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Posits that, as the pace of change has accelerated rapidly and created unprecedented uncertainty in the markets of this decade, many companies have needed to dispense with existing, once reliable, practices in order to remain competitive. Suggests that the efficacy of one particular marketing tool, the product life cycle model, has been questioned, by various writers in the academic and business press, with regard to the general applicability and validity of its assertions and the claim it makes to be able to predict the marketing strategies that should be applied at different stages of a product’s life. Explores the arguments for and against the validity of the product life cycle model as a marketing tool in this present, dynamic environment.

This chapter identifies and analyzes three systemic obstacles to American public policy addressing natural disasters: symbolic obstacles, cognitive obstacles, and structural obstacles. The way we talk about natural disaster, the way we think about the risks of building in hazardous places, and structural aspects of American political institutions all favor development over restraint. These forces have such strength that in the wake of most disasters society automatically and thoughtlessly responds by rebuilding what was damaged or destroyed, even if reconstruction perpetuates disaster vulnerability. Only by addressing each of the obstacles identified are reform efforts likely to succeed.