Filled with well-written stories of inspiring individuals (such as barber Michael Cogliandro) and progressive organizations (such as Habitat for Humanity, Dell Computer, and Disneyland), it provides the reader with a step-by-step method to adoitly leverage what's available and accomplish the five ultimate principles of business model innovation.
The book's format is as excellent as its content. Each chapter represents a sequential step in the innovation change process and flows seamlessly to the next. Each chapter contains a fully-fleshed out real-life example of the point being made. Boxes highlight salient points which are also summarized. Furthermore, each chapter has a set of heavy-duty key questions for readers to think about at length and apply to their own businesses.
Dynamic, practical, insightful, and inspirational, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is an absolute necessity for today's savvy business owner!
In this book the authors aim to answer one of the ultimate business' questions of all time: "What one thing can most improve a company's growth and profitability?" The authors believe that the answer is: "having the best process in your industry for continuing business model innovation." The improvement tips in book are based on research into 100 CEOs and their companies, who (1) had been publicly held for several years and above a certain market capitalization size; (2) fastest growing stock prices during the previous three years; and (3) the same CEO was in place throughout the three years. Some additional examples were taken from the 'Value Line Investment Survey' between 1989 and fall 2000.
The 'Introduction' discusses business model innovation and the race for leadership and prosperity. "It is that business model obsolescence is THE major unperceived opportunity for and threat to all businesses now." In the 'Prologue' they introduce some great examples of business model innovators, ranging from gold-mining Goldcorp to entertainment giant Disney(land).
In Part I - 'The Most Productive Areas for Business Model Innovation' the pleasure of this book really starts. Mitchell and Coles start discussing the areas where companies can improve their operations. They split these areas up in three. The first is increasing value without raising prices and costs; the second is to adjust pricing to increase sales profitably; and third, reduction of costs that reduce customers benefits. The authors use a wide range of examples to explain their points.
Part II - 'Provide Sustained Benefits for All Stakeholders' discusses the difficult stage after the initial success of a business model innovation: The view that one success can threaten to dismantle the foundation of that success. The authors discuss methods for building a buffer for lean times and establishing a good ethical base for the company. They also discuss how leading business model innovators reward all stakeholders fairly in ways the stakeholders prefer.
In Part III - 'Expand Business Model Innovation', Mitchell and Coles explain that companies should never be satisfied with their current business model and should keep innovating. "Start first and stay focused on adding business model innovations to gain and keep a profitable competitive advantage." There is also advise how to create a culture for nurturing ongoing business model innovation within organizations. These two issues should be seen as one of the highest priority on an executive's agenda.
The final part, 'Pursue Higher-Potential Business Model Improvement', discusses how you can improve a business model innovation. This sounds strange, but by looking closely at areas of high growth and profitability can lead to exceptional results. Another method is by closely looking at the benefits you can provide and share. Especially this last method is overlooked very often by successful companies and can ultimately lead to disastrous times. Finally, the 'Epilogue' provides the five principles which can guide companies to a positive future.
Yes, yes, yes, this is a great book. It is not just about innovation and idea creation, it also discusses the difficult second and further stages which are often overlooked. It fills you up with an enormous amounts of tips and ideas on how to improve your current or future business model. And I do believe that that is probably the strongest point of this book, you can feel the ideas and energy flowing into your body and mind and cannot wait to start implementing them into your organization. The authors have provided a short list of key questions at the of each chapter which you should ask yourself. I have just one minor comment: The term 'business model' could have been discussed in some greater detail - I refer to Joan Magretta's Harvard Business Article 'Why Business Models Matter?' (May 2002). Highly recommended to executives, managers, and, especially, entrepreneurs. The book is written in simple business US-English.
Thinking out of the box is a prerequisite for refactoring your business model, and unlike the plethora of books on this seemingly ineffable topic, this book will provide you with the knowledge and skills to do just that. Excellent example of thinking out of the box are immediately given in the introduction - each mini study set in text boxes is anchored to one of more factors in business model innovation, and illustrate how thinking out of the box by individuals led to radically new ways of viewing their business, and the successes that came from acting on these insights. Everyone will find at least one inspiring case study in this book that elicits an Eureka! Mine was the GoldCorp case.
However, case studies--no matter how inspiring--are nothing more than interesting reading without knowing the common critical success factors in detail. This is where the book shines, because these details are exposed, analyzed and the reasons why they are important are given in a compelling way. Part One, which addresses value, cost and price is by far the most influential 114 pages I have read in any book. Most of the techniques can be found in any college-level text book, but the manner in which it's presented, and especially the chapter on eliminating costs that reduce customer and end user benefits, will inspire you to think broadly and deeply about these issues. Part Two covers how to provide sustained benefits to all stakeholders. In theory this seems easy, but too many organizations acknowledge the benefits without acting. The authors show you how to transform the theory into action and results. They also tackle the messages in Parts Three (Expand Business Model Innovation) and Four (Pursue Higher-Potential Business Model Improvement) with the same painstaking detail as in the first two parts.
This book has clear, lively writing that will hold your interest from the first page. In fact, it is so well written that you may easily overlook the experience, knowledge and skill that is woven into this excellent book through carefully chosen case studies, key questions that cause you to think, and copious use of text boxes to highlight key points or impart quick pieces of essential information. In that respect not only is this book a valuable addition to any executive's reading list, but it's a masterpiece. It deserves a place alongside the works of Michael Porter, Kaplan & Norton, and Drucker.