[Radio Wrangler]

Businesses become inward-looking and start ti view the world outside them in terms of their own corporate culture. They lose sight that while George Q Thingummybob may be mister big in their organisation, he isn't of any consequence whatsoever to their customers. The customers see the products and their prices, and they hear tales of how good or bad the service and reliability are.

In this way, companies form a sort of reverse event horizon around themselves. Very little information gets IN. They diverge from the interests of their customers, and before long they don't have enough customers to survive.

What is Maplin for? I don't think anyone outside their organisation saw a real need for them. It's surprising how long they lasted without a raison d'etre. <Insert headless chicken analogy here> I think everyone on this forum had been expecting it for a long time.

Maplin have followed Tandy into oblivion, down exactly the same path. They must have seen it happen. Did someone think 'It can't happen to me'?

Most of the other high-street collapses seemed to have far less warning and to be very fast indeed.

It only takes a fraction of a chain's customers to feel that they get a better deal elsewhere and positive feedback sets in. Lower footfall gives lower turnover, gives less clout, gives higher prices, gives lower still footfall. The eventual implosion is a runaway process, accelerating as it goes. Modern business practices of minimum inventory, maximum return on investment give very short time-constants in the loop.

The supermarket business is likely to lose one chain, but there will be a large surprise factor, and by the time those at the controls notice anything wrong, it will be too late to have any effect. Businesses have made themselves so fast for efficiency and profit reasons that the people at the top can't control them if something big happens.

David