S Problem 1. A key change in the business environment is increased consumer expectation for product functionality and quality. The result has been a shorter product life cycle, as firms seek to add new features and new products as quickly as possible, thereby increasing the overall intensity of competition. In past years, a business typically succeeded by focusing on only a relatively small number of products with limited features and by organizing production into long, low- cost, and high-volume production runs aided by assembly-line automation. The new business process focuses instead on customer satisfaction. Producing value for the customer changes the orientation of managers from low-cost production of large quantities to quality service, timeliness of delivery, and the ability to respond to the customer's desire for specific features. As part of the management team of a medium-sized business company, which is growing fast even it operated less than 5 years and its market share exponentially expanded every year. How will you describe your typical customer's needs and service expectations on different era? How does the increase firm's customer base be affected its ability to maintain this focus on the customer? If this dramatic growth continues, what are some specific actions your firm can take to retain its goal of "focus on the customer