Perspectives on Strategy from The Boston Consulting Group

a collection of the best thinking from one of the most innovative management consulting firms in the world.

For the past thirty-five years, The Boston Consulting Group has been shaping the way business is done the world over, and now, Perspectives on Strategy offers a unique opportunity to acquaint readers with a broad selection of the firm's contributions. A compilation of seventy-five of BCG's most influential articles and thought pieces, this book is an indispensable source of fresh ideas, insights, and practical lessons for managers, executives, and entrepreneurs in every industry. Here is a sampling of what's inside:
* "[Business] competition is a battle royal in which there are many contenders, each of whom must be dealt with individually. Victory, if achieved, is more often won in the mind of a competitor than in the economic arena."
* "The majority of products in most companies are cash traps. . . . [They] are not only worthless, but a perpetual drain on corporate resources."
* "Use more debt than your competition or get out of the business."
* "Displacement of high-cost competitors by lower prices benefits the customer."
* "As a strategic weapon, time is the equivalent of money, productivity, quality, even innovation."
* "When brands become business systems, brand management becomes far too important to leave to the marketing department."
* "The winning organization of the future will look more like a collection of jazz ensembles than a symphony orchestra."
* "Most of our organizations today derive from a model whose original purpose was to control creativity."
* "Dumping should be encouraged. It is a gift from the nation that provides the products."
* "Taxes should be levied when, and only when, individuals disinvest in order to consume. Capital still at work should not be taxed at all."

The Boston Consulting Group is an innovator in business strategy worldwide. In fact, BCG and its founder, Bruce D. Henderson, may be best known internationally as the creators and architects of the discipline of business strategy. Innovative business concepts originating at the firm include "cash cow," "experience curve," "segment-of-one(r) marketing," "time-based competition," and "capabilities-based competition." Now, for the first time, BCG's most influential writings are gathered in a comprehen-sive collection, offering serious-minded readers access to BCG's thinking on the theory, development, and practice of business strategy.

One way BCG shares its insights on strategy is through a series of publications known as Perspectives. Perspectives offer sharply focused views and recommendations on strategic business topics. Distributed to executives worldwide, Perspectives are typically no more than 1,200 words in length.

This book brings together many of the most influential Perspectives, as well as several acclaimed articles published in the Harvard Business Review. Both timely and timeless, the seventy-five pieces included here are among the most innovative, controversial, and stimulating to have appeared over the past three decades.

An anthology of the most provocative thinking from one of the world's most esteemed management consulting firms, Perspectives on Strategy is essential reading for senior managers, executives, entrepreneurs, and students of strategy and business.

CARL W. STERN is President and CEO of The Boston Consulting Group. He has been with BCG for seventeen years, and his clients have included leading international consumer packaged goods companies, financial services, and manufacturing companies. He holds an MBA from Stanford Business School.
GEORGE STALK Jr. is a senior vice president with The Boston Consulting Group, head of BCG’s innovation and marketing initiatives, and comanager of BCG’s Toronto office. He is coauthor of the critically acclaimed Competing Against Time, and Kaisha: The Japanese Corporation. His articles have appeared in numerous business publications, including the Harvard Business Review. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.