A Washington Post Bestseller Three Principles for Managing--and Avoiding--the Problems of Growth Why is profitable growth so hard to achieve and sustain? Most executives manage their companies as if the solution to that problem lies in the external environment: find an attractive market, formulate the right strategy, win new customers. But when Bain & Company's Chris Zook and James Allen, authors of the bestselling Profit from the Core, researched this question, they found that when companies fail to achieve their growth targets, 90 percent of the time the root causes are internal, not external--increasing distance from the front lines, loss of accountability, proliferating processes and bureaucracy, to name only a few. What's more, companies experience a set of predictable internal crises, at predictable stages, as they grow. Even for healthy companies, these crises, if not managed properly, stifle the ability to grow further--and can actively lead to decline. The key insight from Zook and Allen's research is that managing these choke points requires a "founder's mentality"--behaviors typically embodied by a bold, ambitious founder--to restore speed, focus, and connection to customers: * An insurgent's clear mission and purpose * An unambiguous owner mindset * A relentless obsession with the front line Based on the authors' decade-long study of companies in more than forty countries, The Founder's Mentality demonstrates the strong relationship between these three traits in companies of all kinds--not just start-ups--and their ability to sustain performance. Through rich analysis and inspiring examples, this book shows how any leader--not only a founder--can instill and leverage a founder's mentality throughout their organization and find lasting, profitable growth.

An argument for simplicity from the bestselling authors of Profit from the Core Is radical reinvention the key to winning in today's fast-paced world? Not judging by the results of some of the world's best-performing companies. In Repeatability, Chris Zook and James Allen--leaders of Bain & Company's influential Strategy practice--warn that complexity is a silent killer of profitable growth. Successful companies endure by maintaining simplicity at their core. They don't stray from, or regularly discard, their business model in pursuit of radical renovation. Instead, they build a "repeatable business model" that produces continuous improvement and allows them to rapidly adapt to change without succumbing to complexity. Based on a multiyear study of more than two hundred companies, the book stresses the value of repeatability in business, showing how the "big idea" today is really made up of a series of successful smaller ideas driven by a simple and repeatable business model. Zook and Allen show how some of the world's best-known firms combine a core differentiation model with speed, adaptability, and simplicity to land them at the top for long periods of time. These firms include: Apple, Danaher, DaVita, IKEA, Nike, Olam, Tetra Pak, Vanguard, and others. CEOs, senior executives, managers, and investors all need to read this book. It's the new blueprint for reaching the top--and staying there.

All companies must grow to survive--but only one in five growth strategies succeeds. In Profit from the Core, strategy expert Chris Zook revealed how to grow profitably by focusing on and achieving full potential in the core business. But what happens when your core business provides insufficient new growth or even hits the wall? In Beyond the Core, Zook outlines an expansion strategy based on putting together combinations of adjacency moves into areas away from, but related to, the core business, such as new product lines or new channels of distribution. These sequences of moves carry less risk than diversification, yet they can create enormous competitive advantage, because they stem directly from what the company already knows and does best. Based on extensive research on the growth patterns of thousands of companies worldwide, including CEO interviews with 25 top performers in adjacency growth, Beyond the Core 1) identifies the adjacency pattern that most dramatically increases the odds of success: "relentless repeatability;" 2) offers a systematic approach for choosing among a range of possible adjacency moves; and 3) shows how to time adjacency moves during a variety of typical business situations. Beyond the Core shows how to find and leverage the best avenues for growth--without damaging the heart of the firm.

When Profit from the Core was published in 2001, it became an international bestseller, helping hundreds of companies find their way back to profitable growth after the bursting of the Internet bubble. The 2007 global financial meltdown reaffirmed the perils of pursuing heady growth through untested strategies, as firms in industries from finance to retailing to automobiles strayed too far from their core businesses and suffered the consequences. In this updated edition of Profit from the Core, authors Chris Zook and James Allen show that a renewed focus on the core is more critical than ever as firms seek to rebuild their competitive advantage coming out of the downturn--and that a strong core will be the foundation for successful expansion as the economy recovers. Based on more than ten years of Bain & Company research and analysis and fresh examples from firms responding to the current downturn, the book outlines what today's executives and managers need to do now to revitalize their core, identify the next wave of profitable growth, and build on it successfully. Zook and Allen explain how companies can: * Develop a strong, well-defined core and use it to establish a leadership position * Follow the golden rule of strategy: discourage competitors from investing in your core * Assess whether your core is operating at its full potential * Uncover hidden assets in your core that provide the seeds for new growth * Find a repeatable formula to apply core business strengths in adjacent markets Building on powerful and proven ideas to meet today's formidable business challenges, Profit from the Core is the back-to-basics strategy field guide no manager should be without.

How do the most resilient companies survive--and even thrive--during a slowdown? If you read nothing else on preparing for a tough economy and coming back stronger, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help your company persevere through economic challenges and continue to grow even as your competitors stumble. This book will inspire you to: Get your company ready before a downturn strikes Learn the right lessons from previous recessions Minimize pain while cutting costs and managing risk Foster a healthy organizational culture during anxious times Seize the opportunity to innovate and reinvent your business This collection of articles includes "Seize Advantage in a Downturn," by David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter; "How to Survive a Recession and Thrive Afterward: A Research Roundup," by Walter Frick; "How to Bounce Back from Adversity," by Joshua D. Margolis and Paul G. Stoltz; "Rohm and Haas's Former CEO on Pulling Off a Sweet Deal in a Down Market," by Raj Gupta; "Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis," by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander, Grashow, and Marty Linsky; "How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy," by Robert I. Sutton; "Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company," by Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta; "Getting Reorgs Right," by Stephen Heidari-Robinson and Suzanne Heywood; "Reigniting Growth," by Chris Zook and James Allen; "Reinvent Your Business Model Before It's Too Late," by Paul Nunes and Tim Breene; and "How to Protect Your Job in a Recession," by Janet Banks and Diane Coutu.

How do the most resilient companies survive&#8212and even thrive&#8212during a slowdown? If you read nothing else on surviving a tough economy and coming back stronger, read these 15 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help your company persevere through economic challenges and continue to grow while your competitors stumble. This book will inspire you to: Harness your resources to pull through a pandemic Learn the right lessons from previous recessions Minimize pain while cutting costs and managing risk Foster a healthy culture during anxious times Make smart moves to protect your own job Seize the opportunity to innovate and reinvent your business This collection of articles includes "Seize Advantage in a Downturn" by David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter; "How to Survive a Recession and Thrive Afterward: A Research Roundup" by Walter Frick; "How to Bounce Back from Adversity" by Joshua D. Margolis and Paul G. Stoltz; "Rohm and Haas's Former CEO on Pulling off a Sweet Deal in a Down Market" by Raj Gupta; "How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy" by Robert I. Sutton; "Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company" by Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta; "Getting Reorgs Right" by Stephen Heidari-Robinson and Suzanne Heywood; "Reigniting Growth" by Chris Zook and James Allen; "Reinvent Your Business Model Before It's Too Late" by Paul Nunes and Tim Breene; "How to Protect Your Job in a Recession" by Janet Banks and Diane Coutu; "Learning from the Future" by J. Peter Scoblic; "5 Ways to Stimulate Cash Flow in a Downturn" by Eddie Yoon and Christopher Lochhead; "The Case for M&A in a Downturn" by Brian Salsberg; "Include Your Employees in Cost-Cutting Decisions" by Patrick Daoust and Paul Simon; and "Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World" by Carsten Lund Pedersen and Thomas Ritter. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.