Details

Chapter One: Breakthrough Dynamics. <p>Chapter Two: The Enterprise Principle.</p> <p>Chapter Three: The Strategic Setting.</p> <p>Chapter Four: Champions of Breakthrough.</p> <p>Chapter Five: The Mindset of the Market Leader.</p> <p>Chapter Six: Advice to Incumbents.</p> <p>Chapter Seven: Aim, Ready, Fire.</p> <p>Chapter Eight: The Leadership Factor.</p> <p>Appendix I: Breakthrough Profiles.</p> <p>Appendix II: Breakthrough Performance.</p> <p>Post Face.</p> <p>Index.</p>

Walking in the footsteps of Jim Collins's business bestseller Good to Great, Davidson (The Amazing Race) offers a prescription for corporate greatness based on his study of more than 7 high-performing companies. But while Good to Great focused on lesser-known firms, this volume looks to blue chips like IBM, Dell, Schwab, Caterpillar and ADS. Davidson's premise is that "breakthrough" companies achieve what they do by setting outrageous objectives and pursuing them with single-minded intensity. The go-for-broke, swing-for-the-bleachers approach that he favors means that there are plenty of intriguing innovations on display. For example, Progressive Insurance vowed to deliver the fastest claim resolution to auto policyholders and-taking that idea to its "outrageous" conclusion - broke the industry mold by putting claims agents in vans, ready to go at a moment's notice to meet a customer at the scene of an accident. However, the emphasis here is not on storytelling but on building a case for the "breakthrough" approach that can apply to the reader's own business. What's most impressive is that the companies cited are by and large established players who've radically transformed their operations, rather than startups that begin with a "clean slate." Overall, Davidson's argument is credible and logical; the trouble is, it's a little too familiar. So much has been written about corporate transformations through technology or re-engineering during and after the Internet bubble that it's hard to muster a sense of excitement or discovery. In the end, this is a worthy title, but one that lacks the "breakthrough" spark of visionary thinking to take it to the next level. (Nov.) (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>, November 3, 2003)

<b>BILL DAVIDSON</b> was a tenured professor of management at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California from 1985 to 1998. He is the author of several other books on management, including The Amazing Race and 2020 Vision (with Stan Davis), which was selected as Best Business Book of the Year by Fortune magazine in 1992. He is Chairman of MESA Research (www.mesaresearchgroup.com), a strategy and leadership services group.

"Teams that embrace bold goals and breakthrough strategies can accomplish remarkable results. This book will be invaluable to anyone embarking on that path."<br /> – Bart Butzer<br /> Executive Vice President, Target Corporation <p>"Yellow’s continued industry leadership will result in large part from embracing Bill Davidson’s philosophy and approach."<br /> – Bill Zollars<br /> CEO, Yellow Corporation</p> <p>"Strategic change is a high-risk, high-return proposition. Davidson’s framework provides a sure, firm foundation for success."<br /> – Roger MacFarlane<br /> CEO, UTi Worldwide</p> <p>"This is a serious piece of work which should be required reading for all business leaders. If you plan on remaining or becoming number one in your industry, have your top management team read this right away."<br /> – Bob Herson<br /> CEO, Executive Focus International, Inc.</p> <p>"I could not put it down–stunning insights into corporate strategy and tactics."<br /> – Randall Lunn<br /> General Partner, Palomar Ventures</p>

US