Bookstore Business Executive | February 2012 | PAGE 21 The Bookstore Book of the month


Understanding Michael Porter HHH by Joan Magretta Harvard Business Review Press 236 pgs, £18.99, hb ISBN: 97881422160596


Turbulent markets make strategy more important than ever. And to help today’s managers Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy distils


Porter’s core concepts into a concise guide and translates his most powerful ideas into practice. Most managers know who Michael Porter


is and are probably familiar with many of the ideas that have become the foundations of the field of strategy: competitive advantage, industry structure, the five forces, the value


Winning at Innovation The A-to-F Model H Fernando Trías de Bes & Philip Kotler Palgrave Macmillan, 272 pgs, £26.00, hb ISBN: 978 023034 3436


To keep ahead in today’s fast-paced market, companies must innovate and develop new products, strategies and technologies. The authors present a new model for


successful marketing. Innovation must be a priority for organisations who want to be ready to grow and develop in post-recession economies.


chain. The problem is that these seminal ideas have become business buzzwords and are misused. This book provides a highly readable summary of Porter’s ideas. It also offers a valuable analysis of this important body of work, making clear how each of Porter’s powerful concepts relates to the others and, most important, to the practical realities managers face. The author shows managers how to use


Porter’s ideas to: n stake out a unique strategic positioning, either by performing activities differently from rivals or choosing to perform different activities altogether; n gain insight about the forces driving the profitability of every player in your industry so that you can best decide where and how to compete, and what it will take to achieve real (i.e. quantifiable) competitive advantage; n make tough “either-or” choices that enable you to charge higher prices, or lower


Innovation is normally a responsibility of


R&D departments. But this is not enough. A systematic framework is needed so innovation can occur anywhere in the organisation. The A-to F-Model is a step-by-step


process for developing a successful culture of innovation. It brings together different individuals and groups across the organization so that ideas can be created, developed and implemented. The model is flexible and allows a back and forth flow of ideas and creativity adapting to changing circumstances. The innovation processes become more effective more sustainable, and more successful. Many other books on innovation take one or another specialised approach. Winning at Innovation offers a comprehensive blueprint for the whole innovation process. It sets the stage and creates a positive climate for innovation in the corporation. LC


your costs – while making it hard for rivals to copy you; move beyond “core competence” thinking, and instead maximise how all your activities work together to amplify the value you create; and n strike the right balance between flexibility and continuity to enable innovation while constantly strengthening your brand and reinforcing the value of your offering. Michael Porter’s work has transformed


the theory, practice and teaching of business strategy around the world. This easily readable book gives managers the concepts and ideas to transform their own companies and careers. It will become the “strategy bible” for today’s busy managers. SC


This book provides a


highly readable summary of Porter’s ideas


The Ascent of Media From Gilgamesh to Google via Gutenberg HH Roger Parry Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 406 pgs, £20.00, hb ISBN: 978 815788 5705


Now, more than at any time in history, society is shaped by media. The Ascent of Media looks at the new digital era in the light of all that has gone before. The book builds on the past to describe the probable media patterns


of the future. The book’s author traces the story of media from clay tablets to tabloids to the tablet computer. It relates how we got where we


A small treasury of excellent books for your reading pleasure – including one with a very odd title


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