There are so many opportunities in our industry yet it appears that many print executives let them slip through their hands. And the excuse we keep hearing for failure is that it is the result of “the bad economy” -- “When the economy turns, my profits will come back.”

It’s easy to trot out the economic excuse, because we live in a society that has become transfixed by economic data and news about it. There are a multitude of measurable economic components that have the potential to impact the companies we own or work for. It’s so complex that at WhatTheyThink.com, we don’t have some “average Joe” analyzing economic data, we have a bonafide PhD, Dr. Joe Webb, to do it for us.

While most industries saw explosive growth at the end of the last century, the printing industry was unable to take advantage of these opportunities. So, to you the leaders of our industry, I pose the following question: If the economy is such an important factor in determining a company’s success or failure, what happened to the printing industry during the economic boom of the 1990’s? My answer to what happened is simple -- poor management.