Welcome to Retail Leader
During my four decades in business media, I have been extremely fortunate to interact with thousands of engaging executives and multi-faceted companies.
I've witnessed our industry develop strategies to reinvent and re-engineer itself to align with consumer lifestyles and global trends. The '90s was the decade of downsizing, consolidation and time-based management. The early 2000s was characterized by cost containment. And in this second decade of the new millennium, technology and information are driving the management agenda.
Today we're in the middle of a revolution, with unprecedented challenges and opportunities confronting us. The near-term future is taking us into areas not previously explored. The big question is: How well-equipped is management to handle all these pending and demanding changes?
For several years, we explored the possibility of publishing an industry-specific business magazine that would be dedicated exclusively to top-level executive management. The vision: Provide 100 percent original content and analysis written for decision makers, similar to information offered by Fortune and Harvard Business Review magazines. This concept became a reality when Stagnito Media finalized an exclusive partnership with the Grocery Manufacturers Association to launch Retail Leader. Initially, RL will be published every two months. In addition, an executive online RL newsletter and website will complement the publication.
There are several basic philosophical characteristics to executive management that I've learned over my career, and we've created content around these thoughts as well as the critical issues and trends affecting the industry. Some of these points are:
• Ninety percent of the world is inside of each person's head.
• People make decisions based on emotion, then support them with logic.
• Change occurs most often not when things are OK, but when management is disappointed.
• "If you want to predict the future, create it," as Peter Drucker so eloquently put it.
With many more of these stratagems in mind, we developed an editorial lineup to provide in-depth strategic analysis of industry trends, business expansion, individual profiles, corporate case studies, human capital, financial management, technical and logistical applications, global influences and original research. Exclusive retailer interviews and roundtables represent core content. In addition, GMA will offer formidable insights and market knowledge in every issue. All these articles, analysis, research and forums will be created by industry and leading topical experts specifically for Retail Leader.
We're extremely excited about this first-of-a-kind publication serving the industry. We welcome your feedback.
And keep this thought in mind: All the strategic planning, financial re-jiggering and number crunching in the world won't help if they can't succeed in changing human behavior. And that, it seems, is the hardest thing of all to do.
"If you want to predict the future, create it," as Peter Drucker so eloquently put it.
Harry Stagnito
President and CEO, Stagnito Media