MARKETING POCKETLESS SHIRTS

By Prof. Mahesh P. Bhave

Prof. Mahesh P. Bhave

  

I bought my first shirt without a pocket on the left front panelby accident. While browsing through the piles of shirts at a well-known retailer, I liked the lightly striped white shirt – the texture of the fabric, the shape of the collar. Only when I opened the package and wore it did I realize it had no pocket. I thought this was a manufacturing defect, and that I should return or exchange it.

When I revisited the store, however, I found that this was no mistake. In the language of software, this was no bug, but a feature, by design. What are they thinking, I thought?In visits to other stores, I confirmed that this was indeed a trend. In retailer after retailer, across brands, European designers were producing shirts without pockets. For a while, I noticed this was confined to European designers, not Americans.

BARRIERS TO WEALTH CREATION

By Prof. Mahesh P. Bhave

Prof. Mahesh P. Bhave

Around mid-1980s, I was puzzled by a simple question: Why is India poor? What are the causes of the wealth and poverty of nations? I realized only later the very question prompted Adam Smith’s 1776 classic,  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 

One conclusion I reached was that entrepreneurs were responsible for wealth creation. The state had a supportive and an enabling role. The state, I hoped, would at least not be an impediment.

Assuming entrepreneurship is the way, what prevents entrepreneurs from starting new ventures quickly? I reached a surprising conclusion – absence of the right information, in a timely way, resulting in uncertainty reduction. The faster the uncertainty reduction, the closer entrepreneurs were to business launch.