by Paul Simister
on June 9, 2015
In my review of
“Competing for the Future” by Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad
posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave this famous strategy book a rating of Four Stars.
This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
Still relevant for big companies
This book popularised the important insights and ideas that came out of resource based strategy in the early 1990s because it’s one of the few strategy books that crossed over into the mainstream management books.
It was written at a time when business process re-engineering and restructuring were the popular panaceas for business success but there was one fundamental problem…you can’t cut your way to growth. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 8, 2015
When I reviewed the book,
The Art of Profitability by Adrian Slywotzky,
on Amazon.co.uk, I rated it at the Four Stars level.
This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
A fable for different business models
This is a fascinating book which reveals twenty three different business models which an entrepreneur can use to build a profitable business.
What Is A Business Model?
It is the way your business creates value for customers and captures its fair share as profit. The best business models build their own momentum so success automatically leads to more success. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 8, 2015
The full title of this ground-breaking book on strategy by Richard D’Aveni with Robert Gunther is
“Hypercompetition: Managing the Dynamics of Strategic Maneuvering“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave this book a rating of Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and Very Highly Recommended to the appropriate people.
Here is my book review.
A very important book that challenges the orthodoxy of strategic planning
This is a book I’ve wanted to read for many years and finally, in 2011 I did. Although it dates back to 1994 I’m very impressed about its ideas on strategy dynamics.
The view of business strategy presented in book is both scary and exciting.
The essence of strategy is building competitive advantage but in a world of hypercompetition, no competitive advantage is sustainable. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 8, 2015
The full title of this book by Robert W Bradford and J Peter Duncan with Brian Tarcy is
“Simplified Strategic Planning: The No-Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Four Stars. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
Very good book for SMEs who want or need to put together a strategic plan and then implement it.
The full title summarises this book well. It is a very good guide for the management team of any medium sized business which feels lost when thinking about business strategy.
Strategy is one of those words that nearly everyone feels obliged to use but it’s often difficult to put a finger on what it means when you are trying to think strategically or even to prepare a strategic plan. It is hard to see effective strategy in action although when you do see, you are wowed by how well everything fits together. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 5, 2015
The full title of this book by David Silverstein is
“Three Steps Ahead: Thinking Strategically to Avoid Unintended Consequences“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
Very interesting
By definition, it’s unusual to think about unintended consequences but these are the usually unwanted events that turn a good idea into a bad one. That’s obviously a mistake but how do you think about the unknown unknowns?
Unintended consequences are also a problem with performance measures and incentives. I remember blogging about the time when the Accident & Emergency departments in hospitals were set a target to see people in four hours and it resulted in the measure being gamed by leaving patients in ambulances and tying down these first responders to the hospitals instead of being free to deal with emergencies. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 4, 2015
When I posted my review of
Strategy In Practice by Cliff Bowman
to Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars.
This means I think it is Good and Well Worthwhile.
Here is my book review.
A very practical guide to strategy for senior managers
This is a book for managers who contribute to the strategy debates going on within their businesses. It is very different from many of the strategy texts which are either written for MBA style students or for strategy experts.
Cliff Bowman is Professor of Strategic Management at Cranfield University in the UK. He is also the co-author of probably my favourite book on strategy, “Competitive & Corporate Strategy” – a lost classic. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 4, 2015
The full title of this book by Adrian Slywotsky and David Morrison is
“The Profit Zone: How Strategic Business Design Will Lead You to Tomorrow’s Profits“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
A superb book when it was published which is still valuable in 2015
This is a fascinating look at the power of business models to determine the success of a business.
The authors argue that the traditional sources of profit in many businesses and industries are broken. No longer can higher market share and market growth be assumed to “guarantee” financial success because there are many cases where high market share is unrewarded and where fast growing markets become profit traps. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 4, 2015
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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by Paul Simister
on June 3, 2015
The full title of this book by Adrian Slywotzky and David Morrison is
“Profit Patterns: 30 Ways to Capture Profit for Your Business“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I rated this book as Four Stars. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
An interesting way of making sense of your analysis to see the big picture
Profit Patterns begins with the interesting metaphor of business strategy is like Picasso’s paintings.
In the beginning, things were pretty straightforward. It was very clear what was happening in the picture but over time, it became more difficult to understand the paintings, the message, the pattern until in the end you were left guessing what Picasso was painting.
The idea of Profit Patterns is that with work, order can be found within the chaos provided you understand pattern thinking. This makes sense to me and the book represents a shift in perspective from Slywotzky’s earlier books Value Migration and The Profit Zone. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 3, 2015
The full title of this often overlooked strategy book by Shiv Mathur and Alfred Kenyon is
“Creating Value: Shaping Tomorrow’s Business“.
In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I rated this book as worthy of Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and Very Highly Recommended to appropriate readers.
Here is my book review.
A highly original look at how to differentiate products
This book could be the best strategy book you’ve never heard of.
It’s a fiercely original intellectual work which will challenge many of the traditional ways of thinking about business strategy. Unfortunately both authors have died so it can’t be updated beyond the second edition but Creating Value has lots of insight for any business strategist and especially anyone who is interested in differentiation.
It’s not the easiest of reads because it is so challenging to the mind. [continue reading…]
