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Summary: An arrogant collection of repetitions
Review: As a business school graduate student, I have read a significant amount of strategy books and articles. This book is just an arrogant collection of repetitions. It does not provide any new insights.
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Summary: DATED, DRAGGY, AND JUST MONUMENTALLY USELESS, EVEN IN JAPAN
Review: For one thing, do not expect to learn anything about "Japanese Business", which seemed to have played out well for this title commercially in 1975, when Japan was this mysterious Godzilla across the Pacific. Nothing, that is, aside from some pithy insights such as: "Actually japanese companies do not really have a strategic planning capability, they usually have one person, or a few persons, who has/have an intuitive pulse of the market." Intrigued yet? There's more. You'll learn that strategy is the art of thinking on three major vectors: company based, customer based and competitor based. You can enjoy a truckload of charts and jargon. You can savor dated explanations of how American companies organize themselves and the anachronisms about Soviet-style central planning (I can recognize a relic when I see one.) Guess I bought an expensive paperweight. Do yourself a favor and ignore the drooling reviews this book has garnered as recently as last month. Look instead for names like Porter, Drucker and Mintzberg.
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Summary: Balanced Perspective on Strategic Questioning and Thinking
Review: I have over 30 years of experience with strategic thinking as a consultant and planner. I constantly find that people have totally different concepts of what strategy is all about. Each tends to be either too focused in one area, or incomplete in some aspects. As a result, people logically arrive at some pretty bad strategic conclusions. Typically, this involves a strategy that the organization cannot execute well or which the competitors will quickly negate. What I like about this simple book is that it nicely summarizes the case for a balanced perspective of customer, competitor and your own company. Although most American companies will believe that they do this, the American approach is much more superficial and incomplete than the Japanese one. For example, if a Japanese company wants to add a new product, the evaluation looks heavily at how well the customer will be able to use the product and how effectively the company will be able to provide it in the context of probable competitive offerings. An American analysis will feature financial analysis of a forecast that is often based on little more than spreadsheet doodling. The weakness of the Japanese model is that they typically look too little at the business environment (notice how often they buy American businesses and properties at the top of the market for inflated prices), and are relatively insensitive to financial implications. In fast moving technology markets, the Japanese consensus-building process also tends to slow down time to market. Clearly, there is no perfect model for strategic thinking that fits all situations. A major weakness of many efforts is to assume that the future can be precisely forecast. That is patently wrong. Typically, the relative importance of the elements considered needs to be adjusted to fit the circumstnace. That seems to be an art rather than a science at this point. Although this book has its limitations (as suggested above), it is a valuable perspective on strategy thinking that will be helpful to most American business people if they think about the concepts in a more thorough way. To balance the perspective here, I suggest you also read Profit Patterns to get a sense of how circumstances play a role in profitability. Good thinking! May this book help you overcome any stalled thinking you have about not doing your home work in thinking about outperforming competitors to provide benefits that matter a lot to customers.
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Summary: The McKinsey Bible
Review: I would recommend this book to any reader beginning a career in business strategy consulting. It is a must-read for all new hires at McKinsey and offers refreshing insight into the thought processes behind one of the greatest strategic minds of the 20th century. Don't be fooled by its age; although this book is twenty years old, it remains one of the premier works of its kind. Rather than read up on the latest business fad by some overhyped business guru, I suggest reading this book by a man who needs no hype, nor approval.
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Summary: Great Preparation for Consulting Interviews
Review: It gets a little repetitive toward the second half. However I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is preparing for consulting "case" interviews.
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Summary: Excellent Book
Review: It is the first strategy book I have ever read and certainly still one of my favorite as a strategy consultant. It requires almost no business knowledge but the thinking behind it is very sharp and insightful. Every businessman and student must read it.
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Summary: Creating the right mind-set for strategy formulation
Review: Kenichi Ohmae was Chairman of the Japan office of McKinsey & Company, the world-famous strategy consulting firm. He has been described as "Mr. Strategy" and has written several books and articles on strategy-related topics. Kenichi Ohmae believes that successful business strategies do not result from rigorous analysis but from a particular state of mind. "In what I call the mind of the strategist, insight and consequent drive for achievement, often amounting to a sense of mission, fuel a thought process which is basically creative and intuitive rather than rational." He uses theoretical knowledge from the various academic scholars and puts them in its place - "a place distinctly secondary to creative intuition in the tool kit of the successful strategist." The book split up in three parts, each consisting of 5 to 7 chapters. In Part I - The Art of Strategic Thinking, the author concentrates on the basics of the mental process. In Chapter 1 - Analysis: The Starting Point, Ohmae introduces the strategic thinking process. He introduces various useful diagrams and flow processes for a more reliable recipe for success: "the combination of analytical method and mental elasticity that I call strategic thinking." In the chapters 2 to 6, the author explores the different directions the strategic thinker can pursue in quest of innovative strategies. In the final chapter of Part I, Ohmae explains how the right mindset for strategic thinking and how to develop the required strategy. In Part II - Building Successful Strategies, Ohmae shifts his focus from process to content. "In the construction of any business strategy, three main players must be taken into account: the corporation itself, the customer, and the competition." He refers to them as the three C's or the strategic triangle. Within the next three chapters, Ohmae discusses the strategies based on those three C's: (1) "Customer-based strategies are the basis of all strategy. ... There is no doubt that a corporation's foremost concern ought to be the interest of its customers rather than that of its stockholders and other parties. In the long run, the corporation that is genuinely interested in its customers is the one that will be interesting to investors." (2) "Corporate-based strategies are functional. Their aim to maximize the corporation's strenghts relative to the competition in the functional areas that are critical to success in the industry." (3) "Competitor-based strategies can be constructed by looking at possible sources of differentiation in functions ranging from purchasing, design, and engineering to sales and servicing. The main point to remember is that any difference between you and your competitors must be related to one or more of the three elements that jointly determine profit: price, volume, and cost." In the final chapter of Part II, Ohmae discusses corporate strategy. He claims that corporate strategy needs to address two issues: First, the integration between the individual business and the total corporation. And second, should there be a corporate strategy that is different from the individual business. Part III - Modern Strategic Realities discusses the environmental factors influencing strategy thinking and strategy formulation. The chapters in this part are not as much related to each other as the previous parts. Ohmae identifies and discusses five economic trends that have an impact on long-term business strategies, whereby he notes that the strategic thinker needs to take those trends into consideration when shaping strategies. Due to those economic trends, seven major changes are ongoing in a global perspective. Ohmae discusses those seven changes in a very interesting chapter 14. In the next chapter, the author discusses the various myths and realities about Japan products and Japanese companies, and discusses the four main differences between Japanese and Western companies. This chapter provides some great insights into Japanese strategic and business thinking. In Chapter 16, Ohmae tackles strategic decision making. Ohmae believes that founders of successful businesses do not simply gamble. In his opinion entrepreneurs follow a five-step process for successful, foresighted management decision making: (1) Clear definition of the business domain. (2) Logical hypothesis based on an extrapolation of forces at work in the business environment. (3) Focus on a few strategic options, instead of many, open to the business. (4) The company must pace its strategy and not overreach itself. (5) Management must be prepared to change the basic direction of the business, if conditions demand it. Each of these five steps are discussed in detail. In the final chapter of the book, the author discusses strategy formulation: "... to bring insight to fruition as a successful strategy takes method, mental discipline, and plain hard work." He also discusses the creativity required for the development of business strategy. Yes, I do like this book. And yes, I do find it difficult to write a review about it. This book is not a guide or framework into Japanese strategic thinking. In fact, Ohmae only really spends one chapter on the difference between Japanese and Western business systems. It is more about the right mind-set for strategy formulation and strategy development. There are some great lines in this book, and the various figures, diagrams and sketches are extremely useful. I wish that I had read this book several years ago as it gives great insights into the strategy process and development. But again, this book is not a guide or framework. It is an excellent complement to books such Porter's 'Competitive Strategy' (1980) and 'Competitive Advantage' (1985). Highly recommended to anybody interested in strategic management and strategy development/process. The authors uses a very simple US-English writing style.
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Summary: The code Samurai translated to the Management !
Review: Kenichi Omahe, with all the sharpness and clarity of his thinking focuses his attention in the essence of the strategic planning before its form .
He makes in every chapter a true master class of surgeon ; he opens new gates for the scrupulous thinking as he was a consummated chess player . He presents us every aspect of the subject with clever diagrams that facilitates the understanding .
The first chapter is simply monumental . He defines it as The Art of the Strategic Thinking and exhibits new approach schemes directed to improve our actual state of things .
Twenty two years have passed since its first release . However the shock of this reading has survived through the year becoming in a very employed tool for those managers who are really in listening the sounds of the forest .
If you have heard talked about this book and by one or several reasons you have not acquired , it' s time for you to make your decision and buy it .
After you make it you will really lament not having gotten it before .
To know and not to do is still not to know: Mishima
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Summary: Essential reading for all Managers
Review: Last week I received an identical request from two sources to recommend a good book on business strategy. One is a first year MBA student and another a senior executive in a large multinational. Without hesitation, I recommended this book. Strategy has been a subject matter of interest to Business and Military than to any other profession. In both these cases it is a about doing something differently to gain advantage over the adversary either in the battlefield or in the marketplace. Strategy is not just a piece of paper or a corporate manual but a state of the mind to win against all odds. So many books and theories have been written on this subject and still it continues to be a topic that cannot be defined as an exact science. If there is one topic that can be listed as the most important for any MBA program, undoubtedly it is Business Strategy. Another reason for revisiting this book is that in the last decade, we have been overloaded with concepts of digitization and technology as the main drivers of business. We have seen technologies that are excellent but have failed miserably in the marketplace. Technocrats have failed to convert bits and bytes into bucks. In the quest for technical excellence, strategy has taken a back seat. We need to fill this vacuum of strategic thinking. But then the problem is to have a strategy to understand and apply this vital topic ! It is here that this book is one among the best I have come across till date. Strategy is a combination of elastic thinking and application of analytical method. Omahe explains this well and warns that strategy is not just somebody's spark of genius but a process that needs rigorous effort and continuos refinement. He brings in the framework of listing the concrete phenomena, grouping, abstraction and determination of approach that are actionable and practical. The three Cs' of the strategic triangle - Corporation, Customer and Competitor are at the core of this book. Each C is discussed in detail with excellent illustrations and case studies. If you need to read an executive summary, I recommend Chapter 7 - The Secret of Strategic Vision. In this chapter one paragraph in my opinion contains the essence of strategic thinking. "Strategic thinking in business must break out of the limited scope of vision that entraps deer on the highway. It must be backed by the daily use of imagination and by constant training in logical thought process. Success must be summoned; it will not come unbidden and unplanned. Top management and its corporate planners cannot base their day-to-day work on blind optimism and apply strategic thinking only when confronted by unexpected obstacles. They must develop the habit of thinking strategically, and must do it as a matter of course. Ideally, they must approach it with real enthusiasm as a stimulating mental exercise." The book was first published in 1982. Hence some of the assumptions on key economic trends under "Modern Strategic Realities" have undergone major corrections. However, the framework for strategic thinking still holds good. Though the examples are mostly from Japanese companies, Omahe concludes the book by pointing out that " Creativity, mental productivity and the power of strategic insight know no national boundaries. Fortunately for all of us, they are universal."
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Summary: The Way of Winning --- Strategic Thinking
Review: Many people talk about strategy. So does Dr. Ohmae in this book. Many voracious readers on business might be quite bored with the banal materials appeared on hundreads of pages of those books. However, The Mind of the Strategist stands apart from other books in terms of its profound discussion on what the strategy really means. With this definition, he further talks about four ways of thinking to deal with a given situation in a business world. He may not give you off-the-rack answers of what to do. Rather than spoon feeding you, he gives you the right logic, not just techniques, to come up with your own solutions to maximize your competitiveness. It is your job to use your thoughts and imaginations to win the game of business. The author must have intentionally taken this approach to discuss on strategy in order to sincerely tell us that there is no correct strategy for every situation. The author has done his job by giving us the way of thinking. Now it is our own job to think strategically after having read this book once. And I firmly believe that every reader can take full advantage of new way of thinking in business over your competitors. It means that reading The Mind of the Strategist itself is a strategic move for you. It should be your strategy in your personal business agenda. Minoru Nadai "åˆä -«
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