"I believe in problem analysis--that's at the heart of things--but I sure don't like those focus groups. I sat in on a couple last year, and all the people did was chat. And the chatting never seemed to lead to anything. After the second one was over I quizzed the moderator, and she agreed that there was a lot of rambling. She kept talking about the gems of knowledge we found--common threads, I believe she said. Now honestly, isn't that pure bunk? However, she did say she thought focus groups would be especially useful in Eastern Europe, where businesses have so many new needs, and we have to be sure to cull down to the most critical ones. I wonder, suppose our Swiss trucking division could use focus groups to help them develop new services for Eastern European businesses?"