Book Description
Winning by not competing: a fresh approach to strategy Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating “blue oceans”: untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves—which the authors call “value innovation”—create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade. Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.
Customer Reviews:
Question the status quo.......2007-09-25
The book forced me to rethink the way I normally would look at business developments for my companies: either value based or feature based. The idea of a creating new space in a crowded market and making a leap in growth through the blue ocean strategy stirred up my thinking juices. Personally, I don't like how to books with "three simple steps" This book was great; a must read.
Good Book.......2007-09-24
1. This is NOT a marketing book
2. There is no such thing as a fail safe strategy
3. This is a tool and is only as good as the user
4. Applicable in different situations
5. Good companion to Competitive Strategy written in the 80's by Mike Porter which is THE industry book
6. The book is NOT a pioneer and is NOT proported to be. It is a study in those companies who seemed to have created new markets such as Cirque De Soleil. The authors did NOT set out to create a new "theory" and then retroactively "fit" companies but rather study an emerging pheonom. and try to locate patterns.
I think that pretty much covers all the gripes of the previous entries. I first came across this book in a competitive strategy class in a business organizational change degree. It is an excellent text and gives another viewpoint to the old study of competitive strategy. I have used the strategy canvas tool located in chapter two AS A TOOL to assist me in both departmental and industry situations to locate existing patterns of competition.
Worth the money.
But then, I am just a "mere" academic (albeit with many years of industry experience) so if you truly do not like the book I suggest returning it. :)
What is your greatest challenge?.......2007-09-13
The greatest struggle for most business people is to come up with a truly original and valuable idea. Close behind that is how to get employees to work together. This book makes me want to cry, because it actually, simply, lays out how to do both. Beautiful.
Academics rarely demonstrate how to do it!.......2007-09-11
I bought this book. Their identifications are valid enough. Great companies have always created uncontested market space while making their competitors irrelevant. This is not in dispute. However...
The authors Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne are just mere academics. And what is annoying is that they haven't battle tested their Blue Ocean model from hard knocks in the trenches business wars to find out what works and what doesn't for themselves! Again, this is what I find annoying with academics. They say a lot but never prove it themselves! Remember Merton & Scholes and LTCM?
For an example...in the book, the authors have an interesting strategic canvass graph approach that supposes to prove how Blue Ocean events come about. That's fine, but how do you prove it? Moreover, the 'values' are different for each company, so there is nothing consistent to glean from this.
What I'd like to have seen is a Dash Board type matrix template that allows any company or budding entrepreneur to carry out Blue Ocean due diligence on any industry or market niches...proofing these Blue Ocean catchments from a zero learning curve application! The book does have important points but lacks the cutting edge tools to unify Blue Ocean diligence and proofs for any company!
Thus, what this book lacks is a more honed processing of enquiry from the authors. And I suspect this to be the case because like many academics they haven't proven the unifying dynamics that goes into capturing Blue Ocean strategies for themselves with businesses they have built through their own mindset!
Again, this book is a case of 'do what I say, because I don't have to prove what I say'.
There are great industry shapers out there who can shift and move whole industries and markets in their favour...but the authors of this book are not one of them.
However, there are great positives the authors have identified. The book contains a very interesting 'Strategic Grid' technique. From this simple grid technique any one can mentally survey how to change one's industry or market from a macro-vantage point. But shifting and moving your new found Blue Ocean grid at a tactical level to rule your competition making them irrelevant is another matter entirely. The chapters that explain this grid are worth the book, but don't expect any thing else.
What you really want is a knowledge base that allows you to dig out Blue Ocean criteria from a template of enquiring tools STACKED PROCESS BY PROCESS UNTIL YOU PROOF YOUR OWN BLUE OCEAN POWER. This book fails on this!
I would suggest that any one buying this book should read 'Blue Print to a Billion by David Thomson to understand how real Blue Ocean executions are carried out correctly. In addition, Chet Holmes' Ultimate Sales Machine' gets you to understand how to carry out big frame strategies at the tactical level.
Both these books will plug the holes lacking with Kim & Mauborgne's work.
Blue Ocean Strategy.......2007-09-10
I like the non text book clear presentation. You do not have to have an MBA to enjoy and learn from this book.
Book Description
The author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation reveals the strategies IDEO, the world-famous design firm, uses to foster innovative thinking throughout an organization and overcome the naysayers who stifle creativity.
The role of the devil's advocate is nearly universal in business today. It allows individuals to step outside themselves and raise questions and concerns that effectively kill new projects and ideas, while claiming no personal responsibility. Nothing is more potent in stifling innovation.
Drawing on nearly 20 years of experience managing IDEO, Kelley identifies ten roles people can play in an organization to foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to naysayers. Among these approaches are the Anthropologist—the person who goes into the field to see how customers use and respond to products, to come up with new innovations; the Cross-pollinator who mixes and matches ideas, people, and technology to create new ideas that can drive growth; and the Hurdler, who instantly looks for ways to overcome the limits and challenges to any situation.
Filled with engaging stories of how companies like Kraft, Procter and Gamble, Cargill and Samsung have incorporated IDEO's thinking to transform the customer experience, THE TEN FACES OF INNOVATION is an extraordinary guide to nurturing and sustaining a culture of continuous innovation and renewal.
Customer Reviews:
How many faces do you recognise?.......2007-08-13
Building on the Art of Innovation, Kelly brings us the new theory of the ten faces of innovation. It is simple to read and easy to understand. Another book which I found just as breezy to read was Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers.
Good stories, but very IDEO-centric.......2007-07-30
Tom Kelley's book The Ten Faces of Innovation defines ten personas (thankfully not "named"--Bob, Sally, etc--just titled) that exemplify roles in an innovative team. They aren't job titles or exclusive positions, and people can work across roles as well.
* The Anthropologist, who observes people and discovers ways to help them
* The Experimenter, an expert in prototyping and testing, probably the classic "innovator"
* The Cross-Pollinator, with broad interests who enjoys connecting different cultures
* The Hurdler, who champions projects and carries them over beaurocratic obstacles
* The Collaborator, who brings people together to work cooperatively
* The Director, encouraging, inspiring, supporting, organizing and championing innovators
* The Experience Architect, a specialist in designing full "experiences" that transcend simple products or services
* The Set Designer, creating spaces that inspire and support innovation
* The Caregiver, who improves the subjective, emotional aspects of products and how they relate to us
* The Storyteller, who tells stories about people and products in creative and interesting ways
The book is heavily IDEO-centric, and most of the examples are from Kelley's own 20-year career there. Not really a surprise for a book subtitled "IDEO's strategies..." but worth mentioning; this is basically IDEO in book form. It includes several weird asides that are clearly IDEO/Kelley quirks, for instance his long tangents into the power of napping at work, comfortable hotel beds, and (ugh) T-shaped people. The IDEO focus gets pretty old after a while, and makes you wonder about the broader applicability of the ideas. What works in a design consulting company that works almost exclusively on short-term projects may not be the best structure for others.
But the personas are broad and--as mentioned above--not exclusive to people's job roles, so they are good signposts for anyone interested in developing their own innovation skills. I suspect it would be less interesting for a sole inventor/designer, but for people working at companies they are especially applicable.
Innovation-in-depth.......2007-06-07
The Ten Faces of Innovation describes ten complementary personas - personality types or roles that contribute in different ways to creative teams:
Anthropologist - this is perhaps the most literal title, meaning people who have been professionally trained as social anthropologists to observe people and processes and interactions `with a fresh eye'. These are probably the biggest antidote to "But we've always done it like that" thinking.
Experimenter - willing to take a chance, maybe, but also willing to explore alternatives and test concepts through prototyping, trial-and-error and applied science.
Cross-pollinator - like a bee flitting between the private parts of flowers, the cross-pollinator spreads good ideas and techniques between specialisms, breaking down silos and sharing good practice
Hurdler - able to leap tall buildings (well project hurdles anyway) in a single bound. They are adept at finding ways over (or more likely around) around immovable obstacles to reduce the banging-your-head-against-a-wall bruising.
Collaborator - knits people and teams together by finding common interests and objectives. Sometimes described as the spider who weaves the web linking everyone to everyone else.
Director - nothing to do with the title on her business card, the Director provides clarity and direction, a rallying point for the troops yet with the humility to actively listen to input from the team.
Experience architect - with an uncanny knack of putting themselves in the customer's shoes, experience architects can visualize products and services at the point of use, no mean feat when they are barely on the drawing board and even the customers are an unknown quantity.
Set designer - this is a fascinating persona: someone who creates visual spaces and physical representations relating to the job at hand. Not really office architects as such, set designers invent scenarios and contexts. They are also comfortable to break unwritten rules and help people mix fun with work (now there's a thought!).
Caregiver - in the sense of nurses and doctors (no, not the teenage version), caregivers support their colleagues, providing a sympathetic sounding board and gentle encouragement when times are tough, and motivating and inspiring people to give there all at all times.
Storyteller - anyone familiar with The HP Way or the origins of Apple and Microsoft will recognize the value of constantly telling and re-telling inspirational stories as a way of reinforcing corporate culture. It's clear that this is a comfortable personal for author Tom Kelley since both books quite literally tell a story.
The book is peppered with genuine examples, most of which involve the genesis of familiar but once remarkable products that broke the mold in some way - style, design, functionality, whatever. Some of you reading this may have bought Palm V PDAs, for instance, on the strength of their sleek looks and brilliant user interface - the Graffiti stylus script language so close to English that anyone can pick it up with a few minutes' practice. How many of you appreciate the innovative use of glue instead of screws to bond the Palm V's case together, or the flat-pack lithium batteries inside? Like many other examples, the attention to detail and the multiple overlapping layers of innovation go well beyond the obvious external visual cues. This is innovation-in-depth.
Whether you are interested in applying innovation and creativity to work initiatives or life in general, the IDEO books are inspirational, instructional and fun to read - what a combination. Recommended.
Easy suggestions for increasing innovation.......2007-05-04
Welcome to an enjoyable, easy read - which is not to dismiss Tom Kelley's fine ideas. With the aid of Jonathan Littman, Kelley works throughout this book to show how innovation can be much more painless than most people think, and more fun. Kelley makes thinking collaboratively sound like a blast. In the process, he convinces you that your organization should nurture and cherish playing with ideas. Although he admits that his consulting company, IDEO, found itself grinding along on tedious projects at times, and that he has watched people shoot down perfectly good suggestions, his underlying message is one of open possibility. He presents 10 roles you can play during meetings, any one of which would be enough to add considerable value. By showing that these roles are temporary, he sends the message that if you want to stay competitive, you can change, and even must. As he examines everything from product names to rules governing how workers decorate their cubicles, Kelley demonstrates the many opportunities you have to create something new. The cost is often little or nothing; sometimes innovation simply means getting out of your employees' way. We recommend this book to managers who wish to break old patterns and encourage creative thought companywide.
Inspiring and fun.......2007-04-17
If you want to create an environment where innovation is the norm, what do you do? Tom Kelley doesn't have a prescription, but he does have some people he'd like you to meet. This book is about the roles that people in an innovation driven organization take on to create fresh new ideas on a regular basis.
If you're an individual contributor, this is a very helpful book both to understand the people around you and your own specific skills. What's more, although in some ways Kelley is describing personality attributes, he is also describing skill sets and ways of looking at the world that you can decide to cultivate. No one is going to be excellent at all of these roles- but that doesn't mean you can't strive to be well rounded!
As a manager, the main take-away lesson is that there are many different types of creativity that can reinforce each other if put together. The most important part of building a creative organization may come at the hiring stage, where you can most easily create a mix of the different personas. But if you're in a stable organization, as most of us are, you can use the "ten faces" to identify the different styles of creativity in your people, and use that information to form teams and projects to bring out their best.
The book is very heavy on anecdote and example. Every one of the ten personas has several stories that illustrate how such an approach can generate ideas that otherwise wouldn't have been considered. The Anthropologist will put themselves in the place of the average user or consumer, as did a woman who faked a pregnancy to see how she would improve the birthing experience at a major hospital. The Experience Architect will take a commodity service and turn it into a show that customers will enjoy for its distinctiveness, like the ice cream "cooking" at Cold Stone Creamery.
The persona that I found most intriguing, and perhaps also furthest from my own, was the Set Designer. Kelley believes strongly in the power of space to shape the minds of those who inhabit it, and just reading about some of the things that go on at IDEO is enough to make my own cube - which I had thought very nicely decorated - seem drab and uninspired.
"The Ten Faces of Innovation" is not a good book to read if you want to know exactly how to change your company, but it is an excellent resource for spotting the early creative behavior every innovator should want to encourage in their team.
Book Description
The second edition features a 220-term brand glossary and a premium softcover binding.
THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a âcharismatic brandââa brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:
• a new definition of brand
• the five essential disciplines of brand-building
• how branding is changing the dynamics of competition
• the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand
• why collaboration is the key to brand-building
• how design determines a customer’s experience
• how to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply
• the importance of managing brands from the inside
FROM THE BACK COVER
Not since McLuhan’s THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE has a book compressed so many ideas into so few pages. Using the visual language of the boardroom, Neumeier presents the first unified theory of brandingâa set of five disciplines to help companies bridge the gap between brand strategy and customer experience. Those with a grasp of branding will be inspired by the new perspectives they find here, and those who would like to understand it better will suddenly âget it.â This deceptively simple book offers everyone in the company access to âthe most powerful business tool since the spreadsheet.â
âThe surprise book of the year!â âJohn Moore, Fast Company
âThe first book on brand that seems fresh and relevant.â âRic Grefe, executive director of AIGA, the professional association for design
âA pleasure to read.ââDavid A. Aaker, author of BRAND PORTFOLIO STRATEGY and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS
âCuts to the heart of what brand is all about.â âSusan Rockrise, worldwide brand director, Intel
âRead this book before your competitors do!â âTom Kelley, general manager, IDEO
FROM THE INSIDE FLAPS
âA pleasure to read. THE BRAND GAP consistently provides deep, practical insights in a light, visual way. Discover the power of imagery and the role of research in building a heavy-duty brandâwithout the heavy-duty reading.â âDavid Aaker, author of BRAND LEADERSHIP and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS
âFinally, a book that cuts to the heart of what brand is all aboutâconnecting the rational and the emotional, the theoretical and the practical, the logical and the magical to create a sustainable competitive advantage.â âSusan Rockrise, Worldwide Brand Director, Intel
In THE BRAND GAP, Neumeier reminds us that the ultimate moment of truth for all brands is the customer experience. Customer perceptions trump our own perceptions.â âKurt Kuehn, senior VP of worldwide marketing and sales, UPS
âThis is not just another book on brand. This is the ONLY book you’ll need to read in business, engineering, and design school.â âClement Mok, design entrepreneur
âA well-managed brand is the lifeblood of any successful companyâand Neumeier shows us exactly how to do it. Read this book before your competitors do!â âTom Kelley, general manager of IDEO, co-author of THE ART OF INNOVATION
âTHE BRAND GAP couldn’t be more timely. Just when we’re at our most skeptical about corporate motives, along comes a book that shows how to evaluate and develop a brand in a straightforward and honest manner.â âDavid Stuart, co-founder of The Partners, co-author of A SMILE IN THE MIND
âMust-reading for anyone who wants to understand how their business strategy will succeed or fail when put to the ultimate test: âDo customers perceive a difference that’s desirable?’â âSteve Harrington, director of strategy and operations, Hewlett-Packard
âThe book slices like a hot knife through all the turgid, pseudo-academic nonsense that surrounds branding. It’s now on the course list for my graduate students, and new members of my team at Ogilvy get a copy with their training materials.â âBrian Collins, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Customer Reviews:
The modern view of branding.......2007-09-15
if you want a quick and entertaining way of understanding what is a brand in the modern sense of the word, get this book. Even if you know already what "brand" and "branding" mean, this book will reset your brain into rethinking your business and where you are going with it. It is a must read for anyone involved in selling stuff or services out of an established franchise or license.
Simple, Straightforward, Sensational.......2007-08-23
Marty Neumeier has written two "whiteboard" style books both dealing with branding and innovation - this is the first one. By whiteboard style, Neumeier's book is light on written content, moderate on visual content and layout, and heavy on basic, important, sharp ideas.
The book covers 5 principles to help bridge the gap between strategic thinking and creative 'magic' and uses a variety of visual and written metaphors, examples, and logical knowledge to do so. If you are looking for a text-heavy, super explanatory, in-depth type of book, then this isn't the one for you. If you're looking to focus your mindset when it comes to innovative branding, this is a great, go-to book to get through in a short amount of time.
The two main things I liked about this book were the fact it actually followed a lot of its own principles in terms of how it was designed/set up etc. and it also packed a lot of universality into these generic yet focused, sensical tips.
Case in point...here is what you'll get out of the book if you are:
A Student/Novice in the Field: Students will love this book to help them review a lot of what's happening in marketing right now, and the 5 guiding principles can help them innovate at their future workplaces. The expanded edition of this book includes a 200 word glossary of advertising terms that'll also help students and novices talk the talk.
Agencies: will delight at the tests Neumeier asks you to go through when developing a brand, particularly graphically in the "icon/avatar" section. The real-life examples of successful businesses identify the longevity of the brands and how it is obtained, giving hints to marketing/advertising agencies how to get that same magic formula.
Businesses: whether small or large, this is a great book to have. If you have an internal promotions/marketing department, this book should be distributed to the head of your branding staff to help them focus your company's direction in the market. If you are the owner of a small business without an internal marketing department, this book can help introduce you to the fundamental principles of branding that you can then discuss with an external agency.
Overall a great quick read that kept me hooked, never bored, and always thinking. The summative list of the main topics discussed throughout the book at the end was extremely helpful, although the glossary was kind of out of place as half the words in the glossary aren't used in the text. Probably helpful for beginners in the ad industry though.
Considerations for Brand-Building.......2007-08-19
Fantastic, a quick-read with deep insights, packed with timeless, necessary wisdom anyone who sells anything will benefit from reading. The Take-Home lessons in the back are a bonus (bullet points from the book), and the pages I'll review over time.
perfect.......2007-05-24
This book is entertaining and packed with wisdom! The book arrived quickly, was in perfect shape and at a good price.
Must have for Corporate/InHouse designers.......2007-03-10
This is a great resources for communicating clearly the importance of brand consistency. Read it. Then do it. Good luck my fellow corporate designers. We are a rare and lonely breed.
Book Description
"When everybody zigs, zag," says author
Marty Neumeier in this fresh view of brand strategy. ZAG follows the ultra-clear "whiteboard overview" style of Neumeier's first book, THE BRAND GAP, but drills deeper into the question of how brands can harness the power of differentiation. The author argues that in an extremely cluttered marketplace, traditional differentiation is no longer enoughâtoday companies need âradical differentiationâ to create lasting value for their shareholders and customers. In an entertaining 3-hour read you’ll learn:
- why me-too brands are doomed to fail
- how to "read" customer feedback on new products and messages
- the 17 steps for designing âdifferenceâ into your brand
- how to turn your brand’s âonlinessâ into a âtruelineâ to drive synergy
- the secrets of naming products, services, and companies
- the four deadly dangers faced by brand portfolios
- how to âstretchâ your brand without breaking it
- how to succeed at all three stages of the competition cycle
For a quick peek inside ZAG, go to www.zagbook.com.
Customer Reviews:
Zag is Zagworthy.......2007-09-29
I purchased this book at the same time as the Brand Gap, being confident in the fact they'd both be helpful, well-written, yet densely packed tomes of information - and I was right!
Zag hones in on one element discussed in the Brand Gap - differentiation - and expands it into a 200-so page book. According to Neumeier, differentiation, or creating zag, is one of the most important elements of branding - and it needs to happen at every step of the way, from conception to naming to marketing.
The great thing about Zag is the way it presents the information - much like in the Brand Gap it follows a 'whiteboard', graphic-heavy, basic (but important) facts. This time around however, it pairs the basic format with a strong, easy-to-follow example through the faux development of an educational wine bar chain.
Neumeier then takes the reader through 17 steps (including some helpful exercises) you should take as a business owner, venture capitalist, or advertising professional when determining whether your product is zagworthy - or how to make it so it is.
In terms of why I gave the book 4 stars as opposed to 5...The last section of the book - once the 17 steps are completed and the wine bar is 'fully developed' - is a little bit dense/doesn't seem to flow as well as the rest of the book/series.
Also there is a decent amount of repetition between Zag and the Brand Gap, and I am hesitant in believing that people would pick up one without the other. Although it makes sense to reinforce the principles (and sell more books I'm sure) in some cases, it almost made it hard to differentiate some of the messages between the books, making me feel a bit cheated in that I paid money to read the same pages over.
I have a hunch Neumeier might take the 5 main principles found in The Brand gap and expand each of them into books like Zag did for differentiation - and I can't fault him for doing so. Zag is definitely an improvement on The Brand Gap in that it offers a focused "here's exactly what you can do" strategy, but it still remains general enough that virtually any level of professional (student, beginner, executive etc.) can sit down and walk away a couple of hours later feeling like they learned something.
Zag Zag Zigidy Zag de Zag.......2007-09-21
Knocked this one out in a single flight. Well written, easy to follow. Maybe a little too easy. Would have liked a little more meat. Consider this the Cliff's Notes to Differentiate or Die. Both great books, this is easier to digest. Neumeier is a brand genius, he gets it and he can present it well in a concise format.
A book that zags.......2007-08-23
Zagging is not a new concept. If you like business and performance management readings, probably you are familiar with it already, especially if you've read books by authors like Jim Collins (hedgehog concept), Chan Kim (blue ocean) or Seth Godin (purple cow).
This book provides a unique approach from a marketer's point of view to the concept of real differentiation in the marketplace. "When everybody zigs, zag". Stop being a follower, an imitator, and start being different, start zagging.
You can't stop reading this book, once you get started. It will take you one or two hours, which doesn't mean the author is not providing details and deep insights. In fact, he gives what it takes to make his points clear, captivating, and consistent.
David Aaker says in the back cover of this book: "The presentation alone is worth the price of the book". He is absolutely right. This book zags.
Best Branding Book Ever.......2007-08-22
This is the first review I've ever written on Amazon even though I'm an avid reader. I felt compelled to write this review as a sign of my appreciation for this top notch book. I've read several books on Branding, Identity, Marketing and none compare to this book. If you buy only one book on any of these categories, this should be the book.
Marty's illustrations alone are worth the price for the book. But it was his definition of Branding that brought everything into focus for me. I can't say enough about the book.
Grok branding like never before..........2007-08-15
So much has been written about branding... and so much of it is so dry, it's boring.
What Marty Neumeier has done is to make this essential discipline fun, exciting, practical, and reachable for us all.
If you only read one book on branding, this one will serve you well.
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
For advanced undergraduate and MBA courses in Supply Chain Management.
This book brings together the strategic role of the supply chain, key strategic drivers of supply chain performance, and the tools and techniques for supply chain analysis. Every chapter gives suggestions that managers can use in practice and all methodologies are illustrated with an application in Excel. Fully updated material keeps the book on the forefront of supply chain management.
Distribution networks (Chapter 4); Sourcing (Chapter 13), discusses different sourcing activities including supplier assessment, supplier contracts, design collaboration, and procurement; Price and revenue management (Chapter 15); Early coverage of designing the supply chain network—after developing a strategic framework, readers can discuss supply chain network design in Chapters 5 and 6 and then move on to demand, supply, inventory, and transportation planning; Information Technology in the Supply Chain (Chapter 17).
For business professionals managing the supply chain.
Customer Reviews:
A good solid supply chain basics book.......2006-05-23
We use this book for supply chain training to new entrants at our firm. It is quite a good supply chain basics book - covering the topic in all its breadth. the coverage is perhaps a slightly less strategic and more technical than our needs - but that is understandable given the background of one of the authors. However, to be fair, it is the best book that we have found on supply chain management to get the people up to speed on the basics.
Price too high.......2004-08-25
What I got was a second Indian Reprint, it costs around $4 in India, but I had to pay around $35 (shippment not inlcuded in this amount)! What an arbitrage!
Good reference material for practitioners.......2003-02-17
I found this book to be a great source of reference for managers. It is not really a good teaching source, as I thought it already starts with a fair amount of assumed previous knowledge and jargon.
The sections that are most well developed are the ones on inventory management and transportation logistics, where I found examples that were directly applicable to situations I encountered in a retail environment. The portion on forecasting was not as useful, and the part on e-business seemed somewhat contrived. Overall, this is the best reference I have found that does not require a heavy amount of mathematical familiarity.
Excellent book overall but..........2003-01-08
I refered and used this book in 2 grad level courses. The first was a business school course on SCM (with an above average quantitative focus for a B-school course) and again for a fully quatitative SC Engineering course. While I was initially very impressed with the book, using this over 2 semesters has raised a few gripes.
For the qualitative issues on SCM {make no mistake, these 'fluff' aspects are very important} there is no other equal. Chopra and Meindl do an outstanding and comprehensive job. They also bring out the importance of using scientific, quantitative techniques for SCM. This however is where my gripes start.
Having brought out the importance of quantitative tools for use in SCM, they do only a moderate job on explaining these tools. For example, the chapter on forecasting (only the most simple and commonly used models are explained) is unnnecessarily complex and confusing. The topics covered are adequete but need revision. Treatment of inventory management also could be more detailed and better explained.
This is an excellent book but for more comprehensive learning (if you want an understanding of the quantitative aspects too), I think this book needs supplementing (say with course notes) or another book like "Modeling the Supply Chain" by Shapiro.
Peter Meindl - The Godfather of modern supply chain mgt.......2001-11-27
Written by one of the leading minds in the field, Peter Meindl of I2 technologies has a lot to teach. This is an excellent text and as a fellow Dallas/Ft. Worth resident, I would enjoy meeting him. If you are an MBA student with a concentration in Operations Management, this text should be required.
Meindl, a management team member of I2, has helped develop I2 into the undisputed champion in enterprise software. While SAP may have the market share with their archaic DOS based application, I2 has windows functionality and everything that matters. They have raised the bar with their supply chain knowledge, leading solutions, and collaborative knowledge in supply chain strategy. This text will give you a big step forward in becoming a Supply Chain leader.
Customer Reviews:
It's not the delivery; it's the content.......2007-09-25
Blue Ocean Strategies are responsible for HUGE amounts of wealth having been generated by many people and many companies.
However, these CD's are delivered with NO Narrative and since the concepts in the book are shared using diagramatic tools which clarify the text; listening can some times be trying and laborious.
Getting past that will reward you with a whole new way to think of markets and marketing.
I recommend them for those interested in the subject for more than just entertainment. You'll want to read the book to get the part you miss.
Several chapters too long.......2007-09-23
Overall this is a fantastic title but condensed it is not. The authors could have written it in half as many pages without losing any useful information. In terms of content its a solid 8 our of 10.
Game show host voice with many mispronunciations.......2007-07-09
I must say that there were some interesting observations conveyed throughout the book, but the 'Game Show Host Voice' of the reader, the many mispronunciations, and the shear repetition of only vaguely interesting business examples from 100 years ago leads me to giving this book a low score.
Excellent!.......2007-06-27
I have read many management books and was looking for a good book on strategy and strategic planning. I bought Strategic Planning for Idiots and it is just that. By contrast Blue Ocean is insightful, applicable and gives a frame of work to get an organization to think about value innovation.
The audio CDs are great! The reader is really good.
Blue Oceans Okay.......2007-05-30
The CD version of the book was okay. Some good ideas sprinkled throughout the book but a fair amount of repetition of the same ideas.
Book Description
In business, there's no standing still. The trick is to become an elephant—
big enough to make a difference,
healthy enough to withstand financial currents,
strong enough to influence your market—and
smart enough to avoid the pitfalls of growth.
With
Be the Elephant, bestselling author Steve Kaplan provides the business-growing playbook for every entrepreneur, CEO, sales professional, small business owner, and manager alike. The strategy, the process, the toolbox.
Written in a friendly, no-nonsense style,
Be the Elephant takes the mystery and the fear out of growing bigger. It shows you how to address potential downsides, point by point, and provides a 25-question quiz to gauge your buisness's current health. There are lessons in strengthening sales, a business's front line. Vertical and horizontal growth. Risk versus reward. How to avoid the twin dilemmas inherent in growth—grow too slowly and wither, or grow too fast and lose control. And finally, how to chart it and start it, from developing an all-important USP—unique selling proposition—to avoiding the Five Killer Mistakes that can ruin a company.
And from there, how to go forth and Be the Elephant
Customer Reviews:
Be The elephant.......2007-07-15
It is a business book for many of us out there. For those looking for the type of book to get you through rough times this is it . It shows ,with many examples how easy it is to be working "on your business,instead of in your business"
Buy it today and find answers to many of your questions with built in soutions already to go.
I highly recommend it.
A Great Toolkit to Avoid Failure.......2007-03-25
f I were in a bookstore, I never would have bought this book. It's coated thick with superlatives and overpromises of success like:
A foolproof road map to success. Don't grow your business without it.
Nothing is a foolproof road map to success. That statement would have made me distrust the book from the outset.
As it was, I ordered the book from Amazon which meant I read the Amazon recommendations before the cover of the book. As you can see, I gave this a 4 star rating - so I obviously enjoyed it.
My 4 stars came from three qualities of this book.
1. It's concise - business books love to over-explain or try to micromanage their readers. Be the Elephant is less than 220 pages.
2. It provides tools - There are more than a few very helpful, simple tools for business analysis that I began using before finishing the book.
3. Website - the book is backed up by a website that has templates for the tools.
All in all, the book is built to quickly give people necessary tools to avoid failure. The tools don't guarantee success, but they go a long way to helping you avoid failure while also avoiding analysis paralysis.
So, even though I apparently don't recommend the cover quotes, the book is an excellent toolkit for small business owners.
"Be the Elephant"- Another Kaplan Must Read.......2007-03-13
"Be the Elephant" was even more enjoyable and more impactful than Mr.Kaplan's first book, "Bag the Elephant".
Being a marketer of promotional/advertising programming, within the CPG industry, I found Mr. Kaplan's writings to be right on target! I have utilized a few of his marketing ideas and sales tools, which have assisted me greatly in closing some huge deals within the CPG industry.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to learn effective sales techniques, in order to land and keep BIG clients! I can't wait for Mr. Kaplans next Elephant book to be published, as his books have given me the knowledge, tools and confidence to improve my chances of landing and keeping major accounts within the CPG industry.
Be the Elephant: Build a Bigger ,Better Business.......2007-02-24
In following Steve's easy to follow steps in his First book to" Bag the elephant, we bagged our first elephant, and have now in the last year and a half bagged 4 more.
In the "Be the Elephant" book I was glad to find out that we have been doing many of the things that Steve recommends to build a bigger ,better business. One of our mottos here at my company is that we need to Grow or we will die. We have increased our Sales 6 fold and our Net Profit 11 fold in the last 7 years. Along the way we have increased our infrastructure to support the growth with qualified employees from outside the company, but with the first choice being and employee to promote from within.
We have increased our revenues by Vertically selling more of our items within our existing accounts,ie: Packaging items to the accounts who were only buying Corrugated and Vice Versa, thereby being a One stop shop for the customers shipping supplies. We have grown horizontally into other geographic areas in the US with our new "Elephant "Customers which has been the best of both worlds for us.
Due to the new geographic area scenarios, we are evaluating if it is a good business decision to open up a Distribution Center in a new Geographic area by using Steve's Risk vs. Reward factor.
I have also implemented "Start it and Chart it" with great success.
I have monthly Manager Meetings where I now use Steve's chart, where we review progress reports and timelines that are attached. I find that now that people are accountable, and on the hook to perform, there is peer pressure on them to fulfill the task.
I am still working on creating a USP for my company.
My company formed Strategic Alliances 4 years ago with our major Vendors .It was put forth from the beginning of the growth process to these Vendors that the ones who partner with me in the beginning, will be the ones that I will be loyal to in return as we grow. My largest Vendors have grown from thousand of dollars a year back in 2003, to millions of dollars a year in 2007.
I feel we have been successful by building the organization with good people and developing there skills to best suit the job at hand. We have maintained steady growth and profitability by keeping" Service" at the forefront of our business model. We will get the Customer their product, when they want it. Also, making sure that as we get bigger our current customers will not see any decrease in service.
Totally Motivating.......2007-02-18
With this book I WILL "Be The Elephant". As a small business owner, rarely have I read two books this descriptive and easy to read as Kaplan's 1st book, Bag the Elephant" and this follow up "Be the Elephant". This is a GREAT follow up but can certainly stand on its own. Wish there could be more. I feel I am attending a special instructional seminar on reaching success just for me. Keep them coming.
Book Description
All companies must grow to survive-but only one in five growth strategies succeeds. In Profit from the Core, strategy expert Chris Zook revealed how to grow profitably by focusing on and achieving full potential in the core business. But what happens when your core business provides insufficient new growth, or even hits the wall?
In Beyond the Core, Zook outlines an expansion strategy based on putting together combinations of adjacency moves into areas away from, but related to, the core business, such as new product lines or new channels of distribution. These sequences of moves carry less risk than diversification, yet they can create enormous competitive advantage, because they stem directly from what the company already knows and does best.
Based on extensive research on the growth patterns of thousands of companies worldwide, including CEO interviews with twenty-five top performers in adjacency growth, Beyond the Core (1) identifies the adjacency pattern that most dramatically increases the odds of success: "relentless repeatability;" (2) offers a systematic approach for choosing among a range of possible adjacency moves; and 3) shows how to time adjacency moves during a variety of typical business situations.
Beyond the Core shows how to find and leverage the best avenues for growth-without damaging the heart of the firm.
Customer Reviews:
Practical and Insightful .......2005-03-28
What is especially useful about this book is that it is practical. It gives advice for every stage of an adjacency expansion, from strategy development to execution, on how to increase the likelihood that it will be successful. The case studies are interesting and the analysis is insightful.
For people like me who do not have a business background or management consulting experience, this book is an excellent read and, at the very least, should get you by at parties where you would run into such people.
An Outstanding Growth Guide for Global Business Leaders.......2004-05-13
As a second year MBA student at the Kellogg School of Management and a future corporate strategist for a global financial services firm, I found reading Beyond the Core to be one of the best time investments that I've made over the last few years. Chris Zook seems to have a knack for writing great books that not only stand the test of time but that are also highly relevant to the current business and economic environments. Specifically, his first book, Profits from the Core, which focused on maximizing the value of the core business, was launched when businesses needed it most - during the economic downturn. Now, Beyond the Core is perfectly timed since, from what I and other MBA's are observing in the market, most businesses are remobilizing for growth.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed Beyond the Core - it's a relatively quick read that is focused, insightful and well structured. More specifically, I think there are three key things that make this book stand out in comparison to many other business books I've read: 1) it takes a global perspective 2) it is highly data driven and has great examples and 3) its very actionable and offers lots of insights on implementation.
To elaborate, the first thing I really liked about Beyond the Core is that it takes a truly global perspective with examples from Europe, Asia and Latin America. As an MBA student majoring in International Business Strategy who will be working in a global firm after graduation, it was great to read about the strategies that firms such as Li & Fung (HK), Ambev (Brazil), Lloyd's Bank and Vodephone (UK) and STMicroelectronics (Italy). Overall, I also liked that the book mixes an array of fresh case studies (Tesco, Biogen, Ambev) with more traditional ones (Dell, Nike, American Express).
Secondly, Beyond the Core is highly data driven and the recommendations are based on empirical evidence, not conjectures. As a student of business strategy, I too often come across books or theories that are supported by nothing other than a few select examples that prop up the author's hypotheses. Beyond the Core, in contrast, is supported by an enormous amount of financial, competitive and market research and by many CEO interviews and studies by Bain & Company. This is extremely insightful as it helps the reader understand the odds of success and failure across the business world and thus leads to much more informed strategies.
Finally, Mr. Zook has focused nearly a third of the book on implementation and execution strategy. This makes the book and its recommendations highly actionable instead of leaving the author asking "so what?" The book sets out a systematic and understandable road map for adjacency expansion. More importantly, it discusses issues that are critical to growth initiatives such as: organizational structure, decision making processes, staffing, accountability and reporting, etc.
In sum, I highly recommend Beyond the Core, especially to global business leaders looking for a practical guide for profitably growing their businesses. Enjoy!!
Questionable Choice of Examples and Lack of Definitions!.......2004-03-15
Many people who have been burned by going into new areas will grade this as five-stars for encouraging caution in expanding a company's scope. If that's all you want from a book, this is a five-star book. If you want to learn what the exact lesson is, and why that lesson is true, you'll have to look elsewhere however. If you want to learn how to beat the odds in this area, you will also have to look elsewhere.
I found Profit from the Core to be a directionless mishmash of data without firm definitions that repeatedly espoused the idea of "stick to your knitting." As a result, I took up Beyond the Core with great trepidation. At first blush, Beyond the Core seemed to cure some of the peripheral problems of Profit from the Core . . . until I began to notice how almost all of the important examples of continuing business model innovation had been excluded that seemed to fit all of the criteria (except perhaps being willing to be interviewed by the author). Mr. Zook continues to avoid defining what "the core" is, so that basic problem continues.
The book's message is "stick to your knitting . . . unless you have not choice . . . then don't go away from your cost advantages and knowledge." If you want to know a little more about that message, you can read all of the key points in the book summarized in the Afterword on pages 189-192 in less than five minutes.
The book will mainly be helpful to those who are thinking about making unrelated acquisitions. The advice: Don't do it! The odds are way against you . . . but even the most unrelated acquisitions sometimes work (GE bought NBC and has done well with it, for example). The book lacks clear direction for how some overcome the odds.
The book was also curiously silent about how companies can use small experiments to test their way into new areas. That's the way that most firms expand beyond their core.
The methodology looks very much like those employed in Build to Last and Good to Great . . . but don't believe it. Cases were selected in part based on whether Mr. Zook could interview the companies. So it's really a subjective sample. So take the conclusions with a selective grain of salt. Here are some of the cases of those who have prospered with expanding into new areas that seem to fit the Zook criteria but don't appear in the book: Beckman Coulter; Berkshire Hathaway; Clear Channel Communications; Education Management; GE; Iron Mountain; Nucor; Paychex; Sony; Virgin Group; Xilinx; and Zebra Technologies. It's not surprising that the book fails to describe the discipline of continual business model improvement as a best practice . . . a serious omission for this subject.
Ultimately, I think the flaw behind the book is to look at moving "beyond the core" separately from looking "at the core." If the two books had been combined into one that looked at how to outperform the competition, there would have been the basis of helpful insights. Or, this book could have been scoped down into how to grow into new areas with internal development activities versus acquisitions. That would have been helpful. But with the focus of "beyond the core," you are left in a never-never land that you may not want to be in. The other interesting question that could have been addressed is how companies prospered by eliminating the old core and replacing it with a new one through acquisition as a number of companies have.
As I thought about why the author might have chosen this direction, I realized that it may be an unconscious use of the older ways of strategic thinking. Those analytical schemes separated thinking about existing business areas from entering new ones. For some time though, most strategic thinkers have emphasized seeing the questions as connected. You should, for example, be pursuing your best opportunities. That means comparing all choices in some manner at the same time.
The other problem with data-heavy studies like this one is that you are relying on backward impressions (with 20-20 hindsight). Studies of best practices are best done by looking at the decisions and actions when they are made . . . and then measuring the results to see what happens. Interviews taken at such times reveal much different information than the neat success stories spun after the fact. Clayton Christensen does a good job of explaining this issue in chapter one of his new book, The Innovator's Solution.
As I finished the book, I began to think about the many unsuccessful unrelated acquisitions that I have run into among companies. In almost every case, I remember reading a thick book by a name consulting firm that had explained at the time of the purchase why the acquisition could not miss. Perhaps a follow on for this book would be how to avoid bad advice in evaluating acquisitions.
Not All Adjacencies Are Appropriate.......2004-02-12
Perhaps you have already read Profit From the Core: Growth Strategy in the Age of Turbulence which Zook co-authored with James Allen. It was based on rigorous research which revealed the key strategic decisions that most often determine growth or stagnation in business. They note: "Central to our findings are three ideas: the concept of the core business and its boundaries; the idea that every business has a level of full-potential performance that usually exceeds what the company imagines; and the idea that performance-yield loss occurs at many levels, from strategy to leadership to organizational capabilities to execution." In the five chapters which follow, Zook (with Allen) examines "the types of strategic business decisions that most often seem to tilt the odds of future success or failure." Zook correctly suggests in this book that many organizations cannot resist the appeal ("the siren's song") of "miracle cures" of their problems. Zook focuses entirely on what has been verified in real-world experience, on what is practical, and on what will reliably achieve the desired results of sound strategic decisions.
In the first chapter of this book, Zook discusses what he calls "the growth crisis" which many (most?) organizations encounter. He observes, "Finding or maintaining a source of sustained and profitable growth has become the number one concern of most CEOs. And moves that push out the boundaries of their core business into 'adjacencies' are where they are most often look these days." I agree with Zook that these strategies have three distinctive features: "First, they are of significant size, or they can lead to a sequence of related adjacency moves that generate substantial growth. Second. they build on., indeed are bolted on, a strong core business. Thus the adjacent area draws from the strength of the core and at the same time may serve to reinforce or defend that core. Third, adjacency strategies are a journey into the unknown, a true extension of the core, a pushing out of the boundaries, a step-up in risk from typical forms of organic growth." Much of the material in this brilliant book is guided and informed by what Zook claims is "the new math of profitable growth." Specifics are best provided by Zook himself.
Zook presumes that those who read this book already know what a core business is, and more specifically, what the core business is of their respective organizations. Given his objectives, that assumption is probably necessary so that he can explore the opportunities which (key word) appropriate adjencies offer. Fair enough. However, my own experience suggests that companies frequently extend the boundaries of a core business without fully understanding what that core business is. Railroads probably offer the best example. Only much too late (if then) did senior-level executives at major railroads realize that their core business was transporting people and cargo, NOT "railroading." Obviously, trains are confined to the tracks as are ships to the water and trucks to the roadways over which they proceed. Early on, what if owners of railroads and their associates had addressed questions such as those Zook poses in his Preface (Page ix)? Had they done so, presumably they would have recognized appropriate adjacencies which include taxi cabs, Super Shuttle, local delivery services, and "overnight" delivery services (e.g. DHL, FedEx, and UPS). While they're at it, why not own or forge strategic partnerships with over-the-road trucking companies and cargo airlines? Given the central locations of railroad stations in major metropolitan areas, it would have been easy enough to combine a full-range of travel services within an upscale retail mall.
The question to ask, therefore, is not what an organization's core business is. Rather, what could AND SHOULD it be? The correct answer to that question is important, of course, because without a proper core, there can be chaos. Also, the correct answer suggests appropriate adjacencies by which to achieve and then sustain increasingly more profitable growth.
In the Afterword, Zook imagines himself engaged in what he calls the proverbial "elevator" conversation during which he reviews the "key messages" contained within his book. It serves no good purpose to list them here because each must be carefully considered within a meticulously formulated context. However, once the book has been read, I strongly recommend that all of these "key messages" be reviewed on a monthly (if not weekly) basis. For decision-makers in at least some companies, this may well prove to be the most valuable book they have read in recent years.
Standing Tall.......2004-01-31
Standing Tall among Business Books, Chris Zook has indepth research examples of Companies portraying picture of today's business times. Numerous CEO reports, charts and graphs with real practical illustrations are varied. Outside a core business, the expansion is detailed in this book - on how to go ahead framing and practically applying the ways and means so as not to harness the existence levels. The books offers nurturing roots of business, examples on adjacency expansions with pros and cons of success and failure measures. The name itself speaks big 'Expand market without abandoning Roots' and the rule of the game lies in effective management. The author pin points steps to leverage best avenues and the possible adjacent moves so as to reach competitive edge and pooling profit without harnessing the roots of main frame business. In today's time, with diversifications, 'Beyond the Core'- the book serves a Good Reference and as I read on Chris zook's comments, I feel this is a 'Grab Pick' and Must for all Big Company Executives.
Book Description
"Unquestionably the most comprehensive treatment available on the subject. I found this book unique in its capacity to benefit executives, planning staff, and students of strategy alike."
-- Robert L. Joss, Dean of the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Create successful strategies for today's dynamic business environment
It isn't your Dad's (or Mom's) marketplace any more. Business environments once seemed quite stable and simple. Today, every market can be described as dynamic, and you need to adapt your strategies in order to counter the threats and maximize your opportunities.
The Eighth Edition of Strategic Market Management is designed to give you the strategic management tools you need to meet the challenges created by the dynamic nature of markets. Using a variety of concepts and methods such as strategic questions, portfolio models, and scenario analysis, the book outlines the five competencies that spark successful, ongoing strategizing:
Strategic analysis--With an emphasis on external market analysis, this new edition illustrates a structured approach to understanding the customer, the competitor, and important trends that you can apply to your strategic decision making
Stimulating and managing innovation--Understand different types of innovation and deal with the organizational challenges involved in bringing innovations to market
Managing multiple businesses--Know how to allocate resources towards businesses of the future and away from businesses that lack growth potential
Creating advantage--Take a long-term perspective to develop truly sustainable competitive advantages (SCAs)
Developing growth strategies--Gain the skills to energize, leverage, globalize the business, or create new businesses
Significantly revised, with a wealth of new and updated material, Strategic Market Management, 8th Edition remains the most authoritative guide to creating business strategies that will be relevant and compelling to customers, sustainable even in face of competitive attack, and maximize the assets and competencies of your organization.
Customer Reviews:
Leveraging Secondary Brand Knowledge to Build Brand Equity.......2007-05-16
In my opinion the most clever chapter in the book discusses how brand equity can be built through secondary brand associations.
Strategic Market Management - 5th Ed - Aaker.......2004-02-19
The 5th edition is, in my view, disorganised, unnecessarily complicated and seems to have been hurriedly finished. This text book was required reading for my MBA (Warwick Business School)
Exceptional book!.......2003-07-22
This book was part of the required reading for my MBA program at UCI and so far it is the best strategic marketing text I have read. Prof. Aaker's writing style is both concise and eloquent, very well organized and easy to read. I will keep this book on my bookshelf for a long time, it is very "reusable" and goes way beyond the class room. A must-have for both corporate executives and enterpreneurs.
Simpe, Concise, Precise and Easy to Understand.......1999-07-29
I used this book when I took a strategic marketing class in my MBA program. The author of this book did an excellent job in explaining strategic marketing concepts in a simple but practical way. The main strength of this book is it is very well-organized and easy to follow. The author also used many real-world samples to explain and support marketing concepts presented in the text. I recommend that any business student who has to take business policy class use this book as his or her reference.
An excellent book for marketing strategy.......1999-07-23
I was first exposed to Aakers Strategic Market Management during a marketing strategy course at National University of Singapore. I really appriciated the disposition of the books. It is relatively thin, not many words are useless (which is uncommmon in the case of marketing text books).
Later, still a student, I got the opportunity to develop a marketing strategy for a smaller firm. During this time Aakers book was of the outmost value, being used for reference throughout the analysis. Highly recommendable.
Books:
- Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
- Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
- Business Market Management: Understanding, Creating and Delivering Value (2nd Edition)
- Creating a Profitable Catalog: Everything You Need to Know to Create a Catalog That Sells
- Customers For Life: How To Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer
- Deadly Persuasion: Why Women And Girls Must Fight The Addictive Power Of Advertising
- Designing Brand Experience: Creating Powerful Integrated Brand Solutions
- Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives
- Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery
- Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
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- The Second Creation: Dolly and the Age of Biological Control
- Accounting Principles, 7th Edition, with PepsiCo Annual Report
- Dark Celebration: A
Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials)
Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change
