Shaping Demand
The discussion of demand up to this point has taken a somewhat reactive point of view, stressing the importance of understanding the nature of demand and designing the chain accordingly. But it is possible to take a more proactive stance toward demand, actively shaping it to suit your purposes rather than working within the constraints it imposes. The obvious example of this is using marketing techniques to increase demand, but that's not the only approach to shaping demand, and it may not even be the best one. In fact, some of the most effective techniques for improving demand actually involve reducing it, at least in the short run.
One of the most important things you can do to improve the shape of demand is make sure that you ...
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