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Zone to Win
Book

Zone to Win

Organizing to Compete in an Age of Disruption

Diversion Books, 2015 more...

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Everyone wants to win, but in today’s age of technology disruption companies are finding it harder to launch new product lines successfully while keeping existing ones running at a profit. Consultant Geoffrey A. Moore, also the author of Crossing The Chasm, offers a remedy for companies that are struggling to find growth: “zone management.” His four-zone model guides you through the ups and downs of tough decision making, with the aim of “catching the next wave” – and you don’t need to be a surfer for that. Moore stresses that discipline and good management practices are non-negotiable along the way. Although it’s a short book, some parts of this guide feel a bit repetitive and redundant – but skipping is permitted as long as you make sure to use this handy manual as your reference while you “zone your org.” getAbstract recommends Moore’s short read to all managers in technology-heavy industries, no matter your level or experience.

Summary

“A Crisis of Prioritization”

Competitive companies today either introduce new technologies that disrupt their rivals or defend their products against all comers. You can attack as the “disruptor” chasing “the next wave.” Or you can play defense as the “incumbent” who tries to prevent the next wave from catching you. On the NASDAQ over a 10-year period, some companies showed increases of more than 1,000%, including Apple, Salesforce and Amazon. Other major firms increased their valuation at lower rates, such as Oracle (229%), Microsoft (88%) and SAP (70%). What’s the difference? Apple, Salesforce and Amazon didn’t deliver superior performance during that period, but growth investors rewarded them for catching “new category waves” in digital music, marketing automation and cloud computing. Many high-tech companies didn’t manage to catch that next wave, including Honeywell, Atari, 3Com, Netscape and Nokia. They have great management teams, but they didn’t manage the crisis of prioritization.

To please growth investors, set out to catch the next wave. But first determine how many of your resources to put into existing product lines and how many to invest in new, emerging...

About the Author

Geoffrey A. Moore also wrote Crossing The Chasm. He consults with start-ups and helps established high-tech enterprises navigate innovation, strategy and disruption.


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