Rating: 
Summary: Business model innovation
Review: The ultimate competitive advantage is defined as being the best at business model innovation. The winners will be masters of an ongoing business model change as only change is a constant in today's business environment. In fact we already meet some of the winners as the authors came to this conclusion via a ten year research program that looked for a common thread behind successes of 100 top performing companies.The book offers one of the best sets of real life examples and cases in the recent business literature, all with insightful observations by the authors. The examples range from the smallest of businesses to GM's and Enron's of this world (and from one concise passage I learned about the business model fundamentals of the US steel industry turn-around). Also, there is a new look at the changing virtues of leveraging equity with debt and CAPM. For me the most valuable in this book is the attention given to rules of dealing with a company's stakeholders. It's high time that stakeholders received this kind of coverage in a work on competitive advantage ! The 100 leading companies' innovations stemmed from deep interest in stakeholders needs. As the authors state - a bad business model will usually favor a few stakeholders at the expense of others thus causing cooperation to decline. If one were to structure the book in another way, alocating one chapter to what can be done for and with each stakeholders' group to enhance business model might be an option for this reader (customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, lenders). The book is a call for thinking innovation as an every day job. Clearly, if new business model elements are thought about and tested on a continuous basis there is a better chance that something of a breakthrough calibre will be decided even at annual strategic meetings.
Rating:
Summary: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR SUCCESS IN BUSINESS
Review: Because only an extreme propagandist would pretend to be objective, I should begin by revealing where I'm coming from before commenting on, what to me seems, a "do-it-yourself" book. The book is about formulating business models for bigger profit. That is not to diminish the efforts of authors Don Mitchell and Carol Coles, consultants to business since 1977. But rather, my vocation is about as far from business as a rabbit prefers to be from a coyote. My father (an aggressive business man who was quite good at it) used to tell me, "you don't have to be a chicken to know what an egg is." That notion permits me to comment about a book on business, considering my world revolves around basic medical science in a research laboratory filled with dangerous "stuff." This book begins with a titillating title suggesting that it teaches fundamental truths about achieving a competitive advantage. The title also promises to reveal things shared only by the initiated. In other words, it will reveal secrets about how to develop "a more profitable business model." Then recalling what my fourth grade teacher drummed into our heads about comparatives, I wondered: a more profitable business model than what? THE ULTIMATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE is organized into four parts each consisting of about three chapters. I confess to being swayed by the Introduction beginning with a quote taken from R. Buckminster Fuller. "Bucky" had been one of my lifelong heroes. Any book quoting him has to be good. However, I seem to recall that Bucky labeled modern corporate globalists the "descendents of the Great Pirates" (in his OPERATING MANUAL FOR SPACE SHIP EARTH). However, since Mitchell and Coles celebrates the more successful among Bucky's Great Pirates, the book must be a primer for how to become better at it. What is seductive about this book is all of the specific examples of which business did exactly what for developing profitability (with exact dollars and cents figures), and which of them went bust, and why. Yet quite a few of the do's and don'ts are what to me seems common sense. It made me wonder whether competent business people really had to be told: "by developing price-based introduction methods as part of your new price-adjusting business model, you enhance its effectiveness." Or, "Why stop at the customer in this search for lower costs? Helping a customer's suppliers, partners and end users can be even more valuable." I liked the authors advocating high ethical and moral standards in business under Part Two: "Provide Sustained Benefits for All Stakeholders." The notion of doing well by doing good is not only a formula for a better world but it is also good for the business (as in: earning a lot more money). There is virtually no institutional analysis in this book. Unlike George Soros' unabashed GEORGE SOROS ON GLOBALIZATION or Thom Hartmann's UNEQUAL PROTECTION: THE RISE OF CORPORATE DOMINANCE AND THE THEFT OF HUMAN RIGHTS, the tacit assumption in THE ULTIMATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE seems to be that the way things are fundamentally in corporate big business (should that be Big Business?) is the way they ought to be. Indeed, the word "corporate" is hardly ever used in this book. Why is that? Nevertheless, there are so many detailed stories about business success (and some failures) that this book by Mitchell and Coles is indeed interesting to read. I kept wondering whether or not a truly successful businessperson (CEO, COO or whatever) could have become successful in the first place if (s)he didn't already know and practice what THE ULTIMATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE teaches. And also, if they had not already learned the lessons taught in this book before reading it, would pouring over its pages do them any good? The answers to those questions would be good to know. In the meantime, the book by Mitchell and Coles is filled with pep talks that should make business managers better at what they do, and perhaps even get them to understand what their "wacky" CEO has in mind which causes her/him to make a success out of the business.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh Look at Business Success
Review: Some wag, a few years ago, audaciously claimed that there really was no such thing as a "business model." It is probably true that many businesses aren't so much the realization of a carefully designed model as they are the products of happenstance, survival-driven evolution, and habit. And it's probably also true that many top executives cannot articulate the model upon which their business is based. But, of course, every business is most definitely based upon a model (intentionally crafted or not). Authors Mitchell and Coles both define what a business model is, and declare that continually tinkering with your business's model gives you the Ultimate Competitive Advantage (which is, in their words, "products and services [that] can be provided in ways that deliver more sales, higher profitability and greater cash flow than would occur if a competitor supplied the same customer"). They proclaim that the "big idea" of their book "is that business model obsolescence is *the* major unperceived opportunity for and threat to all businesses now." Innovation, the authors argue, belongs not only in the R&D lab but in every facet of your operation. This constant reinvention, the authors argue, truly is a matter of survival: Businesses too easily get trapped by their own traditions inhibiting growth or responsiveness to changing conditions, or they fail to distinguish themselves from equally capable and awfully similar purveyors of goods and services. Drawing on research spanning more than a decade, the authors tracked companies that performed above their competitors for at least three years under the same CEO. Interviews with CEOs provide many of the "secrets" offered by the book. The topics span pricing, corporate values, financial management, rewards for various stockholders, innovation, and many of the multiple facets that go into creating a distinct and successful business model. In addition to providing examples from traditional corporations, Mitchell and Coles also draw insights from philosophers, point to a few examples from the not-for-profit world (e.g., Habitat for Humanity), and provide case studies of individual innovators (such as chronicling an enterprising golf caddy, tracing the exemplary evolution of Peter Drucker as a thought leader and consultant, and reviewing the career of the avant garde architect Frank Lloyd Wright). In presenting their concepts, the authors also employ devices and metaphors such as the familiar child's lemonade stand, an orchard, and a (thoroughly tortured) lily pond. This book doesn't fall prey to the all too common ploy of promising "three easy steps to instant success," but neither does it present a linear, prescribed methodology for a reader who is eager to implement The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Yet the book is still process-oriented. There are plenty of insights and relevant inferences waiting to be drawn, and there is considerable practical information available to someone willing to meander through the many diverse examples and case studies while picking up the gems along that path. My advice is to read this as an executive thought-starter: flipping, skimming and pouncing. That is, flip through the book while skimming each page. There are many helpful subheadings, salient thoughts from the text --- conveniently bolded and boxed, and especially stimulating and useful questions at the end of each chapter. The content warrants the five-star rating, though I'm less enthusiastic about the structure. (E.g., there are more than 70 pages of preamble and stage-setting with two guest Forewords, a Preface, an Introduction, AND a Prologue all preceding the nuts and bolts. Whew!) But you'll get your time and money's worth from this research-based look at a new way to see what your business is really all about --- especially if you are a CEO, general manager, or a unit or division head (or aspire to be one). My advice: spend time with this book. Grab it now and then as a source of stimulation for revisiting your own assumptions about your business. Using the many varied and detailed examples, rethink your truths and view them through the lens of the scores of innovative companies and inspiring individuals profiled throughout this unconventional book.
Rating:
Summary: Rethinking the Business Model
Review: The breakthrough in this book is in its truly innovative way of approaching business transformation. The traditional view has been that the business model itself is sacred. Stick to the model at all costs! Unfortunately, history has shown that even the best models succumb to changing business environments. Some of yesterday's strongest businesses were unable to adapt and are now gone. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage takes an entirely new approach. The idea is to actively change your company's model - not once or twice in a lifetime, but continuously. This alone will create a sustainable competitive advantage and ensure long-term survival. The beauty of this book is that it isn't theoretical. Many superb examples from innovative companies support the concept and give rise to actionable areas of opportunity. Very strong content is supported by a crystal clear writing style. It's very readable and highly energizing. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: New Models for Our Changing World
Review: The most successful organizations are continually competing-with other organizations and/or with their own current state. The drive for improvement is viewed as a survival technique. The real secret is to develop new business models-to change the way you do business. This book will show you how, recharging your creativity, innovation, and profit. How would you like to shrink yourself down to about four inches in height and hop in the pocket of a highly effective management consultant? Can you imagine what you'd learn, riding along wherever that consultant might go? What could you gain listening to the private, in-depth, soul-baring conversations between consultants and their clients? This is the kind of experience you'll have as you read this book. The tools for success in today's turbulent business world are here. You'll learn about techniques that are not normally brought to the surface in many corporations. Start by exploring your most productive areas for innovation and how to increase value without raising prices and costs (can you hear your customers cheering?). Price adjustment to increase profitability is balanced with cost reduction. Some different creative ideas are presented, worth your consideration. As you redesign and enrich your business model for internal and external strength, the rewards will come. You'll feel the shift as you read through these pages and pay attention to the thoughts going through your head. The content of this book will stimulate your thinking-and inspire changes in the way you do business on a short term, and most importantly, a long term basis. Filled with examples, real-life stuff that will grab your attention from your shirt-pocket vantage point. The authors are strategic consultants who have been there, done that, and seen the results.
Buy a fresh highlighter when you buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Confused?
Review: I would liken myself an aficionado of great business books--I'm always reading new books wanting to gain new perspectives on various dimensions of business--in general, I have found that Amazon user reviews can be quite helpful. However, in the case of this book, I have to say that I am left scratching my head. This book is mediocre on many levels, in my opinion, and I will highlight just a few.
First off, there is little structure to the chapters with stories thrown in here & there and little "wisdoms" peppered throughout--NET-NET the book is about 95% air and about 5% substance. The authors do not dive into the nitty gritty of business model innovation or discuss the tools and methods that one can use to better their existing models. Sure, some questions to ponder are thrown in at the end of each chapter, but none of them carry the type of weight which would send you on a journey of real insight, discovery, and new opportunity. As an MBA from Wharton who is generally unhappy with books that don't "dive into the guts" of a subject, it's quite possible that I have come to demand a level of rigor within business books that is comparable to the rigor of my business school education.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BUSINESS BOOKS I HAVE READ AND IMPLEMENTED
Review: I am an MBA Strategy Student and currently working as Business Development Manager/Lead Consultant of a reputed Management Consulting Compnay. When I started reading The Ultimate Competitive Advantage, I realised that the principles stated in the book are refreshingly different and realistic. The more I began to read and focus on the different techniques stated in the book, the more I came to realise that business model improvement has to cut across levels and has to come from the entire organisation. I began to put the book to test by applying the principles to my own organisation. In less than three months, I have not only managed to establish a new entity focusing on Corporate Training but also improved the existing situation in my current firm. Each and every process in my organisation has an element of The Ultimate Competitive Advantage in it as it contains the applications of the knowledge and wisdom I have gained from reading the book. The best part is that the book is very easy to read, contains questions that probest you to think out of the box and real life examples of organisations that has been turned around.
There are plenty of business books around including those by Jim Collins, Michael E. Porter to name a few. However, I realised that learning from this book is much easier as it contains exceptional knowledge and skills of the authors that has been gained by actually working on various organisations. I have read Donald Mitchell's other two books and I can convincingly say that they are some of the best on business strategy I have read. If anyone would like to know more about how I implemented the principles of "The Ultimate Competitive Advantage" in my workplace, please write to me on dev@ordc.com.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Book that Reveals Success Beyond the Basics
Review: Mitchell and Coles' book title, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is an understatement. The book hits the competitive target dead center. A must read for all CEOs and business executives.
Rating:
Summary: How to lead from the edge with a better business model!
Review: Stand still and your business will die! This eye opening book will show you how and where to find the hidden potential in your business. Packed with real world examples, Mitchell shows how any business can realize greater success through a continually innovative approach to business. If you want to create an unfair advantage against your competition, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Updating Business Models
Review: This is a thought provoking read on how and why your Business Model should constantly be updated and changed. Now, that can be a very dry subject if you are not focused on learning. But the authors do a good job of using examples of other companies so it constantly reads like a business biography and is much more interesting than reading a college textbook. Did I learn something? Yes. By the fourth chapter I was applying the principals discussed to how I could change my business model. Overall I found this to be an excellent read. But you must bring something to the table for this book. For example, most books I read are for entertainment. This book is work. Come prepared to learn and this book will teach
| 
