Increases in productivity make countries richer, raise wages, create better products and in general make like better than before.
Usually, we associate a productivity increase with some aspect of technology or scientific breakthrough: the steam engine, electricity, nuclear energy, trains, cars and many more.
“Yet new technologies and the enterprise creation and destruction they cause are not limited to the hardware and software we often think of when we hear the word “technology.” Here I use the term more broadly, to include new ways of doing things in society at large and in our financial, distribution, communication, and transportation systems. In this sense, money, credit, insurance, the hub airline system, cable TV, newspapers, and the feature length film were at one point all new ‘technologies’ “according to a new post from American Business History blog.
One “technology” that has impacted nearly everyone was the change in the distribution of goods that brought about the emergence of the “discount store.” You may not be old to remember stores like Wal-Mart or Amazon did not exist, but they did not pioneer the original concept of the discount store that has brought low price, quality goods to millions.
Your business education is not complete without an understanding of The Birthing of a New (Distribution) Technology: the Discount Store (this article is a longer than what I usually feature here, but if you’re in retail, serve retail, want to increase your business IQ…or are inspired by stories about innovation, this one’s for you.)
