More Information

the long haul (idiom) 很長的一段時間；長遠地 an extended

period of time

leverage (v) [:lEv/rId}] 借助（某力量）帶出影響，或得到想

要的 to use power to influence and get the results you want

turbulence (n) [:t=bj/l/ns] 騷亂；動盪，混亂 a great deal of

motion causing confusion, disruption or disorder

maligned (adj) [m/:laInd] 誹謗的，污蔑的，中傷的 harshly

and possibly unfairly criticized

Specialized Terms

General Motors (n) 通用汽車

Gallup (n) [:g,l/p] 蓋洛普，從事全球分析與提供建議的公司

internal-combustion engine (n) 內燃機

How to be a market disrupter

First, examine your current beliefs and question whether

they still add the same value they once did. Next, determine

what beliefs are in direct opposition to your current, stagnating

ideas. Then examine these opposing beliefs. How might they

add new value to your target audience? Incorporate them

into a product you can test on that audience, and seek their

feedback. Do your users think the new product adds value?

Keep revising the product this way until you reach a level of

sustained value that works for customers. This way you can

create a new business model to accompany the rollout of that

product. Before you know it, your mindset has changed, and

you are disrupting the market.

Two Major League Soccer jerseys
made with technical yarns containing
Parley Ocean Plastic by Adidas

According to a Gallup survey, people are

increasingly working from home, part- or

full-time, instead of commuting. The number

rose from 39 percent in 2012 to 43 percent in 2016.

Research shows that more people are shopping

online for the holidays instead of hitting the local

mall. They’re also starting to live more in urban

centers where they can use bikes and scooters or

just walk. These trends, as well as environmental

concerns, are on the minds of every auto executive

as they make business decisions.

Adidas is an example of a company that leveraged

a global environmental trend to its advantage. The

shoemaker partnered with Parley to manufacture

athletic gear and shoes from plastic found in the

ocean. Executives wanted to be seen doing social

good by tackling pollution, which they knew is a

priority for customers.

Adidas says it sold

one million of the

shoes. The point is,

understanding what’s

going on in the world

influences whether

you deliver relevant

products to people.

Think like a disruptor

Disruptors shake things up and create change

through turbulence. This [has] occurred with some

of today’s most widely used services, like Google

and Amazon, as well as more maligned brands

like Facebook.

However, automakers long appeared to be

anything but innovative, continuing to roll out

the same internal-combustion engine vehicles.

Rather than blaming the economy, politics or

technology, stagnating brands should embrace

new approaches. It’s how Apple, Uber, Amazon and

others have done it. It works across multiple fields

and industries, and it can help you avoid going the

way of corporate dinosaurs who never learned the

lesson of “adapt or die.”

Vocabulary Focus

© Cambridge University

Press 2008

layoff (n) [:le;Of] when someone stops employing someone,

sometimes temporarily, because there is no money to pay

them or because there is no work for them

on the horizon (idiom) likely to happen or exist soon

sentiment (n) [:sEnt/m/nt] a thought, opinion or idea based

on a feeling about a situation, or a way of thinking about

something

shake (something) up (phr v) to cause large changes in

something such as an organization, usually in order to

make improvements

innovative (adj) [:In/;vetIv] using new methods or ideas

stagnate (v) [:st,g;net] to stay the same and not grow

or develop

ADJUSTING TO MAJOR MARKET CHANGES

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