Why is it so hard to buy things that work well?

Abstract

Cultural expectations within organizations and the lack of trust between firms are key elements explaining the persistence of inefficiencies in the market and the difficulties in getting the right product or service at a personal or firm level. Despite technological advances and market competition, products and services often do not work as intended, leading to waste and inefficiencies. The pervasiveness of such brokenness can be traced back to a lack of incentives for producing working products and the challenges of navigating the fog of war in communication between producers and consumers. – AI-generated abstract.