Letting markets slip away.

• Position: The Future

Fight back. Don't be a trend victim. Institute research shows that many businesses and industries are often far too quick to abandon market sectors in the face of socioeconomic and political changes.

Rather than forfeit markets, you can shore them up by recognizing their new influences and developing proactive marketing, sales and new product strategies to exploit them.

You may believe, for instance, that a certain market is saturated. But in reality the market is simply saturated with the same type of products or services.

... The difference between letting a market go and claiming or reclaiming it is the difference between believing "market forces" are in control and believing you are.

Entire industries are turning away from markets rather than seeking to restructure and reshape them.

A prime example is the newspaper industry. Rather than rebuild a shrinking reader base by providing the highest-quality information about significant current events and then promoting the incredible ROI from reading a newspaper, the industry is focusing on such issues as newspaper design and telecommunications competition.

... Another example of premature evacuation is in the railroad industry. While railroads in Europe and Japan have repositioned themselves to satisfy changing customer needs, railroads in the United States have generally been allowed to wither.

Only now is the industry beginning to take control: It is joining with the...