Many companies today are searching for growth. But how and where shoul
d they look? Breaking compromises can be a powerful organizing princip
le. Even in the most mature businesses, compromise breakers have emerg
ed from the pack to achieve breakaway growth - far outpacing the rest
of their industry, Examples include Chrysler Corporation, Contadina, C
arMax, and the Charles Schwab Corporation. Compromises are concessions
customers are forced to make. Unlike trade-offs, which are the legiti
mate choices customers make between different product or service offer
ings, compromises are imposed. For instance, in choosing a hotel, a cu
stomer can trade off luxury for economy. But the entire hotel industry
makes customers compromise by not permitting early check-in. Trade-of
fs are very visible, bm most compromises are hidden. Compromises mean
it's the industry's way or no way. Often, customers assume the industr
y must be right; they accept compromises as the way the business works
. That is why traditional market research rarely uncovers compromise-b
reaking opportunities. The authors propose a number of alternative app
roaches to finding the compromises hidden in any business. One approac
h is to look for the compensatory behaviors customers engage in becaus
e using the product or service as intended would not fully meet their
needs, Other approaches include paying attention to performance anomal
ies and looking for diseconomies in the industry's value chain. If man
agers think like customers, the authors say, they will be able to find
and exploit compromises for faster growth and improved profitability.