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The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: Secrets of Continually Developing a More Profitable Business Model (精装)
by Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles
| Category:
Business, Business model, Innovation, Strategy |
| Market price: ¥ 388.00
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¥ 358.00
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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Dennis Littrell (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
The central message of this book is that you have to continually reinvent the way you do business in order to stay ahead of the competition. Mitchell and Coles call this "continuing business model innovation." It's very much like the experience of the Red Queen in Alice and Wonderland: you have to keep moving just to stay in the same place, and if you want to get ahead, you better start running.
Well, what's new about this? What's new is that everything in our world is now changing so fast that it is no longer enough to simply find a need and fill it, or to discover how to do something better than those who are currently doing it, and for less. You got to do that again and again, year in and year out, and you have to constantly be looking for ways to expand your services and improve your products. In short, it has to be the continuing policy and practice of your company to work toward developing a more profitable business model. This is especially true for successful companies since you WILL be imitated.
Okay, this sounds right, but just how do I go about reinventing my business model? Well, that's what Mitchell and Coles wanted to know, and so beginning in 1992 they went out and studied 100 successful companies and especially their CEOs, including such stalwarts as Clear Channel Communi- cations, EMC, Dell Computers, Paychex, Goldcorp, etc. They asked questions and they listened. They realized that many of the business models that once worked would not work today, and that what worked today would fall behind tomorrow. They learned that gaining a competitive advantage through management effectiveness became more important than ever in the go-go nineties. But the biggest lesson they learned is that "business model obsolescence" is the greatest threat to all businesses now. Of course, they reverse this negative perception and point out that avoiding business model obsolescence is the greatest opportunity now available to your business. This way of thinking is sure to provide excitement in many stagnating businesses today, and is sure to set a fire under somebody's derriere. It might as well be yours, is the message the authors want to get across.
They support this message with a slew of examples from the companies they studied, showing how innovations in pricing, in expanding customer benefits, in creating reductions in costs, in coming up with new ways to increase market share, in adding customer value for the same or a lower price, etc. have worked for others and how they might work for you. They note that "business model innovation usually requires more mental agility than resources..." (p. 218) That's good news to hear since resources are often limited. They give case histories and recount in detail how some of the inventive CEOs took their companies from share prices in the pennies to share prices in the hundreds of dollars (!). Of course some people got lucky and expanded with the bubble, but others didn't, and those that are still successful today have innovated and are continuing to innovate. Mitchell and Coles document this truth.
The densely-packed material in the book is handsomely presented, exceptionally well-edited, and the book's design is first class. There are sidebars highlighting key information and ideas, and subtitles that allow the reader to focus quickly on areas of especial interest. Chapters typically begin with a well-chosen key-note quotation from authorities as diverse as the Bible, Sun-Tzu and Irving Berlin. The style is clear and business-like. The authors are seasoned business strategy consultants who are working on a series of books to help improve your business. This the third in the series, and the one that the authors recommend you read first. There are "Key Questions" at the end of chapters to keep you focused and to highlight and further explain ideas. The authors emphasize looking back objectively at both your company's successes and failures with the time-honored realization that we can often learn more from our failures than from our successes; and indeed the difference between a successful innovation and an unsuccessful one can be as narrow as the razor's edge.
One of the things that most impressed me about this book is the way the authors emphasize the positive aspects of being successful in business, sharing benefits, increasing not just shareholder value, but value to the customer and to those who work for and with you. This kind of enlightened self-interest approach to business is not only a pleasant departure from the Machiavellian model that one so often sees presented, but is a surer way to success, not only to success in business, but to success in life. I know from my experience with Don Mitchell that he is a wise and considerate person who understands the business world and what it takes to get ahead. This book will surely set you in the right direction, and most likely will stimulate you to do even better than you are doing, and especially help you anticipate and indeed create tomorrow's business climate.
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Alessandro Bruno (MSL quote), Canada
<2007-01-11 00:00>
It's been quite some time that i've wanted to write a review of this fine book. I should state from the outset that I'm not a business person. My motivations and opinions on this book derive form a more literary interest and, more significantly, from having read other business books only to find them utterly disappointing. So why do I find this one different? For one thing, it's well written and avoids much of the common jargon that is so fashionable in more popular quick tips and quick fix books that have sold millions of copies and been translated in countless languages form Spanish to eastern Mongolian Dialect. Speking of Mongolia, this book will not inspire you with the leadership skills of Genghis Khan, not will it offer metaphors of mice, fish and other fauna. No, Donald Mitchell and carol Coles deal exclusively in common sense examples of how the competitive structure of your organization - and by extension your own personal attitude - may benefit from clearly explained principles and case studies. I have actually sought advice form this book in organizing the contents of a conference on an entirely different, and find its general usefulness such to wrrant me keeping my copy of the book at my desk in my office for reference. i believe this is the first time that I can actually use rather than berate the advice contained in a business book. |
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Jusuf Hariman (MSL quote), Australia
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Every decade or so businesses have to master an essential new task in order to prosper. Today, business model innovation is that task. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is the template you need to master this critical challenge. In the language of competitive advantage, continual business model innovation is the source of sustainable competitive advantage. The authors sought to find the simplest, most effective management methods that the most successful companies have used since 1992 to continually outperform competitors. They hope to find these methods by tracking and studying top performing companies while they thought of and made the changes that create these competitive achievements. That kind of real-time measurement and study of creating competitive advantages across many different studies has never been done before. The message of The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is to develop and implement a superior management process that continually improves an organisation's business model - as well as fairly and appropriately rewarding all stakeholders. Recent experience clearly shows that continual business nmodel innovation is the most powerful competitive advantage you can have now. This book is the first strategy and management process guidebook on the successful experiences of continual, industry-leading business model innovators. Mitchell and Coles have created a book which titillates and stimulates the mind into action.
The authors provide valuable insights and real world examples of the most important issues separating success from failures in business today. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is for anyone looking for a new and powerful paradigm for creating success out of the chaos in today's dynamic business climate. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage shows you how to recharging your crerativity, innovation and profit. It challenges existing paradigms and continually reinvesting the competitive landscape to your advantage. For example, rather than do more with less, learn how to do more of what counts. This book sees continual business model innovationb as the source of sustainable competitive advantage. In this, it goes beyond Michael Porter and Jay Barney. This book is superior to Competitive Advantage and Gaining and Sustaining Competitive ADvantage. |
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Jim Schiavone (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
With penetrating sapience, Mitchell and Coles take readers on an informative journey exploring the dynamics of successful business. Indeed successful business is a dynamic process of continuous evaluation of consumer needs and preferences, as well as cognition of the ever present competition. The key to this unique business book is in the message it carries of the importance of attending to "business model innovation." What worked ten years ago may no longer be viable in light of what competitive companies may be initiating and undertaking as they move forward to gain ever increasing shares of the marketplace. In short, company leaders must be amenable to ongoing learning and introduction of successful innovation. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage, is a gem in providing the seeds necessary for effective model innovation for both small and large businesses. The authors, with breviloquent aplomb, present cases of successful business innovation in diverse companies. This work is a must read for the enterprising entrepreneur. |
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Cameron Sholey (MSL quote), Canada
<2007-01-11 00:00>
There are many books with great ideas for business innovation. Most of these require a significant dollar investment to implement idea. I found The Ultimate Competitive Advantage to be very refreshing in this respect. The only real investment necessary to implement these ideas is good old- fashioned creativity. I am a huge fan of brainstorming, and if you read between the lines of this book, the theme is about brainstorming new ideas to innovate...no investment necessary!
As a strategy consultant dealing primarily with the balanced scorecard, this book has helped me answer the question I get so often: "OK, we have our scorecard now...how do we achieve our profit (or value, or cost reduction) goals?" My answers now often come from this book.
I would recommend this book to any company that understands its need to innovate its business models, but is faced with the reality that very little or no investment funding for this is in the offing. As a consultant, I deal with very few clients that do not fit this bill!
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Robert (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles present an interesting exploration of competitive advantage and the need for continual business model innovation. I have to admit I'm a little sick of the advice from other gurus to "change everything and to change it now." These gurus seem to forget that their customers determine success. Customers don't always expect, want, or need a "revolution." However, Mitchell and Coles present a way of looking at competitive advantage through the lens of the customer. In other words, they suggest crafting innovative business models in ways that are meaningful to the market... to customers. Another aspect of the book that really hit home was that amount of attention paid to the company's key stakeholders. Study after study confirms that firms with successful stakeholder relationships generate the highest returns to investors/ shareholders. Throughout the book, the authors suggest ways in which employees, suppliers, distributors, and customers can (and should) be included in the development of business improvement - to the mutual benefit of the company and its key stakeholders. One note of warning: this book is content rich. It requires both your time and concentration. For those willing to make the investment, I believe you will be well rewarded. |
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Arun Kohli (MSL quote), Italy
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Before reading the book, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage it seemed to me that most management books were written for “big” business problems. Most authors quote one case after the other to make their own case. A collection of postmortem reports of different companies to tell you how they failed.
This is the first book that has taught me however small a business may be, its success depends on competitive edge it creates with its own resources. There are numerous ways that even limited resources can create an added benefit for the customers and increase my business. The example of “free cold water” on an off beat road is one such method in the book to remember as a simple but brilliant solution to attract customers and add value for the customers. The authors give a set of tools to help one think in a different manner. I recommend this book especially to young person trying to get their business started and also those seeking to break out of dead end situations. A great work!
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Chistopher Jones (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is the most useful business book I've ever read. Many how-to-succeed business books focus on a single technique, philosophy, or management style. Often their claims are rooted more in opinion than in fact. The Competitive Advantage goes well beyond telling us that we should simply emulate Jack Welch as a means to profit nirvana. Mitchell and Coles conducted an exhaustive long-term study of dozens of successful companies across a broad spectrum of industries, looking for a common thread explaining their extraordinary performance. Is there something companies of all sizes and types can do to positively differentiate themselves from competitors and enhance sales, profits, and reputation? Yes, and Mitchell and Coles have isolated it. They distill it to its essence in The Ultimate Competitive Advantage.
In its simplest form, the advantage is the practice of identifying one's business model, and then intentionally changing it for the better - again and again in a never-ending process. If you don't do it, someone else will. But this isn't simply about improving the better mousetrap. This is about the broader and somewhat nebulous concept of business modeling, which they explain in great detail. Mitchell and Coles' intensive research reveals that the fastest growing companies in their control group revamped their business models on a continuous basis, sometimes yearly or biannually. They were not satisfied to "rest on their laurels" or milk a successful model to death. As a simplistic example, we've all heard the saw about being too busy chopping the tree to sharpen the axe. The advice in this book takes you beyond axe sharpening to whole new chopping models. How about opening tree-felling "camps" for wannabe lumberjacks? Students bring their own axe and pay you to "learn" the lumber industry while they produce your product. Costs plummet, profits soar, the community benefits. This book opens your mind to the infinite possibilities in your own business.
Thoroughly researched, well written, up-beat, well intentioned, and heavy on specificity, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is a high-utility business tool that managers can refer to year after year for ideas on keeping their models fresh and staying ahead of Brand X. Very highly recommended.
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Mike (MSL quote0, USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Donald Mitchell is chairman and chief executive officer of Mitchell and Company - a management consulting firm specialized in business strategy. Carol Coles is cofounder, president and chief operating officer of Mitchell and Company. Ms. Coles has spent more than twenty years designing management processes to help companies develop the strategic potential of their business.
By reading The Ultimate Competitive Advantage, a business leader can learn how to establish a continually improving process for successful business model innovation. The book will provide plenty of practical advice - for small start up companies as well for larger well established companies.
The main claim of this practical book is that having the best management process in your industry is the one thing that can most improve a company's growth and profitability.
Mitchell and Coles support this claim that the most fundamental concept of progress is continual learning and improving. It is the first book describing best practices in continual business model innovation.
As an MBA student I learned that a continual improvement process for the company's business model will play an important role for a future business leader. For me personally, the main strength of this book is that I could learn how to design a superior business process that would add value and decrease costs at the same time.
I strongly recommend this practical book to students and experienced managers. The specific question about your business at the end of each chapter will inspire your own thinking and learning processes. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Mitchell and Coles have done businesses a tremendous service in writing this excellent book. They have done so by providing a practical toolbox of ideas with which to stimulate entrepreneurs, business leaders and managers to enhance and improve their business prospects in today's very competitive marketplaces.
I must admit to having struggled with this book for a long time. Not because of difficulty in reading and understanding. To be sure this is a very lucid and comprehensible book and is accessible to all levels from a twelve year old bringing out his lemonade stall for the third year in a row and adding iced tea to his product range to the CEO of a major corporation.
My struggle was with trying to make overarching sense of what lessons the authors were trying to encourage readers to learn. It became clear to me after several periods of reflection upon completion of the text. The crucial significance of this book in a practical way lies in understanding how deep into national economic systems the process of globalisation has seeped. We see the reults in our everyday lives, how quickly new or improved products come into the marketplace. We see how quickly established businesses change or die, we see cheaper and better products come from remote parts of the world leaving us a greater part of our disposable income to spend on the things we would prefer to spend on them.
It is clear that in life and not just in business the process of change has quickened and that as individuals we must be more adaptable and more attune to the world around us to the opportunities that exist. It is as if we need to become our own business in ourselves.
Mitchell and Coles focus on but one part of this continuous change and that is on the business model. Their strong focus on this area has great strength but we must also learn the broader lesson from their well researched work. To survive in today's world we must not only accept change but we must embrace it as people, as workers, as entrepreneurs. It is as Schumpeter pointed out inherent in the nature of capitalism. But, to be sure it is inherent in the nature of all life, as Hayek observed. We must change or die.
I would heartily recommend this book to everyone, for there is much to be gained from within its pages. Mitchell and Coles have produced an excellent book which far and away exceeds its remit as a business book. |
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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