Book Description

Classic Strategies for Unapologetic Winners

Great companies stumble and fall when they lose it. Highfliers crash when a competitor notices they don't have it. Start-ups shut down if they can't develop it.

"It" is a strategy so powerful and an execution-driven mind-set so relentless that companies use it to gain more than just competitive advantage-- they achieve an industry dominance that is virtually unassailable and that competitors often try to explain away as unfair. In their "hardball manifesto," authors George Stalk and Rob Lachenauer of the leading strategy consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group show how hardball competitors can build or maintain an enviable competitive edge by pursuing one or more of the classic "hardball strategies": unleash massive and overwhelming force, exploit anomalies, devastate profit sanctuaries, raise competitors' costs, and break compromises.

Based on twenty-five years of experience advising and observing a range of companies, the authors argue that hardball competitors can gain extreme competitive advantage--neutralizing, marginalizing, or even destroying competitors-- without violating their contracts with customers or employees, and without breaking the rules.

A clear-eyed paean to the timeless strategies that have driven the world's winning companies, Hardball redefines and reinterprets the meaning of competition for a new generation of business players.

... Read more

Amazon.com

Spawned by a 10-year study of 2,000 firms conducted at Bain & Company, a global consultancy specializing in business strategy, Profit from the Core is based on the fundamental but oft-ignored maxim that prolonged corporate growth is most profitably achieved by concentrating on a single core business. To help companies identify this true essence, narrow their focus accordingly, and move forward in a manner that builds upon existing structure, Bain director Chris Zook and former Bain director James Allen present "a set of practical and proven principles, diagnostic tests, and questions for management teams to use as tools for reexamining or revising their strategies in search of the next wave of profitable growth." Bolstering their argument with real-world examples--including companies such as Disney, which succeeded by taking this approach, and Bausch & Lomb, which faltered by eschewing it--the authors show how to effectively uncover true corporate strengths, elevate them to realize their potential, identify related new businesses that could be successfully added, and even completely redefine a core when confronted with factors forcing such action. (For example: they offer a step-by-step method for mapping "adjacent opportunities" that may prove complementary, ranking them according to potential, and developing strategies to further evaluate and ultimately implement them.) The result is recommended for anyone tired of the management theory du jour who seeks a proven way to propel their company into the future. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Facts and common sense
It is such a pleasure to read a business book free of the gibberish catch-phrases and stilted prose that characterize so many in this saturated segment. Zook's expositions on how companies grow and create value are not driven from guesswork or force-fitting examples into a pre-conceived frame. He started with data and draws the unavoidable conclusions from the data elegantly and simply. Relative market share in a well-defined industry is shown time and again to be a sure way to sustainable growth. Running a business is 95% operations, 5% strategy, but the 95% is useless if the 5% is wrong. This book deals comprehensively with the 5%. Practitioners shouldn't need much else to guide their most important decisions.

Without a Core, Chaos
After a two-year study of the key strategic decisions that most often determine growth or stagnation in business, Zook (with Allen) realized that clients of Bain & Company were eager to share the results of that study. Only later did he decide to write this book, one in which he presents and then develops "a useful framework for understanding and addressing the key decision points encountered in growing a business." He concluded that this framework is practical and could be applied (with appropriate modification) within almost any organization. In the Preface, Zook acknowledges that he was surprised by some of the findings which he briefly identifies. He then observes: "Central to our findings are three ideas: the concept of the core business and its boundaries; the idea that every business has a level of full-potential performance that usually exceeds what the company imagines; and the idea that performance-yield loss occurs at many levels, from strategy to leadership to organizational capabilities to execution." In the five chapters which follow, Zook (with Allen) examines "the types of strategic business decisions that most often seem to tilt the odds of future success or failure." Zook correctly suggests in this book that many organizations cannot resist the appeal ("the siren's song") of "miracle cures" of their problems. Zook focuses entirely on what has been verified in real-world experience, on what is practical, and on what will reliably achieve the desired results of sound strategic decisions.

He and his associates learned a great deal from the study, confiding that "some of the results were quite counterintuitive to us." Several of the findings caught my eye and caused me to challenge a few of my own cherished assumptions. For example, that "the choice of the next hot industry was much less important in driving growth and profitability over the long term than were strategy, competitive position, reinvesting rates, and execution." They also learned that many of the most successful sustained growth companies are actually in lower growth businesses (e.g. Enron in energy, ServiceMaster in basic services, and Bechtel in engineering). Why? Zook suggests that "it might be precisely the difficulty of of these market environments that elicits superior business creativity in the search for new growth out of their core businesses." In other words, these companies ignored "the siren's song" and stuck to the aforementioned "basics": strategy, competitive position, reinvesting rates, and execution. In the last chapter, Zook quotes Sun Tzu: "The more opportunities that I seize, the more opportunities that multiply before me." He then asserts that this phenomenon "is at the heart of growth strategy and embodies the fundamental tension between protecting the core [i.e. 'the basics'] and driving into more and better adjacencies, propelled by greater and greater success."

The various mini-case studies provided are very informative. I also appreciative the dozens of check lists (e.g. "Ten Key Questions for Management"), charts (e.g. 3-1 "Adjacencies Radiate from the Core"), and chapter "Conclusion" sections, all of which serve two important functions: they distill key ideas, and, they can serve as helpful reminders when reviewed later. Obviously, the "goal posts" in today's business world approach and then withdraw, widen and then narrow, with sometimes maddening unpredictability. Wait until they are closer for an easier kick or kick now ("carpe diem") before they begin to back up? Wait until they are wider? What if they become narrower? This metaphorical situation is complicated by the fact that opponents are trying to block the kick in what may well be inclement weather or at least against the wind. Kick now or wait?

One of the most interesting concepts shared in this book is what Zook refers to as "The Alexander Problem." Briefly, Alexander the Great and his armies eventually conquered an area stretching from Mount Olympus to Mount Everest. That was accomplished in less than four years. His resources became overextended. "His sticking point -- the failure to anchor in the core business (in his case, governance) and consolidate a rapid expansion --exemplifies the most common problem across all growth strategy": pursuing the wrong adjacency opportunities. With Alexander's premature death, his empire died with him. He was its core. The same is true of countless companies which expand into related segments which do not utilize, much less reinforce, the strength of their profitable core. "Business adjacencies are growth opportunities that follow a company to extend the boundaries of its core business. What distinguishes an adjacency from another growth opportunity is the extent to which it draws on the customer relationships, technologies, or skills in the core business to build competitive advantage in a new, adjacent, competitive area." Have you ever wondered why at least 70% of all mergers and acquisitions either fail or perform well below expectations? The board members and senior-level executives of those organizations obviously had not read Zook's analysis of "The Alexander Problem" in Chapter 3.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Crawford and Matthews' The Myth of Excellence, Fitz-enz's The E-Aligned Enterprise as well as The ROI of Human Capital, and Collins & Porras' Built to Last.

Very Realistic and very useful
This book is very good, it explains very clearly the different growth concepts with clear definitions, and a very interesting growth matrix. in addition, unlike other books, this book uses a lot of real world examples to illustarte the different concepts and growth startegies. It explains how companies, that succeded, evolved from their core business and developed new products without getting lost in the process. Also, explains why and how some companies failed. The book is realistic, and gives you some tools and matrix that you can apply when analyzing and developing a growth strategy. You should also check out the web site, it has some examples of how to apply the gowth matrix.

Dell has applied this book idea very well
This is a very good book for anyone interest in business strategy. Especially reading it with Creative Destruction. One company which has applied this strategy very well is Dell. Its strategy to stay at the core in PC while adjaceny expansion into Printer, PDA ... etc. It stated in Businessweek that it is entering into the low-end (maybe ignorant by market leader) market for market share first. It is similar to a point mentioned in the book. I guess it has a lot to do with Rollin (one of the head of Dell)

These guys really messed up
This book is clearly overrated -- very simplistic and nothing more than a marketing tool for would-be customers. The book's fatal flaw is probably its praise of Enron and its ability to grow from its "core" ... Read more

Book Description

Currently one of the best-selling strategy texts for advanced undergraduates and MBA students, Contemporary Strategy Analysis has gained widespread recognition for its rigorous approach to business strategy analysis. Contemporary Strategy Analysis introduces students to the fundamental concepts and principles of strategy. The text reflects current academic thinking and management practice, and gives students the tools they need to formulate and implement strategies in order to enhance the performance of the organizations that they join. Now in its fourth edition, this exciting text has been thoroughly revised and updated.

Special features of the fourth edition include: increased coverage of value creation in electronic commerce and the strategy implications of information technologya new section on the "New Economy" and what it means for competition and profitthe incorporation of recent contributions to strategy theory and strategy practice including: - the creation and development of organizational capability

- winner-takes-all markets

- network externalities and competition for standards

- complexity and self-organization

- strategic innovationthe relating of analytical frameworks to their real-world business applicationsrevised figures and applications, making the book even more user-friendly for both instructors and students. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Real World Reference
Although reviewed most often here as a course text, I have purchased and used this book as a reference source for real world e-business strategy consulting. Having one source detail multiple approaches and the strengths and weaknesses of each is a tremendous benefit when trying to determine a point of view and presentation style for a client. I definitely wouldn't want to read the book cover to cover, nor would I allow a client to see me with it, but it more than serves its purpose as a reference.

Exceptional balance of concepts, techniques & applications
Grant's book provides an exceptional balance of concepts, techniques & applications about business strategy. The most unique & impressive feature of the book is its fair analysis of various schools/approach of strategy. The content flows fluidly chapter after chapter, it's an enjoyable read. The treatment of each topic is concise with great case studies and references. The goal of business strategy - maximizing & sustaining shareholder value - has been emphasised throughout the book, which makes the book highly practical in the 'real world'.

Great Business Tool
I got this book as part of my MBA studies in the UK. The whole course on Strategy leverages this book as a reader throughout and it is truly a wonderful collection tools, techniques and models for the student and business manager alike.

A must have for people involved in defining and setting strategy

too much focus on old cases and manufacturing.
Book can do better and be more relevant if it uses more recent examples of companies that have succeeded especially in the IT world.

good read !

Economists approach but Porter is better
I bought this book because I was hoping it would provide me with good guidance in terms of how to use analysis techniques that would support my strategy consulting work. It has a heavy economists' leaning. This is both good and bad. It is good in that it gives some tried and true ways of understanding contemporary strategy. It is bad in that it misses out on the many ways and means by which non-economists understand contemporary strategy and is very thick in terms of its descriptions. It is not a "how to" book, that is for sure. Since competition today often seems to defy economic logic, this economic approach can only go so far. And there is still no better economist's approach than Professor Michael Porter's materials and this book certainly adds little to that great body of work. ... Read more

Download Description

"""This is a naughty book, a really cheeky little brat of a book which ought to be spanked soundly and sent to bed without any supper. Except that, if you did that, you would be missing out on a delightful, entertaining smorgasbord of advice, insights, red herrings, and jokes that together make up a classic text for business leaders.""

¿Stefan Stern, Business Voice

Everyone knows where a straight line goes... but a squiggly line can go anywhere.

Computers generate straight lines. Life generates squiggly ones. That's why your predictable business strategies never turn out the way you expect. Too many strategy books see the world as if it were a straight line. Serious. Predictable. And deadly dull. This book knows something they don't. It knows you need to slay dragons and charm snakes in a business world that's awfully squiggly, but, also, endlessly fun and fascinating. So, this book takes you off the beaten path. Way off.

Here, strategy finally does bite back, at all the boring books and professors you had to stomach to get here. It'll knock you off your chair and help open your mind...to get past the ""straight line"" thinking that can't be right.

Dare to be creative, contrarian....heck, be bold and make your own personal strategy revolution:

• Strategy as a ""little black dress""
• Bringing simplicity and elegance back into strategy formation
• A deep dive inside the strategist's head
• What you can know, what you can't know, and how to tell the difference
• Seduction, not just deduction
• Using strategy to treat employees like lovers, not servants
• Strategy with the gloves off¿and the halo on
• Power, intrigue, punch, and serious jeopardy
• and much more...
• ...and much less

Bring passion, imagination, creativity, and fun back to strategy¿and surprise the folks at home!

OK, strategy is crucial. We know that. Everyone knows that. But why must it be so deadly serious? So plodding, uncreative, boring? Dull strategy books promote dull strategists who create dull strategies that fail. Now there's an antidote: Strategy Bites Back.

It's full of insight and daring, from Gary Hamel to Napoleon Bonaparte, Michael Porter to Hans Christian Andersen, all tied together by the triumvirate that is Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand, and Joe Lampel. Essays, poems, case studies, cartoons...whatever it takes to free your mind and unleash the crucial emotional side of strategy formation.

This is the whole squiggly shebang: strategy and gamesmanship, black dresses, and seduction...strategy lessons from your mother, from beehives, chess grandmasters, even the National Zoo.

Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, and Lampel take on every sacred cow and entrenched belief that keeps you from recognizing your most powerful options¿and acting on them. Fun? Heck, yeah. But it'll help you define inspired strategies that offer huge upsides...and what could be more fun than that?" ... Read more

Book Description

While Business Plans For Dummies covers the strategy of putting a business plan together, Business Plans Kit For Dummies covers how to put a business plan to work! This kit covers business plans for every stage (and every type) of business: e-business, sole proprietorships, small businesses, service companies, high-tech companies, non-profits -- even business plans for middle managers and restructuring a company. It emphasizes methods for obtaining funding and sources to tap for capital, and explains how to formulate business plans according to the planned business model -- bricks-and-mortar vs. e-business. It also includes updated terminology and jargon from the business planning and venture capital industries, and shows you how to gear specific plans for businesses in different phases of development (i.e., startup, expansion, etc.). ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Business Plans Kit for Dummies (With CD-ROM)
Business Plans For Dummies covers the strategy of putting a business plan together, Business Plans Kit For Dummies covers how to put a business plan to work! This kit covers business plans for every stage (and every type) of business: e-business, sole proprietorships, small businesses, service companies, high-tech companies, non-profits -- even business plans for middle managers and restructuring a company. It emphasizes methods for obtaining funding and sources to tap for capital, and explains how to formulate business plans according to the planned business model -- bricks-and-mortar vs. e-business. It also includes updated terminology and jargon from the business planning and venture capital industries, and shows you how to gear specific plans for businesses in different phases of development (i.e., startup, expansion, etc.).

OK Book...VALUABLE CD!! REALLY VALUABLE!
The book itself is a very basic rundown of starting a business running and keeping it going. The info presented is quite basic, and not very detailed. BUT, the enclosed CD is FULL, FULL, FULL of forms, government documents, sample by-laws, etc., etc., etc. Having all these forms at your disposal is invaluable. It's a terrific book and CD.

An Essential Planning Guide
Like a lot of people, I am a BIG fan of the first Business Plans for Dummies book. It got me started thinking about going out on my own a few years ago. Well, this new Kit book is a great addition. It's particularly useful as a real hands-on guide to putting together a business plan and then making it work. Every chapter has checklists and other forms that take you through the process step by step, as well as "case study" type examples that really bring the information alive. It's full of updated examples of businesses that have succeeded (and how they did it.) And it also contains terrific analyses of business plans that didn't quite make it (and why.) As a small business owner myself, I was surprised to learn as much as I did from the chapter devoted to small businesses. UNLIKE a lot of other business planning books, this one tackles the subject with real authority along with a great sense of humor. I think this is an essential book for anyone who is putting together a business plan for the first time. I even used the trial business planning software that comes on the CD-ROM to choose the program that would work best for our company. And that's made completing the business planning process even smoother. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In their previous book, The Balanced Scorecard, Robert Kaplan and David Norton unveiled an innovative "performance management system" that any company could use to focus and align their executive teams, business units, human resources, information technology, and financial resources on a unified overall strategy--much as businesses have traditionally employed financial management systems to track and guide their general fiscal direction. In The Strategy-Focused Organization, Kaplan and Norton explain how companies like Mobil, CIGNA, and Chemical Retail Bank have effectively used this approach for nearly a decade, and in the process present a step-by-step implementation outline that other organizations could use to attain similar results. Their book is divided into five sections that guide readers through development of a completely individualized plan that is created with "strategy maps" (graphical representations designed to clearly communicate desired outcomes and how they are to be achieved), then infused throughout the enterprise and made an integral part of its future. In several chapters devoted to the latter, for example, the authors show how their models have linked long-term strategy with day-to-day operational and budgetary management, and detail the "double loop" process for doing so, monitoring progress, and initiating corrective actions if necessary. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (19)

The Perilous "Journey" to Breakthrough Performance
If you have not already read Kaplan and Norton's The Balanced Scoreboard, I presume to suggest that you do so prior to reading this book. However, this sequel is so thoughtful and well-written that it can certainly be of substantial value to decision-makers in any organization (regardless of size or nature) which is determined to "thrive in the new business environment." Research data suggest that only 5% of the workforce understand their company's strategy, that only 25% of managers have incentives linked to strategy, that 60% of organizations don't link budgets to strategy, and 85% of executive teams spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy. These and other research findings help to explain why Kaplan and Norton believe so strongly in the power of the Balanced Scorecard. As they suggest, it provides "the central organizing framework for important managerial processes such as individual and team goal setting, compensation, resource allocation, budgeting and planning, and strategic feedback and learning." After rigorous and extensive research of their own, obtained while working closely with several dozen different organizations, Kaplan and Norton observed five common principles of a Strategy-Focused Organization:

1. Translate the strategy to operational terms

2. Align the organization to the strategy

3. Make strategy everyone's job

4. Make strategy a continual process

5. Mobilize change through executive leadership

The first four principles focus on the the Balanced Scorecard tool, framework, and supporting resources; the importance of the fifth principle is self-evident. "With a Balanced Scorecard that tells the story of the strategy, we now have a reliable foundation for the design of a management system to create Strategy-Focused Organizations."

After two introductory chapters, the material is carefully organized and developed within five Parts, each of which examines in detail one of the aforementioned "common principles": Translating the Strategy to Operational Terms, Aligning the Organization to Create Synergies, Making Strategy Everyone's Job, Making Strategy a Continual Process, and finally, Mobilizing Change Through Executive Leadership. Kaplan and Norton then provide a "Frequently Asked Questions" section which some readers may wish to consult first.

There are many pitfalls to be avoided when designing, launching, and implementing the program which Kaplan and Norton present. These pitfalls include lack of senior management commitment, too few individuals involved [or including inappropriate individuals at the outset], keeping the scoreboard at the top, too long a development process (when, in fact, the Balanced Scorecard is a one-time measurement process), treating the Balanced Scorecard as an [isolated] systems project, hiring consultants lacking sufficient experience with a Balanced Scorecard, and introducing the Balanced Scorecard only for compensation. When organizations experience one or more of these pitfalls, their key executives can soon become impatient, confused, frustrated, and ultimately, opposed to Balanced Scorecard initiatives. It is imperative to understand both what the Balanced Scorecard must be (e.g. cohesive and comprehensive) and what it must not be (e.g. fragmented and episodic). Kaplan and Norton correctly note that the journey they propose "is not easy or short. It requires commitment and perseverance. It requires teamwork and integration across traditional organizational boundaries and roles. The message must be reinforced often and in many ways." Those who are determined to achieve organization-wide breakthrough performance are fortunate to have Kaplan and Norton as companions every step of the way during what is indeed a perilous "journey."

Extremely detailed, highly informative, dryly written
The Strategy-Focused Organization

Building on their Balanced Scorecard approach, Kaplan and Norton have developed an impressive framework in The Strategy-Focused Organization for the implementation of strategy. They have found that 90% of strategic initiatives fail due not to formulation but to implementation difficulties. Successful implementation of strategy requires all parts of an organizations to be aligned and linked to the strategy, while strategy itself must become a continual process in which everyone is involved. The Balanced Scorecard, originally seen by the authors as a measurement tool, is now presented as a means for implementing strategy by creating alignment and focus.

Financial measures report on lagging financial indicators. The Balanced Scorecard aims to report on the drivers of future value creation. The book shows in detail how this is done from four perspectives: Financial, customer, internal business perspective, and learning and growth (these are outlined on p.77). These four perspectives produce a highly detailed framework when combined with the five principles of a strategy-focused organization: 1: Translate the strategy to operational terms. 2: Align the organization to the strategy. 3: Make strategy everyone's everyday job. 4: Make strategy a continual process. 5: Mobilize change through executive leadership.

Absorbing every detail of this book will require many hours. The sheer detail of this complex system requires considerable attention, perhaps more than some readers can muster, but clearly distinguishes this work from many books full of business fluff. The style tends to be turgid and pedantic while being admirably complete. Readers can grasp the essence of the book's central points by reading only Chapter 1 (Creating the Strategy-Focused Organization), Chapter 3 (Building Strategy Maps), and Chapter 8 (Creating Strategic Awareness). Skip quickly through the chapters in Part Two: Aligning the Organization to Create Synergies. This section is the least engaging of the five. The balanced scorecard approach to strategy will appeal to those with a systematizing frame of mind. The book is filled with complex diagrams of corporate processes consisting of interrelated boxes and forces.

This approach is extremely detailed and complex. It requires a major commitment and effort. Though the authors claim it can be implemented by smaller organizations, this will be more challenging than for large companies who can commit a team full time to working out the details.

Much of the value of the approach may lie not so much in following through on completely working out the balanced scorecard but on absorbing the lessons regarding organizational integration across silos and the importance of clarity about mission, strategy, and goals. The balanced scorecard is one way to achieve and implement this clarity but not the only way. Another would be continual reiteration of these (as in Confessions of An Extraordinary Executive). Some companies may benefit from strict use of this system, including finding units of measurement for its implementation. Others will gain much from applying the insights without such a formal and complete implementation.

A "Must Read" for Executives!
If you are an executive don't fail to read this. Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard approach has had a tremendous impact on thinking in the executive suite. Buy and read a copy today. I have bought copies for all of my clients.

Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change"

Overblown and impractical
Having used the BSc a few times in my work, I expected this to be a hepful addition to my knowledge base in the area. I found that it added little to the author's other published tomes and to his articles in journals like HBR. Although the basic concept is sound, the implementation challenges are dealt with as you'd expect from an ivory tower-based profesoor and are several steps removed from the challenges that most of my real-world, and smaller company clients, need to address. I truly felt as though I didn't get my money's worth with this purchase and I should have stuck with the materials I already had by the author that was available in other forms. I would have saved time, money and a degree of frustration.

A must have tool for business improvement
If you're attempting to improve the way you do business, this book is a must have. It is a little dry so you have to be committed to using the concepts presented. If you can manage to stick with it, you will reap the benefits of the BSC. Good Luck! ... Read more

Book Description

For some people, a business plan is a map to success that they're required to put together to raise money for a startup company. At best, it's a formality; at worst, it's a sizable pain in the neck. But a business plan doesn't exist just to garner financial support; it's also a powerful tool – one that's bound to make your company a better place to work and your business a more successful operation.

Business Plans For Dummies can guide your business in the right direction no matter who you are or how your job description reads, whether you're part of a large corporation or a one-person show. If you've struggled through the planning process before – or if you're brand new to plotting out goals and objectives – this expert reference will show you how to

• Create a right-on mission statement
• Pinpoint the needs of your customers
• Scope out the competition
• Simplify all the financial stuff
• Stay on top of trends
• Foster a winning atmosphere for your staff

Packing the greatest value into a business plan calls for a look back at where your company's been and how it's changed over the years, a look forward to where and how you'll compete in the marketplace, and a look around at what you want to show and tell the world about your enterprise. This down-to-earth guide steps you through every milestone in business planning, including

• Determining where you want to go with your business
• Checking out the business environment: customers and competition
• Assessing your capabilities and resources
• Getting into strategic thinking mode
• Facing the facts about product life cycles
• Motivating and appreciating the people who make it all happen in-house

Riding marketplace tides isn't the sport of amateurs these days; only 250f new businesses survive beyond their first three years of operation. This invaluable resource gives you a no-nonsense approach to staying afloat, rising above the risks, and enjoying the rewards as you take care of business. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Excellent resource for strategy and planning
I provide consulting help on business and strategic planning for clients in the US and Brazil. I came across this book originally in its Portuguese version. Now, I'm recommending it to all my clients in both countries. It makes my job of explaining what is a business plan much easier and introduces business people to the ideas and, more importantly, the attitude you need to undertake planning. I recommend it highly.

Planning, not just plans
Unlike most business plan guides that focus on producing an impressive document, this book actually helped me plan to run a company. It anticipates and explains virtually every potential pitfall for a company-builder. The book transforms the business planning process into something that you can and should use every day. It touches all aspects of analyzing your business and deciding where to go next. I highly recommend it.

Good Reference for Beginners and Intermediates Alike
I've done a number of business plans in my time and bought this book as a gift for a friend who wants to start her own business. I purchased it because it includes all of the basics needed to develop a business plan that will guide you as you start and build your business and will also give you the credibility you need to secure outside financing. This is a very good step-by-step guide for those completely new to business and an excellent refresher guide for those who already know the basics.

And, by the way, you can skip the companion Dummies book called Business Plans Kit, which covers the same ground as this book but includes a CD-ROM that doesn't add much value. The truth is, this book is cheaper and offers just as much help as the larger and more expensive kit version.

A Quick and Cheap Effective Business Education
Many people starting a business have no prior business experience and have taken no college or university courses on business. Bill Gates is a guy that comes to mind. Everyone needs a basic plan.

Unfortunately when you start you might be in a hurry. You might have a compelling technical product that customers are ordering and suddenly you are thrust into a situation where you must manage a company. It can start so fast that you are playing catch-up. So a good idea is to have a good accountant and maybe an MBA consultant that one can talk to.

But in the end you make the decisions. This book is a nice quick summary of making a plan and a place to start. For $15. it is a bargain and do not be fooled by the price. There is lots of good stuff in this book. It is one of the cheapest thing in the office as I am sure you are aware..

For what it is three or four stars.

Jack in Toronto

The title says it all...
I'm a business planning consultant and a client just gave me a copy of this book. Way too basic, not enough help on the most important part of any business plan: the financials. If you want to get funded, look for a better book. ... Read more

Book Description

Your total guide to putting a powerful management tool to work in your organization

Why strategic planning? Because a well wrought strategic plan helps you set priorities and acquire and allocate the resources needed to achieve your goals. It provides a framework for analyzing and quickly adapting to future challenges. And it helps all board and staff members focus more clearly on your organization's priorities, while building commitment and promoting cooperation and innovation.

But to be effective, your plan will need to address the special needs of the nonprofit sector. And for more than a decade, Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations has been the number-one source of guidance on all facets of strategic planning for managers at nonprofits of every size and budget.

This thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded edition arms you with the expert knowledge and tools you need to develop and implement surefire strategic plans, including tested-in-the-trenches worksheets, checklists, and tables—in print and on the companion CD-ROM—along with a book-length case study that lets you observe strategic planning in action. Packed with real-world insights and practical pointers, it shows you how to:

• Develop a clear mission, vision, and set of values
• Conduct SWOT analyses and program evaluations
• Assess client needs and determine stakeholder concerns
• Set priorities and develop core strategies, goals, and objectives
• Balance the dual bottom lines of mission and money
• Write and implement a solid strategic plan
• Develop a user-friendly annual work plan
• Establish planning cycles, gauge progress, and update strategies

Reviews (36)

A good way to view your future
Book Review: The Art of the Long View

¡®The Art of the Long View¡¯ by Peter Schwartz is a book about planning our future. Different to the past, which we already knew, and the present, which is going on, it is impossible to tell what the future will be. However, people, companies, cities, and states, as well as the world like to know about their future. Thus, we could plan the future with a forecasting skill, scenario writing.

Schwartz suggests a long view for the future planning. He argues that scenarios are tools for helping us to take a long view in a great uncertainty rather than simply predicting the future. Admitting the uncertainty of scenario, the author insists that it is possible for us to prepare for the future.

The purpose of this book is giving a guideline to build scenarios. The author explains uncovering decisions, information hunting and gathering, creating scenario building blocks, composing plots, and writing scenarios. Moreover, he suggests the eight steps of developing scenarios (Step 1. Identify focal issue or decision, 2. Key forces in the local environment, 3. Driving forces, 4. Rank by importance and uncertainty, 5. Selecting scenario logics, 6. Fleshing out the scenarios, 7. Implications, 8. Selection of leading indicators and signposts) which are helpful for scenario writers.

I agree with the author in terms of that scenarios are tools for long view. Although scenarios have much of uncertainty, they are needed for planning. It is better to have plans for people and organizations even the results are different to plans. With social, economic, political, and technological points of views, scenarios could be sufficient alternative future.

Liberate your insights!
In "The Art of the Long View," Peter Schwartz, one of the world leading futurists introduces the concepts of scenario planning. He argues that scenario thinking is an art not a science, and people in general has an innate ability to build scenarios, and to foresee the future. From the book, the readers can learn how to build their own future scenarios. They are neither predictions nor mere extrapolations of the present trends. They help us to know the shape of unfolding future reality. A good scenario must have surprised elements with power to break the stereotypes.

The general principles of scenario planning are neatly summarized in the appendix, "Steps to Developing Scenarios." They compose of: Step One: identify the focal issue or decision; Step Two: list the key Micro-Factors relevant to that issue or decision; Step Three: list the key Macro-Driving Forces; Step Four: cross-rank Factors and Forces in terms of importance and uncertainty; Step Five: select Scenario Logic; Step Six: flesh out Scenarios; Step Seven: identify Probable Implications; and Step Eight: select Leading Indicators and Signposts. However, the order of the steps may be muddled in some cases.

For me, as a former employee of Shell in Cambodia, it is an eye-opening reading. I wish I had read this book before I started to develop the promotion plan for Shell Cambodia. The great pleasure of adopting a constant futurist's perspective on things is that it forces you to think of different possible ways things may happen and have at hand the answers to the "what if...?" questions either plausible or implausible. Then comes a mindshift that leads to the change in behavior in managing organization, let it be global corporation like Royal Dutch Shell or AT&T and small family businesses. It is an excellent read if you want to liberate your insights from your existing "mental map".

What a great book?
You have to buy The Art of the Long View. I don't know how to explain how great the book is. Don't hesitate to grap one

Open Your Brain and Reperceive the World
This book will help you to learn the scenario planning process. At the beginning, the author presents a short but insightful example how scenario playing an important role for starting up a gardening tool company. The author also shares an "information hunting and gathering process" which tell you where to get some helpful data. Various factors influencing the futures are also discussed (including socials, politics, economic, technologies, and environment). In addition, at the end of the book, the author provides a user's guide (eight steps of how to hold a strategic conversation) and eight steps to develop scenarios which I found very useful. The book enables us to use scenario planning as a tool to deal with uncertain futures. Scenarios help us to awake and "reperceive" others possible and impossible alternative futures including both short and long term. The author also believes that a good scenario leads you to ask better questions. The point of scenario-planning is "to help us suspend our disbelieve in all the futures: to allow us to think that any on of them might place. Then, we can prepare for what we DO NOT think is going to happen." (p.195)

However, one annoying thing in this book is that the author keeps referring to chapters (e.g. look in chapter 7) but physically, there are just no chapters number indicated in the book. There are just short titles in the table of content and at the beginning of each chapter. You have to go back and forth between the TOC and chapters to to see which one is actually being referred. However, I consider this is a minor issue comparing to what you will learn from this book.

You may find this book useful if you are preparing for your strategic plans, making decisions having critical impacts to your firm or your personal life, or even you are just an ordinary reader, this book will open your mind to a new level of critical thinking and imagination about unfolding futures. Highly recommend.

Scenario for personal life
As an international student who stays in Hawaii for a while, Peter Schwartz's The Art of the Long View inspired me to make planning for my future whether in Hawaii or other places. His explanations about scenario building may be adapted to my personal life as well as in business to plan my better life in future. Moreover, as a human being, we have an innate ability to build scenarios and to forecast the future. He said that scenarios are apparatuses for helping us to acquire a long view in a great uncertainty rather than simply predicting the future. Therefore, it is possible to prepare for our future.

In real time, the eight steps of developing scenarios which he suggested in his book are used in many fields. Most websites about forecasting adopt his idea as a basic foundation to prepare alternative future with social, economic, political, and technological points of views. Although he said scenario building as "art" not "science", it may not reduce the important of scenario building to identify alternative dimensions of future by recognizing the driving forces and composing the plots.

I recommend for a beginner in particularly non-native English speaker in forecasting or in future planning reading this book as a guide. His guide is easy and simple to apply for everyone to anticipate unexpected changes. ... Read more

Book Description

Play the game to win

"More and more CEOs are discovering that managing one’s business environment is as important as managing operations, finance, and sales. Winning the Influence Game explains how a strategic government relations program can make a major impact on that environment at the federal, state, and local levels."–Douglas G. Pinkham, President, Public Affairs Council

"A useful, detailed handbook that should find itself on the desktop–or at the bedside–of every business leader. These are the skills that every business leader needs to succeed in the increasingly complex and rapidly changing globalized economy in which they operate–and to gain competitive advantage for their company’s future."–Ira Jackson, Director, Center for Business and Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government

"Winning the Influence Game provides an excellent overview for the corporate leader of how government can impact the bottom line–both positively and negatively. The clear, concise, and practical manner in which the book is organized and information provided makes it an extremely useful resource to those charged with the responsibility of creating an effective government relations program."–Margery Kraus, President and CEO, APCO Worldwide ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Insightful!
If you've ever wanted to be part of a special interest group or a corporate lobbying machine, but didn't know where to start, experts Michael Watkins, Mickey Edwards and Usha Thakrar have written a handbook for you. The authors write intelligently and provide information in great detail with no fluff. We [...] recommend this book to those in business and organizations of all sizes who are - or should be - playing the influence game.

Indispensable tool for any CEO
Reading 'Winning the Influence Game' was an eye opening experience on how important it is understand how government can influence business. The authors have provided a blueprint for creating a strategy which can change government from an adversary to an ally. More importantly, a well thought out strategy can become your most valuable competitive weapon. If I had viewed government as a partner 10 years ago, there is no doubt in my mind that my venture capital business would be much larger and far more profitable today.

Superb
Too many leaders, focused on starting or expanding businesses, think that markets and competition exist in a vacuum. This very insightful book reminds us that the background of government regulation is also make-or-break. The authors' insights and strategies are intellectually well-grounded, yet oriented to someone who has to apply them in the real world. A must have.

Essential Reading for Success in the New-Economy
This book is absolutely essential reading for anyone working to develop and sustain business success in a global marketplace that is increasingly subject to governmental regulations. An excellent balance of sound theory and practical application that make this well-written and interesting book a worthwhile investment.

Solid Theory Combined With Practical Application
This book is essential reading for anyone needing to implement and manage corporate strategy in a rapidly changing economy. The authors provide a well-informed and interesting perspective on how to navigate government relations while maintaining a competitive advantage. This is an important contribution to current management theory that provides ample food for thought, as well as solid recommendations for practical application. Interesting, focused, well written and useful! ... Read more

Book Description

Not just another book on the theory of strategic planning, here are dozens of recipes for creative group activities to facilitate strategic planning in any organization. Designed for use by consultants, facilitators, and management team leaders, step-by-step instructions guide you through exercises for gaining employee and management participation, gathering feedback from management about the current state of the organization, creating an organized mission, vison and values statement, and planning so that the vision becomes reality. Ready-to-use reproducible materials and handouts are also included. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A fascinating way to plan,you have made it interesting
I really like this book. Although this is a long book, it is well worth the effort. There arelgreat ideas, that you can use in a variety of ways. My organization does a lot of planning, little of it is well done or interesting to our employees. This book gave us ways to involve our people and make it more meaningful. Most importantly, they take the mystique and complexity out of planning and show you how to get real results.

Highly useful tools
This book is an excellent resource for those involved in planning. In addition to the background and conceptual information provided in the book, the authors have included a variety of activities that can be employed to address specific objectives. There are numerous exercises with "easy to understand" instructions on how to facilitate the activities. I've used several of them recently and received excellent feedback about the process. More importantly, the outcomes were great!

Invaluable tools for Organizational Planning
I have had the opportunity to use the designs in this book over the past year. The designs or "strategic activities" are creative and guarnateed to advance the planning process for a wide range of organizations. The instructions have just the right amount of detail to adaquately prepare the facilitator. There is tremendous felxibility with each acitivity to accomodate longer or shorter amounts of time. The designs are
crip, imaginative, thoughtful, rooted in practice. Its a book I refer to again and again. Its been an invaluable tool to my work.

Intelligent and Interesting
impressive, interesting and different ideas .I like the down to earth , inclusive quality of this book. Thing are explained well and frameworks are provided, so that you can conduct these activities with confidence.I highly recommend it.

Planning First - Learning Always
If you have ever been involved in a strategic planning effort that fell short of expectations then this book is for you. In plain language the authors lay out a planning framework with supporting involvement practices to gain organizational buy-in. They provide explanations and case study examples to show the connections between "what needs to be done and how to do it." A chapter titled "The Toolbox" covers the rational and procedures for involvement mechanisms that include "Nominal Group Process to generate ideas, Affinity Diagrams & Mindmaping to organize complex issues and Collapsing Consensus & Las Vegas Voting to help in problem solving & decision-making." There are valuable discussions on organizing the planning effort and post-planning followup / accountability. This volume supports any organizational effort to set goals, improve quality or enhance effectiveness in resource management through collaborative processes. ... Read more

Book Description

One of the key determinants of success for today’s high-technology companies is product strategy—and this guide continues to be the only book on product strategy written specifically for the 21st century high-tech industry. More than 250 examples from technological leaders including IBM, Compaq, and Apple—plus a new focus on growth strategies and on Internet businesses—define how high-tech companies can use product strategy and product platform strategy for competitiveness, profitability, and growth in the Internet age. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

targeted for core products at large companies
I love this book: the concept of a "vector" for product
development is a terrific way to think about competition.
IMHO, this book is a must-read for all product managers,
product marketers and people involved in strategic decisions,
i.e. all senior executives.

That said, speaking as a five-time startup engineer, the advice
and examples in this book seem geared towards the core product
lines in larger companies, where you can credibly talk about
"two years from now" as opposed to wondering if you'll even be
in business, which is also the problem for new product lines at
large companies. The experience for the book comes from the
PRTM consulting firm, which was made famous for their work with
parallel product development at Intel. We hired them in the
early days at Inktomi, and found mixed success with their
process because we were terrified of immediate failure, and
they wanted to talk about version 3. Obviously, there's a
successful middle ground because Inktomi was a huge success in
the short term, but ultimately lost its strategic direction.

watch out cost to implement in ur office before do it
For example, author addressed the benefits to have a product platform strategy are focusing managemnet on key decision at the right time;enabling products to be deployed rapidly and consistently; encouraging a longer-term view of product strategy; leveraging significant operational efficiencies; helping management anticipate replacing a major product platform.

However, he may forget to remind readers that these require cost before enjoying the benefits, such as you need to hire a new tier of middle management if you company is too small to afford before; to establish the new channel capabilities to justify the investment on the platform bcz to access new markets; the IT system to calculate operation efficiencies such as engineering head count, material cost, and supply chain cost is also not cheap if you only have the option to use turn-key solution.....

It may be reasonable to equip product platform strategy only when benefits are greater than costs.

Unmatched User Guide to High Tech Product Strategy
In his richly illustrated Product Strategy for High Technology Companies, Michael E. McGrath rightly describes product strategy as a management process. Like any process, product strategy defines structure, timing, responsibilities, and skills. The process architecture reproduced on page 359 provides a practical framework starting with the definition of core strategic vision. Core strategic vision requires answering three questions: 1. Where do we want to go? 2. How will we get there? 3. And most critical Why will we be successful? Core strategic vision determines the criteria used for reaching a strategic balance in the product development process: Focus vs. diversification, short-term vs. long-term, current product platform vs. new product platform, business Alpha vs. business Beta, research vs. development, and high risk vs. low risk. Available resources influence the outlook of strategic balance.

Core strategic vision, strategic balance, core competencies, and competitive strategy are together the foundations on which the often-ignored product platform strategy is built. Product platform strategy is the lowest common denominator of relevant technology in a set of products or a product line. Product failures in high-tech companies frequently can be traced to an incomplete product platform strategy according to McGrath. Strategic balance, product platform strategy, and competitive strategy are together the foundations of product line strategy. Product line strategy is where specific product offerings are defined.

Core strategic vision also influences the competitive strategy that high technology companies must define. McGrath provides an in-depth, practical review of differentiation strategy, pricing strategy, and supporting strategies. Supporting strategies are first-to-market and fast-follower strategies, cannibalization, and global product strategy. McGrath's examination of both time-based strategies and cannibalization is particularly interesting because both subjects are rarely covered in such a luxury of detail. McGrath finally examines the optional expansion strategy and innovation strategy. High technology companies only need them if they want to invest in expansion or innovation.

To summarize, Product Strategy for High Technology Companies is a practical guide to a management process from which even product managers from outside the high tech industry can draw useful lessons and more importantly apply them to their own product strategy.

Best Strategic Toolkit Ever Written
There are countless strategy books out there. Each one has an overriding framework that the entire book is based on, that often warrants only a 15-page article. This book is loaded with practical frameworks that together provide a thinking and creativity-channeling approach. Better yet, every framework has been proven in practice at dozens of companies by the author's implementation-based consulting firm. Each chapter is filled with examples from a broad range of technology-based companies. When applying these frameworks outside of technology-based industries and large companies just use common sense to strip them down to their essence and don't worry about the fancy techno-speak. You can also use most chapters as stand-alone strategy tools. I personally like "vectors of differentiation" and wonder how so many companies blow it when it seems like common sense. But then again if common sense were common, books like this wouldn't be needed. And then there's the issue of actually implementing what you come up with...

Don't Just Read It, Do it!
After founding a leading market research firm and teaching New Product Development at Harvard, I found this book so compelling that our firm has completed a review of our entire new web research product strategy, and come to some startling and highly productive insights on how to proceed and succeed. It is by far the most practical, in-depth guide to achieving competitive new product development strategies I have ever read.

The book shows clearly how to answer the critical questions: 1) Where do we want to go, 2) How will we get there, and 3) Why will we be successful. It shows how to create a Core Strategic Vision that is the foundation for new product success. And it shows how to use that vision to create highly competitive and profitable product lines, particularly in high technology.

Having tested new product ideas for hundreds of companies over the last 25 years, it is difficult to think of more than a handful who couldn't have benefited from not only reading this book, but doing what it recommends. ... Read more

Book Description

A thoroughly revised second edition of the leader's concise guide to the process of creating and managing an organisation, no matter how complex, that will achieve unique competitive advantages and be poised to respond effectively and rapidly to customer demands.

In this book executives, managers, and consultants will find the concrete tools they need to select and implement an efficient design that creates superior and more competitive performance. In addition to analysing the four key forces shaping today's organisations -- buyer power, variety, change, and speed -- this new edition addresses the concerns of new economy by expanding on the section on the Flexible Organization and includes a new section on organising around the customer. The book:

• Describes what leaders can do to effect the change process
• Addresses the concerns of new economy companies
• Contains rich examples from successful companies

Reviews (2)

excellent resource
Really good intro to ideas and concepts needed to redesign an organization in terms of its structure. Best if you already have some degree of experience in do it so you can really apply the concepts.

Guide to the factors that shape organizational design
Jay R. Galbraith is an internationally recognized expert on organization design. He is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California and Professor Emeritus at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland. This book is a updated/revised edition of 'Designing Organizations' which was originally published in 1995. It is split up into 10 chapters.

Chapter 1 - Introduction - really sets the stage for the rest of the book. It discusses the six main organization shapers: the increase buyer power; increase in the number of products and services; the Internet; multiple dimensions (functions, products, and geography, but also customer segments, solutions or offerings, and channels and processes); the requirement for a capacity to change; and speed (in bringing products and services to the market).

The following two chapters discuss how companies have to shape their organizational design, strategy, and structure in order how to deal with these organization shapers. Galbraith introduces his copyrighted Star Model (Strategy, structure, people, rewards, and processes), which looks AND sounds very similar to McKinsey's 7-S framework. Chapters 4 and 5 build on these chapter and discuss how organizations have to link their processes to coordination needs and integrate group processes. Then, in Chapter 6 discusses the easily changeable or reconfigurable organization based on the Star Model, which, according to Galbraith, results from the skilled use of three capabilities: (1) forming teams and networks across organizational departments; (2) the use of internal prices, markets, and marketlike devices to coordinate the complexity of multiple teams; and (3) the forming of partnerships to secure capabilities that it does not have. Each of these capabilities are discussed in detail.

The Chapters 7 to 10 are all very current and fashionable. They discuss the organizing around the customer, customer-focused structures, the design of the virtual corporation, and organizing the continuous design process. Although the subjects discussed are important, some of the examples are too long and take up most of the chapters. Some of the examples also do not really apply to every company/organization but are too specific. Still, these are issues that should not be forgotten about, especially organizing around the customer remains important.

I must admit that I am somewhat disappointed with this book, which is written by a leading authority in the field of organizational design. I believe it is especially the title that lets the book down. It is not so much a guide into strategies and structures; it more discusses the organization shapers and the possibilities that companies/organizations have to tackle the organization shapers. I believe that the book is especially weak in discussing organizational design and structures. Galbraith discusses his own Star-model (which reminds me of McKinsey's 7-S framework) and his reconfigurable organization (the learning organization?), but leaves all other models/designs/structures untouched. I have not been generous, the book really deserves a 3.5-star rating. The author uses simple business US-English. ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring a model that is widely used for strategic planning among consultants and companies worldwide, this current, well-written book offers a practitioner-oriented perspective, meets all AACSB guidelines, and focuses on skill-building in all major areas of strategy formation, implementation, and evaluation. Global, natural environment and e-commerce themes are evident throughout the book which also contains 46 Experiential Exercises. A five-part organization includes an overview of strategic management; coverage of strategic formulation, implementation, and evaluation; and a strategic management case analysis. For consultants and other strategic planners. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A good textbook, with a grain of salt.
The usual textbook treatment of the subject -- ecstatic gibberings over the virtues of casino owners and other such riff-raff (!) seem a bit out of place, since I can't see casinos as a morally uplifting business like the book devotes considerable pages to 'proving' -- but all in all, a solid effort for anyone looking to get good marks on a paper at college, with lots of company info and a good overview of concepts and terminology.

Fantastic
Excellent step by step of identifying SWOT, and using matrix to implement the strategies.

Excellent concise strategic management manual.
Fred David has written an excellent and concise book on startegic management. His methods of including easy to understand and use matrices is a godsend to most students at under graduate level. The TOWS matricedeveloped by Fred David is one of the best tools available in strategicmanagement, it is so simple, yet on one page you can view a company'sstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and devise alternativestrategies to make the best use of your SWOT analysis. The cases in thebook are short and to the point and the low price should ensure it is usedthroughout the world by management students. John McElvaney. ManagementLecturer. Melbourne Australia. ... Read more

Book Description

Contemporary research in strategic management, with an emphasis on conceptual tools and skills created by scholars and practitioners in the field are evident throughout this 12-chapter text-only book. Formulation, Implementation, and Control of Competitive Strategy is the softcover, text-only version of Pearce and Robinson’s STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. Pearce and Robinson presents a unique pedagogical model created by the authors. Instructors who desire quantitative analysis will like the financial data available here. The new, strong coverage of Business Week material provides a currency and uniqueness to the text. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An Unpleasant Overview
I used this book in a graduate business class, and found it to be generally unpalatable, as did the rest of my class. My problem is largely