alexander

144 THE WISDOM OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
almost certainly have had the support of the civilian population
to make the sacrifices necessary to reframe the problem.
Currently it is a problem of finding, pumping,
transporting, and processing crude oil, all the while securing
every step, no matter where in the world. A president
could reframe the issue as a domestic problem: higher fuel
efficiency, local production, conservation, and a faster conversion
to a hydrogen economy, all in the name of patriotism,
which would sell well in America. Just think of the
symbolic opportunities to embellish the reframing.
A Taiwanese business builds inexpensive patio furniture
and sells it to all of the low-priced outlet stores, such as
Kmart and Wal-Mart. Almost all manufacturers are in Taiwan
with production facilities near Shanghai, on the mainland.
It is essentially impossible to gain a cost advantage in
this circumstance. Profit margins are low, products are
nearly interchangeable, and increasing market share is
problematic. The sales cycle is annual, with trade shows in
the United States being where the primary contracts are
made for the coming year. One business executive in Taiwan
reframed the problem to the excruciating detriment
of all the competitors. This one man vertically integrated
backward into pigments—he bought a supplier. It turns out
that more than 80 percent of all low-end steel patio furniture
is white. The pigment supplier was the monopsony
supplier in China of that white pigment. Once he owned
the pigment source, he ceased selling it to his competitors at
the critical moment, when it was too late to acquire supply
elsewhere. His firm ended up getting a huge leap in U.S.
business, because, of course, it was able to fill orders and