. David Stutz writes a nice essay thinking about the nature of a commodity, the standards that frame them, and the bursts of innovation that seem to happen when new commodities emerge. He obviously is starting to see the ying/yang way that firms and public goods are interleaved to make markets. I've been wondering recently if there is almost a guiding principle that a firm must embrace as inevitable the commoditization of it's markets. Christensen tries to make a case like this in his new book. I didn't find it sufficent; but clearly it's an idea that's in the air. I should probably see if I can take a stab at stating my model. A company stands on a foundation of suppliers that are preferably mostly comoditized. It then adds value that creates a sufficently uncomoditized output so that there is a profit to be made. If the firm stands… [Ascription is an anathema to any enthusiasm]

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this links to a really good essay, well worth reading.