Strategic Supremacy: How Industry Leaders Create Growth, Wealth, and Power through Spheres of Influence

Book Description

Are upstart competitors taking deadly aim at your company's products and markets? Richard A. D'Aveni, author of the famous attacker's handbook Hypercompetition, presents coun-terrevolutionary strategies and tactics that any industry leader or established company can use to defend itself against revolutionaries, disrupters, or hypercompetitors. The secret lies in making the rules, not breaking them, D'Aveni says, because rule makers still rule. Arguing that "profits and prosperity come not from revolution but stability and orderly change," D'Aveni presents a commanding framework that will enable any resource-rich or clever defender to gain Strategic Supremacy by being first to define the playing field.

D'Aveni demonstrates how global powerhouses such as Disney, Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble have achieved preeminence by reconceptualizing their product portfolios as powerful competitive arsenals he calls "spheres of influence." Essentially a new way to compete by restructuring portfolios around a core geographic/product market, spheres enable any company to influence the behavior and positioning of rivals. In immensely readable prose, D'Aveni describes how prevailing spheres of influence can be used to create legal business equivalents to a "concert of powers" and other industry structures that mix cooperation with competition. Just one of the potent functions of a corporate sphere, D'Aveni shows, is to contain competitors of equal size (as NBC contained ABC). Spheres can also be used to stabilize an entire industry's global power system.

A glance at the detailed table of contents will provide a sense of the wealth of new information contained in this essential handbook of global warfare, including "how-to" tools the reader will need to measure and map the pattern of competitive pressure in any industry and to interpret the meaning and strategic implications of these pressure patterns for his or her position within the industry's power hierarchy.

Book Description

Abuse is so crippling that many who survive the trauma are never able to function again in the world as productive members of the work force-in whatever capacity. This workbook is dedicated to addressing this and many other issues. A Career and Life Planning Guide for Women Survivors provides real activities that deal with the trauma up close, providing survivors the opportunity to face the events that changed their lives. You will find glossaries and exercises created to assist in overcoming denial and vulnerability while working toward empowerment. Useful features include TIPS found throughout the workbook and numerous resources provided for help. This workbook can be successfully used by professionals working with survivors and by individuals on their own.

Making the Connections Workbook: A Career and Life Planning Guide for Women Survivors of Abuse

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Making the Connections Workbook: A Career and Life Planning Guide for Women Survivors of Abuse

Manufacturer: Gr Pr Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 187820517X

Book Description

American agricultural production is destined to end, argues Steven Blank, but this should be no cause for alarm. In this work, he shows that the changes leading to the end of American agricultural production are part of a natural process that is making us all better off. Beginning with broad observations from history and the current status of agriculture around the world, Blank explores how the decisions of individuals combine to make the end of American agricultural production predictable and rational. The inevitable creeping of international economic development is shown to be the sum of individual struggles facing producers across America and around the world. Also, decisions regarding operating an agricultural business derive from many interrelated peculiarities of the industry, both in America and elsewhere. The story is fascinating in its global scope and is relevant to everyone because the simple economic decision-making processes involved will be repeated in the story of other industries.

Customer Reviews:

Long on Conventional Wisdom, Short on Practical Utility.......2001-09-30

Blank has succeeded in delivering a witty take on the neo-classical economic argument in favor of international trade. Simply put, this argument says that there are gains to trade, and that nations, much like individuals, will focus on what they are good at or most productive at doing. As a result, all of the resources available to them will be funneled into those things that the individual/nation is good at so as to optimally maximize profit. However, in his exposition, Blank fails to take his arguments one step further- he only takes his arguments as far as the conventional neo-classical economic theory will allow him to go.

For example, Blank argues that America will leave agriculture simply because it is more profitable, and much less of a headache, to do other things that would make for a better, if not wiser, use of our resources. This would imply that ultimately the decision to leave agriculture, albeit made with considerable hand-wringing, hesitation, and consternation, is in the end a voluntary one. In Blank's clear-cut, black-and-white neo-classical economic universe, eventually multinational corporations win, farmers lose, private lenders beat a hasty retreat, retailers walk away smiling, consumers remain happily ignorant of all things agricultural, and the government is left footing the bill (and looking pretty stupid to boot). As such, he does a pretty good job of introducing most of the players in US agriculture- the farmer (large and small), the agribusinesses, the lenders, retailers, government entities- and paints a compelling though conventional picture as to why America will abandon agriculture for more profitable and less problematic economic endeavors.

However, there are several problems with his argument. Politics aside, it is unlikely that America will abandon agriculture entirely; pockets of resistance continue to form, and some profit-maximizing and optimally resource allocating types of modern, conventional agriculture will remain. Throwing the politics of agriculture in the mix, we must remind ourselves that literally billions of dollars chase American agriculture, and all participants, from multinational corporations to farmers and the government have a vested interest in keeping the money flowing. Furthermore, while Blank argues that jobs and income lost due to a shift out of agriculture will be offset by the introduction of high skill, high wage endeavors such as the internet and telecommunications(one can date this book and glean its utility by that last comment), the truth is that in many instances, once the Ag jobs and income leave, nothing comes along to fill the void created by the flight of agriculture from the region. Finally, Blank commits the unforgiveable faux-paus of underestimating the increasingly aware and concerned consumer, a powerful and influential force/foe whom he stereotypically paints as being a motley of passive, uninterested couch potatoes whose only desire is for fast, cheap, and convenient agricultural products.

In the end, Blank should be commended for his effort to introduce this economic problem child to the general public; however, astute readers must note that there is more to this story than Blank would care to present. In conclusion, although we can not safely say that American agriculture in general will go the way of the dinosaur in the forseeable future (if ever), we can say that it will remain a problematic economic endeavor and a highly charged headache for all parties involved.

Interesting, but an overgeneralization.......2000-10-14

This is a very interesting and thought-provoking book. For viticulturalists and stone fruit and citrus producers in the San Joaquin Valley, I have no doubt that the data presented in this book are very relevant. Those of us who make our livings in associated enterprises should be looking for ways to hedge our bets and diversify. My biggest criticism is that data gathered primarily from California and, to a lesser degree, other states in the region, are used to predict the course of "American agriculture". One of the main premises was that agricultural production is labor-intensive and requires large capital investments in land. Compared to horticultural crops in California, Midwestern row crops and wheat production in the US Plains states are very different. The improvement required to plant wheat is very different that that required for an almond orchard, and of course most operations in the Midwest and Plains are much more automated compared to California agriculture.

Book Description

This volume brings together authoritative articles summarizing the current state of knowledge of the genetic organization of bacterial populations. Contributions include the evolution of E. coli populations, the roles of gene transfer and recombination, the distribution and evolution of plasmids and antibiotic resistance, population genetics of phase-variable systems, population dynamics and epidemiology of bacterial pathogens, and plasmid transfer in the natural environment. Similarities and differences with the population genetics of higher organisms are emphasized throughout, and the impact of bacterial studies on current evolutionary theories highlighted. The consequences of population structure in clinical practice, environmental situations and commercial exploitation of bacteria are also considered in this professional level book.

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Non Fiction

Paper Lion, Golden Writer

Hear The Lion Roar

Old Lions Fan

One of Sports Illustrated's one hundred best sports books One I missed

Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
George Plimpton
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Football (American) | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Out of My League: The Classic Hilarious Account of an Amateur's Ordeal in Professional Baseball

About Three Bricks Shy: And The Load Filled Up

The Bogey Man: A Month on the PGA Tour

The Best of Plimpton

Mad Ducks and Bears

ASIN: 1599210053

Amazon.com

Through the course of a long and distinguished career in letters, George Plimpton has crafted an art form from participatory journalism, and Paper Lion is his big touchdown. In the mid-'60s, Plimpton joined the Detroit Lions at their preseason camp as a 36-year-old rookie quarterback wannabe, and stuck with the club through an intra-squad game before the paying public a month later. What resulted is one of the funniest and most insightful books ever written on the game; 30 years later it remains a major model of what was then blossoming into New Journalism. Plimpton's breezy style wonderfully captures the pressures and tensions rookies confront in trying to make it, the hijinks that pervade the atmosphere when 60 high-strung guys are forced to live together in close quarters, and the host of rites and rituals with which football loves to coat itself. Of course, Plimpton didn't make it as a football hero; he barely accounts himself with dignity on the field, which is just as well. You don't have to be a lion when you've got a typewriter that can roar.

Book Description

This paperback edition commemorates the 40th anniversary of the original publication of this sports classic.

Customer Reviews:

Non Fiction.......2007-09-03

A talented journalist joins the Detroit Lions to get get a greater insight into what it is to be a professional American football player. Some amusing moments because of his ineptitude.

This was a top class team dominanting their opponents, so they wangled an agreement that if they got a big enough lead they could put George in as a last string quaterback.

Top quality sportswriting work here.

Paper Lion, Golden Writer.......2006-10-27

Long before ESPN cameras and behind-the scenes television programs, George Plimpton went out on a mission to the magical world of the NFL, looking to bring back an original insight on the dream life of a professional football player. In Paper Lion, Plimpton arrives in Michigan for a month of training camp and a preseason scrimmage with the Detroit Lions, having brought a suitcase of clothes, some cleats, and a minimal trace of athletic ability. Though he was not a very skilled or successful member of the Lions, his role is an essential one for us as readers. Plimpton does a marvelous job of painting the picture of a profeesional football player with vivid details and intriguing technique, most notably simile. He details aspects of the training camp with clear references for the everyday reader. This helps explain feelings and strategies such as the Lions' kickoff coverage: " the downfield rush was straight, like a ruler sweeping crumbs off a table." (178). Plimpton also captures the emotions of the players during camp and reproduces them through simile as well: "When a player was hurt in a scrimmage, the others seemed to point their backs pointedly...as if an injury were communicable, like mumps." (194). Another example comes on page 253 when he compares the physical toll of football to "Bronco riding." These details and relatable comparisons are what help Plimpton to bring the reader into the setting and let him experience training camp as if he too were wearing shoulder-pads.

While Plimpton does an excellent job of depicting the setting and emotions that go along with training camp in the NFL, at times he seemed a little too out of place. Plimpton was a writer for Sports Illustrated and thus should have a keen sense on sports and what the players go through. However, there were times in the book where he approached the situation as if he had come from another planet, rather than a different occupation. Such is the case on page 180 when he asks a running back: "do you close your eyes when you run for the middle of the line?" As a sportswriter and an intelligent person it would seem that he would know that a professional athlete would keep his eyes open and not shy away from the contact of the line in a game situation.

George Plimpton's Paper Lion is a great read as well as an entertaining passageway to the world of sports. Plimpton's ability to accurate scenes and vividly detail characters makes a reader feel as though he has not so much holding a book but in fact his own personal uniform on the Detroit Lions.

Hear The Lion Roar.......2006-08-30

Back in the 1960s, writer George Plimpton began "covering" a variety of sports through participating on/with pro teams/athletes and reporting on it through books, magazine articles and TV specials.

Perhaps his most famous was in the early 1960s when he was "signed" by the Detroit Lions as a 36-year-old rookie trying to make the club as a third-string quarterback. Plimpton - wearing jersey number 0 - practiced with the team for one month.
His quarterbacking culminates with his appearance in a scrimmage where Plimpton calls a number of plays under game conditions.

The book leads the reader through the highs and lows of Plimpton as a player, along with great anecdotes on the teammates and coaches.

A reprint is slated for publication in September 2006. I hope the TV special on Plimpton's training camp and QB play gets dusted off during the upcoming NFL season. Anyone reading this inside that large campus in Bristol, Conn.?

Old Lions Fan.......2006-07-10

A very interesteng read, If you are old enough to remember all the players.

One of Sports Illustrated's one hundred best sports books One I missed.......2006-03-20

This book is listed as one of 'Sports Illustrated's' one -hundred best sports books of all time. Many of the reviewers of this book on ' Amazon' also consider it to be of the highest quality. They point to its giving the true feeling of what it is to try out and play football. They point to the excellent human interest stories, the way Plimpton writes about the lives of the players off and on the field.
When I read this book quite a few years ago I did not really get into the feeling and humor of it. This happens often with books. The book may turn out be better than we were at the time that we read it.
When I get a chance I'll have another look at this one.
By the way one reviewer points out how much pro football and athletes have changed with the years, and the big big money. Even in 1965 this reader claims there was an innocent and integrity that does not pertain in the over- drugged and over- hyped sports world of today.

Book Description

Modern open floor planning mixes with detailed traditional exteriors to create the perfect blend of aesthetics and livability. Traditional Neighborhood Home Plans also features introductory information from two of this trends most recognized and vocal supporters. It also provides a wide range of beautiful exteriors styles, perfect for any traditional neighborhood development.

Traditional Neighborhood Designs, Volume II

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Traditional Neighborhood Designs, Volume II
Homestore Plans and Publicatio
Manufacturer: Homestyles Planned Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Design & Construction | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Traditional Neighborhood Home Plans

ASIN: 156547080X

Traditional Neighborhood Designs, Volume I

Average customer rating:

Fabulous resource for those tired of cookie cutter suburbia

Traditional Neighborhood Designs, Volume I
Homestore Plans and Publicatio
Manufacturer: Homestyles Planned Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Design & Construction | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Traditional Neighborhood Home Plans

ASIN: 1565470702

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous resource for those tired of cookie cutter suburbia.......1999-01-17

We loved this book and its follw-up volumes. The book gives a brief explanation of the trend towards livable neighborhoods that is popping up around the country, even here in North Carolina. Finally, a neighborhood with sidewalks that doesn't have garage doors as the focus of the homes!

The plans are widely varied, offering something for everyone- we found our home and start construction in the fall!

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Traditional Neighborhood Designs Vol. III
Jason Miller
Manufacturer: HomeStyles Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

House Plans | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1565470893

Book Description

Building plans and supporting feature articles for traditional neighborhood developments and urban infill developments. Includes indexes to help readers find the types of houses and buildings to suit their particular region/application.

Book Description

From the fall of the Han dynasty at the turn of the third century to the eventual reunification of the country under the Sui at the turn of the seventh century, China experienced a tumultuous and fascinating political and cultural history. The political fragmentation that occurred between the dynasties and the massive migration of nomadic peoples into China resulted in contact with people from every part of Asia and the introduction of foreign ideas, religion, art forms, and motifs. Out of this grew the magnificent art of Tang China in the early eighth century.
This book is the first comprehensive survey of Chinese art during this complex era. Lavishly illustrated and produced, the volume presents more than three hundred recent archaeological finds: including gold artifacts made by the nomadic peoples from Mongolia, luxury articles of glass and precious metals from Western and Central Asia, early Chinese Buddhist sculptures, and spectacular works in every medium from the Tang period. Essays by distinguished scholars provide a historical background, discuss the various media, and trace the changes in art styles over a period that saw a radical modification of Chinese civilization.
In the great tradition of publications on Chinese art from the Metropolitan Museum, China: Dawn of a Golden Age will become an essential text for years to come.

Book Description

From one of America's most successful independent companies comes a book about how we work and a philosophy of doing business that will change our careers - and our lives - forever. Bread and Butter is a book with three parts: First, it's the story of the birth of an extraordinarily successful kind of business called a "freedom franchise": Great Harvest Bread Co., which began as one bakery 25 years ago and is now a $60-million-a-year company with 140 stores in 35 states. The strategies and principles on which Great Harvest has built this extraordinary success set an example for organizations of any type. Second, it's the story of one employee's struggle for meaning in 'corporate' life - the author, Tom McMakin, who went looking for a job and found a lifestyle. McMakin's devotion to Great Harvest is a model for modern entrepreneurship and an inspiration in an age of failed dot-coms and dissatisfied young employees. Finally, McMakin uses Great Harvest's experience to provide advice for every businessperson: from dreamers starting their own multi-million-dollar companies, to small-business owners with more modest expectations, to those still searching for a pursuit to match their passion. McMakin covers subjects like: Great Harvest's '40-hour' rule, which decrees that every employee put in a productive 40 hours a week and no more; creating a national "learning community" using email and an extranet; and operating without loans, relying instead on profits for reinvesting in the company. Along the way he shares many more insightful and inspirational philosophies of business and life that have grown out of the Great Harvest community. Bread and Butter will help you discover how, instead of living our lives in service of business, we can create a business in service of our lives.AUTHORBIO: Tom McMakin is Chief Operating Officer of Great Harvest Bread Co., having started in 1993 as the company's newsletter editor. He's also been a legislative aid, a teacher, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. He lives in Dillon, Montana, with his wife Mary and their two children.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2004-12-01

The way that Tom McMakin portrays, his views of life, and the world he works in, really made me think about the business life, and how much friends and family can be there for you. i suggest this book for anybody wishing to go into any kind of business, and or starting their own.

Bread and Butter.......2004-11-29

I enjoyed this book. Although McMakin could have been a bit more concise, his excitement and passion for the Great Harvest Bread Co. kept me reading. The values he preaches are refreshing, and I would recommend it to anyone going into business for themselves.

Work as Progress Towards Your Ideal Life.......2004-04-11

Bread and Butter combines five perspectives, and you will get more from the book is you can keep them separate in your mind:

(1) An American business success story built around superb bakeries;

(2) How entrepreneurs can choose stability and steady progress instead of overwork and riding a high risk roller coaster;

(3) A new business model for franchising fairly simple operations;

(4) How the right work can center your life around your authentic self; and

(5) The author's search for his purpose in life.

The book has a twin tale to tell, the history of Great Harvest Bread Company and how Tom McMakin found himself through his connection to the company. Arriving at the company in 1993 on a fluke, Mr. McMakin and his wife began working on a variety of jobs. Rapidly being promoted, Mr. McMakin was soon the chief operating officer of the company. But he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. Faced with that crossroads in 1999 by the founders, he chose to write this book.

Great Harvest is a somewhat loosely aligned network of over 140 independently owned and operated bakeries located in 34 states. The company's headquarters is based in the small town of Dillon, Montana near lots of good outdoor recreational sites. The business succeeds because of a unique approach to providing fresh bread (selecting the farms where the wheat is grown one-by-one and testing the wheat by baking bread with it, freshly stone grinding the wheat every morning in the bakery, using high quality ingredients, offering samples to all who enter, being friendly, and expressing the unique personality of each bakery's owners and the employees), the interchange of good ideas among those who operate and own the bakeries, and the quality of the people selected to be franchisees. It's a sort of small town, homey version of an Internet study group dedicated to advancing the art of creating and serving terrific, healthy baked goods in a friendly way.

The founders and the franchisees are just as likely to share ideas about meditation, exercise, and spirituality as they are about the latest bread recipe. "How do we create health and strength in our personal lives and in the communities in which we work?" The answer they have found is to "work first on yourself." A key element is to "create business or work that is truly in service of your life." As an example of this philosophy, those who work in the company punch a time clock . . . to help ensure that no one works more than forty hours a week. Extra work would just drain the joy from the work and the giving to customers and employees. Many new franchisees have been top employees in franchised stores.

Chances are you have never worked for or even heard about a business like this one. I think you will find it interesting. At times, it does come across a little like an infomercial for the chain or its franchising, but take that with just a little butter and honey on your hot slice of bread and you will be able to swallow it all right.

This book is very hard to grade. I think the company's franchising model is probably a step forward for those with reasonably simple businesses to operate. So that aspect is definitely a five-star effort. The description of the company's history is not well hung together, so although it is fascinating, the writing is about a three-star quality. The work on how to avoid excess risk in start-ups and unbalanced lives is outstanding, and is worth five-stars. The descriptions of how the right work can improve all of your life is told at about a three-star level. The author's personal history is very jumbled and disjointed, and comes across as a two-star exposition. The book's structure is certainly awkward, and the style is more than a little preachy. So Bread and Butter is somewhere between a three and a four star book as a work of business thinking, management practices, or spiritual living. The author and the people described have a lot of heart though, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and rounded up to four stars.

If you like your business books cut and dried like a professor would do them, you will not like this book. Go visit a Great Harvest store instead,and talk to the people you meet there.

After you finish this very interesting and unusual book, I suggest that you think about where your work is at odds with your values and natural preferences. Where is your work drawing you towards doing better than you would do otherwise? Where is the opposite taking place? How can you change how you do your work to make it integrate into your life better?

Open up to the potential of building on your uniqueness!

Could've Been Butter.......2004-03-29

This book was well written, and inspiring. However, after awhile it felt like I kept reading the same thing over and over again. The book could've been 100 pages shorter and i would've gotten the same thing out of it. Even though it was redundant, parts of it were fun to read and overall it was well written. I could see why it would want to make people start their own business. The main thing I got from this book was a craving for bread and butter.

Goodbye Atkins.......2004-03-26

Bread and Butter is a well-written book that is very inspirational. It leaves the reader hungry, and with the desire to start their own business, possibly a Great Harvest franchise. This book does get very repetitive and it is not exactly an edge of your seat type of experience. I liked how McMakin emphasized the importance of the quality of life, not just the quantity of money one obtains. Anyone who is struggling to balance their work and free time should read this book. I also recommend this book to anyone having trouble falling asleep at night, because this book may at times put you to sleep. I enjoyed learning about the Great Harvest Bread Company, and I am eager to go try some of this bread. I also enjoyed reading about people who have made a great life for themselves by working for this company. Overall I liked this book and I am craving bread.

Bread and Butter: What a Bunch of Bakers Taught Me About Business and Happiness

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Bread and Butter: What a Bunch of Bakers Taught Me About Business and Happiness
Tom McMakin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTGMSG

Book Description

At the close of the Second World War, when industrialized nations faced serious trade and financial imbalances, delegates from forty-four countries met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in order to reconstruct the international monetary system. In this volume, three generations of scholars and policy makers, some of whom participated in the 1944 conference, consider how the Bretton Woods System contributed to unprecedented economic stability and rapid growth for 25 years and discuss the problems that plagued the system and led to its eventual collapse in 1971.

The contributors explore adjustment, liquidity, and transmission under the System; the way it affected developing countries; and the role of the International Monetary Fund in maintaining a stable rate. The authors examine the reasons for the System's success and eventual collapse, compare it to subsequent monetary regimes, such as the European Monetary System, and address the possibility of a new fixed exchange rate for today's world.

A Retrospective on the Bretton Woods System: Lessons for International Monetary Reform (National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report)

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A Retrospective on the Bretton Woods System: Lessons for International Monetary Reform (National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report)
Michael D. Bordo Barry Eichengreen
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP0GZK

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