Reviews (20)

A Helpful Guide and Reference
Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma with Lean Speed
By Michael George

This latest book by Michael George has been an extremely helpful guide and reference for our implementation team members and myself. For seven years we have been in the most critical part of our journey toward a Lean Enterprise. An enterprise where the management system includes the principles of total quality, variation management, value creation, and just-in-time production. I have been recommending Michael George's book to freshman implementers and company executives to help them deal with the perceived dilemma many are experiencing. Do they pursue 'Lean' or do they pursue 'Six Sigma Quality'? And of course the answer is 'yes'. The rush to operational productivity in the last decade has distilled many of the key components and techniques of a 'Lean Enterprise' and marketed them as a complete 'Lean Manufacturing' recipe. Unfortunately this selective design has resulted in diluted capabilities and mediocre results for most. The same is true for those who solely depend on managing by constraints or reducing variation incrementally as their core activity. What Michael George offers in his book is a straightforward and field-tested approach for bringing the critical pieces of the 'Lean/JIT' business model, metrics, and leadership behaviors back into perspective. A perspective that helps either the new implementer or the experienced implementer clear up this perceived dilemma. Michael George says the purpose of the book is to show that the combination of Lean and Six Sigma - when focused on the highest-value projects... can produce remarkable results... This is his simple straightforward message that no one else recently has bothered to tackle.

Don A. Blake, Director
Boeing Production System Implementation
Quality & Process Improvement Dept.
Boeing Wichita Division

Packed with Knowledge!
Six Sigma devotees may dispute the need to add anything to Six Sigma, but a shot of lean thinking provides a production boost. Author Michael L. George contends that Six Sigma reduces product quality variation but does nothing to improve delivery time. That may not be strictly true, and certainly is not beyond cavil. Nonetheless, the author's analysis and presentation of the Lean Six Sigma approach is lucid and straightforward. He explains Six Sigma itself much more clearly than some other writers on the subject. Even Six Sigma devotees will find nothing to object to in his treatment, and he provides some compelling examples of the success of the Lean Six Sigma approach. We recommend this book primarily to leaders and managers of firms that rely on factories and other production units. However, the author supplies practical information that may also be relevant to service providers and to every company that cares about customer service, efficient production and the bottom line.

Lean Six Sigma or a selling technique
Well I can say the book is ok. However, I do feel like this book is more about them trying to sell their services to me than to teach or explain Lean Six Sigma... If I wanted to buy consulting or training services I would rather not have it shoved down my throat in a book. .

Dissatisfied
If you are seeking substance and wish to learn, there are other products that better serve that purpose.
If you are interested in improving operations through Lean/6 sigma and have little or no concept of what is involved, this book may provide an adequate overview. In my opinion, however, the overview would be more effective if the book didn't try to keep putting it's foot in the door

An Excellent Book
I truly enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Lean or Six Sigma. Well worth the money!! ... Read more

Download Description

"It's more important than ever for companies to objectively assess the value of their customers. But conventional measures of ""customer lifetime value"" haven't been linked to overall business value and haven't been useful to senior managers. Managing Customers as Investments overcomes both shortcomings.

Through practical examples and case studies, you'll learn a rigorous yet simple approach to estimating the lifetime value of your customers¿and how you can use that information to make better tactical and strategic decisions. You'll learn how customer value calculations impact customer acquisition, service, retention, and segmentation¿as well as strategic M&A and alliance decisions.

Whether you're a CxO, line-of-business manager, marketer, analyst, or investor, Managing Customers as Investments will help you focus your resources where they'll deliver maximum value.

Key takeaways include

• Customers are assets
• How to calculate the value of customers in a simple way
• How the value of customers provides the basis for marketing strategy and planning
• The importance of balancing the value of the customer to the firm with the value the firm provides to the customer
• How to use the value of the customer as a basis for firm valuation and M&A decisions
• The implications for organization and incentive structure and the limitations of product and brand management
• How to link customer value to business value
• Practical techniques for CxOs, line-of-business managers, marketers, financial analysts, and investors
• How to make better decisions about marketing, partnerships, and organizational structure
• Easy-to-use metrics and real-world case studies

What your customers are really worth: crucial knowledge for better strategic and tactical decision-making

How can you find out, without endlessly complex modeling? And after you know, what should you do with that knowledge?

Managing Customers as Investments has the answers¿and they may surprise you.

You'll learn surprisingly simple ways to get reliable customer value information...and get it in a form you can use.

You'll learn how to use it to measure your marketing effectiveness more accurately than ever before¿and drive improvements throughout your entire customer relationship lifecycle.

You'll learn how customer value can bring new clarity to decisions about M&A and firm valuation.

Everyone tells you to manage your business around customers. This book gives you the tools to do it.

" ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Do It Smarter Book
Understanding that a businesses customers are one of it's greatest assets is not a new or novel idea.After all these are the people that pay the bills.But how can you fairly asses what the true value of any one customer is?Is it all based on total revenue, profit margin or market share?Questions that are difficult to answer and not really a black and white issue. This book teaches the readers how to see the link between customer value and firm value.It also does a great job of showing you which aspects of customer management are the most critical.One of the rules they want you to look at is long term relationships and strategies and not just the short term fix.

There were two great aspects of the book that made it one that can easily be used.First the authors made the decision to keep the approaches simple.You did not have to work through some multiple step process with NASU like calculations.The authors theory is that simple and intuitive concept can be implemented by almost all management thus insuring a better adoption rate.The second aspect I felt was valuable was that the book was full of real life examples.It was far easier to see how the process worked when you could relate to the examples provided.Overall I really enjoyed the book.It was informative, had great ideas and is one that can make a difference in any organization.

The marketing book of the year 2005?
This is a particularly thought-provoking book which, as have so many others, came from Wharton School Publishing. Columbia professors Sunil Gupta and Donald Lehmann have written regularly on the subject of Customer Value and Marketing over the last 20 years. Their articles and books have been standard texts for many MBA students interesting in customer value management for some time. Sunil and Donald have produced a jewel: it is so well written and convincing that, after reading it, you will rethink your customer relationships in terms of value creating opportunity and not in terms of expense.

Cool approach to help you better understand your company
This book argues a customer based metric to understanding not only firm value, but for making more realistic decisions about investing in new customers or even company acquisitions.The authors are quite frank about the vague nature of some of the components of the equations they develop because you have to make some assumptions about the future.I really like their statement that it is better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong.Upon close examination that statement actually sounds better than it really is, but it gets the point across.

The basic idea is that your customers represent a series of cash flows.Using the tools provided in this book you can make reasonable assumptions and make an estimate of their value to your firm.This can help company executives make better decisions about marketing spends, acquisitions, and in targeting customer segments.It can help investors and analysts double check company predictions and market valuations.

Since we have been through a period of corrupted financial reports by too many companies, it is great to have another tool to check the value of a corporation, no matter how rough.In fact, the measure is so easy to run, it would be great to make a range of assumptions to create a bounded "realities check" in order to see what would need to occur for a given investment or management scenario to be a good decision or realistic outcome.

The one tiny area where I think the authors head off into the world of making the whole world a nail for their new hammer is their idea of a CMO, a Chief Marketing Officer.There are too many Chief whatevers in companies nowadays.I think the reality is that if this turns out to be a useful and predictive tool that executives would be foolish to not use it.The role of marketing within a corporate structure has more to do with the role of marketing in the nature of the product.For example, Proctor & Gamble is a marketing firm and has to emphasize it much more than a captive auto supplier.It is not something that can be uniformly prescribed.

Far from being an abstract exercise in quantification, this is a lively and concise book with many case studies to illustrate the authors' points.Just beware that every new idea cannot really be proven with past data because of the danger of fitting the data to the needs of the tool.You will have to work with these ideas and see how they work in your organization.My guess is that these ideas will yield good results if used well.

Good business book. ... Read more

Book Description

The world's leading expert on the global software industry and coauthor of the bestseller Microsoft Secrets reveals the inner workings of software giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape and shows what it takes to create, develop, and manage a successful company -- in good times and bad -- in the most fiercely competitive business in the world.

In the $600 billion software industry it is the business, not the technology, that determines success or failure. This fact -- one that thousands of once glamorous start-ups have unhappily discovered for themselves -- is the well-documented conclusion of this enormously readable and revealing new book by Michael Cusumano, based on nearly twenty years of research and consulting with software producers around the world.

Cusumano builds on dozens of personal experiences and case studies to show how issues of strategy and organization are irrevocably linked with those of managing the technology and demonstrates that a thorough understanding of these issues is vital to success. At the heart of the book Cusumano poses seven questions that underpin a three-pronged management framework. He argues that companies must adopt one of three basic business models: become a products company at one end of the strategic spectrum, a services company at the other end, or a hybrid solutions company in between. The author describes the characteristics of the different models, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and shows how each is more or less appropriate for different stages in the evolution of a business as well as in good versus bad economic times. Readers will also find invaluable Cusumano's treatment of software development issues ranging from architecture and teams to project management and testing, as well as two chapters devoted to what it takes to create a successful software start-up. Highlights include eight fundamental guidelines for evaluating potential software winners and Cusumano's probing analysis, based on firsthand knowledge, of ten start-ups that have met with varying degrees of success.

The Business of Software is timely essential reading for managers, programmers, entrepreneurs, and others who follow the global software industry. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Solid Overview of the Software business
Cusumano presents a solid overview of selected topics relevant to the software business. He focuses on the following topics: strategy for software companies, best practices in software development, and software entrepreneurship. He makes use of case studies and provides insight on the inner workings of Microsoft, IBM, Netscape, Business Objects, and i2. In the chapters discussing strategy, he analyzes product versus service focused organizations. He also discusses market segmentation and whole product solutions as described in Geoffrey Moore's "Crossing the Chasm." With regards to best practices in software development, much of the material is from "Microsoft's Secrets." Cusumano describes the pitfalls of waterfall development and describes the key concepts of Microsoft's synch and stabilize technique. A few pages are devoted to outsourcing and specifically the rise of the Indian software business. I would have expected more analysis on some of the newer agile development methods -- such as XP. Lastly , Cusumano covers software entrepreneurship. He provides an eight point framework to evaluate a software start up. Does it have the following characterisitcs ?
1. Strong management team
2. Compelling new product, service, or hybrid solution.
3. Strong evidence of customer interest
4. An attractive market
5. A plan to overcome the credibility gap.
6. Business model showing early growth and profit potential
7. Flexibility in strategy and product offerings
8. Potential for large payoff to investors.
The text also has a useful appendix with income statement analysis of Business Objects and i2 , and growth comparisons between various organizations. There is nothing in the text I would consider groundbreaking, but it is a solid overview of the software business appropriate for software managers and entrepreneurs.

Very good content ... but not printable
I've been reading the digital version of this book. I consider the content good, but the fact of havig to read it on my pc, because isn't printable, is a real Pain.. why not? I bought it anyway !! Think in your foreseas readers for God's sake!!

Good info - did this guy have an editor
Lots of great information - presentation is a little rough - this reads like a great 1st or 2nd draft - I still recommend.

Good strategy book about software business
This is the best book so far I have read about software business and strategy. The author answers many questions on my mind about the software business strategy and development, for example, the healthy balance of a software company¡¦s revenue between products and services. I also found this book is very practical. Highly recommend this book.

An essential contribution by a leading expert
Michael Cusumano's work has always been original and provoking. This new book provides a comprehensive and stimulating vision of the software business. Michael is one of the few persons who has really and personally studied software companies and market dynamics. His contribution is extremely important for software engineers and software managers who want to understand the critical challenges of "doing software".

I plan to adopt it as a textbook for the graduate course on software engineering economics I teach at Politecnico di Milano (Italy). ... Read more

Book Description

Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization, 6th edition provides the most accurate, relevant, and complete presentation of strategic management today. Authors Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland, and Robert E. Hoskisson thoroughly revised each chapter, weaving cutting-edge ideas, research, and modern practice to create a presentation that captures the dynamic nature of the field. The authors integrate the traditional industrial organizational model of strategic management with the more modern resource-based view of the firm to explain how firms use the strategic management process to build a sustained competitive advantage. This is the concepts only split of the text. ... Read more

Book Description

A strategic guide to unleashing explosive growth

If all firms face similar obstacles to profitable growth, how do some companies successfully burst through these barriers, leaving their competitors in the dust?

Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan argue that an answer to this question lies in MarketBusters: strategic moves that dramatically reconfigure profit streams in an industry and upend conventional competition.Best of all, the authors say, opportunities for identifying and executing such moves can be unearthed throughout a company's existing business platform-if managers know where and how to look for them.

Based on an extensive three-year study, McGrath and MacMillan identify five arenas in which exceptional growth opportunities can be found: the customer experience, reconfigured offerings and services, key metrics, industry dynamics, and emerging market shifts. The authors outline forty specific marketbusting moves and provide practical tools and checklists to help leaders determine the best move to use in a given situation. Vivid company examples illustrate the moves in practice, and clear guidelines aid managers in implementing their chosen moves effectively.

Driving continuous growth is imperative for every leader in every industry. MarketBusters is the field guide that will help them succeed.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent Book for All Leaders
Having this be a required book in a recent doctoral course on leadership, I was plesantly surprised by the content. This book should be required reading for all who are interested in strategic management, organizational change, and the future of business and industry. The examples are right-on, useful, and very meaningful. Anyone interested in environmental and internal scanning for an organization can use the simple model provided in the book. I would say this is one of the best books I have ever read on this subject. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fans of Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado will certainly be attracted to The Chasm Companion, a step-by-step manual by longtime Moore associate Paul Wiefels that lays out specific ways to apply his popular tech-oriented business principles in our fast-changing world. But even those who never warmed to the earlier works--which proposed a pragmatic path for successfully navigating the ever-moving environment of "disruptive technologies that force changes in both strategy and behavior"--could find this book appealing. Designing The Chasm Companion as a hands-on field guide, Wiefels opens by explaining six "inflection points" in high-tech market development (the Early Market, the Chasm, the Bowling Alley, the Tornado, Main Street, Total Assimilation) that he and Moore insist everyone must carefully watch and properly react to as internal and external conditions evolve. He then outlines models and tools developed in the consulting practice he co-founded with Moore that enable individual corporations to carefully craft relevant strategies that they can align correctly with the appropriate market phases defined earlier. Finally, he presents initiatives (strategy validation, whole product management, marketing communications planning, and field engagement strategy) to help these firms actually implement their plans. Graphics and sidebars help Wiefels drive his points home clearly. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Extends beyond high tech
Wiefels get to the heart of high tech marketing. Nothing I have read has more insights or is more useful in the practical application of marketing constructs for high tech. Anybody in high tech, indeed in marketing of any sort, can benefit from these concepts.

THE guide for tech marketeers and managers
It's a very simple and clear framework to keep in mind, with VERY practical results in day-to-day activities of product management (specially for those, like me, come from "techies" backgrounds). It's reccommended to read the other 5 books of Chasm Group to fully understand the concepts, but to start using as product manager, this is THE guide.

Tough Marketing Decisions Made Easier
Paul Wiefels has given a gift to marketing and technology executives by doing an extraordinarily difficult thing: adding yet more value to some of the most valuable marketing strategy books ever written (Geoffrey Moore's). For both readers and non-readers of Moore's books (Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, and others), The Chasm Companion is an immensely useful how-to guide to successfully marketing technology products and services. It provides thoughtful and provocative connective tissue between Moore's books for those who are already Chasm devotees, but doesn't rely on the reader already having familiarity with Moore for this book to be completely understandable and immediately actionable. The author's intimate experience with difficult technology marketing decisions saturates each chapter with a pragmatic perspective often missing from consultant-authored books. The "field guide" format insures that theory consistently supports rather than trumps practice and execution. As a strategy consultant and former Fortune 100 marketing executive, I highly recommend reading The Chasm Companion before your competitors do.

For converts of The Technology Adoption Life cyle
I have been a keen student of the Chasm Group publications for a number of years and this book starts to bridge the gap between the theory of visionaries, tornados, gorillas etc and the application of the concepts in practice. The style is very readable and filled with good "common sense". I have already started using it in earnest ... Read more

Book Description

Covering the broad sweep of modern economics and strategy research, this comprehensive book broke new ground in its original edition by applying modern economic principles to study the firm's strategic position. Completely updated and revised, this new edition integrates recent insights from the theory of the firm, industrial organization, and strategy research, while building upon a strong theoretical and empirical foundation familiar to academics working in economics and strategy.
New co-author Scott Schaefer adds his expertise on organizational economics
New chapters on performance evaluation and strategic fit
Hundreds of examples ground theory in the everyday activities of the firm and show how the economic principles of strategy actually work
A unique, modern treatment of topics ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Strategy is more than blah, blah, blah
This book offers a very modern approach on strategy, including economics foundations and numeric solving of the different strategic concepts analyzed. The book is not for everyone, you need to have basic knowledge on business management, economics and math. As an MBA manager and academic, the book gave me new vision and a strong base on the strategy concepts. I recommend this book for every MBA student and manager.

Very comprehensive overview
This is the best overview of the economics behind firm strategy you can find. The coverage of the book is impressive. All economic principles are discussed in an accessible way, although you should have some understanding of basic microeconomics. Compared to a standard textbook in industrial organization the advantage of this text is a focus on real world issues and a vast amount of case studies. If you're in strategy and you like the views of Porter, Ghemawat and Nalebuff, this is the book for you.

A book that reasons the strategies
Many business books provide models of competition, innovation, etc. without adequately reasoning how the models were reached. Whereas they provide solutions to a problem - they do not provide the understanding of how the solution is reached.
However, this book provides a sound reasoning for every model on the basis of microeconomics. Even apparently abstract concepts like organization structure are explained on the basis of economics. I personally feel that the concepts covered in this book have been ingrained in my mind.

Clearing the fog in tackling corporate strategy
For those who have become disenchanted with the faddish rhetoric of corporate strategy, and seek more rigorous analytical grounding than offered in most "inspirational" business books, this text by three faculty members of Northwestern University and of Purdue University is refreshing.

The text recapitulates the key tools of micreconomic theory in a masterful introductory chapter which covers cost theory and game theory. The rest of the book is structured around the four classes of issues which the authors see as the essence of strategic analysis: firm boundaries, market and competitive analysis, position and dynamics, and internal organization.

The text is full of excellent examples and mini case studies from a wide range of industries.

I have not found it easy to find many other texts which achieve this balance of analytical rigor and practical business-oriented empirical focus.

Great treatment of strategy
This book treats strategy from a strong grounding in micro economics. Forces strategic thinking to be grounding in fundamentals unlike a lot of hand waving you see in other books. Highly recommended ... Read more

Book Description

What catastrophes have in common -- and how to keep them from happening to you!

Introducing M3: the first systematic approach to

Managing mistakes so they don't lead to disaster
Building systems that prevent 'failure chains' from spiraling out of control
Avoiding failures in preparation, strategy, execution, and culture
Reducing the impact and cost of the mistakes you do make
Also includes coverage of the unique 'mistake chains' facing entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Every business disaster has one thing in common: the people in charge never saw it coming. The warnings were there. They didn't have to wreck their companies and their careers. But they let it happen. This book can keep it from happening to you.

You will make mistakes. If you don't, you're not taking enough risk. But you can make fewer of them. You can catch them early. Keep them cheap. Learn from them. Whether you're in a global enterprise or a garage startup, Robert Mittelstaedt shows how. His techniques apply to everything from culture to strategy, customer safety to market share. They won't just help you avoid catastrophe: they'll help you improve profitability and business value, too.

Stay on track. Stay off the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Read this book. ... Read more

Book Description

The Complete Guide to Competitive Intelligence is an invaluable source for the CI professional.Far-ranging in scope, comprehensive in detail, it establishes a blueprint for conducting the entire competitive intelligence process from start to finish.This 300-page book provides you with all the methodology necessary to gather and analyze intelligence, establish networks, conduct intelligence interviews, and more.Plus, it offers detailed instruction on designing and implementing a corporate CI process that can operate as an integral function of a corporation, company, division or an individual business unit. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Provides strong, direct, and user-friendly help
This book is derived from the workbook that Kirk Tyson developed for (and from) his global workshops over many years. This second edition is a little longer than the first, which I reviewed for the Competitive Intelligence Review, vol. 9(4), October-December 1998. It is still a document that provides strong, direct, and user-friendly help, particularly for the organization starting up, or considering starting up, its own CI unit.

As with the first edition, the book is carefully done, with an easy style, walking the reader through the entire process of CI. Given the strengths of the first book, Kirk did not have to "reinvent the wheel." He took a solid work, made a few changes to update it, added some additional charts, and replaced the entire 15 page "published sources" appendix.

What I think is most helpful is that it reflects Kirk's clear desire to give his readers something which they can use - and use right away.

The book includes direct, easily understood lessons throughout, such as "No published information should be accepted at face value....[P]ublished information should not be used for intelligence purpose until it has been confirmed with non-published sources." (p. 8-1). This warning is not an over-simplification. As Kirk says, it (and all of the other important lessons throughout) reflects his experience with hundreds of assignments.

Kirk provides in the text, and also in PowerPoint on the two accompanying disks, a set of overheads to help a new CI unit improve CI awareness within the company. These were provided on disk with the First Edition and are, as far as I know, still a unique feature. While the overheads should be adapted for each individual situation, the set provides a quick start for the individual who has to make a presentation - tomorrow - on the company's need for CI. And not only are the overheads direct and useful, there are many other helpful items, including many forms, also provided on the disks. That touch makes the adaptation of these forms smooth and relatively seamless.

Overall, the book's strength is that it reflects both Kirk's broad experience in CI as well as his personal vision of its place in the development and implementation of corporate strategy, about which he has earlier written so well.

For those starting a CI unit from scratch, or just thinking about it, I highly recommend the second edition of this thorough and lucid work.

Excellent for those who manage the CI function
There is a 2nd edition available now. Tyson's COMPLETE GUIDE is my first choice for a text that supports the instructional objectives of the capstone (graduate) CI course at Drexel University. The needs analysis portion of the text differentiates between specific CI needs at the strategic, tactical and operational levels of an organization. Through efficient discussion and extensive forms and examples, Tyson provides guidance in acquiring and distributing CI in a form that meets the learning styles and information needs of the users.

This handbook will surely frustrate those who are looking for a tutorial in the "basic" analytical skills of CI, but CI is an applied professional discipline that is grounded in the fundamental and technical knowledge of many other disciplines. Since Drexel's CI students are working professionals who often have advanced degrees in business and related scientific and technical discipline, what they need--and this book quite efficiently provides--is a managerial overview of the CI process.

I chose this text after extensive review of numerous trade and academic publications. I have not been sorry--and a number of my students have thanked me for using it. ... Read more

Book Description

One of the world's preeminent business thinkers and co-author of the bestseller, Competing for the Future, Gary Hamel helped set the management agenda for the 1990s. He now brings us into the twenty-first century with Leading the Revolution, which spent time on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week bestseller lists, among others. In his new book, Gary Hamel lays out an innovative action plan for any company or individual intent on becoming-and staying-an industry revolutionary, for years to come.By drawing on the success of "gray haired revolutionaries" like Charles Schwab, Virgin, and GE Capital-companies who are always thinking ahead of the game and growing in new directions-and profiling individuals such as Ken Kutaragi, one of the pioneers of Sony Playstation, Hamel explains how companies can continue to grow, innovate, and achieve success, even in a chaotic world market. With insight culled from years of experience, Hamel:

* Explores where revolutionary new business concepts come from
* Identifies the key design criteria for building companies that are activist-friendly and revolution-ready
* Shows how to avoid becoming "one-vision wonders"
* Demonstrates how to harness the imagination of every employee
* Explains how to develop new financial measures that focus on creating new wealth

Packed with practical advice, Leading the Revolution is an accessible read, perfect for both businesses and individuals that don't want to get caught in the slow lane in the race for success in the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Reviews (59)

Extending to the Limits of Imagination!
Leading the Revolution is an important book of business scholarship. It proposes a higher standard for companies: Constantly establishing and superbly implementing improved business models for customer interfaces, core strategy, using strategic resources, and value networks. Further, it integrates the arguments of many leading thinkers about improvement methods into one set of procedures for making faster business progress. The book also makes an excellent case for this higher standard already being in operation in companies like Enron, GE Capital, Cisco Systems, Nokia and Charles Schwab.

To those who have already are familiar with the literature of developing new business models (such as Digital Capital), little in this book will be new. For those who are very focused on gradual improvement, the arguments here will be foreign and puzzling. Because of Gary Hamel's stature, many will read this book and begin to grasp the changed nature of the leadership and management challenges of the 21st century. Because of ways the argument is articulated and illustrated, many more will miss the point. That's too bad.

Basically, Hamel is arguing that the kinds of changes that most people think of as revolutionary need to become everyday occurrences. This observation is based on an accelerating rate of uncontrollable change and resulting opportunities for innovation; an economic environment where fewer companies prosper while more become mediocre or below average; more pressure for performance from investors; rapidly developing business skills in business process, product, market and model innovation; broad human potential to imagine more and make it happen; and potential for improved communication and application of innovation.

As a strategist, he does an excellent job of outlining the key issues of these factors, and how to organize an enterprise to accomplish more with these opportunities. By providing an analytical context for understanding the phenomena, he helps others understand what he describing intellectually. For those who have not had these experiences, the descriptions will seem to be alien emotionally.

The book is designed to be a clone of Tom Peters' more flamboyantly-conceived works like The Circle of Innovation. The language is extreme, often bordering on being vulgar, and will make many people uncomfortable. That appears to be Hamel's purpose. The pages are laid out in vivid colors, photographs and graphics making it seem unlike most business books you have read before. This will make the book seem even stranger to many. That also appears to be Hamel's purpose. The downside of this approach is that many will simply reject the message along with the way it is presented. That's a missed opportunity on Hamel's part and on the reader's part. The message is more important and serious than the presentation.

On the other hand, I would like to give the editors at Harvard Business School Press credit for being flexible in working with Hamel to create the presentation of this book.

The book's biggest weakness is in using Revolution as the metaphor. Any student of revolutions will quickly tell you that revolutions usually lead to counter revolutions after a period of maximum turmoil. That's not what Hamel is talking about, so his metaphor will confuse many while annoying others who do not want to turn their organizations into revolutionary bands. He doesn't seem to mean to invoke Revolution in either sense, but he never makes that point clear.

The second biggest weakness is that he presents a new paradigm that is very complex and requires mastering vast quantities of new skills for most people. Many readers will be overwhelmed by the prospect. So if they hear Hamel as a herald, they may be discouraged about following the herald.

The third biggest weakness is drawing major conclusions from very limited data. For example, he asserts that companies that master this new paradigm will eventually end up taking over the assets of companies that do not, after getting their customers and top employees. He cites AOL's merger with Time Warner as his example of an asset takeover. Without going into a full analysis, that example does not fully match this argument. For example, Gerry Levin from Time Warner will be the surviving CEO. And there are few other examples where new model companies end up buying the assets of old model companies.

The fourth weakness is encouraging people to grasp the potential of powerful, underlying trends without giving them much help in understanding how to do this. That is a subject for an entire book, not just a few pages in one.

One surprise for many people will be that the book is aimed more at the rebels at lower levels in a company than at its formal leaders. The rebels will learn a lot about how to become more effective in pushing their new ideas. Those who think like the conventional wisdom will find much less guidance to help them. In fact, Hamel has a side bar about working as a consultant with Royal Dutch/Shell and the difficulties that people there had in coming up with new ideas until the consultants trained them. Conventional wisdom is based on very complicated psychological processes, and changing that conventional wisdom in useful ways is a subject well beyond the scope of a brief chapter.

You should think of this book as introducing the subject of constantly improving business models, and inviting others to follow and flesh it out. I look forward to future books by Gary Hamel and other leading thinkers in further developing the questions posed here.

While you contemplate an expanded purpose for business enterprises, you should also consider what other purposes should be added that Hamel has not addressed. Hamel's having posed such an important question should not stop us from trying to build even better ones.

An Operations Manual for Corporate Revolutionaries
Hamel is among the most insightful analysts of the contemporary business world. If you and/or your organization needs to be energized (or re-energized), this book is "must reading" ASAP. But a word of caution: The cohesive and comprehensive program Hamel presents is NOT for the faint of heart nor for dimwits.

In his Preface, he tells us "This is a book about innovation -- not in the usual sense of new products and new technologies, but in the sense of radical new business models. It begins by laying out the revolutionary imperative: we've reached the end of incrementalism, and only those companies that are capable of creating industry revolutions will prosper in the new economy. It then provides a detailed blueprint of what you [italics] can do to get the revolution started in your own company. Finally, it describes in detail an agenda for making innovation as ubiquitous a capability as quality or customer service. Indeed, my central argument is that radical innovation the [italics] competitive advantage for the new millennium."

The material is carefully organized as follows:

Part I Facing Up to the Revolution

Part II Finding the Revolution

Part III Igniting the Revolution

Part IV Sustaining the Revolution

Hamel concludes with these remarks: "I began this book with a simple observation -- that for the first time in history, our heritage is no longer our destiny. Our dreams are no longer fantasies but possibilities. There isn't a human being who has ever lived who right now, at this moment so pregnant with promise. Among all your forebears, among the countless generations who had no hope of progress, among all those whose spirits were betrayed by progress, you are the one who now stands on the threshold of -- the age of revolution. You are blessed beyond belief. Don't falter. Don't hesitate. You were given the opportunity for a reason. Find it. Lead the revolution."

If you and/or your organization are in the doldrums, this is "must reading." But be forewarned: As Hamel explains so carefully, being a revolutionary is to be exposed to constant perils. If you are a dimwit or faint of heart, don't bother to read this book because it was not written for you. Rather, it was written for many of those with whom you compete: People with courage and principle. People who are prudent but passionate risk-takers. Those who are determined to make a difference. Those who understand the challenges which the future offers...and will pounce on them with zeal and elan.

Hamel's new book is a stunning achievement.

BAD E_BOOK DELIVERY SYSTEM
Great book
However ... the Amazon E-Book delivery system is obtuse and takes forever to process the transaction and dispense the book ... I have the paper copy but wanted the electronic version for convenience ...

Frankly, I recommend just paying someone to take a few minutes and scan the paper versions rather then dealing with this really poor ebook delivery system

David

One of the best business books I read recently
Leading the Revolution is a successful effort to warn managers that the digital age is not about adding an "e-" in front of the word "business". It is about reinventing the way companies do business, and new business models. The book also provides the reader with an analysis of the "revolutions" that were implemented by companies such as FedEx and Cemex.

On Quantum Innovation
Gary Hamel seems to have borrowed a page out of Tom Peters' book with respect to getting provocative and challenging the reader's models of thinking. The style is breathless and evangelistic, and it seems that you are attending a lecture by Hamel.

However the message that Hamel makes is a pertinent one, even though the examples he cites may not be too great (like Enron) anymore.

The crux of his point is that organizations have to foster revolutionary thought and business models internally or else they will be thrown off by external businesses.

All in all, an engaging book, if you are the CEO of a big corporation that is not growing and are willing to try anything to reverse the trend. ... Read more

Book Description

Written by the co-founder of three successful magazines, Starting & Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine gives you the practical know-how you need to put together a profitable publication. From creating simple newsletters to fancy online publications and sophisticated magazines, it provides all the information necessary to start and run your own successful business.

Starting & Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine covers the ins-and-outs of:

*raising start-up money
*attracting the best help
*choosing the right marketing strategies
*creating a solid subscription base
*building loyalty among readers and advertisers
*competing effectively against even the biggest adversaries

The 4th edition now covers publishing successfully on a tight budget, associating with a conglomerate, entering into online advertising and securing sponsors. It also discusses unique ways to foster advertising, and melding print and the Internet into a single enterprise. ... Read more

Book Description

This complete collection of managerial skills prepares users for the work force with a comprehensive introduction to effective management conduct. The book provides a ten-step learning model that enables readers to practice and perfect their management skills. The emphasis is on teamwork, and this book shows that the effectiveness of teams within a firm contributes to the efficiency of its operation, increases productivity, and eventually enhances profitability.After a complete introduction to skills, managerial effectiveness, and self-awareness, the book proceeds to general integrative skills (interpersonal communications, diversity, ethical guideposts, managing skills and time); planning and control skills (goal setting, evaluating performance, creative problem-solving); organizing skills (designing work, selecting and developing people); and leading skills (building a power base and leading change).An excellent resource for human resource managers, organizational development workers, and corporate trainers. ... Read more

Book Description

In this path-breaking new book, best-selling author and leading go-to-market strategist Larry Friedman provides a practical and battle-tested approach for taking products, services, divisions, or even an entire company to market!

Drawing on dozens of examples and best-practices across a variety of industries, 'Go To Market Strategy' lays out a clear and actionable blueprint for building a winning go-to-market plan - one that will enable you to do more business, with more customers, more often, and more profitably.

In this book you'll find all of the techniques and tools you need to answer today's crucial go-to-market questions:

ú Which markets offer the best opportunities for profitable growth?

ú What do my target customers need?How can I do a lot more business with them?

ú What mix of channels and partners will help me reach and sell to the most customers at the lowest possible cost?

ú Do I have the right product or solution?How can I create broader customer interest in my offerings?

ú Do I have a winning value proposition?What would make the 'message' more compelling - and drive more purchasing activity?

'Go To Market Strategy' is not about incremental change. As Friedman points out, it is for executives seeking nothing less than double-digit revenue growth and the slashing of at least 10-15 percent of selling costs - absolutely realistic results that go-to-market innovators have consistently achieved. This book lays out all of the techniques used by the world's top go-to-market leaders, so you too can achieve those kinds of results, and gain a real go-to-market competitive advantage in your markets.

New thinking from the author of 'The Channel Advantage'Offers ready made go-to-market strategic planning for any organizationPractical advice and a revolutionary strategic approach to creating and retaining customers using new technologies and new channel mixes for faster, more efficient routes to market. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Well done!
Good luck finding a better book on how to pick your markets and successfully capture and serve customers, because you probably won't. This is the definitive text, EASILY one of the five or ten top marketing or general strategy books of the last ten years. The chapter on market selection has no equal in helping you understand the EXACT process to use to identify and evaluate different market segments. The chapters on channels and channel integration are the first clear explanation I've seen on the whole topic. It's just a great, great book - buy it.

The "Bible" Of Channel Strategy???????
My boss (the vice president of marketing, for a Fortune 200 media company) handed me this book and said: Read this; it is the bible of channel strategy. I noticed one of the other reviewers here also called it the Bible. Well, there is only one Bible, so let's not overdo it, people! Please! The book is impressive so far, though. I have read five chapters of nine as of this review. Go To Market Strategy's best characteristic is that it is very well written and articulate, and also, that it has a huge amount of information and new ideas for product marketing and management. There are many strategies and practical tools that my team can use immediately to improve the launch of new media services into key market segments. I do have a criticism, and that is that I do not think the author sufficiently considers the role of pricing strategy as part of a go to market strategy. For a marketing book said to be of biblical proportions, I would have expected to see more on pricing; while not completely absent, I would have to say that pricing is not the author's favorite topic. Also, some more treatment of international partnering and the global aspects of product launches would have been helpful, since most new product initiatives involve a heavy dose of int'l partnering issues. Aside from those concerns, Go To Market Strategy does live up to its reputation for being the best book in its field and the one that everybody seems to be reading. Friedman is influential as a marketing and channels theorist and practitioner, and it is clear why when reading this book. If you buy it, read the footnotes, because half of them are like little "time-outs" with amusing observations. Recommended.

can't go wrong
Attended the author's strategy workshop in NYC in December, got a freebie copy of the book...can't argue with that! Best biz book of last 3-4 years, hands down...the "Bible" of go to market. 360 degree view of market / channel / sales / partnering strategy. Shows how all pieces of puzzle fit together. Really, really, really, really like the chapters on partnering, channel integration. A+++

very helpful
This very helpful book is by author L. Friedman, whose book The Channel Advantage from 1998 or 1999 is still appreciated for its comprehensive look at channel programmes and management. This new book is broader in theme and less focused on channels as it is on general strategy issues one must confront successfully to take a product or service to the market place. As with The Channel Advantage, few business practitioners or students will be disappointed and many will appreciate the inclusion of important new ideas and concepts for managing channels and developing a comprehensive go to market programme. I found it very worthwhile reading.

Great marketing book
This is a great marketing book. No hype and no b.s., just a lot of sound, practical ideas for connecting better with your customers and doing more business with them. The theoretical ideas are very well supported by practical advice and what must be 25 or 30 useful cases examples from Corporate America (and Europe - some Asian examples would have been nice too). I thought the chapters on choosing markets and aligning with customers were especially well written and useful. I also thought the part on value propositions was eye opening and likely to lead more than a few executives to rethink whether they really have a winning message. For a marketing book, you always have to wonder whether it's serious or if it's just a bunch of stupid McKinsey 2x2 matrices. This book is one of the rare ones that trades in all those tired "cash cow" pedantics for practical, sales-oriented advice. So I give this book a solid 5 stars because I don't know what more you could want from a marketing book. Finally, the two chapters on channels are detailed, complete, well written, and full of important post dot-bomb ideas for building a new channel strategy. These two chapters alone would be well worth the cost of the book. ... Read more

Book Description

Translated by V. Harris.Japan's answer to the Harvard MBA...Written over three centuries ago by a Samurai warrior, the book has been hailed as a limitless source of psychological insight for businessmen-or anyone who relies on strategy and tactics for outwitting the competition. ... Read more

Reviews (88)

Places Musashi in an Historical Context
What I prefer about Victor Harris's translation of Musashi Miyamoto's book is the fact that Harris has gone through exacting lengths not just to present an accurate translation in the context of a 17th-century samurai, but to present Musashi in his proper historical context. As opposed to every other English translation I have read, this one includes a chapter which gives a biography of Musashi, and shows many of his creations, such as paintings (including a self-portrait), tsuba (swordguards), etc. We can see where Musashi stayed, and what his grave looks like, etc. For clarity in understanding, this volume, along with the translation by Thomas Cleary, are the best. I should justify that by explaining that I practice martial arts--for those of you looking for a business oriented edition, there are several translations and interpretations out there which are geared towards your needs. For those of you involved in the practice of martial arts, sports, or with an interest in historical strategy texts, I heartily recommend this translation!

Whay does this book discuss? Musashi's masterpiece eschews practice, and decries vanity, ego, and "secrets". Musashi was a practitioner of Zen Buddhism, and the influence of Zen philosophy can be seen everywhere in his writing. This is however, definately a book on the strategy of swordsmanship, and not a treatis on religion. Musashi Miyamoto fought in a number of duels--back in the era of true challenge matches--when usually the victor was the man left living! The realities of his times, the fact that life was so cheap and had to be guarded fiercly, and that Musashi succeeded in doing this is what makes his writing even more precious. This was the book Musashi passed on to the students of his school, the unusual two-bladed Ni-to Ryu (two-sword school). For more on the historical Musashi Miyamoto, read Makoto Sugawara's excellent (non-fiction) "Lives of Master Swordsmen".

Lacking Commentary
Many of these books are difficult to understand because they are meant to be used as study and reference guides along with a teacher. The Book of Five Rings (of which I've read 3 of the 5, and am just a few pages away from finishing) is a treatise describing Musashi Miyamoto's personal school of fighting - the school of two skies. He eschews other schools as too this or too that. They concentrate, he says, on technique rather than what swordfighting is all about - killing your opponent.

The text is dry, and the sections are short. They are intended (a) for swordfighters, and (b) to be meditated on. The principals in this book would take a swordfighter years to master. In fact, at one point he says one should study for about 3 years (he gives a specific number of weeks) and then practice for 30 or so more years.

How does this translate into my life? I'm not sure. I don't have enough of a background in swordfighting, the culture, etc. to know how these concepts apply to my life. If perhaps I had a guide, in the form of commentary, I could more easily integrate these concepts into my life. As is, however, this book isn't of much use to me, except as reference for the day when I do have commentary.

I reccomend, instead, Cleary's Classics of Strategy and Counsel. This trilogy of books includes the Art of War, Mastering the Art of War, The Lost Art of War, The Silver Sparrow Art of War, Thunder in the Sky, The Japanese Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, Ways of Warriors, Codes of Kings (which includes several works), The Art of Wealth, Living a Good Life, The Human Element, and Back to Beginnings.

In addition to the text, there is often commentary, and supplementary material that can put the text in context and aid the student on his or her journey. Amazon lists several of these as the same book...

Like poetry it suggests more than it says
Okay, so I really have no clue as to what compelled me to buy this book. I hate to admit it but it looked "pretty" and it looked "historical," so I got it. I also love the Japanese film classics starring Toshirô Mifune as the ultimate samurai warrior. Many of them illustrate a combination of charm, sophistication, humor, even comedy, with violence, ruthlessness, and arrogance. The comparative lack of graphic bloodiness tends to focus the viewer on the human dynamics and art of the situation, and while some of these classics have been translated by the Hollywood film industry for Western tastes, what transpires still has a "foreign" feel. One sees the action and senses that something going on here is different, uncomfortable. Upon reading a few paragraphs of the Book of Five Rings : The Classic Guide to Strategy, I understood why.

For one thing, I had not understood that the character in the samurai collection that Mifune had been portraying had actually been an historic individual living in a unique period of Japanese history. Why I should have been surprised, I don't know, since the exploits of the likes of Pat Garret, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holiday became the basis for a good deal of 19th and 20th Century pulp fiction, TV series, and movies in the United States. In fact, the period in Japanese history that the translator describes sounds not unlike the "Wild West." The sod busters and the ranchers have made their peace, leaving hundreds of gunmen unemployed. The lucky ones find work as lawmen while the unlucky wander the country looking to enhance their reputations by lethal confrontations to see who's "fastest on the draw." The winner may ultimately find a job as a peace keeper; the loser finds a spot on boot hill. In the case of the American western, the contestants use guns; in the case of the Japanese samurai, they use swords and other equipment. Still there seems something more to it. The something more, I think, is a philosophy, a school, an etiquette, even an art that leaves the Western mind a little uncomfortable.

With some of the techniques of sword work and battle strategy, I think that as Musashi himself informs the reader, it is very difficult to "write" how to do a mechanical task. One can only convey the "feeling" that performing such a task has for the expert writer on the subject. In modern times this facet of the learning process is overcome by photo illustrations, but even then only to a very limited extent. As the author points out, there is no substitute for experience with the process and practice, practice, practice. Even the very limited experience I acquired years ago when I took fencing lessons helped me picture more clearly some of the moves the author described.

Part of the difficulty in connecting with the author's experience as he performs the various actions of sword fighting may be that this book is a translation from the Japanese, was originally written in an older version of the language, and embodied an ancient version of the culture itself, one that is no longer available even to modern Japanese let alone a Western translator. A warrior of Musashi's time may well have connected far better with the similes he uses than a modern person. The unique benefit of this fact, however, is that a great deal can be read into the work. Part of this is the author's intention, but part of it is due to the very ambiguity of the work. Just as the author himself suggests, the reader who does not concentrate on the words but allows the mind to float over them makes all sorts of interesting discoveries. For instance a book on dealing with problem people suggested a technique much like Musashi's "To Know the Times," essentially to match the rhythm and intensity of the subject until one can gain control of that rhythm to de-escalate it. His "To Become the Enemy" immediately brought to my mind the individual characters of Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and his opponent George McClelland. As Musashi suggested, the enemy always feels he is outnumbered which means that a few may defeat many if they are trained in The Way. Or as Lee is reputed to have said before a battle, "The Army of the Potomac is a very good one, unfortunately General McClelland brought himself along." Lee understood The Way. He knew that McClelland's personality, or lack of The Way, produced vast armies of the enemy in his mind.

In all a very interesting and surprising book, one I expect to read again and again to mine for concepts. For a slender 95 pages, the author, like a good poet, has packed each word with a maximum of information because they encapsulate concepts and principles.

Valuable for the Martial Artist
The Shambala Dragon Edition of Musashi's Book of Five Rings was passed on to me several years ago by a close friend and fellow martial artist after the death of our teacher, who had given it to him. I have kept it and read it numerous times as a reference that is applicable to my own martial arts studies. Throughout, Musashi gives insight into his theories and strategies regarding what he describes as "his" martial art, namely the art of Kenjustu (Japanese Swordsmanship), specifically his own "two-sword" or "Two Heavens" school. Although it is an interesting and insightful look into Musashi's strategies for individual and collective combat, the Book of Five Rings is short on technical details, and therefore difficult to apply to one's own martial arts studies in any specific and systematic manner. This being said, Musashi's writings are still very applicable to any martial art in a generalized way. With its lack of specifics, it is easy to see how publishers and readers alike could make the stretch that the Book of Five Rings is an excellent book on personal or business strategy-- rather than trying to sell it as an outstanding treatise on martial arts. After all, there are a lot more business people and self-help readers to sell books to than there are serious students of martial arts. However, these claims are more wishful thinking and skillful marketing than actual truth. If one wants to apply Musashi's strategies to business or the non-martial life, they will have a tough time trying to translate techniques such as those "on footwork" or "stabbing the face" into effective business management or personal growth strategies. One could certainly apply Musashi's techniques metaphorially, but to do so would be to take the author's instructional commentary entirely out of context. It must be understood that Musashi's Book of Five Rings was not written for business people, or those interested in self-help techniques. It was written about martial arts, for martial artists, by an undisputed master of martial arts, and must be read with this fact in mind to be truly appreciated and understood. Every serious martial artist should own it, and study it and apply its general lessons throughout his or her martial arts career. The Shambala Dragon Edition, includes Yagyu Munenori's masterful "Book of Family Traditions and the Art of War" which is an added bonus for serious students of Japanese martial arts.

Multi-layered
On the surface this book appears to be about the martial arts, warfare, swordplay. However, a careful reading with an open mind will surprise the reader not particularly focused on those aspects. Readers who've trained themselves to read complexity and symbolism as an overlay for everyday life experiences will find a strategy for the human life experience hidden here barely beneath the surface. It's only one strategy, and not necessarily the one you'll choose to lead your own life, but it's still worth studying and comprehending. In fact, readers completely unfamiliar with martial arts will find many 'lessons in life' worth digesting.

I believe it's worth the time and effort for study in the same sense as classic Chinese and European works of similar ilk. ... Read more

Book Description

The Business Strategy Game is the #1 selling computer simulation in the strategic management market.It is the single best exercise available for helping students understand how the functional pieces of a business fit together and for providing students with a capstone experience in decision-making.The exercise of running a simulated company in a competitive market setting helps students develop better decision-making judgment and improves their skills in evaluating market and competitive conditions and responding to changes that are occurring.The BSG helps students learn from working with the numbers, exploring options, and trying to unite production, marketing, finance, and human resource decisions into a coherent strategy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Best used as a course book
At 144 pages this book is a short introductory text and workbook that is designed to introduce systems thinking. It starts by building an awareness of systems thinking as a discipline, and by providing a series of learning activities that lead you through the basics.

The two main techniques that this book teaches are (1) behavior over time graphs and causal loops, both of which are the main tools employed in systems thinking. These are also the foundation of system dynamics of which systems thinking is a subset (system dynamics uses expanded techniques such as simulation models and analysis of alternatives).

What I like about this book is the clear explanation of the basics and the use of illustrations and learning activities. I also like the summaries of system archetypes and system thinking tools included in the appendices, which provide starting points for further study. It's not the best book for self-study because it is written more as a workbook than an introductory text. As such it is best used in an instructor-led course, or in conjunction with more in-depth books about system thinking (my favorite is Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Complexity by Jamshid Gharajedaghi). ... Read more