The Profit Zone: How Strategic Business Design Will Lead You to...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 352 pages
• Published by: Three Rivers Press February 26, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0812933044
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0812933048
• Book Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 11.2 ounces

Product Review
For years, the prevailing wisdom in business was that profitability was a byproduct of market share; get the biggest piece of the market and profit will surely follow. But in the last ten years, this formula has time and again proved itself wrong. Companies such as DEC, GM, Ford, United Airlines, Kodak, and Sears have all demonstrated that market share does not necessarily lead to profitability.

The Profit Zone looks at how profit happens in today's customer-driven economy. The authors demonstrate why market share often leads to a "no-profit zone" and identify 22 profit models that have helped dozens of companies consistently make money. Included are in-depth looks at companies--Disney, GE, Microsoft, Intel, Charles Schwab--that have successfully redesigned their businesses and dramatically increased the value of their companies. Instead of focusing on market share, these innovators first looked at their customers' requirements and how they could profit from fulfilling them. The book considers example after example of how the profit zone works, from Disney's theme parks to Schwab's marketing and selling of mutual funds. The final chapter is a handbook that allows managers to apply the ideas to their own companies. Clearly written and immensely practical, The Profit Zone deserves a place on every manager's bookshelf. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Slywotsky (Value Migration, McGraw-Hill, 1995) and Morrison, partners in a management consultancy, offer a number of insights into corporate strategy, presenting a theoretical framework that crosses a number of enterprise sectors and employs a number of specific strategies. The authors point out that market share, once the sine qua non, can no longer be equated with profitability. For the authors, profitability today comes when organizations move from a value chain based on core competencies to one based on consumer priorities. This work has a textbooklike feel; besides defining 22 specific profit models, it details how a number of successful companies from SMH (Swatch and Omega watches) to Coca-Cola and Microsoft employ strategies either singularly or in multiples. If this book has a drawback, it is that the authors were unable to capture fully the pain and hard work that came about in the development and execution of a strategy. Definitely worth considering for business collections and a good choice for general collections.?Steven Silkunas, SEPTA, Philadelphia
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Profit Zone: How Strategic Business Design Will Lead You to Tomorrow's Profits (Hardcover) In Part One, the authors argue that "market share is dead" as an overall strategy goal. Instead, to achieve sustained growth in profits and shareholder value, companies need a "customer-centric business design" which anticipates and addresses constantly shifting customer priorities. There is no single design which fits all circumstances. but the most effective designs will start with customer priorities. In Part Two, the co-authors shift their attention to several "reinventors" who have achieved extraordinary success. Most are familiar: Welch, Hayek, Goizueta, Schwab, Grove, Eisner, Hatsopoulos, Barnevik, and Gates. However, and this is an excellent example of the book's unique and substantial value, Slywotzy & Morrison note that "the principles and techniques of reinveniting a company's business design to get it into the industry's profit zone...apply with equal force to small companies, to divisions of larger companies, and to the middle managers who run them. In fact, the reinventors we will be reading about in the future are already honing their skills at innovative business designs today." The authors then examine several smaller firms such as Madden Communications, Cardboard Box, Inc., and Clozaril Patient Management System. In Part Three, the authors provide a "handbook" which explains in detail how innovation works.This book is relevant to all organizations (both for-profit and non-profit) which seek to increase their economic value. Non-profits must also make critically important decisions (such as those involving allocation of resources) if they are to achieve their objectives. The appendices provide additional guidance so that the reader can implement whichever of the book's ideas and suggestions are most relevant. If optimizing your organization's profits is your destination, here's a map to get there.