{"id":32139,"date":"2013-12-22t00:19:03","date_gmt":"2013-12-22t05:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=32139"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:57","slug":"my-address-in-space-the-dynamics-of-change-at-accounting-firms-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2013\/12\/22\/my-address-in-space-the-dynamics-of-change-at-accounting-firms-2\/","title":{"rendered":"my address in space: the dynamics of change at accounting firms"},"content":{"rendered":"

by bruce w. marcus
\nprofessional services marketing 3.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

if you ask me where i live, i tell you that i live on the corner of x and y streets. it was there yesterday, it\u2019s there today and will be there tomorrow. but i live on a planet in space that\u2019s constantly in motion, as are the other planets in our orbit. my address in space, then, is always in relation to the other planets in orbit, and therefore, constantly changing.<\/p>\n

this dynamic between planets in motion exists between ideas and events as well, and is a major factor in the evolutionary process of change.<\/p>\n

this is how the evolutionary process works to create change:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. competition leads to\u2026<\/li>\n
  2. responsiveness to the marketplace, which leads to\u2026<\/li>\n
  3. professional marketers, who are affected by\u2026<\/li>\n
  4. changing needs of clients (usually in their response to changing economic and social conditions, such as new laws and globalization)\u2026<\/li>\n
  5. which is enhanced by new technology, and\u2026<\/li>\n
  6. changing relationships between professionals and the marketers, which leads to\u2026<\/li>\n
  7. adapting firm structures to better serve both market and firm needs, which leads to\u2026<\/li>\n
  8. new kinds of accounting firms, which are more reactive to continuously changing economic and social environments and changing client needs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    this is the process. because of the dynamics of events, most of which were unpredictable, the dynamic seems to have a life of its own. there are so many elements involved that are themselves constantly changing that were unforeseeable, that (to borrow a phrase from adam smith) there seems to be an invisible hand at work. however, as we shall see further on, there are techniques to put oneself in rhythm with the process. in fact, it\u2019s possible to use the process for more effective planning.\u00a0here\u2019s what actually happened:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. the bates decision<\/a> struck down the canons of ethics and code of professional conduct that prohibited frank marketing \u2013 the mandates against frank promotional activities.<\/li>\n
    2. this engendered a concept only vaguely understood by professionals at the time called competition. the problem at the time was that unlike the commercial world, there was neither history nor tradition in the commonly used marketing techniques. that meant a few years of groping \u2013 of trying to find our way to market within the profound limits of the legal and accounting professions, and of learning the differences between marketing a product and marketing a professional service. this is the phase that i call \u201cprofessional services marketing 1.0.\u201d<\/li>\n
    3. but a few firms \u2013 both legal and accounting \u2013 took the first steps in the competitive battle. significantly, as others saw that there might be merit in the process, they followed with their own versions of marketing \u2013 versions that were relevant to their own markets and their own skills. thus, the beginnings of the evolutionary process that produced not only change, but irreversible change. at the same time, the economic and social landscape began to change \u2014 specifically, globalization, technology, new laws and regulations.<\/li>\n
    4. professional services marketing began to settle in as a definable discipline. this accomplished the following:\n