Tom Osenton
Encyclopedia
Thomas George "Tom" Osenton (b. April 9, 1953 in Boston
, Massachusetts
) is an American economist
, publisher, educator and author
. Osenton spent a quarter century in media including stints in television and consumer magazines. At the age of 36, he was named President, CEO and Publisher of The Sporting News
Publishing Company - the world's oldest sportsweekly - where he transformed the century-old property into a contemporary communications company.
Before joining The Sporting News, Osenton was publisher of American Artist magazine, which today is part of Dutch publishing giant VNU
. Prior to his work in magazine publishing, he held a variety of positions at the ABC Television Network in New York, primarily focusing on the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as network spokesperson. Previously, Osenton had served as Press Chief for ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics
in Lake Placid
and directed the press operations for the tournament which resulted in the 1980 U.S. Hockey team's Gold medal Miracle on Ice
.
Osenton is credited with the introduction of the controversial economic theory of innovation saturation
in his 2004 book The Death of Demand: Finding Growth in a Saturated Global Economy (Financial Times Prentice Hall), which posits that all products and services - and therefore all companies - experience two major growth trends in its life - an "uptrend", during which revenue and/or units grow at ever-increasing rates, followed by a "downtrend", during which revenue and/or units grow at ever-decreasing rates thereafter. It is this theory, according to Osenton, that explains why cost-reductions in the form of "re-engineering" appeared for the first time ever in the mid-1980s in the U.S. at precisely the same time that the rate of revenue growth of dozens of maturing blue chip corporations (General Motors
, Procter & Gamble
, IBM
, etc.) started to grow at ever-decreasing rates.
Osenton is also author of two other highly regarded business school textbooks: Customer Share Marketing (Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002) - one of the very few textbooks focusing on the marketing discipline of retention - and more recently, Boomer Destiny: Leading the U.S. Through the Worst Crisis Since the Great Depression (Praeger Publishers, 2009) - a sociology text that details the role of the Baby Boomer generation in both helping to cause the post-war expansion Boom in the U.S. as well as in managing through the new millennium bust and onto another expansion.
He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire
in 1976 and Phillips Exeter Academy
in 1972.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
) is an American economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, publisher, educator and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. Osenton spent a quarter century in media including stints in television and consumer magazines. At the age of 36, he was named President, CEO and Publisher of The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
Publishing Company - the world's oldest sportsweekly - where he transformed the century-old property into a contemporary communications company.
Before joining The Sporting News, Osenton was publisher of American Artist magazine, which today is part of Dutch publishing giant VNU
VNU
Nielsen is a global marketing and advertising research company headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Nielsen is active in over 100 countries, and employs some 32,000 people worldwide...
. Prior to his work in magazine publishing, he held a variety of positions at the ABC Television Network in New York, primarily focusing on the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as network spokesperson. Previously, Osenton had served as Press Chief for ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
in Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
and directed the press operations for the tournament which resulted in the 1980 U.S. Hockey team's Gold medal Miracle on Ice
Miracle on Ice
The "Miracle on Ice" is the name in American popular culture for a medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on Friday, February 22...
.
Osenton is credited with the introduction of the controversial economic theory of innovation saturation
Innovation saturation
Innovation Saturation was introduced by American economist and historian Tom Osenton in his 2004 book The Death of Demand: Finding Growth in a Saturated Global Economy . Innovation Saturation is a business cycle theory that posits that every company experiences two major growth trends during its...
in his 2004 book The Death of Demand: Finding Growth in a Saturated Global Economy (Financial Times Prentice Hall), which posits that all products and services - and therefore all companies - experience two major growth trends in its life - an "uptrend", during which revenue and/or units grow at ever-increasing rates, followed by a "downtrend", during which revenue and/or units grow at ever-decreasing rates thereafter. It is this theory, according to Osenton, that explains why cost-reductions in the form of "re-engineering" appeared for the first time ever in the mid-1980s in the U.S. at precisely the same time that the rate of revenue growth of dozens of maturing blue chip corporations (General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, etc.) started to grow at ever-decreasing rates.
Osenton is also author of two other highly regarded business school textbooks: Customer Share Marketing (Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002) - one of the very few textbooks focusing on the marketing discipline of retention - and more recently, Boomer Destiny: Leading the U.S. Through the Worst Crisis Since the Great Depression (Praeger Publishers, 2009) - a sociology text that details the role of the Baby Boomer generation in both helping to cause the post-war expansion Boom in the U.S. as well as in managing through the new millennium bust and onto another expansion.
He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
in 1976 and Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in 1972.