Striving to increase product performance multiplies both product and organizational complexity, making it harder for many customers to afford or use the product or service easily. When firms become more complex, they distance themselves from their customers, executives lose sight of what they should be doing, and products become even more elaborate and expensive. Then the music stops. One or two new entrants decide to simplify and slash prices. The new product or service they offer is often technically inferior but simpler and much cheaper (between 50 and 90 percent cheaper than its rivals).
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