Summary:
Truworths, an international fashion retailer, inexplicably began to lose
its dominant market position. Its attempts to replicate its competitors'
successes drove it further into its spiral of declining market share. In
quick but intensive workshops, SBE took Truworths' leaders right out of
the space that was occupied by its competitors. We taught them how
to think about their industry in ways no one else had. We had them
question the very soul of their purpose - both as individuals and as a business
enterprise. We delved into the soul of why people buy fashion. We
searched for Truworths' customers' intangible quest that was seemingly unreachable.
We designed that intangible component of their offering, and created
a strategy and built a culture to deliver it. The resulting Truworths
ethos quickly permeated all of their operations. It impacted everything
they did—the way they purchased, merchandised, managed people, advertised,
and distinguished their customers' experiences.
Truworths' year-on-year exponential success for over ten years has defied
analysts. They asked the company how much longer they could sustain such
growth. "We are no longer just a fashion retailer," Michael
Mark, CEO, explained to the financial markets. "Like technology companies,
we are in the intellectual property business, and our innovativeness is
continuous. Our growth is qualitative and exponential, not just quantitative
and linear; we are no longer inhibited by the traditional material limitations
of our competitors."
In recognition of SBE's work, David Lapin was invited to join Truworths
International's first Board of Directors after it was listed as a publicly
traded company. 
