Other Business Books

The full title of this book by Henry Dubroff and Susan J Marks is

Battling Big Box: How Nimble Niche Companies Can Outmaneuver Giant Competitors

In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.

Here is my review.

I didn’t feel that it tackled its subject

This is supposed to be a book about how small businesses can get the better of the giant competitors in their market who appear to have all the advantages. It’s a very important subject for every business owner who feels threatened.

Unfortunately it didn’t live up to expectations. I don’t think it’s a bad book about creating small business success but I never felt that it really tackled the goal that it set itself. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Donald Sexton is

Value Above Cost: Driving Superior Financial Performance with CVA, the Most Important Metric You’ve Never Used

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

An interesting link between marketing and finance

The book is about CVA. This is a registered trademark and it stands for Customer Value Added. This is Perceived Customer Value minus Variable Costs where perceived customer value is the maximum that the customer will pay for your product or service. This is not usually the actual price paid and nor is it the actual value delivered. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Jeremy Kourdi is

Surviving a Downturn: Building a Successful Business.without Breaking the Bank

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars.

Here is my review.

Sensible advice

This book focuses on helping a company to recover from a downturn in its fortunes rather than surviving a downturn in the economy. There is a subtle difference and I think of it more as a turnaround book. [continue reading…]

In my review of the book

The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences by Matt Watkinson

posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars. This means it is Worthwhile.

Here is my review.

Not as good as I thought it would be

I had high expectations of this book but I was left disappointed. I’m well aware that there’s an irony there but I wonder if this is another book where the reviews have been bumped up by friends. [continue reading…]

In my review of

The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management

by Stephen Haines posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means it is Worthwhile.

Here is my review.

Disappointing

I bought this book several years ago because I am fascinated by systems thinking that I first found in Peter Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline“. I’ve had several goes at reading it and each time up to now, I’ve put it down because I’m bored. This is strange because I read a lot of books about strategic planning.

The style of writing is very dry and the author was keen to get some of his own terminology into use. This is something that frustrates me with strategy because everyone is keen to differentiate their own approach rather than building on accepted practice.

My biggest disappointed is that it seems to be a fairly standard approach to strategy dressed up with the very occasional reference to feedback. I expected much more about how the difference systems from single people all the way through to the wider environment interact and either reinforce or compensate for each other in the chain of cause and effect relationships.

I can’t recommend it but at the same time, the book isn’t terrible. It has useful ideas and frameworks which can be found with some diligence. It’s too much like hard work for anyone new to strategy and it doesn’t add enough of a new approach for someone who is well-schooled in the main strategy techniques and models.

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The full title of this book by Dan Olsen is

The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

Excellent for software development, an interesting start for others but it becomes less relevant.

This book is mainly written about and for software and IT products and services but many of the early ideas are transportable to other types of products and services although some imagination is needed. I believe this should be made clear on the book cover and description, and if it had been, my rating would have been higher. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Alain Guillemain is

Customer Delight: Strategic Insights for Market Leaders

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars.

Here is my review.

Well meaning but odd

This book is very well intentioned and the author makes some very good points at the beginning but by the time I was about 15% of the way through I was having some doubts and I decided that it wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t be able to finish it at the 33% mark.

Customer delight is an important subject that goes well beyond satisfaction. It is well worth finding out how you can adjust your business to deliver delight.

My advice is to download the Kindle sample and read that first. I didn’t bother and I regret it. Just because I didn’t enjoy reading it doesn’t mean that you won’t find it very helpful. The Amazon.com reviewers seem to love it although they don’t seem to have reviewed any/many other things.

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The full title of the book by Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel is

Strategy Safari: The complete guide through the wilds of strategic management

In my review posted at Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

A challenging read if you’re familiar with strategy

This book summarises ten different schools of strategic thought but the separations are deceptive and the approaches themselves are set up as straw men to be knocked down.

It’s therefore a challenging read if you’re already knowledgable about strategy and you have your own views about the different approaches. While some of it made me angry with what were almost parodies, some barbs hit home. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by The Boston Consulting Group is

The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy: Classic Concepts and New Perspectives

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.

Here is my review.

A piece of history

This book is a collection of short articles from a variety of Boston Consulting Group consultants including its founder Bruce Henderson from 1970 forward to 2005.

It’s split five parts:

– The nature of business strategy
– The development of business strategy
– The practice of business strategy
– Business thinking
– Social commentary

The main meat is in part 3 with sections for:

– The customer, segmentation and value creation
– Innovation and growth
– Deconstruction of value chains
– Performance measurement
– Resource allocation
– Organisational design
– Leadership and change

As you read through, you’ll find a mixture of ideas that have passed into conventional strategic wisdom and perspectives that didn’t catch on

The consultancy firm have had a huge impact on the theory and practice of strategy but the book is harder to assess. I found it very interesting to go back and read the original germination of ideas but I also found it frustrating. A book made up of a large collection of short articles is inevitably a patchwork. Ideas don’t flow together as you would wish and there isn’t the development of core ideas to a deeper level.

I think The Boston Consulting Group On Strategy would have been a more compelling read if it had featured fewer original articles and added an updated perspective and thoughts on how the ideas are still relevant to today’s world or reasons why they are not.

It’s not a book for someone who is new to strategy and wants to put together a strategic plan. Nor is it a book for someone who wants to be at the cutting edge of strategy. There is little here for typical readers of my blog who own and/or manage small to medium sized businesses. It is a book for practitioners who want to have more understanding of where strategy has come from.

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