How to Read and Respond to Weak Digital Signals

February 13, 2019 | Venkat Venkatraman | Strategy

In the digital age, the competitive landscape can be transformed in the blink of an eye. Companies can use weak digital signals to help redefine their offerings and the scale and scope of how they compete. Companies that can’t do this in a timely manner put themselves at a competitive disadvantage because they must invest in additional resources to catch up.

Purchase Options

PDF $6.95

EBOOK (See Details) $8.95

PDF + Permission to Distribute $5.90

Educator and Student Discounts Available. Learn more »

SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id
                    FROM products AS p, products AS c
                    WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND
                        c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND
                        c.type_id = 'V' AND
                        (
                            c.sku = 'how-to-read-and-respond-to-weak-digital-signals' OR
                            if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'how-to-read-and-respond-to-weak-digital-signals'
                        )
                    LIMIT 1

SELECT `products`.`parent_id`
FROM (`transaction_lines`)
JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku`
JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id`
WHERE `products`.`avail_id` = 'A'
AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90)
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('249')
GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id`
ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
LIMIT 6

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '3967'
AND `kind` =  'image_600x600'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '3967'
AND `kind` =  'gallery_image'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H')
AND `parent_id` = '3967'
AND `type_id` = 'V'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '3968'
AND `kind` =  'thumbnail'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '4515'
AND `kind` =  'thumbnail'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id`
WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` =  '3967'
AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` =  1
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)

SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at`
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `cat_id` != 1
ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name`

Loading Time: Base Classes	0.0007
My Controller Construct	0.0005
Build Nav	0.0009
Controller Execution Time ( Products / Route )	0.1981
Total Execution Time	0.1989

0.0010	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0004	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0003	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS cat_id FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `status_id` = 'A' AND `url_friendly` = 'how-to-read-and-respond-to-weak-digital-signals' AND `parent_id` = 1
0.0252	SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id FROM products AS p, products AS c WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND c.type_id = 'V' AND ( c.sku = 'how-to-read-and-respond-to-weak-digital-signals' OR if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'how-to-read-and-respond-to-weak-digital-signals' ) LIMIT 1
0.0003	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = 3967
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3967'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3967' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0002	SELECT `cat_id` FROM (`product_categories__products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3967'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`product_flags__products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3967'
0.0001	SELECT `sku` FROM (`products__xsell`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3967' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.1428	SELECT `products`.`parent_id` FROM (`transaction_lines`) JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku` JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` WHERE `products`.`avail_id` = 'A' AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90) AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('249') GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id` ORDER BY COUNT() DESC LIMIT* 6
0.0003	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '361'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '361'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '361' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3961'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3961'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3961' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '35'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '35'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '35' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '179'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '179'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '179' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '489'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '489'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '489' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '2465'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '2465'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '2465' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0004	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '3967' AND `kind` = 'image_600x600' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`media`) WHERE `media`.`media_id` = '1847'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`mime_types`) WHERE `mime_types`.`extension` = 'jpg'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`media_metadata`) WHERE `media_id` = '1847'
0.0003	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '3967' AND `kind` = 'gallery_image' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0004	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H') AND `parent_id` = '3967' AND `type_id` = 'V' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title`
0.0002	SELECT `c`.`format_id`, `c`.`price`, `c`.`sale_price` FROM (`products` AS c) WHERE `c`.`prod_id` = '3968' LIMIT 1
0.0004	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '3968' AND `kind` = 'thumbnail' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0002	SELECT `c`.`format_id`, `c`.`price`, `c`.`sale_price` FROM (`products` AS c) WHERE `c`.`prod_id` = '4515' LIMIT 1
0.0004	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '4515' AND `kind` = 'thumbnail' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0003	SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` FROM (`product_categories__products`) JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id` WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` = '3967' AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` = 1 AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)
0.0006	SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at` FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `cat_id` != 1 ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name`
0.0005	SELECT * FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `status_id` = 'A' AND `parent_id` = 1 AND `cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261) ORDER BY `name`
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`site_settings`) WHERE `option_key` = 'announcement'

HTTP_ACCEPT	/
HTTP_USER_AGENT	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
HTTP_CONNECTION
SERVER_PORT	443
SERVER_NAME	mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com
REMOTE_ADDR	18.223.97.137
SERVER_SOFTWARE	Apache
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE
SCRIPT_NAME	/index.php
REQUEST_METHOD	GET
HTTP_HOST
REMOTE_HOST
CONTENT_TYPE
SERVER_PROTOCOL	HTTP/2.0
QUERY_STRING
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING	gzip, br, zstd, deflate
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR

session_id	3b0ba045383ea2a58a34397ee735d408
ip_address	18.223.97.137
user_agent	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
last_activity	1745528761
user_data
cart	Array ( [cart_id] => a2fe32473c8e77482a5cede47205fa2c [subtotal] => Array ( [Physical] => 0 [PDF] => 0 [Zip] => 0 [Audio] => 0 [Video] => 0 [Digital Replica] => 0 [eBook] => 0 [Certificate] => 0 [Print Sub] => 0 [Digital Sub] => 0 [Combo Sub] => 0 [Shippable] => 0 ) [item_count] => Array ( [Physical] => 0 [PDF] => 0 [Zip] => 0 [Audio] => 0 [Video] => 0 [Digital Replica] => 0 [eBook] => 0 [Certificate] => 0 [Print Sub] => 0 [Digital Sub] => 0 [Combo Sub] => 0 [Shippable] => 0 ) [contains_books] => 0 )

base_url	https://mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com/
index_page
uri_protocol	AUTO
url_suffix
url_allowed_suffixes	Array ( [0] => html )
language	english
charset	UTF-8
enable_hooks	1
subclass_prefix	MY_
permitted_uri_chars	a-z 0-9~%.:_\-
allow_get_array	1
enable_query_strings
controller_trigger	c
function_trigger	m
directory_trigger	d
log_threshold	4
log_path	/var/www/mit-sloan.com/logs/
log_date_format	Y-m-d H:i:s
cache_path
encryption_key	pIck\|3j@rZ
sess_cookie_name	ci_session
sess_expiration	7200
sess_expire_on_close
sess_encrypt_cookie
sess_use_database	1
sess_table_name	sessions
sess_match_ip
sess_match_useragent
sess_time_to_update	3000
cookie_prefix
cookie_domain	.mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com
cookie_path	/
cookie_secure
global_xss_filtering
csrf_protection
csrf_token_name	csrf_test_name
csrf_cookie_name	csrf_cookie_name
csrf_expire	7200
compress_output
time_reference	local
rewrite_short_tags
proxy_ips
globals	Array ( [org] => SMR [company_name] => MIT Sloan Management Review [cs_address_1] => 238 Main Street E48-570 [cs_address_2] => [cs_city] => Cambridge [cs_state] => MA [cs_zip] => 02142 [cs_phone] => 617-253-7170 [cs_fax] => 617-258-9739 [cs_hours] => 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. [EST] Mon. - Fri. [cs_email] => smr-help@mit.edu [triliteral_email] => orders@triliteral.org [mit_issues_email] => smr-issues@mit.edu [order_confirm_email] => smr-noreply@sloan.mit.edu [webmaster_email] => webmaster@rarebirdinc.com [inventory_recips] => developer@rarebirdinc.com [meta_description] => MIT Sloan Management Review's online store [meta_keywords] => [copyright] => Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. All rights reserved. [ga_account] => [recaptcha] => Array ( [public_key] => [private_key] => ) [enable_users] => [doc_root] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web [media_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/media [data_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data [csv_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/csv [ini_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/ini [pdf_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/pdf [certificate_pdf_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/certificate_pdf [audio_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/audio [video_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/video [zip_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/zip [epub_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/epub [mobi_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/mobi [cli_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/application/controllers/cli [title_suffix] => - MIT SMR Store [seo] => Array ( [default_title] => MIT SMR Store [og_image] => http://mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com/assets/images/mit-smr-social-default.png ) [default_meta] => Array ( [description] => MIT Sloan Management Review's online store [keywords] => [copyright] => Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. All rights reserved. [author] => MIT Sloan Management Review ) [main_site_url] => http://sloanreview.mit.edu [license_agreement_pdf_url] => /pdf/MgmtReportLicensingAgreement.pdf [permission_to_copy_min_qty] => 5 [adminbghex] => #c9c9c9 [adminfghex] => #e9e9e9 [adminac1hex] => #a9a9a9 [default_product_thumbnail] => /assets/images/MITSMR_cover.jpg [default_product_cover] => /assets/images/MITSMR_cover.jpg [sendgrid_api_key] => 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 )
template	Array ( [default_layout] => layouts/application [enable_view_path_comment] => 1 )
sfg	Array ( [debug] => 0 [log] => 1 [notify] => 1 [timeout] => 10 [test_mode] => [remote_host] => api.sfgnetwork.com [remote_port] => 443 [remote_uri] => /websvcapps/services/https/process_xmlrpc.php [remote_method] => process_xmlrpc [services] => Array ( [ecommerce_order] => Array ( [user] => 122f2eb252faa4e4b86193e483bd2b52 [pass] => 21598fa307e843648856f0c3f41bfbc5 ) [product_status] => Array ( [user] => 1ec0e02302ef35e38fb75f6d13670357 [pass] => 36375bce7741df326faec39f71240d5e ) ) )

How to Read and Respond to Weak Digital Signals

You may also be interested in:

Strategic Decisions for Multisided Platforms

A Structured Approach to Strategic Decisions

The Hard Truth About Business Model Innovation

How Useful Is the Theory of Disruptive Innovation?

The Role of the Chief Strategy Officer

Scenario Planning: A Tool for Strategic Thinking