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The Game-Changer
Book

The Game-Changer

How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation

A. G. Lafley and Ram Charan
Currency, 2008

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

This book is both intriguing and highly useful. Procter & Gamble CEO A. G. Lafley and business author Ram Charan draw examples from several large, successful organizations – GE, Honeywell, Dupont – but their primary focus is Procter & Gamble (P&G). They explore how P&G changed from a staid giant to an organization driven by innovation – and radically expanded its sales and profits along the way. They are candid about P&G’s organizational methods and failed innovations, and they show how willing it has become to open up and connect. getAbstract recommends this book to anyone who is interested in innovation on a corporate scale and wants to know how to make it happen.

Summary

Innovation, Procter & Gamble and You

Procter & Gamble (P&G) integrates “innovation into everything” it does. This drives its business, and is the primary source of its profits and competitive edge. However, that hasn’t always been the case. In June 2000, when A.G. Lafley became CEO, the company was not doing well. Earnings were flagging and the stock price was dropping. P&G transformed itself under his guidance. Its changes provide models you can use to transform your company by using innovation as a primary tool.

Start by putting your customers at the center of everything you do. Pay attention to customers and treat them as the boss. Expand your horizons; P&G shifted from focusing on in-house development to being open to learning from a broad variety of experts and examples. Rather than growing through acquisitions or holding steady by clinging to old brands, prioritize “sustainable organic growth” and build your strategies around it.

Procter & Gamble started its reinvention by seeking “clarity and focus” and seriously examining its practices. Once the company’s leaders determined its priorities, they worked to make innovation an integrated...

About the Authors

A. G. Lafley is chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble. In 2006, Chief Executive magazine named him CEO of the year. Ram Charan wrote Know-How and co-wrote Execution.

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    A. P. 8 years ago
    it's good learning from experience of a great company like P&G.... Thank you
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    H. R. 10 years ago
    Good summary that adresses the needs to support creative teams not only by telling them nice words but by providing funds, spaces and good leaders to the innovation teams.