Book Description
Winning by not competing: a fresh approach to strategy Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating “blue oceans”: untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves—which the authors call “value innovation”—create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade. Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.
Customer Reviews:
Question the status quo.......2007-09-25
The book forced me to rethink the way I normally would look at business developments for my companies: either value based or feature based. The idea of a creating new space in a crowded market and making a leap in growth through the blue ocean strategy stirred up my thinking juices. Personally, I don't like how to books with "three simple steps" This book was great; a must read.
Good Book.......2007-09-24
1. This is NOT a marketing book
2. There is no such thing as a fail safe strategy
3. This is a tool and is only as good as the user
4. Applicable in different situations
5. Good companion to Competitive Strategy written in the 80's by Mike Porter which is THE industry book
6. The book is NOT a pioneer and is NOT proported to be. It is a study in those companies who seemed to have created new markets such as Cirque De Soleil. The authors did NOT set out to create a new "theory" and then retroactively "fit" companies but rather study an emerging pheonom. and try to locate patterns.
I think that pretty much covers all the gripes of the previous entries. I first came across this book in a competitive strategy class in a business organizational change degree. It is an excellent text and gives another viewpoint to the old study of competitive strategy. I have used the strategy canvas tool located in chapter two AS A TOOL to assist me in both departmental and industry situations to locate existing patterns of competition.
Worth the money.
But then, I am just a "mere" academic (albeit with many years of industry experience) so if you truly do not like the book I suggest returning it. :)
What is your greatest challenge?.......2007-09-13
The greatest struggle for most business people is to come up with a truly original and valuable idea. Close behind that is how to get employees to work together. This book makes me want to cry, because it actually, simply, lays out how to do both. Beautiful.
Academics rarely demonstrate how to do it!.......2007-09-11
I bought this book. Their identifications are valid enough. Great companies have always created uncontested market space while making their competitors irrelevant. This is not in dispute. However...
The authors Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne are just mere academics. And what is annoying is that they haven't battle tested their Blue Ocean model from hard knocks in the trenches business wars to find out what works and what doesn't for themselves! Again, this is what I find annoying with academics. They say a lot but never prove it themselves! Remember Merton & Scholes and LTCM?
For an example...in the book, the authors have an interesting strategic canvass graph approach that supposes to prove how Blue Ocean events come about. That's fine, but how do you prove it? Moreover, the 'values' are different for each company, so there is nothing consistent to glean from this.
What I'd like to have seen is a Dash Board type matrix template that allows any company or budding entrepreneur to carry out Blue Ocean due diligence on any industry or market niches...proofing these Blue Ocean catchments from a zero learning curve application! The book does have important points but lacks the cutting edge tools to unify Blue Ocean diligence and proofs for any company!
Thus, what this book lacks is a more honed processing of enquiry from the authors. And I suspect this to be the case because like many academics they haven't proven the unifying dynamics that goes into capturing Blue Ocean strategies for themselves with businesses they have built through their own mindset!
Again, this book is a case of 'do what I say, because I don't have to prove what I say'.
There are great industry shapers out there who can shift and move whole industries and markets in their favour...but the authors of this book are not one of them.
However, there are great positives the authors have identified. The book contains a very interesting 'Strategic Grid' technique. From this simple grid technique any one can mentally survey how to change one's industry or market from a macro-vantage point. But shifting and moving your new found Blue Ocean grid at a tactical level to rule your competition making them irrelevant is another matter entirely. The chapters that explain this grid are worth the book, but don't expect any thing else.
What you really want is a knowledge base that allows you to dig out Blue Ocean criteria from a template of enquiring tools STACKED PROCESS BY PROCESS UNTIL YOU PROOF YOUR OWN BLUE OCEAN POWER. This book fails on this!
I would suggest that any one buying this book should read 'Blue Print to a Billion by David Thomson to understand how real Blue Ocean executions are carried out correctly. In addition, Chet Holmes' Ultimate Sales Machine' gets you to understand how to carry out big frame strategies at the tactical level.
Both these books will plug the holes lacking with Kim & Mauborgne's work.
Blue Ocean Strategy.......2007-09-10
I like the non text book clear presentation. You do not have to have an MBA to enjoy and learn from this book.
Book Description
You have more information at hand about your business environment than ever before. But are you using it to “out-think” your rivals? If not, you may be missing out on a potent competitive tool.
In Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning , Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris argue that the frontier for using data to make decisions has shifted dramatically. Certain high-performing enterprises are now building their competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results. Their secret weapon? Analytics: sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling.
Exemplars of analytics are using new tools to identify their most profitable customers and offer them the right price, to accelerate product innovation, to optimize supply chains, and to identify the true drivers of financial performance. A wealth of examples—from organizations as diverse as Amazon, Barclay’s, Capital One, Harrah’s, Procter & Gamble, Wachovia, and the Boston Red Sox—illuminate how to leverage the power of analytics.
Customer Reviews:
Covers the basics of both the what-is and the how-to of fact-based decision making.......2007-10-04
Mark Twain once said something to the effect that it isn't what you don't know that gets you into trouble, it's what you know for certain that isn't so that will get you. Too many businesses are run on assumptions, guesses, and inertia. What we are doing now worked in the past so lets keep doing it. Shareholders lose a lot of money when their businesses are run with that kind of thinking.
This book is about fact-based decision making. It is really more of an introduction to the subject than a detailed text, but it is still quite useful for those wanting to learn the basics of the subject. The first five chapters discuss what analytics are, how you compete using them, and the growth path from wondering what an analytic competitor is through the fives steps to becoming one. They also discuss what it means when using internal data that you completely control, and what it means when you do it using data you control and supplier or customer data that you do not control.
The last four chapters take on the practical side of implementing a road map to becoming an analytic competitor. I particularly enjoyed the chapter emphasizing that all your plans will fail if you don't have the right people. Systems alone won't do it. The next chapter discusses the kinds of systems you need. The last chapter discusses the future of analytics.
For the right audience, this is a fascinating book. The stories about businesses succeeding by using analytics or getting themselves into serious trouble by ignoring them are all good and entertaining. Be careful, though. Some of the stories talk about instances (such as the Red Sox losing the World Series by letting the pitcher go beyond his statistical maximum pitching range) rather than trends and large numbers of events. Statistics don't work on instances. That is, at any given moment a coin might come up heads or tails. Just because there have been ten heads flips in a row does not mean you should take less than 50-50 odds on the next flip. It is still 50-50. That pitcher might have won, might have lost that game and it would have become part of the statistical information. However, for the stats to become powerful, you would have to be able to make a strong prediction over a series of games that he pitched. That is, if he goes beyond X pitches in 10 games he will lose about 8 of them. That means he still wins two (or one or three) and you don't know when in the series the wins will come.
The idea that very small observations can be exploited for big advantage is very important in today's ever more competitive business climate. For example Harrah's learned that moving the odds on slot machines one-tenth of one percent in their favor did not affect customer play at all, but netted them at extra $80 million (company wide). Marriott's hotel management system improves hotel performance by a couple percent. Remember that these improvements incur little cost, so most of the improvement flows quickly to the bottom line.
I thought that might get your attention. Read it so you can learn and profit from it.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
A limited introduction to business analytics.......2007-09-21
MY RATING SYSTEM:
* - if you have to chose between torture and reading this book, then you might want to consider reading the book - although it depends on just how severe the torture would be.
** - if you've lost your job and have quite a bit of free time on your hands, and don't have anything else better to do, then you might want to consider reading this book; don't expect to learn much or really be entertained. It will however, help you pass the time until your death.
*** - meh...I'm indifferent. Reading this book will not alter your life in any significant way, yet it is not so horrendously dreadful that your taking the time to read it will be a complete waste of time.
**** - Good book to great book zone here. You should probably read this book if you have some spare time. This book could be interesting, entertaining, or informative.
***** - Outstanding book! Make time to read this book - you'll learn or be entertained or intrigued. The book might even be good enough to provide original or helpful insights into the world that we live in.
REVIEW:
Competing on Analytics serves as an interesting, albeit limited, introduction to the concept of using complex data collection, management, and analysis techniques to gain a competitive edge in business.
For me, the book served as a useful introduction, but fell far short of satisfying the objectives I had in mind when I first came across it. What I was expecting was a book that provide a detailed guide to developing and implementing an analytical approach to business decision making. While early on the authors acknowledge the limitations of the book, I found what followed to be less than satisfying.
The book contained a variety of examples of companies that were using analytical techniques to improve the quality of business decision making, and discussed a variety of business areas in which companies might want to adopt such analytical techniques but failed to present comprehensive case studies that would provide real guidance to readers. I would have liked to have been led through a few cases, from a diverse set of industries, where the authors describe what information was collected and why, how the information was manipulated, analyzed and presented, and how the entire analytics process was influenced by and/or influenced the company's strategy and performance. Instead, the book left me with the impression that I need to go out an hire a consulting firm to lead me through the development of an analytics program.
One of the most ironic components of the book was that while it touted the use of analytical techniques and objective analysis to motivate business decision making, it's argument was largely based on anecdotal evidence of a handful of companies that have adopted analytical approaches.
Good Overview of Business Analytics.......2007-09-20
Technology & the easy with which information spreads has rendered many products and services easily replicable. Companies need to compete on the basis of something their competitors can't recreate. What companies don't have ready access to is each other's data, i.e., on customers, suppliers, & processes. What companies do with this data is what can set them apart from competitors.
Davenport & Harris describe how data is transformed into competitive advantage by discussing the types of information used in analytics, the stages of becoming a more analytic corporation, and many examples of companies who have applied analytics to successful operations. Problems encountered down the road to becoming more analytical were similar to those described in another recent book on the criticality of enterprise data, Information Revolution by Davis, Miller, & Russell.
This book contains no numeric formulas or specific procedures for using analytics, but it is an excellent as an overall survey of business analytics as used today.
Who Is The Audience.......2007-08-30
This book is meant for those who make things happen and need to gain a fresh perspective. It is not meant for those who know a lot but can't make things happen yet keep looking for more information, while criticizing a good effort, which without doubt could have been better.
Great Subject/Weak Effort.......2007-08-26
Not a lot of meat to this topic other than the obvious. Not very exciting stuff.
Book Description
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller
A compelling look inside the mind and powerful leadership methods of America’s coaching legend, John Wooden
"Team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, determination. . . . Acquire and keep these traits and success should follow."
--Coach John Wooden
John Wooden’s goal in 41 years of coaching never changed; namely, to get maximum effort and peak performance from each of his players in the manner that best served the team. Wooden on Leadership explains step-by-step how he pursued and accomplished this goal. Focusing on Wooden’s 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success, it outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization, and shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to “be at your best when your best is needed”--and teach your organization to do the same.
Praise for Wooden on Leadership:
“What an all-encompassing Pyramid of Success for leadership! Coach Wooden’s moral authority and brilliant definition of success encompass all of life. How I admire his life’s work and concept of what it really means to win!”
--Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness
“Wooden On Leadership offers valuable lessons no matter what your endeavor. 'Competitive Greatness' is our goal and that of any successful organization. Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success is where it all starts.”
--Jim Sinegal, president & CEO, Costco
Download Description
"Team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, determination. . . . Acquire and keep these traits and success should follow."
--Coach John Wooden
John Wooden is without question one of the most respected and honored sports coaches in our nations history. But it wasn't winning games that drove him; it was ensuring that, regardless of the final score, his players always put forth their utmost effort and performed to the best of their abilities.
One of the lesser-known aspects of Wooden is the notebooks in which, beginning in 1948, he regularly recorded his thoughts, inspirations, and life lessons. In Wooden on Leadership, the legendary coach and his longtime collaborator Steve Jamison combine the best of those notebooks with Wooden's far-more-celebrated Pyramid of Success to create a leadership skills guide designed to help anyone develop character, conviction, and remarkable achievement.
Whether discussing teamwork ("It takes 10 hands to score a...'
Customer Reviews:
Executive Director.......2007-09-10
John Wooden is a qualified success and his book demonstrates how others can be successful. Wonderfully written and well documented with examples of Wooden's method and how to apply the pyramid of success. If you want a map for success, this is the book to read.
A bunch of one liners........2007-08-01
The book has some good ideas, but it is full of one liners. It gets boring at times.
On the good side - you have a lot of one liners to say and put on posters.
"Leadership! We don't need no stinking LEADERSHIP".......2007-07-19
Wooden was never my type of role model to emulate, then I saw an HBO documentary and my curiosity was tweaked.
Coming of age in the fifties and sixties when whenever I heard the word "leadership" I would immediately turn off.
Leadership was the antithesis of the flower child age almost but not quite to a fault.Going through the seventies, eighties and to the present day a sea change has occurred among athelets, coaches, fans and franchises
to the point where one as jaded as myself will simply in regards to sports clamor-"WHATEVER DUDE."
The magic seems to have disappeared with the overexposure of the Knights, Bonds, Cubans and Boros (my home Spurs gladly are the exception)to the point of boredom when one thinks sports.
_Wooden_ reminded me of what I chose to ignored: there are those who are worthy of the title Leader,however rare.
Reading the work I was simply nonplused thinking can this be taught? Sadly the answer was no it can not. The question after this was is it worth pursuing; and the answer was beyond a doubt a big affirmative.
Above all Mr. Wooden is a gentleman, a very wise and worthy gentleman who can not be diminished by anyone. My generation seems to have forgotten this, myself included, and this book reminds me of the way it could be.
If you are looking for a rah-rah self-improvment book forget about _Wooden_, if, however your looking for something with nuances that force you to relate to your behavior and how you can make a difference in whatever you do then grab it, open, devour it and keep it nearby in case you ever forget what it is to be a gentleman.
Valued Centered Leadership.......2007-06-16
An amazingly simple step-by-step book that produces results. John Wooden is the epitome of a man who lives by his values. In this book, he shares these core values and combines them with key management tactics to produce a blueprint for success as a leader. He has a knack for taking a concept and breaking it down to its most simple format so that others can understand how to move forward step-by-step. He is visionary, yet operational and this book gives the basics of both worlds.
Using his Pyramid for Success as the foundation, Wooden, tells the "secrets" of being a good leader. Call yourself a teacher, It takes 10 hands to make a basket, little things make big things happen, make greatness attainable by all, seek significant change and see adversity as your asset were the chapters that I enjoyed the most. His colorful storytelling style brought the management concepts to life with vivid examples through his legendary basketball years at UCLA. A must read for the avid sports enthusiast!
I had the privilege of attending UCLA and could see the influence of Coach Wooden's tactics play out in all the sports teams....self control, hard work, control your response to adversity and make it work for you.....he was truly a man that "walked his talk" and lead by example. My daughter actually met the famous Coach while she was a freshman in high school when he came to talk with her soccer team and she still talks about that experience today as one of her greatest life experiences......they won the CIF championship that year.
I found his ideas regarding teamwork, success, and continuous improvement through lifelong learning to be the cornerstones of his philosophy of leadership and management. His commitment to striving for continuous excellence through simple day-to-day tactics makes management look easy. He has a deep understanding of how to utilize the concept of teamwork to incorporate everyone and propel them forward toward a common goal....and in the process making each individual the best that he can be. This is a must lead for leaders and managers in any setting.
C Deckers RN, MSN
Pepperdine University
Education Technology Doctoral Student
12 lessons on leadership from an extraordinary leader.......2007-05-30
Coach Wooden's book practically drips with leadership maxims. I believe that Mr. Wooden would definitively be a "Level 5" leader, to use Jim Collins description of the best leaders. His chapter on using values to attract good people is great. I was particularly impressed by his dogged determination to use the basics to get the best out of his players. His lack of emphasis on winning was also inspiring. He wanted his players to do their best and was not at all interested in the scoreboard at the end of the game. With the concern placed in making the players and the team the best they could be, winning became a natural consequence of that. "Make each day your masterpiece" was another great chapter. John Wooden was unwavering about not wasting time; his fastidious interest in keeping track of every minute helped the day become a masterpiece for his players. Finally, the Pyramid of success is worth the price of the book alone. This book is important for anyone who has an interest in leadership, which, in my opinion, should be everyone. I highly recommend it.
Amazon.com
Coach Wooden's remarkable 10 national basketball championships in 12 years at UCLA speak for themselves. In Wooden, the coach--quiet, thoughtful, and introspective throughout his distinguished career--finally speaks forhimself, and he's well worth hearing. Wooden is a modern chapbook of inspiration and good sense that reveals the hard-court philosopher behind it as a man of character, conviction, decency, and straightforwardness. There are no complex ideas, just little beams of light filtered through anecdotes that project the kinds of simple, immutable truths that in the end touch nothing but net.
Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs."--John Wooden
Evoking days gone by when coaches were respected as much for their off-court performances as for their success on the court, Wooden presents the timeless wisdom of legendary basketball coach John Wooden.
In honest and telling passages about virtually every aspect of life, Coach shares his personal philosophy on family, achievement, success, and excellence. Raised on a small farm in south-central Indiana, he offers lessons and wisdom learned throughout his career at UCLA, and life as a dedicated husband, father, and teacher.
These lessons, along with personal letters from Bill Walton, Denny Crum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob Costas, among others, have made Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court an inspirational classic.
Customer Reviews:
3 Pointer!.......2007-10-05
This book of reflections and advice by John Wooden is a favorite of my husband's, mine and our teen aged son. We purchased several copies to give as gifts to coaches in our soccer league. The principles in this book can be applied to ALL areas of life. The Leadership Pyramid is a very powerful tool.
A book about basketball & life.......2007-08-31
John Wooden shares his thoughts about not only basketball but about life and how his seemingly "simple" views and beliefs shaped his success. He is a inspiration to us all and his values are much needed in today's world where we have seen scandals in almost every sport. I believe this book can be enjoyed by people who are old enough to have witnessed him coach as well as the youth who have only heard about Mr. Wooden.
Life begins at 50?.......2007-07-02
A rival coach, one who had won championships,
described him as a very good coach,
a bit set in his ways, probably a better
offensive than defensive strategist. "John
was a heckuva offensive player in his day,
which may be why he runs an exciting offense
but a predictable defense."
John, the basketball coach being described above
by his peer, had at that time been a high school
and college basketball coach for 25 years,
the last 12 years at the same college.
He was 50 years old, and while he had never had
a losing season as a coach, he had also never
won a state or NCAA championship. Could
anyone have imagined at that point that John,
whose last name is Wooden, would over the next
15 years become the greatest college basketball
coach of all time, winning 10 NCAA titles?
Advice on Life.......2007-04-10
Feel inspired and find the strength to keep going in whatever you pursue. Wooden is not just an expert on basketball, but on life as well.
Wooden.......2007-01-15
This book is a great book that everyone should read. My husband purchased it for us and after reading it we purchased six copies and gave one to each of our grown children. In addition I purchased a copy for my brother. It offers a lot of straight forward advise on life. An excellent and easy to read book!
Book Description
In Mavericks at Work, Fast Company cofounder William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre, a longtime editor at the magazine, give you an inside look at the "most original minds in business" wherever they find them: from Procter & Gamble to Pixar, from gold mines to funky sandwich shops. Want to stop doing business as usual? Then take some lessons from the 32 maverick companies Taylor and LaBarre profile.
Questions for William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre
Amazon.com: Whom do you think this book will appeal to?
Taylor and LaBarre: This book should appeal to a wide "coalition" of business leaders and innovators--impatient, change-minded executives in big companies, senior leaders in smaller, entrepreneurial companies, young people with big dreams about their future and their careers. This book should inform and energize anyone and everyone who wants to do big things in business by shaking up the status quo and challenging the powers-that-be. One important point: We strongly believe that this book should appeal to women as well as men. It is not meant to be an uptight, starched-shirt type read--your typical all-male business book. The book doesn't target women executives per se, but we believe it will appeal to men and women alike.
Amazon.com: What's the story behind the book?
Taylor and LaBarre: In one sense, Mavericks at Work has been 18 months in the making. That's the amount of time that the two of us spent totally focused on the travel, research, interviewing, and writing to create Mavericks at Work. In another sense, this book reflects more than a decade's worth of learning, thinking, and writing about the best way to do business and the new cast of companies and individual leaders that represent the face of business at its best. First at that classic voice of the business establishment, Harvard Business Review, and then at the new-generation magazine that he cofounded, Fast Company, Bill Taylor has been traveling the world, visiting companies, and interviewing great business leaders. Much the same goes for Polly LaBarre--first at the venerable IndustryWeek magazine, and then as one of the original members of the Fast Company team, Polly has made it her speciality to discover, understand, and chronicle the most exciting and innovative leaders in business.
With respect to Mavericks, the book reflects our in-depth access to the 32 companies featured in the book. This is anything but an "armchair" business book. We logged tens of thousands of miles and spent countless hours visiting, conducting interviews at, and participating in meetings, training sessions, and events inside a wide variety organizations. We went deep inside these organizations, looking to understand the ideas they stand for and the ways they work. We participated in a filmmaking class at one of the world's most successful movie studios. We attended a closed-to-the-public awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, where employees of what has to be the world's most entertaining bank sang, danced, and strutted their stuff. We sat in on a crucial monthly meeting (the 384th such consecutive meeting over the last 32 years) in which top executives and front-line managers of a $600-million employee-owned company share their most sensitive financial information and most valuable market secrets. We walked the corridors of a 120-year-old research facility where a team of change-minded R&D executives is transforming how one of the world's biggest companies develops new ideas for consumer products. We walked the streets of Manhattan with teams of employees from a hard-charging hedge fund, who were sizing up ideas about stock-market picks.
Amazon.com: What makes this book relevant today?
Taylor and LaBarre: We believe that this is the right book at the right time, with a set of messages and a collection of practices that will inspire business executives and entrepreneurs to bring out the best in their companies, their colleagues, and themselves. Why this book now? Because business needs a breath of fresh air. We are, after five long years, coming out of a dark and trying period in our economy and society--an era of slow growth and dashed expectations, of criminal wrongdoing and ethical misconduct at some of the world's best-known companies. But NASDAQ nuttiness already feels like time-capsule fodder, the white-collar perp walk has become as routine as an annual meeting, and the triumphant return of me-first moguls like Donald Trump feels like a bad nostalgia trip, the corporate equivalent of a hair-band reunion. We've seen the face of business at its worst, and it hasn't been a pretty sight. This book is intended to persuade readers of the power of business at its best.
Which speaks to one of our major goals for Mavericks at Work--to restore the promise of business as a force for innovation, satisfaction, and progress, rather than as a source of revulsion, remorse, and recrimination. Indeed, despite all the bleak headlines and blood-boiling scandals over the last five years, the economy has experienced a period of transformation and realignment, a power shift so profound that we're just beginning to appreciate what it means for the future of business—and for how all of us go about the business of building companies that work and doing work that matters.
In industry after industry, organizations and executives that were once dismissed as upstarts, as outliers, as wildcards, have achieved positions of financial prosperity and market leadership. There's a reason the young billionaires behind the most celebrated entrepreneurial success in recent memory began their initial public offering (IPO) of shares with a declaration of independence from business as usual. "Google is not a conventional company," read their Letter from the Founders. "We do not intend to become one."
Nor does the unconventional cast of characters readers will encounter in this book. From a culture-shaping television network with offices in sun-splashed Santa Monica, California, to a little-known office-furniture manufacturer rooted in the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin, from glamorous fields such as advertising, fashion, and the Internet, to old-line industries such as construction, mining, and household products, they are winning big at business--attracting millions of customers, creating thousands of jobs, generating tens of billions of dollars of wealth--by rethinking the logic of how business gets done.
Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist, put it memorably some 35 years ago: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." We believe the companies, executives, and entrepreneurs you'll meet in the pages that follow are inventing a more exciting, more compelling, more rewarding future for business. They have devised provocative and instructive answers to four of the timeless challenges that face organizations of every size and leaders in every field: how you make strategy, how you unleash new ideas, how you connect with customers, how your best people achieve great results.
Amazon.com: Can you give us a brief summary of your book--in 250 words or less?
Taylor and LaBarre: This book is a report from the front lines of the future of business. It is not a book of best practices. It is a book of next practices--a set of insights and a collection of case studies that amount to a business plan for the 21st century, a new way to lead, compete, and succeed.
Our basic argument is as straightforward to explain as it is urgent to apply: When it comes to thriving in a hyper-competitive marketplace, "playing it safe" is no longer playing it smart. In an economy defined by overcapacity, oversupply, and utter sensory overload--an economy in which everyone already has more than enough of whatever it is you're selling--the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where your company and industry can and should be going. You can't do big things as a competitor if you're content with doing things a little better than the competition.
This book is devoted to the proposition that the best way to out-perform the competition is to out-think the competition. Maverick companies aren't always the largest in their field; maverick entrepreneurs don't always make the cover of the business magazines. But mavericks do the work that matters most--the work of originality, creativity, and experimentation. They demonstrate that you can build companies around high ideals and fierce competitive ambitions, that the most powerful way to create economic value is to embrace a set of values that go beyond just amassing power, and that business, at its best, is too exciting, too important, and too much fun to be left to the dead hand of business as usual.
Who are these mavericks? The core ideas in this book are rooted in the strategies, practices, and leadership styles of 32 organizations with vastly different histories, cultures, and business models. But all of them are business originals, based on the distinctiveness of their ideas and the power of their practices. They are rethinking competition, reinventing innovation, reconnecting with customers, and redesigning work. Together, they are creating a maverick agenda for business--an agenda from which every business can learn.
Book Description
In the last decade the business world has been dogged by bad leadership, CEO greed and the excesses of the dotcom craze. Now, as the authors of this lively new book suggest, companies and corporations are moving away from traditional methods of how to lead, manage and compete, towards a more 'maverick' management style that has proved highly successful.
Mavericks at Work is the first book to document this change – and to give readers a glimpse into the ideas and techniques behind fast–growing but unconventional companies such as Google, HBO, Lendlease and Southwest Airlines. It profiles some of the most exciting – and often eccentric – CEOs in the US, and details their strategies for success.
With its accessible tone, Mavericks at Work is both serious and fun; business 'edutainment' for a smart, ambitious readership.
Customer Reviews:
Become a Maverick.......2007-10-10
"Mavericks at Work" hit a home run for me. I love to think and act like a Maverick. I love to do "work that matters". This book introduced me to others who think like I do and have found business success. Thanks!
"Mavericks at Work" starts off with great a great introduction and keeps on going. I love the quote from Alan Kay (introduction): "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Why does business spend so much time trying to figure out what the competition will be bringing to the market place instead of trying to "invent the future"? Why not invent the market? Then you don't have any competition!
My favorite chapters were Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 10.
Chapter One - "Not Just a Company, a Cause: Strategy as Advocacy." This chapter does a great job of explaining why YOU need to create a Cause, not just a company. Causes make raving fans. Raving fans bring profits
Chapter Three - "Maverick Messages (1): Sizing Up Your Strategy". Take notes on this chapter, you will be glad you did. The authors give five questions every company should ask when sizing up your strategy.
Chapter Four - "Innovation Inc.: Open Source Gets Down to Business". Do you need some "innovative" ideas on how to get your company to embrace innovation as a way of life? This chapter shows you how. Don't be shy about putting some of these ideas to work.
Chapter Ten - "The Company You Keep: Business as if People Mattered". Great chapter on TALENT! Business today needs to put Talent at the top of the agenda for every strategy meeting, every business plan, every performance review, etc... All company's say that their people are their most important asset. Few prove it through their actions. This chapter shows some organizations that know and act as if People Matter and the payoff are increased profits.
Larry Kevin Adams
Author of "Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success".
theactionator.com
Stories to inspire - Lessons to Learn.......2007-08-10
Interesting stories and concrete examples are one of the most powerful ways to learn and be inspired. If you want to learn to succeed in the new world of work, then the collection of stories and examples in the book Mavericks at Work is a great starting point. The book profiles 32 remarkable US entrepreneurs who have battled bureaucracy and challenged the status quo, and won, while redefining success in their industries. The authors William Taylor, founding editor of Fast Company, and Polly LaBarre, a former writer for Fast Company, uncover some remarkable examples of how businesses are succeeding in hypercompetitive industries by being distinctively different.
Their findings are centered on 4 key themes:
1. Be different and pursue more than just money: Successful mavericks are fearless about breaking with outdated traditions and confining standards. Making money is only a small part of a bigger mission which they are deeply passionate about. Examples include Southwest Airlines, the company that pioneered low cost air travel and democratized the skies. The book highlights how Southwest saw it as their mission to make air travel accessible to all and by going after this wholeheartedly they innovated on different ways to save cost such as using second tier airports, not serving food and seating people on a first come first serve basis. Keeping this mission at the centre of the organisation has differentiated them from the competition and enabled them to consistently make profits is a loss making industry.
2. Tap other people's brains: The innovators of today rely on more than just their own insight and intelligence. They create systems to enable and encourage others to help them solve problems and come up with ingenious solutions. Examples include TopCoder Inc., a software development house for many large multinational organisations. They create competitions for technology geeks from all over the world to come up with solutions for software problems in return for lucrative prizes and prestigious ranking points. In this way they are able to use the wisdom of many to solve very specific software development challenges.
3. Connect deeply with customers: Connecting with customers is about a lot more than just traditional advertising, it is about really understanding what customers' value and connecting with that value system in a deep and meaningful way. Jones Soda asks customers to contribute photographs to be used on the labels of their cool drink bottles. Customers submit photos plus the story attached to each photo. Many photos are selected and placed on the bottles to be distributed in the region in which that customer lives. This creates a massive interest in the community as they discover "who is on the label?" and "what their story is?"
4. Partner with your employees: Maverick business enable employees to really understand what drives the business. They are given the opportunity to freely contribute to the overall mission of the business and be rewarded for doing so. At Cranium, a fast growing, innovative board game manufacturer in Seattle, the Chief Financial Officer holds companywide meetings on the company's numbers. He tutors the staff on cash flow and financial ratios, and every employee then assesses his or her own productivity. He recognizes that this helps keep the whole company focused on the right priorities
These are just a few of the many insightful, uplifting and inspiring examples that are highlighted in this energetic and well written book.
Great book!.......2007-07-25
This is one of the best business books I have read. Though it is written principally for managers and entrepreneurs, the book is truly inspiring for those starting up their own business. You will learn some very unconventional ways of managing your organization and innovating! "Playing it safe" is no longer playing it smart. The only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where your organization should be going.
Follow Southwest airlines' example by not hiring industry veterans in your organization. Industry veterans are harder to retrain, and come to your organization with preconceived ideas. Hiring people new to the industry fills your organization with fresh ideas.
Don't hesitate to fire your customers if they don't fit into your organization's culture. ING, a bank unlike others, does exactly that. ING also innovates by being different from other banks. They open on Sunday for example, and deposits are in a person's account within 24 hours (other banks take up to 3 business days). If groceries and malls can open on Sundays, why not banks?
Pixar Animation, unlike other companies in its industry (who hire on contract basis), hires full time crew. This creates a team atmosphere where everyone gets to know each other, and thus can be more productive.
Use open source. A Gold mining company in Canada did just that when it asked people from all over the world over the internet for their insight on where gold could be found. With worldwide expertise available, they found their answer! Cirque du Soleil similarly scouts the whole world for talent. Talent is everywhere, and you have to go everywhere to find it.
Any entrepreneur should be asking the following two questions: (a) If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why? (b) Why would people want to work for you?
Don't hire great people, or else you have to change your whole work environment into greatness. Hire good and smart people, but they don't have to be great. You have to be able to shun traditional ideas.
Finally, just in case some of you are wondering, Samuel Maverick, a Texan lawyer and politician, is the namesake of the eponym maverick, meaning an unbranded range animal. Gradually the term was enlarged to include anyone who could not be trusted to remain one of his group.
Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist, said some 35 years ago: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
Gets the creative juices flowing.......2007-07-05
A very inspiring book in helping think outside the box. Loads of real-world examples throughout. Starts with great energy and passion by the authors, and (maybe) runs out of steam in the end. Or maybe I just wasn't as interested in the subject covered. Anyway... I bought three more copies as gifts for clients.
Describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium..........2007-06-20
Like a host of the new "psychosocial" business books, Mavericks at Work describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium. The focus is not so much on the business styles of the 50's and 60's, as illustrated by the work of, say Peter Drucker, but rather it focuses on the new gestalt of branding through an intense devotion to customer service. By examining companies from the large scale of Proctor & Gamble and the World Bank, as well as new upstarts like Craigslist and ING Direct to open source communities like Wikipedia and TopCoder, authors William Taylor and Polly LaBarre take a new approach to finding out what the basis of the new energy and focus of companies who's products or services allow them to differentiate themselves and pull away from the pack. As veterans of the cutting edge business magazine Fast Company, the authors are well suited to have the inroads and knowledge in witnessing what works (and what doesn't) for the new breed of entrepreneurs or those within established enterprises trying to re-write the rules of business in the new world order. In addition, the pair operate one of the best follow-on websites we've seen featuring outtakes from the book, a blog, podcasts, interviews and information about their 'Mavericks Live' special events around the country [...]. A must for anyone thinking about Business 2.0. - Tim Devine
Customer Reviews:
Helpful Book.......2007-06-27
Helps provide a clear model for analyzing companies and developing corporate strategies. In many ways, it is a more accessible take on Porter's Competitive Strategy.
Key concept, straightforward and short.......2007-06-24
Treacy and Wiersema make the case that the value of a product or service to a customer can be categorized in terms of efficiency (eg. low cost, on-time delivery), innovation (eg. latest technology or fashion) and/or customer intimacy (eg. customized solutions). They go on to argue that delivering each kind of value requires a different organization and culture, and hence the most successful companies are those whose business strategy is focused on delivering a particular kind of value to the customers that appreciate it the most, while remaining competitive in other areas. The analysis is accompanied by case studies of AT&T Universal Card, Intel and Airborne Express. The core idea of the book is valuable and 200 pages is plenty to explore it in detail.
Foundational Approach to Strategy.......2007-06-03
ALthough this book has been in print for over a decade, it is one I constantly come back to when helping clients organize their thinking about how they can compete.
I have been a Michael Porter fan for decades. However, when he describes competing by being a differentiated producer, it often left folks scratching their heads about what that meant. Treacy and Wiersema defing "customer intimacy" in a way that was effective in helping companies define how they could pursue differentiation. I have found that this particular strategy has applied all the way down to 1 to 1 marketing.
So the definitions and examples for three competitive strategies are clearly articulated, but also frameworks for implementing these strategies are provided as well.
All-in-all, a clear, compelling and implementable framework for competitive strategy.
This should be a text book.......2007-02-28
Best Marketing book I have ever read, I will keep this book forever. This is a must read for anyone in the marketing field. This book provides great examples along with real life examples.
Staying focused on core value proposition.......2007-02-26
The book reemphasizes the importance of product or service leadership, customer intimacy, and operational excellence. Organizations willing to be "anything for a buck" will find they loose touch with their customers quickly as they thinly apply talent and resources to serve everyone averagely.
Unity of purpose is also essential; a successful firm must act together to consistently and successfully compete. The book is good reading for managers and marketing professionals that need to review their business focus and the alignment of tasks, processes and competencies supporting that focus. The book offers materials to be used in team exercises.
Book Description
Bestselling author Geoffrey Moore shows companies how to rise to the challenge of natural selection—and master their own evolution
Geoffrey Moore is one of the most respected and bestselling names in business books. In his widely quoted Crossing the Chasm, he identified and addressed the greatest challenge facing new ventures. Now he's back with a book for established businesses that need to learn how to adapt—or suffer the slow declines into marginalized performance that have characterized so many Fortune 500 icons in recent years.
Deregulation, globalization, and e-commerce are exerting unprecedented pressures on company profits. In this new economic ecosystem, companies must dramatically differentiate from their direct competitors—or risk declining performance and eventual extinction. But how do companies choose the right innovation strategy? Or overcome internal inertia that resists the kind of radical commitments needed to truly set the company's offers apart?
Illustrating his arguments with more than one hundred examples and a full-length case study based on his unprecedented access to Cisco Systems, Moore shows businesses how to meet today's Darwinian challenges, whether they're producing commodity products or customized services. For companies whose competitive differentiation to the marketplace is still effective, he demonstrates how innovations in execution can help boost productivity, whether a company is competing in a growth market, a mature market, or even a declining market. For companies in danger of succumbing to competitive pressures, he shows how to overcome inertia by engaging the entire corporate community in an unceasing commitment to innovate and evolve.
For any business competing in today's eat-or-be-eaten economic jungle, this groundbreaking guide shows not only how to survive, but also thrive.
Customer Reviews:
A cogent survival guide for the evolution of business.......2006-09-13
In a competitive, capitalist economy, nothing is more prized than the whiz-bang invention, the why-didn't-I-think-of-that product or service that defines a market, delights consumers and gushes profits. Yet for all the ink spilled over innovation, remarkably few businesspeople understand exactly how to mint revolutionary new products. Innovation expert Geoffrey A. Moore delves under the hood of the new economy to create this roadmap to creative thinking. Although the text at times bogs down in jargon and a dizzying degree of detail, he cites plenty of sharp real-world examples, including an inside view of Cisco Systems. We recommend this user's manual to innovation to anyone who thinks that survival is not an end goal, but just a place to get started.
A must read for technology companies .......2006-08-28
I have been an avid consumer of Geoffrey's books for many years and Dealing with Darwin provides a framework to organize an enterprise portfolio planning process. It takes the concepts in the "Discpline of Market Leaders" to a whole new level that can be used in planning and strategy execution. We use Geoff's ideas in many ways in the Stanford University Advanced Project Managment program. He is a gifted writer and thinker!
Exceeded My Expectations.......2006-07-24
This book provides a very useful model for evaluating a portfolio, identifying what's core and recommending strategies for how to balance resources between core and non-core projects and activities. Once you have identified your core projects and activities, the book also provides a framework for determining the best innovation strategy for maximum differentiation. These are extremely useful concepts and frameworks, especially for more established businesses that have diverse portfolios, are facing increased competitive headwinds and are looking for ways to compete more effectively.
The big picture.......2006-07-03
This is a good big picture review of where the marketplace is today. After several decades of new product and new category introductions (especially in the high-tech area) we've reached a point where there aren't a lot of new new things. This is especially true in enterprise software where I make a living (www.beagleresearch.com). So the question begs to be asked, "What's next?" meaning if we aren't introducing new categories, how do we get customers interested in what we have to offer. Moore brilliantly answers the question with an array of innovation strategies which, while not as definitive as disruptive innovation, are nevertheless important. Our understanding of how and why product lines are extended, for example, is improved and with that Moore brings to close a circle that started with "Crossing the Chasm". Definitely worth reading if you are in business and have responsibility for charting what's next or if you are a customer and want to understand the next moves by your favorite vendor.
Geared to "broad view" corporate managers .......2006-05-30
Because I work with marketing and PR professionals, I was hoping for more insight on these topics. The discussion on "managing innovations in mature markets" has some value for marketers. Otherwise, this book is targeted to executive-level managers who must address company-wide issues and strategies and want ideas from a range of industries.
Book Description
International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition, 10th Edition, by Ball, McCulloch, Frantz, Geringer, and Minor continues to be the most objective and thorough treatment of International Business available for students. Enriched with maps, photos, and the most up-to-date world data, this text boasts the collective expertise of five authors with firsthand international business experience, specializing in international management, finance, law, global strategy, and marketing - a claim no other text can make. Only Ball, McCulloch, Frantz, Geringer, and Minor can offer a complete view of International Business as diverse as the backgrounds of business students.
Customer Reviews:
review.......2006-11-18
well organized text, dialogue is slightly "elementary" over all text covers a large range of subjects, online access is very helpful.
Book Description
This book is designed to show readers how to put theory into practice.
A full range of the most recent work in strategic management and related disciplines provides readers with recent research from the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Review, the Academy of Management Journal, the Academy of Management Executive, and the Rand Journal of Economics. Updated discussion on international strategies equips readers with discussion of the challenges that are unique to pursuing corporate strategies in an international context.
For professionals in the fields of strategic planning, marketing research or consulting.
Customer Reviews:
Timely and Described Well.......2007-04-05
Came in a timely manner and was described well by the seller.
How To Frame Corporate Strategy Methodically.......2002-09-10
Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student. Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process. Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally. Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances. The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary. Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time. He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization. Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.
How To Frame Corporate Strategy Methodically.......2002-09-05
Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student. Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process. Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally. Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances. The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary. Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time. He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization. Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.
PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING.......2000-08-20
This is a great book - more for what it organises than what it adds as new ideas.
Barney sets a model for Competitive Advantage (VIRO) and them compares strategic models as potential sources. It places many of the modern attempts in perspective. Without this starting understanding, the modern gurus (Hamel) are almost impossible to apply as their ideas lack the perspective on the role of strategy within an organisation and within all of the other management tools.
It places Michael Porter within a framework where his work can be better used.
For managers and post graduates, this book sets out the fundamentals of strategy and where it can take you.
Not cheap (by a long way) but a fair price for the knowledge.
Strategy is not that difficult!.......2000-03-31
This is a very concise and interesting book on competitive and corporate strategies. It compiles all the main issues regarding studies on competitive advantage withouth losing focus on the specifics of each different kind of strategy.
I would recommend using the book only after a review of microeconomic concepts. This will allow graduate business students coming from other areas (like engineering) to grasp the strategy concepts more easily.
One suggestion: it would be nice if the authors included cases at the end of each chapter. Since the book presents the theory from a basic up to a more advanced level, this would let students to quickly fix the concepts by applying them in real world situations.
Customer Reviews:
Extremely good reference guide.......2005-08-04
I first came across this book whilst doing my MBA at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The subject was Competitive Analysis and Babette Bensoussan was a guest lecturer. Working in Strategic Projects in a large Australian company, I found this book extremely useful in selecting strategic models to use for my analysis. The explanations of the models and how they work are accurate and precise and enables the reader to apply the model efficiently and effectively.
a must have for all business students.......2005-07-18
I just had the pleassure of having one of the authors (babette bensoussan) as a lecturer at bond university.
This book is THE reference for startegic analytical tools.
it is not one of the usual useless academic books - it is a practical usefull resource for most if not all strategy areas.
Selected as "the" text for government all-source analysts.......2004-01-14
Rather than outline the wonderful aspects of this book, which other reviewers have done so ably, I will just say that I rank the authors up there with Ben Gilad (Israel), Mats Bjore (Sweden), and Jan Herring, Dick Klavens/Brad Ashton, and Leonard Fuld (USA), and we have made this book "the" text for the annual government all-source analysis training that centers on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).
This book, in combination with Ben Gilad's "Early Warning", the Leonard Fuld's "New Competitor Intelligence", Dick Klavens and Brad Ashton's "Keeping Abreast of Science & Technology", and Mats Bjore forthcoming book, are the essential five books for any business intelligence professional or anyone seeking to understand best in class business intelligence.
Excellent coverage of management analysis tools.......2003-07-23
This book fills a niche that should have been done by somebody a long time ago. It includes most of the popular analysis techniques that a management consultant would normally use, and provides a common process description for employing the method. It makes an excellent complement to Porter's series of books and can be nicely combined with more conceptual treatments in the strategy field. I have already bought several copies for my office colleagues as it will be useful for them in their consulting work as well. I can see why it has gotten many good reviews and I'd concur with these. It is worth having this one on your book shelf although, like me, you may find yourself pulling it off the shelf to refer to on a frequent basis.
Outstanding one stop source for techniques and "how to".......2003-03-25
It is rare to find a text that pulls together the many quite different techniques that can be used to analyze a business and the competitive environment in which it operates. This book does that, and more!
The authors have addressed their personal needs as much as the needs of those who will use the benefits of their labours. Now, when asked about a technique or asked for a recommendation as to how to attack an issue, one can turn to this one text and extract the most appropriate tool(s) and make sensible assessments of which of the various analytical tools is most appropriate.
The authors have gone one better - and I suspect that more than one MBA student will appreciate their efforts - they have included a very useful and quite comprehensive outline of financial analytical tools that add to the more "marketing" oriented techniques detailed in the core of the text. The various financial ratios are now at your fingertips. The financial analysis can be woven into the market and environmental competitive analysis.
Oh to have had access to this at an earlier stage of my career.
One of those indispensable tools. A "must have" in the office.
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- Calculus: Single and Multivariable
- Catfantastic 3 (Daw Book Collectors)
- Daredevil Legends Vol. II: Born Again
- Death of a Red Heroine (Soho Crime)
- Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance
- Ghosts in the Snow (Bantam Spectra Book)
- Glastonbury
- Harmony's Way (The Breeds, Book 2)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
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Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials)
Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change
