The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: Secrets of Continually Developing a More Profitable Business Model

by Donald Mitchell

Authors Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles conducted a ten-year study of companies that had grown the fastest over a three-year period. Their research reveals that while unsuccessful companies doggedly apply outdated business models, the successful ones improve their models every two to four years. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage provides a straightforward, systematic method any company can use to review and improve its business model and each of its key pricing, costs of doing business, and benefits added. Dozens of concrete examples from companies of all sizes and types are provided.

Genres: Business

334 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
For the British author on music, see https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't open the store without it

The central message of this book is that you have to continually reinvent the way you do business in order to stay ahead of the competition. Mitchell and Coles call this "continuing business model innovation." It's very much like the experience of the Red Queen in Alice and Wonderland: you have to keep moving just to stay in the same place, and if you want to get ahead, you better start running.

Well, what's new about this? What's new is that everything in our world is now changing so fast that it is no longer enough to simply find a need and fill it, or to discover how to do something better than those who are currently doing it, and for less. You got to do that again and again, year in and year out, and you have to constantly be looking for ways to expand your services and improve your products. In short, it has to be the continuing policy and practice of your company to work toward developing a more profitable business model. This is especially true for successful companies since you WILL be imitated.

Okay, this sounds right, but just how do I go about reinventing my business model? Well, that's what Mitchell and Coles wanted to know, and so beginning in 1992 they went out and studied 100 successful companies and especially their CEOs, including such stalwarts as Clear Channel Communications, EMC, Dell Computers, Paychex, Goldcorp, etc. They asked questions and they listened. They realized that many of the business models that once worked would not work today, and that what worked today would fall behind tomorrow. They learned that gaining a competitive advantage through management effectiveness became more important than ever in the go-go nineties. But the biggest lesson they learned is that "business model obsolescence" is the greatest threat to all businesses now. Of course, they reverse this negative perception and point out that avoiding business model obsolescence is the greatest opportunity now available to your business. This way of thinking is sure to provide excitement in many stagnating businesses today, and is sure to set a fire under somebody's derriere. It might as well be yours, is the message the authors want to get across.

They support this message with a slew of examples from the companies they studied, showing how innovations in pricing, in expanding customer benefits, in creating reductions in costs, in coming up with new ways to increase market share, in adding customer value for the same or a lower price, etc. have worked for others and how they might work for you. They note that "business model innovation usually requires more mental agility than resources..." (p. 218) That's good news to hear since resources are often limited. They give case histories and recount in detail how some of the inventive CEOs took their companies from share prices in the pennies to share prices in the hundreds of dollars(!). Of course some people got lucky and expanded with the bubble, but others didn't, and those that are still successful today have innovated and are continuing to innovate. Mitchell and Coles document this truth.

The densely-packed material in the book is handsomely presented, exceptionally well-edited, and the book's design is first class. There are sidebars highlighting key information and ideas, and subtitles that allow the reader to focus quickly on areas of especial interest. Chapters typically begin with a well-chosen key-note quotation from authorities as diverse as the Bible, Sun-Tzu and Irving Berlin. The style is clear and business-like. The authors are seasoned business strategy consultants who are working on a series of books to help improve your business. This the third in the series, and the one that the authors recommend you read first. There are "Key Questions" at the end of chapters to keep you focused and to highlight and further explain ideas. The authors emphasize looking back objectively at both your company's successes and failures with the time-honored realization that we can often learn more from our failures than from our successes; and indeed the difference between a successful innovation and an unsuccessful one can be as narrow as the razor's edge.

One of the things that most impressed me about this book is the way the authors emphasize the positive aspects of being successful in business, sharing benefits, increasing not just shareholder value, but value to the customer and to those who work for and with you. This kind of enlightened self-interest approach to business is not only a pleasant departure from the Machiavellian model that one so often sees presented, but is a surer way to success, not only to success in business, but to success in life. I know from my experience with Don Mitchell that he is a wise and considerate person who understands the business world and what it takes to get ahead. This book will surely set you in the right direction, and most likely will stimulate you to do even better than you are doing, and especially help you anticipate and indeed create tomorrow's business climate.

--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found that the book was well laid out. The writing style was clear and concise, and I particularly enjoyed the authors' use of metaphors, etc., to illustrate their points. I thought it was good that the authors set key points aside in the margins on the text as well. They used many good, practical examples to help readers understand what for some would be complex ideas. I particularly enjoyed the key questions at the end of each chapter - I found that was the really the only thing in the book that I could, with effort, apply to my own situation.

I did find that this book was not as useful to me as some other books on business management/leadership. As a front line worker in the human services (not for profit) sector, I didn't find much of the information applicable to my line of work as some other books. I also found that the prologue/introductory part of the book went on too long. In fact, I didn't like the way the authors would refer back to and expand upon case studies given in the introductory section - I'd have preferred to see these case studies at the beginning of the relevant chapter only. I also would have preferred fewer, and less detailed, examples - I wanted more theory. It was because I couldn't relate to the examples that I had trouble seeing how I could use this material in my workplace.

Most of my criticisms are likely things that wouldn't have bothered me if the subject matter was more relevant to my life. I think this would be a good book for a business student to read, and as such I would highly reccommend it for the reading lists of any post secondary business program. It's just not a book that will likely appeal to a general readership.