Strategy from the Outside in: Profiting from Customer Value

by George S. Day

 Shareholder value . . . core competence . . .six sigma . . . right sizing . . . These influential strategy ideas have lured many companies into a dangerous internal focus, viewing the world from the inside out. As a result, companies lose sight of the market, which leads to poorresults over the long run. Inside-out thinking distracts companies from the core purpose of a business: to create and serve customers. Fulfilling that purpose can be done only by approaching strategy from the outside in. In this refreshing look at creating enduring business value, two business school professors from The Wharton School and The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, challenge you to shift your perspective. They demonstrate that companies that adopt--and fight to keep--an outside-in view focused on customer value have grown revenue, profit, and shareholder value through both boom and bust business cycles. Applying years of research, George S. Day and Christine Moorman illustrate that an outside-in view requires constant vigilance and focus on four customer value imperatives:  Be a customer value leader Innovate new value for customers Capitalize on the customer as an asset Capitalize on the brand as an asset Only companies that operate with an outside-in view from the C-suite to the front lines can expect to maximize and profit from customer value.  Strategy from the Outside In puts you ahead of the competition and, just as important, keeps you there. Praise for  Strategy from the Outside In "Throughout P&G's long history, we have focused on the four customer value imperatives outlined in this excellent book—and are as committed to them today as ever. This is essential reading for leaders focused on making a positive difference in the world and, as a direct result, delivering growth for both the near and long term."   —Robert A. McDonald, Chairman, President, and CEO, The Procter & Gamble Company  "Strategy from the Outside In is thought-provoking, practical, and full of ideas on how to strengthen your company's customer value proposition."   —Tom Lynch, CEO, Tyco Electronics Corporation "American Express's success has rested largely on our ability to focus on our customers and adapt to their changing needs over the past 160 years.  Strategy from the Outside In is an insightful book with practical advice about how to do just that."  —Jud Linville, President and CEO Consumer Services, American Express "An in-depth look into the basic premise of what, in my view, makes successful business. Certainly worth reading once and then once every year to remind all of us what keeps us in business. For marketers, a great benchmark to help focus on how to add value most effectively."  —Geert van Kuyck, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Royal Philips Electronics "Sam Walton said 'there's only one boss--the customer'.  At Walmart we try to stay focused on that every day. But how?  Strategy from the Outside In provides a blueprint for how to build a trusted brand based on consistently providing superior value to customers."  —Stephen Quinn, Chief Marketing Officer, Walmart "Getting your company to organize around what customers value most sounds easy in theory, but it's very hard to do consistently well. Day and Moorman provide a thoughtful, realistic, and actionable blueprint for delivering the most value to your most valuable customers.

Genres: Business

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2010

About the author

George S. Day is the Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor and co-director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Chairman of the board for the American Marketing Association, he has served as a consultant to GE, IBM, Medtronic, Merck, W.L. Gore & Associates, and other corporations. His books include Strategy from the Outside In and Peripheral Vision, among others. Day lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Idris Popoola]

The Strategy from the Outside In: Profiting from Customer Value is a book that should be read by those that are tasked with leading companies and organizations to growth and profitability. Making sure products are engineered and launched from customers perspective, promising value propositions that satisfy customers desires in performance value, price value and most importantly relational value.

[Paulo Peres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comece por eles se deseje iniciar-se no tema customer-centric. Este é um livro-pérola. Mesmo já tendo alguns anos eu o recomendo fortemente para entender o que é ser centrado no cliente.

Existem vários livros mais recentes que tocam no assunto, mas as vezes com um foco maior no que a tecnologia pode fazer para se aproximar do cliente, do que explicando em si o conceito aplicado por si só. O porquê das coisas.

Hoje, o tema tem sido explorado por várias frentes bibliográficas vindas do marketing, do marketing digital, do design thinking, design, de livros sobre inovação, de transformação digital e inclusive do ágil inclusive. Porém esta é uma boa base para depois complementar com outros tipos de conhecimento.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re an entrepreneur or C-suite level executive, this is an invaluable strategy to understand. If you are a manager, it’s still important. This book is for critical thinkers who are prepared to change their corporate perspectives on leadership, customer value, branding, sales, and marketing. If you aren’t that, then it might not give you the value you’re looking for. There are some steps in the process that require the reader to overcome cognitive dissonance in order to continue on through the strategic process. So, be ready for that.