Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Organizations can rejuvenate & seek industry leadership--even when their industry environment is hostile--if their managers reject standard recipes & create innovative new products, services, &, most importantly, strategies. Illustrated by many examples drawn from a wide range of international businesses, this book challenges conventional theories of strategic management & shows how immense progress has been achieved, even with limited resources, by creating entrepreneurial organizations that capture & gain leverage from experimentation, imagination, & skill enhancement at all levels. The authors identify the common features that lead to success, including a commitment to continuous change & improvement; an organizational climate that encourages experimentation & entrepreneurial behavior; & a recognition of the need to invest in knowledge & human capital. Finally, the authors chart four stages to rejuvention: building a top team, simplifying the organization; building new competitive advantages; & leveraging the new benefits.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This outstanding work is the product of case-based analysis by two British academics who balance formulation and implementation of strategy. Focus is on the potential of once-laggard firms and industries thought to be mature--a more common and more important segment than the emerging, rapid-growth, high-tech segment. Services and goods producers are covered--banking, mass fashion retailing, fibers and textiles, major home appliances, vacuum pumps, cutlery, steel castings, and others--emphasizing Britain but extending to the US, Europe, and Japan. The marvel is the book's hopeful iconoclasm, counter-intuitive analysis, and fully bolstered arguments. In their strategy formulation, firms would innovate, build multiple advantages (e.g., low cost with quality, variety, or speed of delivery, etc.), and choose scope (scale, range, geography, and purchasing and distribution) creatively. Implementation calls for an entrepreneurial organization and a sequence: galvanize top management, reduce complexity, start initiatives, shape collective effort, exploit achievements, and maintain momentum. Highest recommendation for its critical, realistic insights and its four-step program for managers. Upper-division undergraduate through professional. J. C. Thompson; University of Connecticut