Rita Gunther McGrath

Argues that sustainable competitive advantage can no longer be the Holy Grail for companies due to a constantly changing environment, and offers a new set of principles for winning in a volatile and uncertain marketplace.

How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business

The End of Competitive Advantage

Ian C. MacMillan

A Blueprint for Building Entrepreneurial Organizations Nobody needs to tell you that in the new economy, managers using conventional strategies are losing out to smart, fast, entrepreneurial competitors who move on ideas others overlook and who confidently act while others dither. Are the managers of leading companies simply doomed to let this happen? Not at all, argue Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian MacMillan. The fundamental problem is that the tools, training, and conceptual frameworks that work for business-as-usual can't, and don't, work when your main challenge is to bury old business models and aggressively create completely new ones. To succeed, today's strategists need the thought process and discipline that are second nature to successful entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurial Mindset offers a refreshingly practical blueprint for thinking and acting in environments that are fast-paced, rapidly changing, and highly uncertain. It provides both a guide to energizing the organization to find tomorrow's opportunities and a set of entrepreneurial principles you can use personally to transform the arenas in which you compete. Using lessons drawn from leading entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies, The Entrepreneurial Mindset presents a set of practices for capitalizing on uncertainty and rapid change. Like McGrath and MacMillan's bestselling Harvard Business Review articles, such as "Discovery-Driven Planning," the book provides simple but powerful ways to stop acting by the old rules and start thinking with the discipline of habitual entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurial Mindset will show you how to: * Eliminate paralyzing uncertainty by creating an entrepreneurial frame that shapes a shared understanding of what is to be accomplished and what would be worthwhile * Create a richly stocked opportunity register in which you mobilize great ideas for redesigning existing products, finding new sources of differentiation, resegmenting existing markets, reconfiguring market spaces, and seizing the huge upside potential of breakthroughs * Build a dynamic portfolio of businesses and options that continuously move your organization toward the future * Execute dynamically your ideas so that you can move fast, with confidence and without undue risk * Develop your own way of leading with an entrepreneurial mindset to create a vibrant entrepreneurial climate within your organization The Entrepreneurial Mindset is about succeeding in an unpredictable world. It will help everyone from independent entrepreneurs to managers of large corporations develop insights that others overlook and act on them to build the truly entrepreneurial organizations of the future.

Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty

The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Based on extensive research and the authors' combined thirty years of experience, Discovery-Driven Growth provides a breakthrough system for managing strategic growth. You will learn how to identify and prioritize your company's full portfolio of opportunities - from new product lines to entirely new businesses. The authors then show how to best execute specific initiatives, test major project assumptions, and develop a culture that values disciplined experimentation and learning over meeting mindless and unrealistic goals. Tools for dealing with each challenge are backed by examples from companies, from small firms to global giants, that have successfully put these methods into practice.

A Breakthrough Process to Reduce Risk and Seize Opportunity

Discovery-driven Growth

Harvard Business Review

Clayton M. Christensen

Steve Blank

Johnson, Mark W.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation (with Featured Article Reinventing Your Business Model by Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, and Henning Kagermann)

Mark W. Johnson

Rethink how your organization creates, delivers, and captures value--or risk becoming irrelevant. If you read nothing else on business model innovation, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you reach new customers and stay ahead of your competitors by reinventing your business model. This book will inspire you to: Assess whether your core business model is going strong or running out of gas Fend off free and discount entrants to your market Reinvigorate growth by adding a second business model Adopt the practices of lean startups Develop a platform around your key products Make business model innovation an ongoing discipline within your organization This collection of articles includes "Why Business Models Matter," by Joan Magretta; "Reinventing Your Business Model," by Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, and Henning Kagermann; "When Your Business Model Is in Trouble," an interview with Rita Gunther McGrath by Sarah Cliffe; "Four Paths to Business Model Innovation," by Karan Girotra and Serguei Netessine; "The Transformative Business Model," by Stelios Kavadias, Kostas Ladas, and Christoph Loch; "Competing Against Free," by David J. Bryce, Jeffrey H. Dyer, and Nile W. Hatch; "Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything," by Steve Blank; "Finding the Platform in Your Product," by Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman; "Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy," by Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Geoffrey G. Parker, and Sangeet Paul Choudary; "When One Business Model Isn't Enough," by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jorge Tarzijan; and "Reaching the Rich World's Poorest Consumers," by Muhammad Yunus, Frederic Dalsace, David Menasce, and Benedicte Faivre-Tavignot. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever‐changing business environment.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation (with featured article "Reinventing Your Business Model" by Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, and Henning Kagermann)

Ian C. Macmillan

You've been charged with growing your business. Incremental growth can no longer deliver the results you need. You need truly dynamic growth - and you need to achieve it without risking a hugely expensive gamble. How can you encourage innovative new ventures and pursue ambitious growth while minimizing risk? In Discovery-Driven Growth, authors McGrath and MacMillan show how companies can plan and pursue an aggressive growth agenda with confidence. By carefully framing their strategic growth opportunities, testing each project assumption against a series of checkpoints, and creating a culture that acts on evidence and learning instead of blind stumbling, companies can better control their costs, minimize surprises, and know when to disengage from questionable projects--before it's too late. Providing tools that will help you select and better assess the potential of any strategic venture, from new product lines to entirely new businesses, the authors outline a comprehensive process that lets you identify, manage, and leverage your company's full portfolio of opportunities. By reducing up-front costs and eliminating unnecessary risks, you'll be able to avoid missteps and explore more options to create the breakthrough growth that your business requires.

Discovery-Driven Growth

Robust methods to identify new growth opportunities YOUR SHAREHOLDERS DEMAND growth; your company needs growth; and your career can suffer or soar because of how you drive growth—or don’t. While executives often talk about their great growth plans, very few of these plans actually deliver real gains in growth and profitability. How do some companies manage to beat the odds and bust through the obstacles that make explosive growth so elusive? In this hands-on guide, Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan identify powerful strategic moves they call “MarketBusters”—approaches that dramatically reconfigure profit streams in an industry, upend conventional competition, and ultimately deliver blockbuster growth. Based on insights from an extensive three-year study, McGrath and MacMillan describe forty proven marketbusting moves and outline five overall strategies companies have used to drive new growth: • Change the customer’s total experience: Make it simpler, faster, or more beneficial for customers to buy from you • Reconfigure your products and services: Transform your offerings to make them clearly superior to competitors’ • Redefine your business and associated key metrics: Change how you do business or how your customers do business in ways that dramatically boost performance • Anticipate or exploit industry shifts: Capitalize on changes before competitors do • Create a new market space: Trigger the emergence of a new market Every marketbusting move is illustrated in practice through vivid company examples—including cautionary tales that alert you to potential pitfalls you may encounter. Action-oriented tools and checklists provide concrete guidance in finding opportunities across your own business platform, executing your chosen move successfully, and exploiting new opportunities to maximize their bottomline impact. The book also provides guidelines for avoiding common implementation challenges and for developing the organizational alignment needed to smooth execution. New opportunities for explosive growth are waiting to be unleashed. MarketBusters is the field guide you need to develop a reliable, robust approach to fueling continuous, profitable growth.

40 Strategic Moves That Drive Exceptional Business Growth

Marketbusters

Thomas H. Davenport

Michael E. Porter

Marco Iansiti

Become a digital-first organization—and avoid disruption. If you read nothing else on the principles and practices that lead to successful digital transformation, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you reinvent your digital strategy, overcome barriers to change, and win in the continuously connected world. This book will inspire you to: Devise an industry-transforming business model Minimize risk using discovery-driven transformation Leverage torrents of data more strategically Prepare your employees for the future of work Prioritize the right initiatives Compete in the age of AI This collection of articles includes "Discovery-Driven Digital Transformation," by Rita McGrath and Ryan McManus; "The Transformative Business Model," by Stelios Kavadias, Kostas Ladas, and Christoph Loch; "Digital Doesn't Have to Be Disruptive," by Nathan Furr and Andrew Shipilov; "What's Your Data Strategy?," by Leandro DalleMule and Thomas H. Davenport; "Competing in the Age of AI," by Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani; "Building the AI-Powered Organization," by Tim Fountaine, Brian McCarthy, and Tamim Saleh; "How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Companies," by Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann; "The Age of Continuous Connection," by Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch; "The Problem with Legacy Ecosystems," by Maxwell Wessel, Aaron Levie, and Robert Siegel; "Your Workforce Is More Adaptable Than You Think," by Joseph B. Fuller, Judith K. Wallenstein, Manjari Raman, and Alice de Chalendar; "How Apple Is Organized for Innovation," by Joel M. Podolny and Morten T. Hansen; and "Digital Transformation Comes Down to Talent in Four Key Areas," by Thomas H. Davenport and Thomas C. Redman. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever‐changing business environment.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leading Digital Transformation (with bonus article "How Apple Is Organized for Innovation" by Joel M. Podolny and Morten T. Hansen)

Are analytics and technology a strategic part of your business? Artificial intelligence, platforms, algorithms, machine learning. Most business leaders know the value in advanced technologies. But how do you embed them into your business—and make them a key part of your strategy? HBR's 10 Must Reads Technology and Strategy Collection features innovative ideas to help you understand what new technologies offer, decide what business models are best for your business, and move forward with new innovations. Included in this seven-book set are: HBR's 10 Must Reads on AI, Analytics, and the New Machine Age HBR's 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation HBR's 10 Must Reads on Platforms and Ecosystems HBR's 10 Must Reads on Innovation HBR's 10 Must Reads on Design Thinking HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy, Vol. 2 The collection includes seventy articles selected by HBR's editors from renowned thought leaders including Clayton M. Christensen, W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, and Thomas H. Davenport, plus the indispensable article "Why Every Company Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy" by Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann. With HBR's 10 Must Reads Technology and Strategy Collection, you can bridge the divide between your digital and strategic efforts, and ensure your business is on the cutting edge. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever‐changing business environment.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Technology and Strategy Collection (7 Books)

"The first prescriptive, innovative guide to seeing inflection points before they happen--and how to harness these disruptive influences to give your company a strategic advantage. Paradigmatic shifts in the business landscape, known as inflection points,can either create new, entrepreneurial opportunities (see Amazon and Netflix)or they can lead to devastating consequences (e.g., Blockbuster and Toys R Us). Only thoseleaders who can "see around corners"-that is, spot the disruptive inflection points developing before they hit-are poised to succeed in this market. Columbia Business School Professor and corporate consultant Rita McGrath contends that inflection points, though they may seem sudden, are not random. Every seemingly overnight shift is the final stage of a process that has been subtly building for some time.Armed with the right strategies and tools, smart businesses can see these inflection points coming and use them to gain a competitive advantage.Seeing Around Cornersis the first hands-on guide to anticipating, understanding, and capitalizing on the inflection points shaping the marketplace"

International Edit

Seeing Around Corners

A.G. Lafley

Do you have the right strategy to lead your company into the future? Get more of the management ideas you want, from the authors you trust, with HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy (Vol. 2). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you combat new competitors and define the best strategy for your company. With insights from leading experts including Michael E. Porter, A.G. Lafley, and Clayton M. Christensen, this book will inspire you to: Choose a strategy that meets the demands of your competitive environment Identify the signals of disruption and take steps to avoid it Understand lean methodology and how it is changing business Transform your products and services into platforms Instill your strategy with creativity and purpose Generate value for your company, while also contributing to society This collection of articles includes "Your Strategy Needs a Strategy," by Martin Reeves, Claire Love, and Philipp Tillmanns; "Transient Advantage," by Rita Gunther McGrath; "Bringing Science to the Art of Strategy," by A.G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin, Jan W. Rivkin, and Nicolaj Siggelkow; "Managing Risks: A New Framework," by Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes; "Surviving Disruption," by Maxwell Wessel and Clayton M. Christensen; "The Great Repeatable Business Model," by Chris Zook and James Allen; 'Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy," by Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Geoffrey G. Parker, and Sangeet Paul Choudary; "Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything," by Steve Blank; "Strategy Needs Creativity," by Adam Brandenburger; "Put Purpose at the Core of Your Strategy," by Thomas W. Malnight, Ivy Buche, and Charles Dhanaraj; "Creating Shared Value," by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy, Vol. 2 (with bonus article "Creating Shared Value" By Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer)

Ian MacMillan

The Entrepreneurial Mindset offers a refreshingly practical blueprint for thinking and acting in environments that are fast-paced, rapidly changing, and highly uncertain. It provides both a guide to energizing the organization to find tomorrow's opportunities and a set of entrepreneurial principles you can use personally to transform the arenas in which you compete. The authors present simple but powerful ways to stop thinking and acting by the old rules and start thinking with the discipline of a habitual entrepreneur. They show how to: eliminate paralyzing uncertainty by creating an entrepreneurial frame that shapes a shared understanding of what is to be accomplished; create a richly stocked opportunity register to redesign existing products, find new sources of differentiation, resegment existing markets, reconfigure market spaces, and seize the huge upside potential of breakthroughs; build a dynamic portfolio of businesses and options that continuously move your organization toward the future while simultaneously leaving the past behind; execute dynamically your ideas so that you can move fast, with confidence and without undue risk; and develop your own way of leading with an entrepreneurial mindset to create a vibrant entrepreneurial climate within your organization.

Rita Gunther McGrath

Books

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