You are the CEO of DeBeers, the company that controls 90% of the world’s diamonds. Over the years, you’ve carefully controlled the supply of stones aimed at different target segments. Your actions have allowed for steady price increases, satisfied customers (diamond wholesalers, jewelry manufacturers and retailers) and significant increases in wealth for yourself and your investors. Now you’ve learned that General Electric has developed a method of economically making diamonds from coal. You know that you can’t win a battle of financial capital with GE and that their stones are all flawless and perfect in every way.
Without doing any research on DeBeers or GE or synthetic diamonds, describe the business tools that should be used to combat this innovation. Explain to the reader how those tools work and why they’re the right tools to use. Again, DO NOT include any information about DeBeers, GE, or synthetic diamonds.
