Carl W. Stern

Michael S. Deimler

A collection of the best thinking from one of the most innovative management consulting firms in the world For more than forty years, The Boston Consulting Group has been shaping strategic thinking in business. The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy offers a broad and up-to-date selection of the firm's best ideas on strategy with fresh ideas, insights, and practical lessons for managers, executives, and entrepreneurs in every industry. Here's a sampling of the provocative thinking you'll find inside: "You have to be the scientist of your own life and be astonished four times:at what is, what always has been, what once was, and what could be." "The majority of products in most companies are cash traps . . . .[They] are not only worthless, but a perpetual drain on corporate resources." "Use more debt than your competition or get out of the business." "When information flows freely, reputation, more than reciprocity,becomes the basis for trust." "As a strategic weapon, time is the equivalent of money, productivity,quality, even innovation." "When brands become business systems, brand management becomes far too important to leave to the marketing department." "The winning organization of the future will look more like a collection ofjazz ensembles than a symphony orchestra." "Most of our organizations today derive from a model whose original purpose was to control creativity." "Rather than being an obstacle, uncertainty is the very engine of transformation in a business, a continuous source of new opportunities." "IP assets lack clear property lines. Every bit of intellectual property you can own comes with connections to other valuable innovations."

Classic Concepts and New Perspectives

The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy

A collection of the best thinking from one of the mostinnovative management consulting firms in the world For more than forty years, The Boston Consulting Group has beenshaping strategic thinking in business. The Boston ConsultingGroup on Strategy offers a broad and up-to-date selection ofthe firm's best ideas on strategy with fresh ideas, insights, andpractical lessons for managers, executives, and entrepreneurs inevery industry. Here's a sampling of the provocative thinkingyou'll find inside: "You have to be the scientist of your own life and be astonishedfour times:at what is, what always has been, what once was, andwhat could be." "The majority of products in most companies are cash traps . . ..[They] are not only worthless, but a perpetual drain on corporateresources." "Use more debt than your competition or get out of thebusiness." "When information flows freely, reputation, more thanreciprocity,becomes the basis for trust." "As a strategic weapon, time is the equivalent of money,productivity,quality, even innovation." "When brands become business systems, brand management becomesfar too important to leave to the marketing department." "The winning organization of the future will look more like acollection ofjazz ensembles than a symphony orchestra." "Most of our organizations today derive from a model whoseoriginal purpose was to control creativity." "Rather than being an obstacle, uncertainty is the very engineof transformation in a business, a continuous source of newopportunities." "IP assets lack clear property lines. Every bit of intellectualproperty you can own comes with connections to other valuableinnovations."

Janmejaya Sinha

David Rhodes

Richard Lesser

The world faces social, political, and economic turmoil on an unprecedented scale—along with unsettling levels of turbulence and volatility. Market leadership today is less of a predictor of leadership tomorrow. Therefore, senior executives today must strive to own the future. In Own the Future, The Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s most prestigious and innovative management consulting firms, offers a roadmap. Drawing on the firm’s experience advising organizations on how to achieve and sustain competitive advantage, this book offers 50 ideas to help readers chart their organization’s path to future leadership. The articles are organized along ten attributes critical to success in the current environment—adaptive, global, connected, sustainable, customer-first, fit to win, value-driven, trusted, bold, and inspiring. The future may be unknowable, but The Boston Consulting Group offers insights from its 50 years of practice on how readers can position their organization to win—to change the game and to own the future.

Michael S. Deimler

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