As the lifestyles of customers are progressively differentiated, their service requirements are increasingly sophisticated. Purchase decisions are now made not only on the basis of technological performance, but also in consideration of social objectives and self-actualization potential. The time has come to rethink product development from concept to cash. If idea development were given the same thorough treatment as product development, then better choices could be made from all of the available design alternatives. Concepts are symbolic tools which guide action by enabling the processing of information and the planning of intentions.
Concepts are a resource in the cultural environment, like iron ore in the natural environment.
Just as iron can be mined, refined, and processed, so concepts can be encountered, contemplated, and elaborated. In order to be able to do this, it is necessary to understand the substance, dynamics, and pragmatics of the raw material of concepts. In typical social interaction, concepts are invented, used, improved, and abused, all in a haphazard and intuitive manner. All of the elements are available, although they have never before been organized into a comprehensive intellectual system. The formation, form and functioning of concepts is well understood within the field of epistemology.