Download or read book Competitive Advantage written by Michael E. Porter and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

Download or read book Smart Collaboration written by Heidi K. Gardner and published by Harvard Business Review Press. This book was released on 2016-12-13 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Washington Post Bestseller Not all collaboration is smart. Make sure you do it right. Professional service firms face a serious challenge. Their clients increasingly need them to solve complex problems—everything from regulatory compliance to cybersecurity, the kinds of problems that only teams of multidisciplinary experts can tackle. Yet most firms have carved up their highly specialized, professional experts into narrowly defined practice areas, and collaborating across these silos is often messy, risky, and expensive. Unless you know why you’re collaborating and how to do it effectively, it may not be smart at all. That’s especially true for partners who have built their reputations and client rosters independently, not by working with peers. In Smart Collaboration, Heidi K. Gardner shows that firms earn higher margins, inspire greater client loyalty, attract and retain the best talent, and gain a competitive edge when specialists collaborate across functional boundaries. Gardner, a former McKinsey consultant and Harvard Business School professor now lecturing at Harvard Law School, has spent over a decade conducting in-depth studies of numerous global professional service firms. Her research with clients and the empirical results of her studies demonstrate clearly and convincingly that collaboration pays, for both professionals and their firms. But Gardner also offers powerful prescriptions for how leaders can foster collaboration, move to higher-margin work, increase client satisfaction, improve lateral hiring, decrease enterprise risk, engage workers to contribute their utmost, break down silos, and boost their bottom line. With case studies and real-world insights, Smart Collaboration delivers an authoritative case for the value of collaboration to today’s professionals, their firms, and their clients and shows you exactly how to achieve it.

Download or read book Win from Within written by James Heskett and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-04 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is significant evidence that an effective organizational culture provides a major competitive edge—higher levels of employee and customer engagement and loyalty translate into higher growth and profits. Many business leaders know this, yet few are doing much to improve their organizations’ cultures. They are discouraged by misguided beliefs that an executive’s tenure and an organization’s attention span are too short for meaningful transformation. James Heskett provides a roadmap for achievable and fast-paced culture change. He demonstrates that an effective culture supplies the trust that makes managing change of all kinds easier. It provides a foundation on which changes in strategy can be based, and it’s a competitive edge that can’t easily be hacked or copied. Examining leading companies around the world, Heskett details how organizational culture makes employees more loyal, more productive, and more creative. He discusses how to quantify its effects in order to sell the notion of culture change to the organization and considers how to preserve an organization’s culture in the face of the trend toward remote work hastened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Showing how leadership can bring about significant changes in a surprisingly short time span, Win from Within offers a playbook for developing and deploying culture that enables outsized results. It is a groundbreaking demonstration of organizational culture’s role as a foundation for strategic success—and its measurable impact on the bottom line.

Download or read book The End of Competitive Advantage written by Rita Gunther McGrath and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you at risk of being trapped in an uncompetitive business? Chances are the strategies that worked well for you even a few years ago no longer deliver the results you need. Dramatic changes in business have unearthed a major gap between traditional approaches to strategy and the way the real world works now. In short, strategy is stuck. Most leaders are using frameworks that were designed for a different era of business and based on a single dominant idea—that the purpose of strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Once the premise on which all strategies were built, this idea is increasingly irrelevant. Now, Columbia Business School professor and globally recognized strategy expert Rita Gunther McGrath argues that it’s time to go beyond the very concept of sustainable competitive advantage. Instead, organizations need to forge a new path to winning: capturing opportunities fast, exploiting them decisively, and moving on even before they are exhausted. She shows how to do this with a new set of practices based on the notion of transient competitive advantage. This book serves as a new playbook for strategy, one based on updated assumptions about how the world works, and shows how some of the world’s most successful companies use this method to compete and win today. Filled with compelling examples from “growth outlier” firms such as Fujifilm, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys, Yahoo! Japan, and Atmos Energy, The End of Competitive Advantage is your guide to renewed success and profitable growth in an economy increasingly defined by transient advantage.

Download or read book Getting Ahead written by Joel A. Garfinkle and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-09-13 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading executive coach pinpoints three vital traits necessary to advance your career In Getting Ahead, one of the top 50 executive coaches in the United States, Joel Garfinkle reveals his signature model for mastering three skills to take your career to the next level: Perception, Visibility, and Influence. The PVI-model of professional advancement will teach you to: (1) Actively promote yourself as an asset and valuable person inside the organization, (2) Increase your visibility to gain others’ recognition and appreciation for your efforts and (3) Become a person of influence who makes key decisions inside the organization. Getting Ahead will put you ahead of the competition to become a known, valued, and desired commodity at your company. For more than two decades, Joel Garfinkle has worked closely with thousands of executives, senior managers, directors, and employees at the world's leading companies, and has authored 300 articles on leadership Offers detailed guidance on how to increase exposure, boost visibility, enhance perceived value for your organization, and ultimately achieve career advancement Explains how to get your name circulating among higher levels of management so others know you, see your results, and acknowledge the impact you bring to the company

Download or read book Quality Control for Profit written by Ronald H. Lester and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1992-05-22 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Epilogue: Quality Control in the Twenty-First Century -- Appendix 1: Table of Factors for Quality Control Applications -- Appendix 2: Areas Under the Normal Curve- Detailed Table -- Appendix 3: Table of Random Numbers -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index

Download or read book Radical Business Model Transformation written by Carsten Linz and published by Kogan Page Publishers. This book was released on 2017-01-03 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many companies are relying on a business model that is fundamentally suited to a different era. Now, organizations are under pressure from new trends such as digitization and servitization. Trying to adapt to a new environment, they risk relying on improvements that only scratch the surface of developing a radically different value proposition. Based on rigorous research into companies that have successfully and radically redesigned their business models, Radical Business Model Transformation shows why they made the leap, what they had to do to achieve it and how it has transformed the potential for their organizations. This book is a step-by-step guide for leaders who want to seize the opportunity of new business models and gain a competitive advantage. It explains how to assess the status quo, identify the value of future business models and develop a transformation path. It also provides advice on how to involve both the leadership team and all other employees in order to implement successful business model transformation. Illustrative case studies of organizations that have crossed the line to a more transformative business range from exponential-growth companies like Netflix and global players like Xerox, SAP and Daimler to mid-sized hidden champions like Knorr-Bremse and LEGIC. Radical Business Model Transformation is essential reading for business leaders, transformation experts and MBA students interested in ensuring that their business model is future-proof and can withstand the new proliferation of innovations that are set to transform the business landscape. Online supporting resources include a business model transformation calculator to help design your transformation path.

Download or read book Creating Competitive Advantage written by Jaynie L. Smith and published by Crown Currency. This book was released on 2006-04-25 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why should I do business with you… and not your competitor? Whether you are a retailer, manufacturer, distributor, or service provider – if you cannot answer this question, you are surely losing customers, clients and market share. This eye-opening book reveals how identifying your competitive advantages and trumpeting them to the marketplace is the most surefire way to close deals, retain clients, and stay miles ahead of the competition. The five fatal flaws of most companies: ? They don’t have a competitive advantage but think they do ? They have a competitive advantage but don’t know what it is—so they lower prices instead ? They know what their competitive advantage is but neglect to tell clients about it ? They mistake “strengths” for competitive advantages ? They don’t concentrate on competitive advantages when making strategic and operational decisions The good news is that you can overcome these costly mistakes – by identifying your competitive advantages and creating new ones. Consultant, public speaker, and competitive advantage expert Jaynie Smith will show you how scores of small and large companies substantially increased their sales by focusing on their competitive advantages. When advising a CEO frustrated by his salespeople’s inability to close deals, Smith discovered that his company stayed on schedule 95 percent of the time – an achievement no one else in his industry could claim. By touting this and other competitive advantages to customers, closing rates increased by 30 percent—and so did company revenues. Jack Welch has said, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” This straight-to-the-point book is filled with insightful stories and specific steps on how to pinpoint your competitive advantages, develop new ones, and get the message out about them. “The biggest marketing flaw in most companies is their failure to fully reap the benefits of their competitive advantages. Either they think they have a competitive advantage but don’t. Or they have one and don’t realize it. Or they know they have a strong competitive advantage but fail to promote it adequately to their customers and prospects. “In my research with middle-market companies, I found only two CEOs out of 1,000 who could clearly name their companies’ competitive advantages. The other 99.8 percent could offer only vague, imprecise generalities. These same CEOs often rely on outside consultants to guide strategic-planning sessions. Yet, in my experience, very few consultants – even seasoned ones – give competitive advantage evaluation more than a superficial glance…. “Ignoring your competitive advantages can be an expensive and even fatal mistake. Because no matter the size of your company or the kind of business you are in, your competitive advantages should be the foundation of all your strategic and operational decisions. They’re the reasons customers choose to buy from you instead of the other guy.” – From Creating Competitive Advantage

Download or read book Connected Strategy written by Nicolaj Siggelkow and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Business Models for Transforming Customer Relationships What if there were a way to turn occasional, sporadic transactions with customers into long-term, continuous relationships--while simultaneously driving dramatic improvements in operational efficiency? What if you could break your existing trade-offs between superior customer experience and low cost? This is the promise of a connected strategy. New forms of connectivity--involving frequent, low-friction, customized interactions--mean that companies can now anticipate customer needs as they arise, or even before. Simultaneously, enabled by these technologies, companies can create new business models that deliver more value to customers. Connected strategies are win-win: Customers get a dramatically improved experience, while companies boost operational efficiency. In this book, strategy and operations experts Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch reveal the emergence of connected strategies as a new source of competitive advantage. With in-depth examples from companies operating in industries such as healthcare, financial services, mobility, retail, entertainment, nonprofit, and education, Connected Strategy identifies the four pathways--respond-to-desire, curated offering, coach behavior, and automatic execution--for turning episodic interactions into continuous relationships. The authors show how each pathway creates a competitive advantage, then guide you through the critical decisions for creating and implementing your own connected strategies. Whether you're trying to revitalize strategy in an established company or disrupt an industry as a startup, this book will help you: Reshape your connections with your customers Find new ways to connect with existing suppliers while also activating new sources of capacity Create the right revenue model Make the best technology choices to support your strategy Integrating rich examples, how-to advice, and practical tools in the form of "workshop chapters" throughout, this book is the ultimate resource for creating competitive advantage through connected relationships with your customers and redefined connections in your industry.

Download or read book Business Agility written by Nicholas D. Evans and published by FT Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: m-Business technology enables you to achieve extraordinary organizational agility Ñ and deliver unprecedented value to customers wherever they are. In Business Agility, Internet Week columnist Nicholas D. Evans draws upon real case studies to illuminate today's best m-Business strategies and tactics, and offers a complete step-by-step blueprint for execution: planning, process models, architecture, implementation, and much more.

Download or read book Rare Breed written by Sunny Bonnell and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unconventional business book for the rebels and misfits—the Rare Breeds—who don’t fit the traditional mold, offering an approach that’s anything but business as usual. “Brazen rant!” -- Seth Godin, New York Times bestselling author of This is Marketing and What to Do When It’s Your Turn In every job you’ve ever had, you’ve been judged, labeled, and made to feel like an outsider. Defiant. Dangerous. Different. A real pain-in-the-ass.The message? To be successful, you’ve got to fundamentally change. But what if -- instead of conforming -- you learned how to punch society’s codes in the nose, run like a hooligan through the corridors of entrenched power, and succeed -- not by grinding down your prickly parts, but by going all-in on who you really are? “A guide for strategic rebellion.” -- Mark Levy, founder of Levy Innovation and creator of Your Big Sexy Idea® Meet Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger, award-winning global brand consultants, founders of Motto, and authors of Rare Breed: A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different. In this book, you’ll come face-to-face with seven controversial virtues that are typically seen as ladder-burning, career-ending personality traits that – convention says -- keep mavericks, oddballs, and visionaries like you from getting along, getting buy-in, and getting ahead. “A beautiful reminder that you are not alone.” -- Charlamagne Tha God, New York Times bestselling author of Black Privilege Sunny and Ashleigh provide singular insight into how you can flip the script and turn your so-called “vices” into your virtues, transforming your most “undesirable” flaws into the high-octane fuel of your success. In a world that wants to own you, you’ll finally learn how to own yourself, through embracing all your parts – not just the pretty ones. College dropouts and social misfits Sunny and Ashleigh provide front-row seats to their own counterintuitive rise from broke-ass outsiders to brand consultants for iconic brands. Success, they show you, is no longer the sole purview of the Harvard MBA graduate. Your ticket to ride resides within the side of you that’s disorderly, independent, and rogue. Deep down, you’ve always been the kid to point out when the emperor has no clothes. Yet, time and time again you’ve been faced with the consequences of deviating from social expectations. This is a new conversation for a new era. What would happen if, starting today, you walked away from the sheeple? What could you build?

Download or read book Marketing Your Event Planning Business written by Judy Allen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-05-20 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practical, prescriptive advice on successfully marketing your event planning business Recent years have been tough on the event planning industry. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, economic downturns, wars, and SARS have all negatively impacted the business. There are fewer corporate dollars dedicated to travel budgets and special events, creating even more pressure on businesses in an already highly competitive industry. This book tells you all you need to know to market your business and build your client base in good times and bad. Marketing Your Event Planning Business shows you how to gain a competitive advantage by setting yourself apart from the competition, pursuing new markets, and soliciting sales. It covers all the vital topics in event planning marketing, including how to diversify your client base, develop niche markets, improve your customer service, establish emergency business plans, and much more. Ideal for event planners, marketing managers in the industry, and professionals in the hospitality, culinary, or travel industries Includes actionable advice on successfully marketing an event planning business Features illustrative examples, practical tips, and useful checklists and other resources Marketing Your Event Planning Business is packed with practical tips and examples, giving you creative new ways to showcase your talents, build your business, and bring added value to your clients.

Download or read book Productivity Plus written by John G. Belcher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 1987 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is a straightforward system for shifting your company's productivity and profits into high gear! This book offers key management strategies for obtaining and sustaining peak performance in any company or or organization. John G. Belcher covers all aspects of productivity, including how to get top-management committment, involve and reinforce employees, and measure productivity; the role of the union; and the quality/productivity connection. This book also shares an insider's view on how a number of major companies such as Xerox, Tenneco, and Westinghouse have successfully applied the Productivity Plus system to their problemsm with meaningful bottom-line results.

Download or read book The Art of Startup Fundraising written by Alejandro Cremades and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-04-11 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Startup money is moving online, and this guide shows you how it works. The Art of Startup Fundraising takes a fresh look at raising money for startups, with a focus on the changing face of startup finance. New regulations are making the old go-to advice less relevant, as startup money is increasingly moving online. These new waters are all but uncharted—and founders need an accessible guide. This book helps you navigate the online world of startup fundraising with easy-to-follow explanations and expert perspective on the new digital world of finance. You'll find tips and tricks on raising money and investing in startups from early stage to growth stage, and develop a clear strategy based on the new realities surrounding today's startup landscape. The finance world is in a massive state of flux. Changes are occurring at an increasing pace in all sectors, but few more intensely than the startup sphere. When the paradigm changes, your processes must change with it. This book shows you how startup funding works, with expert coaching toward the new rules on the field. Learn how the JOBS Act impacts the fundraising model Gain insight on startups from early stage to growth stage Find the money you need to get your venture going Craft your pitch and optimize the strategy Build momentum Identify the right investors Avoid the common mistakes Don't rely on the "how we did it" tales from superstar startups, as these stories are unique and applied to exceptional scenarios. The game has changed, and playing by the old rules only gets you left behind. Whether you're founding a startup or looking to invest, The Art of Startup Fundraising provides the up-to-the-minute guidance you need.

Download or read book The Discipline of Market Leaders written by Michael Treacy and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2007-03-20 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic bestseller outlining tactics for any business striving to achieve market dominance What does your company do better than anyone else? What unique value do you provide to your customers? How will you increase that value next year? Drawing on in-depth studies and interviews with the top CEOs in the country, renowned business strategists Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema reveal that successful companies do not attempt to be everything to everyone. Instead, they win customers by mastering one of three "value disciplines": the highest quality products, the lowest prices, or the best customer experiences. From FedEx to Walmart, the companies that relentlessly focused on a single discipline not only thrived but dominated their industries, while once powerful corporations that didn't get the message, from Kodak to IBM, faltered. Presented in disarmingly simple and provocative terms, The Discipline of Market Leaders shows what it takes to become a leader in your market, and stay there, in an ever more sophisticated and demanding world.

Download or read book Thinking Strategically The Competitive Edge in Business Politics and Everyday Life written by Avinash K. Dixit and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1993-04-17 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The international bestseller—don't compete without it! A major bestseller in Japan, Financial Times Top Ten book of the year, Book-of-the-Month Club bestseller, and required reading at the best business schools, Thinking Strategically is a crash course in outmaneuvering any rival. This entertaining guide builds on scores of case studies taken from business, sports, the movies, politics, and gambling. It outlines the basics of good strategy making and then shows how you can apply them in any area of your life.

Download or read book Business Process Orientation written by Kevin P. McCormack and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2001-01-24 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Business Process Orientation: Gaining the E-Business Competitive Advantage provides the "why" and the "how" for building the "horizontal" organization - an essential component of the "e" in e-commerce and business. This book shows you how to weave your business processes into hard-to-imitate strategic capabilities that distinguish you from your competition. The book explores the impact that well-defined and carefully integrated processes have on organizational performance. Using the results of extensive research conducted among consumer, business-to-business, and services-based companies, the authors demonstrate that adopting a business process orientation (BPO) has a positive impact on the organizational culture and business performance. The resulting process oriented e-corporation is now positioned as a necessity not only to thrive but also to survive. The old ways of conducting business are out: pushing costs and compromising quality in order to achieve the lowest possible price. The emerging paradigm focuses on the core processes. The hallmarks of a great business still include high customer relevance, internally consistent decisions about scope and value chain activities performed, value capture mechanisms, a source of differentiation and strategic control, a sound operational system, and carefully designed processes. Business Process Orientation: Gaining the E-Business Competitive Advantage shows you how to balance your functional and horizontal orientation to create and maintain a healthy organization.