If You're in a Dogfight, Become a Cat! : : Strategies for Long-Term Growth / / Leonard Sherman.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press Complete eBook-Package 2017
• VerfasserIn: Sherman, Leonard,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2017]; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Series: Columbia Business School Publishing
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (360 p.) :; 83 color and b&w illustrations

Businesses often find themselves trapped in a competitive dogfight, scratching and clawing for market share with products consumers view as largely undifferentiated. Conventional wisdom suggests that dogfights are to be expected as marketplaces mature, giving rise to the notion that there are "bad" industries where it is unlikely that any company can succeed. But there are notable exceptions in which enlightened executives have changed the rules to grasp the holy grail of business: long-term profitable growth. Rather than joining the dogfights raging within their industry, companies such as Apple, FedEx, and Starbucks have chosen to become metaphorical cats, continuously renewing their distinctive strategies to compete on their own terms.In If You're in a Dogfight, Become a Cat, Leonard Sherman draws on four decades of experience in management consulting, venture capital, and teaching business strategy at Columbia Business School to share practical advice on two of the most vexing issues facing business executives: why is it so hard to achieve long-term profitable growth, and what can companies do to break away from the pack?Sherman takes the reader on a provocative journey through the building blocks of business strategy by challenging conventional wisdom on a number of questions that will redefine management best practices:• What should be the overarching purpose of your business?• Do you really know what your strategy is?• Is there such a thing as a bad industry?• Where do great ideas come from and how do I find them?• What makes products meaningfully different?• What makes and breaks great brands?• How and when should I disrupt my own company?• What are the imperatives to achieving long-term profitable growth?Filled with dozens of illustrative examples of inspiring successes and dispiriting falls from grace, this book provides deep insights on how to become the cat in a dogfight, whether you are a CEO, mid-level manager, aspiring business school student, or curious observer interested in achieving sustained profitable growth.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter One. The Origins of Modern Business Strategy Thinking -- Chapter Two. There's No Such Thing as a Bad Industry -- Chapter Three. Why Are We in Business? -- Chapter Four. The Search for the Holy Grail of Business: Long-Term Profitable Growth -- Chapter Five. Do You Know What Your Strategy Is? -- Chapter Six. Getting Strategy Right -- Chapter Seven. Creating Strong Brands -- Chapter Eight. Brand Builders and Killers -- Chapter Nine. What Makes Products Meaningfully Different? -- Chapter Ten. Where Do Great Ideas Come From? -- Chapter Eleven. Strategies to Break Away from the Pack -- Chapter Twelve. Hitting the Bull's-Eye -- Notes -- Index