ABSTRACT
The roots of modern competitive diversity originated 3,000 years ago with the development of the agricultural society and the craftsman’s guild. Two hundred years ago saw the advent of the industrial revolution with its emphasis on economies of scale. Twenty years ago we witnessed the onset of a third type of management priorities associated with a still-shorter period of advantage; that of fast-moving industries associated with the information economy. As each new cluster of management styles was established, the previous management styles remained and were refined. Today, the result of these many and different management priorities is increasing business complexity, whereby managers face a range of sometimes complementary, and at other times conflicting, approaches to serving customers from market to market and from country to country.
