The Three Rules: How Exceptional Companies Think - Hardcover

Raynor, Michael E.; Ahmed, Mumtaz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591846145 ISBN 13: 9781591846147

Publisher: Portfolio, 2013

Synopsis

Finally, an answer to the ultimate business question: How do some companies achieve exceptional performance over the long term?
 
In every sector, there’s an outlier. In the phar­maceutical industry, it’s Merck. In discount retail, it’s Family Dollar. It used to be Wrig­ley in candy and Maytag in appliances. Other superstars have been hidden in plain sight, like Heartland Express in trucking or Linear Technology in semiconductors. How do these exceptional companies deliver superior perfor­mance over the long run despite facing the same constraints as competitors? What are they doing differently? What can we learn from them?
 
Michael E. Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed have analyzed data on more than 25,000 com­panies spanning forty-five years. Their five-year study began with a sophisticated statistical analysis to identify which companies have truly exceptional performance, 344 in all.
 
In collaboration with teams of researchers, Raynor and Ahmed then put a carefully chosen representative sample of twenty-seven com­panies under the microscope to uncover what made the stand-out performers different. They found that exceptional companies, when faced with difficult decisions, follow three rules:

1. Better before cheaper. They rarely compete on price.
2. Revenue before cost. They drive profits through price and volume, not thrift.
3. There are no other rules. Everything else is up for grabs, and they are willing to change anything to remain true to the first two rules.

 
The rules provide an indispensable compass that any company can use to chart its own path to greatness. Is it better to keep price down or invest in creating value that commands a higher price? Should you focus on talent and develop­ing the abilities of your people or build processes to extend the capabilities of your organization? How about acquiring a sizable competitor to secure economies of scale—or a small start-up to gain access to new technology? According to Raynor and Ahmed, the right answers to these and just about every other question are the ones most closely aligned with the rules.
 
The Three Rules is built on a powerful combina­tion of large-scale data analysis and in-depth case studies. Its guidance will increase the chance that your organization can become truly exceptional.

About this title

About the Author:

MICHAEL E. RAYNOR is a director at Deloitte Services LP, where he explores cor­porate strategy, innovation, and growth with clients in a variety of industries. He is the coauthor, with Clay­ton Christensen, of The Innovator’s Solu­tion, and the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed The Strategy Paradox and The Innovator’s Manifesto.
 
MUMTAZ AHMED is a principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP and the chief strategy officer of Deloitte LLP, responsible for the U.S. firm’s strategy, corporate development, innovation, eminence, and brand.
 
www.thethreerules.com

From Booklist:

What makes a great company great? How much of corporate success is due to random good luck or to good planning and execution that can be passed along to help other companies? Raynor and Ahmed analyzed performance data on more than 25,000 companies from 1966 to 2010 to uncover the essential elements of high corporate achievement. After settling on 344 exceptional companies, they explored those factors that set the exceptional apart from all others in industries as varied as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and confectionary. Looking beyond regulation, competition, and myriad other factors, they boiled down success to three rules: better before cheaper, revenue before cost, and don’t get distracted by anything other than the first two rules. Among the exceptional performers are Merck in pharmaceuticals, Abercrombie & Fitch in retail, and Maytag in appliances, each described in excruciating detail to explain how it outperforms competitors. But beyond the tables, charts, and statistics lies a book written in very accessible language and with a simplicity of focus on the basics that can apply to any sector and any business. --Vanessa Bush

About this edition

• Publisher: Portfolio
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1591846145
• ISBN 13: 9781591846147
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 384