Enduring Success: What Top Companies Do Differently Book

Foreword     ix
In search of the secrets of success     1
The customer-value competition is pushing many companies to the limit of their possibilities     7
Changing market dynamics - the profitability of many companies is increasingly at risk     8
Success of the optimizers in the customer-value competition     11
The innovators' success in the customer-value competition     13
Summary conclusions to phase 1     14
The IMP Model: The strategies of winners     23
The IMP Model     25
The result: Explaining 50 percent of corporate success is a lot, but at the same time not much     26
Core findings     27
What makes top performers different     35
Top performers never settle for today's success     36
The most senior executives are themselves the innovation drivers in the company     38
Top performers succeed in combining forward-looking market knowledge with sustained competence management     42
Top performers show an impressive understanding of innovation     44
Top performers rely more on uniqueness than on market share     47
Top performers put strong emphasis on culture development     50
Market orientation: Understanding markets, shaping the future     55
Sourcing market knowledge: The new sources of innovation     55
From simple to complex markets: Understanding the rules of the game     63
The new role of market research     71
The sails determine the course, not the wind     77
The market-based view versus the resource-based view     77
The sources of core competences     83
Managing core competences     91
Corporate culture: The latent potential     99
Values and identity as a basis for commitment     102
The entrepreneurship culture     105
Innovation: Improving existing things, creating new things     113
Delighting customers with something new     114
Cost competition: Redesigning processes     120
Gearing processes toward the customer     125
Developing new business models     129
Top management: The architects of success     133
Leadership, innovation, and change     134
The ability to be lucky     139
What do top companies do differently     145
The insights of great leaders     151
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman and CEO, Nestle SA, Vevey, Switzerland     151
Markus Langes-Swarovski, member of the executive board, Swarovski      156
Prof. Dr Michael Popp and Dr Uwe Baumann, Bionorica AG     160
Stefan Pierer, CEO, KTM sportmotorcycle AG     165
Rene Obermann, CEO, Deutsche Telekom     170
Prof. Dr Michael Mirow, Former Head of Strategic Planning, Siemens AG     175
Peter Lorange, President of IMD Business School, Lausanne     177
Hans-Joachim Reck, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles, Germany     181
Notes     185
Bibliography     193
Index     203