Book Description
"Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world's finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success."
-- Fortune, February 2006
For the first time, an insider reveals the formula behind Toyota's unceasing quest to innovate and do more with less, a philosophy that has made it one of the ten most profitable companies in the world (and worth more than GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda combined). In a rare look into Toyota's ability to consistently achieve breakthroughs that outperform the competition, The Elegant Solution explains what Toyota associates have known all along: it's not about the cars. Rather, Toyota's astounding success is just the visible result of a hidden creative process that begins with a seven-digit number.
One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization implements every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization -- from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how it's done. Now senior University of Toyota advisor Matthew May shows how any company can achieve an environment of everyday innovation and discover the kinds of elegant solutions that hold the power to change the game forever. World-class benchmarks like Lexus, Prius, Scion -- even Toyota's vaunted production system -- are simply shining examples of elegant solutions.
A tactical playbook for team-based innovation, The Elegant Solution delivers powerful lessons in breakthrough thinking in a provocative yet practical guide to the three core principles and ten key practices that shape successful business innovation. Innovation isn't just about technology -- it's about value, opportunity, and impact. When a company embeds a real discipline around tapping ingenuity in the pursuit of perfection, the sky is the limit. Dozens of case studies (from Toyota and other companies) illustrate the universal power and applicability of these concepts. A unique "clamshell strategy" prepares managers to successfully lead and sustain the innovation effort.
At once a thought-starter and a taskmaster, The Elegant Solution is a vital prescription for anyone wanting to truly master business innovation.
Customer Reviews:
The Elegant Solution.......2007-10-08
This is an excellent (and yes, elegant) overview of the Toyota quality "mindset." The book is a "must read" for for anyone interested in business strategy development. The book offers a readable summary of the principles of the Toyota Way with an emphasis on the development of the Lexus and Prius lines including practical examples of the elements of the approach advocated. When a company has amassed assets greater than GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW and Honda combined, their approach may be worth deeper study. I highly recommend this practical, important, and very readable book.
Nice stories, little new content.......2007-08-27
I excepted a lot from the elegant solution. It has been recommended by a lot of persons as a must read. Honestly, I was dissapointed. It's still an good book, but didn't find it as "classic" as people had suggested to me.
"The elegant solution" is about tools for creating innovation on your job. These tools are based on Toyota's tools and practices. The book is devided in three parts. The first part sets three general principles. The second part, by far the largest, provides the tools for innovation, the practices. The last part talks about implementing these practices.
The three principles are "the art of ingenuity", "pursuit of perfection" and "rhythm of fit". They were interesting principles, but not really new or shocking. Sometimes I found them even a little too vague.
The practices range from "thinking in pictures" to "master the tension". Each chapter shortly states the practice and explains the key ideas. After that it uses stories to clarify the practice. Lot's of stories are from inside Toyota. Some stories related to Lance Armstrong, a little too many in my opinion and they were somewhat boring. Anyways, in general, the stories were what made the book interesting.
The third part didn't provide very much content.
In summary, I enjoyed the book, for the stories. I didn't find the practices new and the book didn't provided me with any new insight that other lean books did not provide. The book was written a little bit too much in a "popular style" which annoyed me.
Worth reading for the stories. When wanting to know more on lean or toyota I'd recommend other books like "Toyota way" or "Lean product and process development".
Good nuggets, lots of fluff, some really sloppy thinking.......2007-08-22
I came to this book via the Shampoo Problem that's been floating around the internet these past couple of weeks (which he published in his Change This manifesto). The puzzle is this - a high-end health club puts nice shampoo in their showers, but customers keep stealing it. How do you implement a solution that takes no time to implement, doesn't inconvenience customers at all, and doesn't require any money? That's a lot of constrictions, but the author claims it can be done! (you can search for the answer yourself, I don't want to spoil your fun.)
The question itself reminded me of so many bad professors who would ask totally subjective questions and disregard legitimate answers until they found someone who agreed with them. "Who can give me an example of an apple that's tasty? Macintosh? No too sweet. Granny smith? No too bitter. Golden delicious? Why yes Bobby, you get a star."
This is the tone in my head while I read the book - condescending. Maybe he didn't write it that way, but that's how I'm reading it, and honestly, it fits. On page 21 he chides psychologists for loving "to explain our uniquely hardwired capabilities in hugely complex terms. Sixteen types, thirty-four strengths, etc." and then goes on to give his "easier, more elegant" (but no less arbitrary "four basic buckets of natural ability." (Four because the ancient Greeks loved the number four.) Of course, what he fails to mention is that the psychologists he's referring to all write for pop magazines like Cosmopolitan and their articles appear alongside such classics as "10 ways to improve your sex life" and "5 ways to tell if your man is cheating on you." He also never mentions the "four basic buckets of natural ability" again and they have absolutely no bearing on the rest of the book. (The book is filled with useless random made up facts like those.)
He also throws out sentences that have huge presumptions built in to them, but have absolutely no evidence to back them up. Stuff that, in a seminar you wouldn't want to question him on because "there is no right answer" or the facts are obscure enough that he could bluster his way though most arguments that weren't from an expert on the subject. In book form, though, and knowing better myself, I read this stuff and think "well there's a very poor and inaccurate description." Luckily there's an only 50% chance that even the next sentence will depend on you agreeing with that statement, much less the next page.
In a later section he rehashes "the scientific method" (I put it in quotes because he botched his basic characterization of it) and compares it to other four step iterative processes, mostly those developed by the military - Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA), Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA), Scan-Analyze-Respond-Assess (SARA), etc. and comes up with his own version, cleverly called IDEA - Investigate, Design, Execute, Adjust. It's not much different than the others, but it's his and he can teach it in seminars as his own. FWIW, "While Toyota officially recognizes only PDCA (not IDEA), they actually use all of these (methodologies) to some degree." (page 73-4)
Well of course they use all of the methodologies to some degree - they all describe the same basic thing, and very few organizations are so button-down that they actually only use a single methodology and follow it to the letter each time.
The very next sentence is "Let's look closer at the process." But that's pretty much the last time PDCA is mentioned in the book, the next section is about process in general and why it's good to "Insist on a common approach."
Another example of sloppy leaps in logic and condescending attitude is the Edsel. (page 93) Ford did their research and designed a car that people would want - except nobody wanted it. Why? "The problem was, all the research was based on a forty-year-old market belief... that buyers fell into one of four income segments: low, low-middle, upper-middle, and upper... Except markets don't think that way. When it comes to cars, consumers were thinking `lifestyle,' not income."
I like how he swaps an old marketing tool for a modern one as if that's the answer to all the world's problems. Lifestyle marketing was originated in the 70's and 80's as a result of - surprise surprise - new market research techniques developed by psychologists who were using statistical analysis more and more in their psychological research. (I wonder if he thinks those psychologists are too complex now.)
He also utterly fails to get into the concept of lifestyle marketing - he tells you why the Edsel failed, and what they should have done, (or his completely arbitrary and baseless versions of them) but what they should have done is literally one word. "lifestyle." Shame on Ford in the 1950's for not using an 80's marketing concept to understand how the market thinks. Why didn't they use the word "lifestyle" instead - then the Edsel would have been a huge success.
Hansei is another example of this sloppy, condescending thinking. "Hansei is the rigorous review conducted after action has been taken. It's a huge and absolutely vital part of learning. And with few exceptions, our Western culture is just plain miserable at it." Of course there's not one mention of the term "post-mortem" which is a western term and performs the exact same function. Sure most businesses don't do it (most businesses don't follow a lot of best practices), but don't pretend that Toyota or "Eastern culture" somehow invented the concept and that nobody in the west does it. If there's an existing best practice that we understand, then why not just tell us about it rather than pretending that it came from the fount of the Toyota godhead?
"Ford hadn't gone to the field to see what was actually happening. They remained in the office and believed the data. Big mistake. The Edsel was dead on arrival, a complete and utter failure."
Of course the next chapter is about how Toyota did the same basic thing, but managed to succeed. Their data told them that the youth of today would be the car buyers of tomorrow (startling, I know). The case study for the Scion reveals absolutely nothing about the techniques they used to study the market - it's the after report.
"Where are these kids going to buy the car? There's no time or money for new stores. That's a problem. That means they go to a Toyota store. Okay, so they'll know it's a Toyota. How do we get around that? Think? We don't. It's not the ugly stepchild. It's legit, but different. It's Scion, offspring of Toyota. Don't ignore the Toyota link, it's got cred...."
Note the use of the magical word "Think" in that paragraph. He totally neglects to address what "Think" means. Think is the Elegant part of the solution (he also likes the word "Intuitive" and uses it liberally), yet he doesn't describe it at all.
"Think" is where all the magic happens. Katie Lucas calls this the "Run really, really fast" step for "how to win a marathon" methodologies. It's the step where all the real difficult, nitty-gritty stuff magically happens. South Park summarizes it "Step 1: Steal underpants. Step 2...... Step 3: Profit."
Ostensibly the whole book is about that one word "Think" but the tools he provides - the IDEA loop, mind mapping, story boarding are nothing new, and the book is utterly lacking a cohesive whole. They're just scattered ideas, praised one second, and then dropped in the next chapter. He even mentions the Toyota "dashboard" which is a tool for getting a quick overview of a problem - except he (again) utterly fails in to a dashboard. "Dashboard" doesn't even appear in the index of the book, and if it did, the only occurrence would be on page 113.
Here's all the text on page 113. "Creative Visual Control - Visual control is an integral part of Toyota's methodology. The Project Management Office of Toyota's North American Parts Operation (NAPO) used creative visual `dashboards' to track performance in their Stretch Goals Initiative (see Chapter 9)."
Chapter 9 is on how to stretch goals, not about dashboards. He clearly states "Visual control is an integral part of Toyota's methodology" yet it's explained nowhere in the book in any depth.
In fairness, Toyota did do something Ford didn't do (or at least something he claims Ford didn't do) - they got to know their market. Really engage them and have a conversation with them. Learn about them, and let those learnings drive their product, and he does get into that in the book.
The main thrust of the book - if I can understand it all because it's couched in so many superlatives and it jumps from topic to topic so fast that it's really difficult to tease core themes out - seems to be something like: Move forward by getting hands-on experience with your product and your customers. Don't dictate strategy based on numbers alone, or build bureaucracies - get down and dirty and get to know the product you're selling and get to know the marketplace. Come up with grand "elegant" visions for the future, but innovate little by little - tiniest bit by tiniest bit. Listen to everyone and implement every good idea, then standardize it so that the whole company benefits. Don't let the numbers do all the talking; learn the context, the story behind the numbers. Which is a pretty good message, and he does give you some tools to do that, but the tools are often vague, and you feel that the real tools are mentioned only in passing.
The subtitle of the book is "Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation." If this book was about the "formula" for Coca-Cola, it would say something like "cola syrup and seltzer" and go on about the intuitive and elegant way they matched cola syrup to the bubbling process and created a dynamic new soft drink and how the other soft drink companies of the day - lemonade, sugar-water and apple-juice - failed to really understand the problem, which is why they didn't come up with the cola + seltzer combination first and why they lost so much market share. (If only apple juice had thought "lifestyle" instead of "income segment!")
Overall, it's an okay read and a decent introduction to the subject of business innovation, though for a book that's supposedly written by a guy who's on the ground floor with this stuff, I would expect a *lot* more meat and a lot less fluff. Get it if you think you'll like it, but don't expect as much as the other reviewers seem to be hinting at.
"Keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow.".......2007-05-22
The subtitle of this book ("Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation") is not inaccurate but somewhat misleading. Although, yes, Matthew E. May has much of interest and value to say about the Toyota Production System, his attention is by no means limited to it and to the remarkable organization within which it was developed and within which it continues to flourish. Today, Toyota is one of the ten most profitable companies in the world and worth more than General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda...combined. Obviously there are reasons for such extraordinary success but it would be incorrect to assume that other organizations can achieve the same success once they know what Toyota's "formula for mastering innovation" is.
What about this book's title? According to May, "Elegance isn't about being hoity-toity. It's not about lofty concepts and grand designs. It's not about beauty or grace, or anything to do with aesthetics - ugly is okay. Elegance is about something much more profound. It's about finding the `aha' solution to a problem with the greatest parsimony of effort and expense. Creativity plays a part. Simplicity plays a part. Intelligence plays a part. Add in subtlety, economy, and quality, and you get elegance...Elegant solutions relieve creative tension by solving the problem in finito as it's been defined, in a way that avoids creating other problems that then need to be solved. Elegant solutions render only new possibilities to chase and exploit. Finally, elegant solutions aren't obvious, except, of course, in retrospect."
Elegant solutions include library, paper money, pencil, wallet, wristwatch, icebox, mortgage, Social Security, credit card, cell phone, and auto leasing. These and other elegant solutions, as May correctly points out, "universally change the world's attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and habits." Efforts to formulate elegant solutions are guided and informed by three principles: ingenuity in craft, pursuit of perfection, and fit with society. "They're the raison d'etre at Toyota, and nonnegotiable."
Earlier, I suggested that this book takes a close look at the mindset and the process by which Toyota continues to formulate elegant solutions. In fact, the Toyota organization implements a million ideas a year. May also includes within his narrative dozens of non-Toyota cases that indicate that none of the individual concepts are new, or even unique to Toyota. All organizations that formulate elegant solutions have people at all levels and in all areas of operation who possess both an ability and a determination to collectively and completely master all of the concepts as "a way of life, not a program centered on select teams led by specialists with artificial agendas."
But what about much smaller organizations, especially those with severely limited resources? Decision-makers in those organizations will be delighted (and perhaps surprised) to find that May provides a wealth of material that they can immediately put to use, once they understand the "deeper principles" that he discusses in Part I and the "ten key practices supported by tools and techniques" that he discusses in Part II. Then in Part III, May explains "how to put the practices and tools together well to achieve a [desired] result." He helps his reader to track the course of an exemplary team through a day of searching for the elegant solution.
For me, some of the most interesting and valuable material is provided in Chapter 12, "Make Kaizen Mandatory," as May poses again (as he does in other chapters) a combination of Problem, Cause, and Solution:
Problem: Innovation is hit or miss.
Cause: Creativity is misdirected and mismanaged.
Solution: Embed the kaizen ethic.
After a brief review of the factors that came together to help embed the kaizen ethic in Japanese business ethic during the decade or so following World War Two, he goes on to explain that at companies such as Toyota, the key issue is that they view kaizen in terms of standards that are created by the individuals performing the work, and, that standards are dynamic, and not everything gets standardized. These companies establish a best practice, document the standard, and train accordingly. Then in the next chapter, May shares his thoughts about "the power of lean" thinking and execution that reduce (if not eliminate) inconsistency, overload, and (most important) waste. Here is another combination:
Problem: Too many, too much - of everything.
Cause: Assumption that more is better.
Solution: Start thinking lean.
Once again, when it comes to innovation and designing solutions, the emphasis remains the same: "whatever you do, keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow."
And that is what elegance really is all about.
Easy Reading.......2007-03-25
A must read for learning how to implement and sustain continuous improvement enabking lean to become part of the compny's culture
Book Description
Consumer Behavior, 9/e, by Hawkins, Best, & Coney offers balanced coverage of consumer behavior including the psychological, social, and managerial implications. The new edition features current and exciting examples that are tied into global and technology consumer behavior issues and trends, a solid foundation in marketing strategy, integrated coverage of ethical/social issues and outlines the consumer decision process. This text is known for its ability to link topics back to marketing decision-making and strategic planning which gives students the foundation to understanding consumer behavior which will make them better consumers and better marketers.
Book Description
One of the key determinants of success for today’s high-technology companies is product strategy—and this guide continues to be the only book on product strategy written specifically for the 21st century high-tech industry. More than 250 examples from technological leaders including IBM, Compaq, and Apple—plus a new focus on growth strategies and on Internet businesses—define how high-tech companies can use product strategy and product platform strategy for competitiveness, profitability, and growth in the Internet age.
Customer Reviews:
very good - lots of examples.......2007-01-19
the Core Strategic Vision approach for determining strategy is interesting, and is a good framework to develop a realistic vision.
The boundaries test to determine whether your vision will deliver what you expect (it forces you to expect something!) is something companies can't forget.
And the vision of a set of product's as not only one offering, but as one containing a platform and its pre-planned offerings, with pricing strategy, is essential to get profits for a long time.
It is full with examples, specially from the software arena. Recommended.
Comprehensive coverage.......2006-03-12
This book offers a study of the strategic options for high tech firms. The coverage is wide and detailed. This is a great book.
A first approach to Product Strategy.......2006-01-31
A big number of business examples, and good explanation of concepts. A deeper vision could be found in another books about this subject, so in my oppinion this book could be a good starting point, not recomended for advanced IT product managers.
targeted for core products at large companies.......2004-05-22
I love this book: the concept of a "vector" for product
development is a terrific way to think about competition.
IMHO, this book is a must-read for all product managers,
product marketers and people involved in strategic decisions,
i.e. all senior executives.
That said, speaking as a five-time startup engineer, the advice
and examples in this book seem geared towards the core product
lines in larger companies, where you can credibly talk about
"two years from now" as opposed to wondering if you'll even be
in business, which is also the problem for new product lines at
large companies. The experience for the book comes from the
PRTM consulting firm, which was made famous for their work with
parallel product development at Intel. We hired them in the
early days at Inktomi, and found mixed success with their
process because we were terrified of immediate failure, and
they wanted to talk about version 3. Obviously, there's a
successful middle ground because Inktomi was a huge success in
the short term, but ultimately lost its strategic direction.
watch out cost to implement in ur office before do it.......2003-12-05
For example, author addressed the benefits to have a product platform strategy are focusing managemnet on key decision at the right time;enabling products to be deployed rapidly and consistently; encouraging a longer-term view of product strategy; leveraging significant operational efficiencies; helping management anticipate replacing a major product platform.
However, he may forget to remind readers that these require cost before enjoying the benefits, such as you need to hire a new tier of middle management if you company is too small to afford before; to establish the new channel capabilities to justify the investment on the platform bcz to access new markets; the IT system to calculate operation efficiencies such as engineering head count, material cost, and supply chain cost is also not cheap if you only have the option to use turn-key solution.....
It may be reasonable to equip product platform strategy only when benefits are greater than costs.
Book Description
As retailers have become more powerful and global, they have increasingly focused on their own brands at the expense of manufacturer brands. Rather than simply selling on price, retailers have transformed private labels into brands. Consequently, manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble now compete with their largest customers: major retail chains like Carrefour, CVS, Tesco, and Wal-Mart.
The growth in private labels has huge implications for managers on both sides. Yet, brand manufacturers still cling to their outdated assumptions about private labels.
In Private Labels: Competing With and Against Store Brands, Nirmalya Kumar and Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp describe the new strategies for private labels that retailers are using, and challenge brand manufacturers to develop an effective response. Most important, they lay out actionable strategies for competing against—or collaborating with—private label purveyors.
Packed with detailed international case studies, valuable visuals, and hands-on tools, Private Labels enables managers to navigate profitably in this radically altered landscape.
Customer Reviews:
Private Label in Mexico.......2007-08-16
I think this book is very illustrative about the US retail market and maybe something about Europe.
I'm a private label advisor in México and think it is relevant that the specialist in PL take a deep view in the concept of PL in my country
First book on PL from re-known academic authors.......2007-08-09
Private labels are everything but generic. Very inspiring book from re-known authors, the private label issue just deserved it after so many years growing consistently. For sure a must read for anyone interested in looking for ways to fight private label. Don't expect to find a silver bullet, it has more to do with a combination of set of actions over time.
An absolute "must-read" for anyone involved in branding responsibilities or branding strategy........2007-06-09
Marketing professors Nirmalya Kumar and Jan-Benedict E.M. Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge, a tell-it-like-it-is expose of how the old days of packaging generic brands in white wrapping and black lettering have passed. Today, the once-powerful brand manufacturers find themselves in direct competition for shelf space with the chains that are their biggest customers, like Tesco and Wal-Mart. Too many companies are still building their strategies around outdated myths that Private Label Strategy debunks. Chapters of Private Label Strategy cover how to compete on price with private labels, how to compete on quality with premium store brands, how to use private labels to maximize retailer profitability, how to cultivate innovation, and much more. "The financial community, of course, presses companies to be specific on the anticipated numbers because it makes the work of the analysts easier. But it may not be wise to play along with this game. For example, Nestle has a policy of not promising specific financial targets but instead articulating its strategy and letting analysts do the work of computing the expected numbers." An absolute "must-read" for anyone involved in branding responsibilities or branding strategy.
John Kenny.......2007-03-07
There's an increasing number of books being written on how manufacturers need to wake up to the power of retailers. What makes this book one of the best I've read is its comprehensiveness and detail. Looking at both the US and Europe (where the phenomena is more developed), the authors lay out the different types of private label strategies with rich case studies and hard data. If you want your senior management/clients to start addressing private label, this book is a gold mine.
Private Label Strategy.......2007-02-22
I really look forward to see Private Label Strategy because I work in retail business & just launched Private label paints & tools in October 2006. I want to know what is the right strategy I should go ,how to manage manufacturing brands , & how to deal with manufacturing company. Private Label Strategy answers all of my question.
Part one Retailer Strategies makes me not only thinking about dumping price to compete with manufacturing brands but also quality .Page 58 is very helpful how to success with premium store brands.Retail brand portfolios is a must I should do. Page 107 give me the summary of successful retailer private label strategies.At the bottom line, everybody wants profit. Chapter 7 maximizing retailer profitability using private label make me not mislead by looking only at gross margin . I have to do profitability analysis otherwise I will go bankrupt.
Part two Manufacturer strategies . Like chinese old words said " knowing oneself & knowing the opponent. This part makes me know what manufacturing companies thinking, what strategies & how to make use of those companies.
I would say that Private Label Strategy is the book you can't miss indeed.
Average customer rating:
- DOUG MILLSTIEN IS OUT OF THIS WORLD
- Setting your brand on fire.
- my review
- Not Hype! A System for Reality...and innovation.
- Beyond the Frontiers - A genetic approach to the Brand
|
Firebrands: Building Brand Loyalty in the Internet Age
Doug Millison , and
Michael Moon
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
| Business Ethics
| Consolidation & Merger
| Decision-Making & Problem Solving
| Distribution & Warehouse Management
| Industrial
| Information Management
| Leadership
| Management
| Management Science
| Motivational
| Negotiating
| Operations Research
| Planning & Forecasting
| Pricing
| Production & Operations
| Project Management
| Quality Control
| Risk Assessment
| Statistics
| Strategy & Competition
| Systems & Planning
| Systems Analysis
| Teams
| Total Quality Management
| Training
Advertising
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Marketing
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| E-commerce
| Industries & Professions
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Web Marketing
| Business & Culture
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
Internet
| Home Computing
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
| Internet & Education
| Online Searching
| Web Browsers
| Web for Kids
General
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master
-
Marketing by the Dashboard Light
ASIN: 0072124490 |
Book Description
This book explains digital branding and how to implement it in the current marketplace.
Download Description
This book explains digital branding and how to implement it in the current marketplace.
Customer Reviews:
DOUG MILLSTIEN IS OUT OF THIS WORLD .......2007-08-07
This person cant write if his life depended on it, i read it and now used it for a door stop. I wouldnt recommend this to anyone. I might use it if hes lucky for my son to sit on at the dinner table.
Setting your brand on fire........2001-06-09
There are so many books on the market that discuss the concept of 'brand' from so many different points of view, that it's difficult to sort out the good from the bad. This is one of the good ones.
Moon and Millison define the basic concepts around brand. They explain in clear buzzword-light language what influences the growth and positioning of a brand. Finally, they provide ample and well-explained pointers to further reading to help understand some of their basic ideas more clearly.
As a consultant working for a systems integrator, one of the things that impressed me the most was the focus on execution. Many books about branding seem to imply that the technical details are irrelevant to brand success, but _Firebrands_ makes the point that a relationship with a customer only has brand value when supported by appropriate policies, training, and technical infrastructure. This is a message that can't be, IMO, repeated often enough.
Well worth the time to read.
my review.......2001-03-08
I have read Firebrands and found it extremely useful. As a systems integrator in St. Louis, I have used this book to help my clients understand the importance of a technical infrastructure in building a vibrant brand.... Mind you, this is not a 60 second brand manager book.
Not Hype! A System for Reality...and innovation........2001-03-05
Firebr@nds is not a bedside book, it's a cookbook, a tool for being AT CAUSE when it comes to building successful, powerful communications for the internet.
As a Technology Interface Architect , the building of brand into the interaction of the product is vital to it's success.
My clients over the past 12 years have been besieged by what appears to them this mysterious thing out there that will grow over some process, that we will somehow invoke, and it will be successful if the powers that be are on our side.
This book makes it all very clear, while eliciting sympathy for all of us who have built brands. A genuine appreciation for its complexity is gained as you read a systemization of brandbuilding in Firebr@ands.
Moon has given us a thorough and deep taxonomy for building the brand from many different pragmatic angles. The dramatic distinctions in language make it easy to use the language as a tool in any company when it comes to educating organizations in building brand.
This is a book that I will return to over and over again as I help my clients grow their products into the future. It was a very brave, and necessary book to write. BRAVO!!!!
Beyond the Frontiers - A genetic approach to the Brand.......2001-03-01
As the Chief Technical Officer of a Texas based e-services and print communication firm, I live in this interactive brandspace on a daily basis. The problem with this brave new world of pixels is simply that much is said and much is written but little intelligent communication occurs. I find the innovative and far reaching approach taken by Michael Moon to be the de facto foundation for the next "big thing".
The approach that one must take to these new media spaces and channels is not readily discernible from the clearly defined trails blazed in the more traditional areas of branding. This new territory is as different as the Earth is from the Moon [no pun intended]. The book travels beyond the areas marked as "unknown - there be dragons here" and opens a clear and understandable path into formerly mysterious areas.
What we need out here in the field is less hype and more substance. Firebrands is a rational, ground breaking treatise on the evolution of Branding. This is a pivotal work that serves as a wonderful deskside companion, as indispensible to me as my spell checker or my browser.
Michaels' best practices mental evolution from the time of the Jeff Martin led Digital Brand Building Seminars of the mid-90's to this opus show an extraordinary depth and breadth of thought and research . The Firebrands book is the Gray's Anatomy of Brand "science".
As my company moves forward with ground breaking, market defining services in the area of brand guaranty we will continue to consult the Firebrands roadmap. We anxiously await any follow-up materials that might come from this mind trust.
Be warned - this is not a shallow pop-business, executive book of the hour read. This is a genetic level approach to a new mindset. It must be read slowly, deliberately, and with a totally open mind. The graphics are not simply illustrative they are literally a book unto themselves. Read this brandspace atlas one chapter at a time, review the graphics, and with time and reflection you will understand.
Book Description
Develop customer-focused, market-driven strategies for today's competitive marketplace. . .
Industrial Marketing Strategy
Widely regarded as a classic text in the field, Industrial Marketing Strategy, Third Edition shows you, as a practicing manager, how to develop the marketing strategies your business needs to succeed in a rapidly evolving global marketplace. This important book covers:
- The basic concepts of customer analysis, buying behavior, buyer-seller relationships, market segmentation and targeting, and positioning
- Proven, concrete, strategic management techniquesârather than a rote enumeration of the functions and institutions of industrial marketing
- Guidelines for implementing the value proposition through distribution and marketing communications
- The role of marketing in the broader context of business and corporate-level strategic planning
- Special sections on product development, national account management, customer service, information technology, and price signaling
Customer Reviews:
Probably the standard work on industrial marketing today........1997-06-03
Frederick Webster's 3rd ed. of Industrial Marketing Strategy offers a comprehensive review of business-to-business marketing. This is an excellent overview for the business executive and the general marketing practitioner. The sections on buying behavior and buyer-seller relationships are a good review of those processes that influence customers to buy.
The book is a rational academic review of the marketing process. Unfortunately, Webster, like most books on the subject, does not address the irrational aspects of the industrial customer's behavior.
All-in-all this is still the most comprehensive single volume review of industrial marketing currently available.
Warren D. Smith, CPC.
Venture Marketing Inc.
ventmktinc@aol.com
Book Description
Once every decade a book comes along that becomes the standard in a field of study, the indispensable reference that every thoughtful practitioner must have on the shelf. Like Samuelson in Economics, Drucker in Management, and Porter in Strategy, Rayport and Jaworski have written what leaders in the New Economy are calling the standard in e-commerce strategy formulation.
e-Commerce presents managers and strategists with road-tested frameworks for competing in the New Economy. This presentation is organized to facilitate the decision-making process for formulating e-commerce enterprise strategy. The text progresses from framing market opportunities to a discussion of New Economy business models, customer interfaces, and communication and branding issues through to implementation, evaluation, and valuation of the online enterprise.
The textbook and companion casebook, E-Commerce and Cases in E-Commerce, are the first volumes produced for the McGraw-Hill/MarketspaceU learning series on e-commerce. McGraw-Hill/MarketspaceU have formed an alliance to develop and deliver exceptional higher education teaching materials on the latest business practices and theories by leading thinkers in the field of e-commerce. McGraw-Hill/MarketspaceU aim to equip present and future executives, managers, and strategists in becoming successful creators of value in the new economy. To accomplish this goal the alliance offers a multi-media suite of cutting-edge tools to help navigate the world of e-commerce. These tools include E-Commerce and Cases in E-Commerce, MarketspaceU.com, the McGraw-Hill Online Learning Center (OLC), and the McGraw-Hill E-Business Power Web.
MarketspaceU is part of Marketspace, a Monitor Group company. Monitor Group is a family of professional services firms linked by shared ownership, management philosophy and assets. Monitor’s roots can be traced back to the Harvard Business School – where a number of its founders studied and taught in the 1980s. Marketspace was founded in 1998. Jeffrey Rayport and Bernie Jaworski (two of its founders) are the principal authors of the first books produced by the McGraw-Hill/MarketspaceU alliance.
e-Commerce has already received early critical acclaim from academic and Internet business leaders:
“Rayport and Jaworski have defined the ‘space’. e-Commerce is a primary weapon in the e-business frontier. Do not let your competitors read this book--buy every copy…” Jeff Taylor, Founder and CEO, Monster.com
“Finally someone has put it all together! These leading thinkers have put in one place a brilliant and comprehensive framework for thinking through, planning, teaching and managing e-Business. And – beyond that – this book is a portal to a stream of the most complete set of online, video, and other resources for e-Business learning to date. Great insights. Powerful tools.” Ralph Oliva, Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets and Professor of Marketing, Pennsylvania State University
“e-Commerce is the first textbook to show how firms gain competitive advantage in the New Economy. The authors introduce a number of new and innovative concepts, frameworks, and tools that benefit both students and managers. This book is destined to become the standard New Economy text in leading MBA programs.” John Quelch, Dean, London Business School
“This is a wonderfully designed pedagogical device. The chapters build foundationally, so as to empower the student to deal with unique New Economy concepts, like the DCF approach to valuation etc., towards the end. The chapters are filled with case vignettes, viewpoints, and thought bytes that draws the self-selected reader in, and engages them in a sophisticated debate regarding the Internet economy. The highlight of the book, for me, was the way linkages were provided to existing management concepts. Thus the reader is not left wondering what the connection to the old paradigm is, in fact the reader gets a working dose of those ideas in the book chapters. This makes the book a stand-alone, comprehensive text with a cutting-edge tone and content.” Kastori Rangan, Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration Harvard Business School
Customer Reviews:
Obscure and too expensive.......2002-12-27
As a professor of ecommerce I think that the authors have unnecesarily obscured a subject that deserves a better prose and a more logical thread of reasoning.Theirs is a text written for other academicians and contributors to the HBR, not for students, unless they are candidates to a very high academic degree. ...
Much more than eCommerce.......2001-08-16
This book is about much more than eCommerce. It is the handbook for doing business in the "New Economy". I have taught ecommerce courses in several universities and am familair with most of the titles avialable on this subject: none of them even come close. Read and study this book now before the competiton does.
The Bible of E-Commerce Strategy.......2000-12-22
Comprehensive and clear. A must read for anyone serious about winning in the E-Commerce space.
Average customer rating:
- Outdated
- Don't bother buying this book
- Very good, but dated
- A second edition is urgently needed
- A very practical book - I love it !
|
Principles of Internet Marketing
Ward Hanson
Manufacturer: South-Western College Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Advertising
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Marketing
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Web Marketing
| Business & Culture
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
E-Commerce
| Business & Culture
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
Internet
| Home Computing
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
| Internet & Education
| Online Searching
| Web Browsers
| Web for Kids
General
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Marketing
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Computers & Internet
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
E-Marketing (4th Edition)
-
Planning Your Internet Marketing Strategy: A Doctor Ebiz Guide
-
Advertising on the Internet, 2nd Edition
-
Internet Marketing
-
World Wide Web Marketing: Integrating the Web into Your Marketing Strategy, 3rd Edition
ASIN: 0538875739 |
Book Description
This pioneering textbook lays the foundation for using the most exciting marketing medium in decades. It shows what makes the Internet new and different, what techniques work and which don?t, and how the Internet is creating value for customers and profits for companies. Most importantly, it shows how Internet Marketing fits into the rest of an organization?s marketing strategy.
Customer Reviews:
Outdated.......2007-01-26
Well intentioned, and a good overview.... for 1999. The web and the world have changed substantially since the book was published.
Don't bother buying this book.......2005-11-09
I am a high-tech marketing manager and an adjunct professor. From both the real-world business side as well as the academic side, I found this book to have little value. It spends page after page on general issues regarding Internet Marketing, and never gets to anything that could be used or implemented in the business world. Topics are explained without giving specific details as to how to implement the Internet Marketing idea. A very specific example is a description of viral marketing which the author refers to as "Creating a Wave." The short section goes on to say that free media, publicity and word of mouth are important. Of course they are. But how do you get them? I feel sorry for the students that are required to purchase this book. I guess they'll have to learn Internet Marketing on the job. I'm glad I only paid $10 for this book used instead of the $90+ list price.
Very good, but dated.......2003-10-16
This is a classic. One of the most serious earlier works on the topic. Professor Hanson brought a very solid theoretical framework to Web marketing. The book came at a time when we finally all wanted to get more rigouros with the "New Economy". I perused it again recently for a seminar I am giving, and it is still an excellent reference book. I would give four stars to an updated edition. I don't know if they are planning it.
A second edition is urgently needed.......2003-04-10
I used the first edition in one of my e-commerce courses. While the book migth still deserve 3 stars it is very much dated and my students had to do much additional research in the net to round most of the topics.
A very practical book - I love it !.......2001-05-06
This is a great book on internet marketing. Unlike many other books on similar subjects I have read , I found this book most practical - and closest to the need in the real business world ! Lots of very interesting case studies in it, and most important of all, the book contains a lot of very useful and updated researches and statistics that confirms a lot of beliefs ( and clear lots of doubts) I have had in my job. Don't be put-off by the title of the book " Principles of Internet marketing" - they are not pure academic / classroom-type "principles", they are very applicable to the real business world ! If you are working in the internet marketing area, or if you plan to enter this field, don't miss this book !!!
Amazon.com Reviews
How would you classify a book that begins with the salutation, "People of Earth..."? While the captains of industry might dismiss it as mere science fiction, The Cluetrain Manifesto is definitely of this day and age. Aiming squarely at the solar plexus of corporate America, authors Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger show how the Internet is turning business upside down. They proclaim that, thanks to conversations taking place on Web sites and message boards, and in e-mail and chat rooms, employees and customers alike have found voices that undermine the traditional command-and-control hierarchy that organizes most corporate marketing groups. "Markets are conversations," the authors write, and those conversations are "getting smarter faster than most companies." In their view, the lowly customer service rep wields far more power and influence in today's marketplace than the well-oiled front office PR machine.
The Cluetrain Manifesto began as a Web site (www.cluetrain.com) in 1999 when the authors, who have worked variously at IBM, Sun Microsystems, the Linux Journal, and NPR, posted 95 theses that pronounced what they felt was the new reality of the networked marketplace. For example, thesis no. 2: "Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors"; thesis no. 20: "Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them"; thesis no. 62: "Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They want to participate in the conversations going on behind the corporate firewall"; thesis no. 74: "We are immune to advertising. Just forget it." The book enlarges on these themes through seven essays filled with dozens of stories and observations about how business gets done in America and how the Internet will change it all. While Cluetrain will strike many as loud and over the top, the message itself remains quite relevant and unique. This book is for anyone interested in the Internet and e-commerce, and is especially important for those businesses struggling to navigate the topography of the wired marketplace. All aboard! --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
Written by four of the liveliest voices on the Web, this book takes you deeper into the new order of business than any this decade. The Cluetrain Manifesto presents a stunning tapestry of anecdotes, object lessons, parodies, war stories, and suggestions, all aimed at illustrating what it will take to survive and prosper in the fast-forward world on the wire.
The Cluetrain Manifesto burst onto the scene in March 1999, with ninety-five theses nailed up on the Web. Within days, the website had ignited a vibrant global conversation challenging sacred corporate assumptions about the very nature of business in a digital world. The Wall Street Journal called it "absolutely brilliant." Soon, executives from Fortune 500 companies everywhere were lining up to sign-on to the Manifesto. This is the book that delivers on the buzz.
The Cluetrain Manifesto is a wake-up call that says business as usual is gone forever. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter-and getting smarter faster than most companies. Today's markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny, and often shocking. Companies that aren't listening to these exchanges are missing a dire warning. Companies that aren't engaging in them are missing an unprecedented opportunity.
The Cluetrain Manifesto is the culmination of this very real phenomenon. It shares powerful, firsthand experiences describing how Internet business differs radically from the corporate status quo. The fact is that employees are getting hyperlinked even as markets are. Companies need to listen carefully to both.
Customer Reviews:
A for ideas, D- for persuasion.......2007-09-27
This influential book lays out the reasons why companies need to replace corporate speak and marketing puff with online conversations. The reasons are compelling, but the way the authors make their case won't win them many converts. They go on the attack with scathing gusto, dismissing "Fort Business" as a bunch of obsolete buffoons and/or swindlers. Strangely, these buffoons and swindlers are the very people Cluetrain hopes to convert to an entirely new way of thinking.
Looking past the rhetoric, Cluetrain really does make some crucial points. Here are a few that stood out to me -
1. The control mentality of management doesn't work in a wired world where people and information are easily and instantly connected.
2. Companies pay too much attention to competitors and not enough to customers.
3. If companies did pay attention to customers, they'd discover that customers want "Authenticity, honesty, and personal voice ..." (p. 51) Companies mistakenly view customers as consumers instead of people. We don't exist to consume (hopefully).
4. "Positioning should help a company become what it is, not something it's not (no matter how cool it would be)." (p. 99)
5. You can't bluff about your company or products online. People will find you out.
6. The Web challenges formal corporate organizational structures. People can connect and collaborate with whomever they need to in order to get the job done. The Web values competence over position.
Of course, all of this was just as true before the Web. However, the Web has magnified their importance. Today, the penalties for ignoring the Cluetrain principles are stiff, and the rewards are huge, and in the years ahead - even more so.
For a gentler and more balanced assessment of conversations in business and the new marketing rules, try Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers and The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly.
A little dated now, but still right on.......2007-09-07
Cluetrain is an odd and irreverent book. The tone of the time was probably a shock to most readers back when originally published in 2001, and even still it upholds some wry quirkiness the authors were going for as they wrote about the future of the Web. Much has changed in the world of Web since the manifesto was released, and I'm certain, not all of it to the authors liking. The web has become much more corporatized, ecommerce much more like traditional commerce and online marketing shows some vast similarities to off-line marketing. The current web isn't quite what the authors anticipated!
But much of what the authors preach about the web being a conversation is still so very true. And amazingly, many businesses still have not figured that out. While business on the web may bear some resemblance to the off-line world, it's still a very different place. That's what Cluetrain is all about.
Cluetrain will help you understand that the same old processes and strategies that worked off-line for some many years, need not apply here. While there are many similarities, online and offline marketing operate very differently. The book will put you in the mindset to realize that marketing on the web can be done with new ideas, fresh strategies, and most importantly, on a person-to-person level. Throw the corporate play book away. It's time to build a new playbook entirely.
Markets are conversations.......2007-04-27
Having grown up with high-speed internet as an expected must have, this book serves as an interesting reminder of the days I have missed. Multiplayer games, cross-referencing product review on web forums, asking other internet users for advice on products, all the things that seem natural today are in many ways changing the rules of the marketing game, and Cluetrain is all about this dynamic: markets are conversations. Broadcast media is once again being replaced by an older strategy of person-to-person contact, instead of a one way marketing stream.
Some of the information is slightly outdated, some of the sections are plain wacky, but it's an interesting work nonetheless, especially if you're into marketing.
A manifesto for corporate communication in the Internet age.......2007-02-25
Reading the "Cluetrain Manifesto" today is like reading an historic document. The book fuses the countercultural ethos of the 1960s with the go-go business dynamics of the 1990s. Written during the height of the Internet boom, the authors forecast the end not only of corporate marketing, but of traditional corporations altogether. They predicted a transition to an Internet-enabled marketplace of bartering and bantering individuals. The book's pages contain a wealth of overstatement, hyperbole, and provocation (as many have already noted). The flurry of lawsuits based on offhand email (`evidence mail') which emerged after the Internet crash have reemphasized the need for the caution and disclaimers to which the authors so passionately objected.
The basic message of the book remains fresh and contemporary, however. "Markets are conversations." Corporations should encourage those conversations, not inhibit them. It's clear that many corporations still haven't gotten the point. Some companies still require that customers sign pointless non-disclosure agreements to talk with their representatives and other customers about their products. Other companies treat their websites like big, glossy advertising brochures instead of centers of community. Still others issue the bland and senseless press releases derided by the Cluetrain Manifesto to their customers, leaving bloggers to read between the lines and to speculate about what's really going on inside the company.
But some of the largest corporations have clearly gotten the message--or at least a tempered form of it. The best way to cultivate loyalty and confidence among consumers is to become more transparent by allowing conversations to take place not simply between consumers and public relations representatives, but between people working with products and people designing those products. Microsoft's Channel 9 is a good example of a corporation sponsoring an online community that connects individuals to individuals. While this kind of marketing will doubtlessly always be somewhat messy and make some P.R. folk uneasy, it's far more effective than the business-as-usual approach of issuing sanitized press releases to an anonymous group of `consumers.' For the wakeup call that communications between human beings should take place in human voices we are still in these authors' debt.
outdated .......2007-01-03
Good Overview of where things are coming from and a good couple insights. Concepts are not outdated but some of the information is.
Books:
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The Leadership Lessons of the U.S. Navy SEALS : Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results
- The New Leaders 100-Day Action Plan: How to Take Charge, Build Your Team, and Get Immediate Results
- The Next Global Stage: The Challenges and Opportunities in Our Borderless World
- The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Delivering Project Excellence With the Statement of Work
- The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind
- Peter Greenaway: A Zed & Two Noughts
- Northcliffe's Legacy: Aspects of the British Popular Press, 1896-1996
- Supply Chain Management
- The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
- The Old Man and the Tee : How I Took Ten Strokes off My Game and Learned to Love Golf All Over Again
- Cost Control: A Strategic Guide
- Natural Disaster and Development in a Globalizing World
- Stealing with Style
Toyota Talent
The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology
Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It
Inside the Mind of Toyota: Management Principles for Enduring Growth
Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future
