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Strategy Thinking
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 Hamel, Gary and C.K. Prahalad. Competing for the Future. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1994.
A complete discussion on developing strategies, why they are important and how they can be used to secure your business’ place in the future. A must read that discusses the strategic “fit” of a firm’s resources and competencies.
 Kim, W. Chan and Renee Mauborgne. Blue Ocean
Strategy. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2005.
Stop doing what your competition is doing and start building strategies that focus on creating uncontested markets. A discussion on how to grow in crowded industries. A good, practical must read “how to” book.
 Treacy, Michael and Fred Wiersema. The Discipline of Market Leaders. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1995.
What are “operational excellence,” “product leadership” and “customer intimacy?” One of them describes the core strategy of your company. A must read for any strategic leader. Excellent book.
 Gertz, Dwight L. and Joao P.A. Baptista. Grow to Be Great. New York: Free Press, 1995.
The authors say “No company ever shrank to greatness,” and proceed to describe the myths and realities about growth. Then they talk about strategies that support growth. The “myths of growth” is worth the read.
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Idea Creation
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 Champy, Jim. Outsmart. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Free Press, 2008.
The following excerpt from the book, “...meaningful strategic differentiation depends not on competitors, but on the needs of a company’s customers,” amplifies the point that companies need to look for ways to position themselves in markets by identifying and building value to meet unmet customer needs. He describes several ways to do so. Must read.
 Joni, Saj-nicole A. The Third Opinion. New York: Portfolio, 2004.
The complexity of business requires that managers and leaders develop an inner circle of advisors, those that offer outside insight. This book describes how to develop the circle and what characteristics are needed for its members.
 Robinson, A. G. and D. M. Schroeder. Ideas Are Free. San Francisco: Berrett- Koehler Publishers, 2004.
“Ideas” are the foundation for developing high performing value propositions. This book describes how to create a system that will generate enough employee ideas to create the execution excellence. Good read.
 Hamal, Gary. Leading the Revolution. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000.
Describes one of the most complete definitions and subsequent framework for a business model. A good discussion about innovation and a prescription for making it happen.
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Management
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 Magretta, Joan and Nan Stone. What Management Is. New York: The Free Press, 2002.
A “refresher course” of management key concepts - value, business models, strategy, organization, measurements, and people. Good (and quick) read for the beginner and the experienced.
 Grove, Andrew S. High Output Management. New York: Vintage,
1985.
Andrew Grove’s, ex-ceo of Intel, discussion on how to be a manager, from definition to activities that count. A good “how-to” discussion that has quite a few lessons for any manager from one who has proven himself a success at the task.
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Measurement
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Execution
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Process
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Sales and
Marketing
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 Bossidy, Larry and Ram Charan. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. New York: Crown Business, 2002.
Businesses won’t succeed without execution excellence. The book describes the building blocks and processes necessary for Execution success. Excellent book.
 Bossidy, Larry and Ram Charan.
Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right. New York: Crown Business, 2004.
A follow on to Execution, this volume describes a profound business model that will, when applied to business, help management face market, people, operations, and financial realities. Another excellent book.
 Bruch, Heike and Sumantra Ghoshal. A Bias for Action. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2004.
Getting things done requires focus and willpower to to produce results. “Purposeful management” is the key to strategic success. The book shows the reader how to become a committed manager who knows the difference between “activity” and “productivity.”
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 Hammer, Michael and James Champy. Reegineering the Corporation. New York: Collins Business Essentials,
2003.
Work that matters to customers is one of the themes of this
book. “Process” is the way that work gets done and, in today’s constantly evolving economy, constant performance improvements are a requirement. The authors tell us how it should be done!
 Rummler, Geary A. and Alan P. Brache. Improving Performance San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1995.
Organization Goals,
Process, and Job/Performer provide the framework for improving performance. A “how to” book that emphasizes the relationship between these three components as the key to managing improvement initiatives. Liked the framework and associated questions.
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 Li, Charlene and Josh Bernoff. Groundswell. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008.
Learn to share the power that customers now have. The authors have developed the methods and rational for joining the “social networks” that are allowing businesses to take advantage of this power instead of being overwhelmed by it. Well written and a must read.
 Charan, Ram. What the Customer Wants You to Know. New York: Portfolio, 2007.
Proposes a new selling method, Value Creation Selling. The main message I got was learn as much about your customers as possible so your business will be able to help them solve their problems and meet their real goals. As a result, value will be added to both your company and theirs. The other main message was to build value propositions that would help make your customers successful. Good read.
 Ulwick, Anthony W. What Customers Want. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
The author developed an innovation process that’s built on the the foundation of discovering and defining the outcomes customers want from products and services - called Outcome-Driven Innovation. It’s thorough and logical. A good and must read read for your customer focused innovation toolbox.
 Larreche, J.C. The Momentum Effect. New Jersey: Wharton School Publishing, 2008.
Exploring the customer for all types of insight, using it to build what markets find as compelling value - the “power offer,” to constantly upgrade and consistently provide innovation to that value and to deliver it with execution excellence is what drives exceptional growth. This is a must read book for anyone interested in a customer focused approach to building and delivering value.
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Kaplan, Robert S. and David P. Norton. The Balanced Scorecard. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1996.