Profit Patterns : 30 Ways to Anticipate & Profit from Strategic Forces Reshaping your Business - Hardcover

Slywotzky, Adrian

3.6

20 ratings by Goodreads

9780471979715: Profit Patterns : 30 Ways to Anticipate & Profit from Strategic Forces Reshaping your Business

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471979716 ISBN 13: 9780471979715

Publisher: Wiley, 1999

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* internationally renowned author with two highly successful books to his name
already
* author has previously published with Harvard Business School Press and first
book with Wiley, The Profit Zone, has sold 5000+ in under six months.
* The Profit Zone was a Business Week bestseller as well as a New York Times
Sunday Business bestseller.

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Review:

Profit Patterns opens with a series of chaotic paintings by Pablo Picasso. Each piece is increasingly difficult to recognize; the final portrait is little more than a jumble of shapes and colors. But what does Picasso have to do with profitability? By recognizing industry patterns--by seeing the order beneath the surface chaos--managers, investors, and entrepreneurs can prepare for change before it even occurs. And while the Picasso-as-business-strategy metaphor may be a stretch, Slywotzky's theories are fundamentally sound, designed to spot and capitalize upon market trends in an ever-turbulent business world.

Adrian Slywotzky--whose bestselling The Profit Zone explained how profits happen--this time focuses on making sure profits happen. He begins by defining the types of changes common to modern businesses, explaining why polarization is spreading among industries, and emphasizing the importance of mindshare. He then lists the 30 most common patterns that businesses fall into, such as microsegmentation, where "growing customer heterogeneity and increasing customer sophistication change the fundamental nature of the market."

But even if a business is adept at seeing patterns, it's helpless if it can't mobilize its troops in time to capitalize upon pending change. Case studies of successful companies such as Cisco Systems, Nokia, and Dell Computer show how a company can detect industry trends, organize its workforce, and build giant leads over its competition. No wonder Picasso was a good businessman. --Rob McDonald

From the Back Cover:

"Know the Forces Changing Your Business...and How to Profit FROM Them "Microsoft uses the principles found in Value Migration, The Profit Zone, and now, Profit Patterns, to train our personnel in strategic business thinking. These concepts really generate radically different perspectives and increased creativity in planning for the future."
--Bob Herbold, Executive Vice President and COO, Microsoft

"Profit Patterns crisply argues for a radically new approach to strategy. Start-ups and established players alike can harness these ideas to drive competitively superior performance."
--Alex J. Mandl, Chairman and CEO, Teligent, Inc.

"Profit Patterns looks at the world of business with remarkable clarity. The authors help sort through the chaos of sensory overload and find patterns. They force you outside your comfort zone, but then take you into a structure of innovation. Profit Patterns can move you from complacency to curiosity, from discomfort to deliberation and purposeful action."
--Daniel P. Burnham, President and CEO, Raytheon Company

"Here in the Wild West of the Internet, we will read Profit Patterns and remind ourselves . . . 'It's the customer, stupid!'"
--Ted Leonsis, President and CEO, AOL Studios

"Once again, Adrian Slywotzky has struck gold. With Profit Patterns, he builds on his breakthrough thinking in Value Migration and The Profit Zone, which we have incorporated into our strategic planning process. Slywotzky has inspired us to take a fresh look at the way we do business, and has helped us sharpen our focus on delighting customers and creating value for Honeywell shareowners."
--Michael R. Bonsignore, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell, Inc.

"Profit Patterns offers a powerful framework for making sense out of a complex and changing business landscape. I hope our managers read it and our competitors don't."
--John W. Madigan, Chairman, President, and CEO, Tribune Company

"In consumer financial services, as in so many industries today, the sources of profit are shifting. Banks no longer compete exclusively with banks, as consumers view them as part of a portfolio of financing, cash management, and investing options. In this landscape, anticipating and capturing future sources of value are essential. The insights and examples in Profit Patterns will help management teams to see those opportunities and to make bold and decisive bets with both creativity and confidence."
--Donald L. Boudreau, Vice Chairman, The Chase Manhattan Bank

"Success in today's marketplace requires not just anticipating change, but identifying patterns and strategies that move us ahead of change. Adrian Slywotzky and his Mercer colleagues provide an insightful look into that and other dynamics of profitability for the new millennium." --John Alden, Vice Chairman, UPS

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