Synopses & Reviews
As the fallout from the financial meltdown of 2008 grows progressively worse, companies, industries, and entire markets cling precariously to life or have ceased to exist altogether. And the turbulence may not be over any time soon.
In Chaotics, noted business strategists Philip Kotler and John Caslione present the intriguing, if unsettling, argument that these troubled times are not an aberration, but the new face of normal. In fact, the economic downturn is part of a continually oscillating Age of Turbulence, where both risk and opportunity are quickly felt around the world, now inexorably linked by globalism and technology. It’s a world that chews up the unprepared, but rewards the prepared—those robust companies that have the ability to quickly anticipate and effectively respond to potential threats.
Packed with illuminating examples of resilient companies that are successfully navigating turbulence, as well as many painful examples of bankrupt or soon-to-be defunct companies unprepared for the chaos that felled them, Chaotics provides deep insights and practical strategies for not only surviving the current economic downturn, but also thriving amid the many slumps and spurts of prosperity that lie ahead.
At the heart of this book is an innovative Chaotics Management System for minimizing vulnerability and exploiting opportunities—and putting yourself way ahead of your competitors, most of whom are clinging to the same old panic tactics of across-the-board staff cuts, deep price discounts, and slashed investments in marketing, branding, and new product development. The system outlined here helps you completely rethink how you manage and market during recession and other turbulent conditions, including how to:
● Develop early warning systems for identifying the first signs of upheaval, including disruptive innovations and shocks
● Construct detailed worst-case, best-case, and most-expected-case scenarios using the strategies for effectively dealing with each
● Cut costs or enhance efficiency strategically in specific departments: finance, information technology, manufacturing, purchasing, and human resources
● Secure your market share from core customer segments—without decimating customer research and marketing budgets
● Compress strategic planning into shorter, three-month time cycles to keep a closer read on the pulse of the company
● Prevent the potentially catastrophic consequences of abandoning core principles
Timely, practical, and compelling, Chaotics is an indispensable guide for business leaders striving to survive today’s economic storms and to prosper through the inevitable turbulence of tomorrow.
Philip Kotler is one of the world’s foremost experts on the strategic practice of marketing, and was voted the first Leader in Marketing Thought by the American Marketing Association. He is the S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the author of the seminal Marketing Management and several other influential books. He lives in Glencoe, Illinois.
John A. Caslione is one of the world’s most accomplished business strategists, serving as advisor to numerous large and middle-market companies, and having executed global business development strategies in 88 countries on six continents. He is the founder, president, and CEO of GCS Business Capital LLC, a global mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. He lives in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Review
“Globalization and technology have heightened the interconnection, interdependence and fragility of today’s marketplace…Chaotics provides a system for steering businesses through both the best and worst of times.” -- Research magazine
Review
“Globalization and technology have heightened the interconnection, interdependence and fragility of today’s marketplace…Chaotics provides a system for steering businesses through both the best and worst of times.” -- Research magazine
“Kotler and Caslione have produced a timely and thoughtful analysis of the turbulent economic environment in which we now live, with a series of practical responses to the challenges faced.” -- The Irish Times
“…wrestling with how the increasing speed of change is affecting your business…then there is plenty of rock-solid…common-sense advice in the book...well worth your time.” --1to1 magazine
“In Chaotics, authors Philip Kotler and John Caslione pool their expertise to provide business leaders with a system for navigating the turbulent times…” -- Consulting magazine
“…outlines a powerful new system for managing waves of uncertainty affecting customers, employees, and other stakeholders….The best of the year so far!” -- CEO Refresher.com
"The authors hit a home run with this book. Reader value is off the charts.” -- Springfield Business Journal
“Philip Kotler…The man who brought metrics to marketing doesn’t disappoint…even the chart-averse will admire the skillful discussion of economic ‘chaotic theory.’” -- The Deal
“…very timely book…world economies are still turbulent, and given their interconnectivity, that's increasingly likely to continue…well-written, lucid treatise on surviving the new state of capitalism.” --Financial Executive
Selected as on the best books of 2009 by CEO Refresher.com
“…true value of the book is in pressing readers to change their mindset...never expect normality nor take it for granted…excellent read for anyone who does not want to be one of the dimwits.” --Graziadio Businessreport
CHOICE April 2010 Editors' Picks “…clearly written, interesting, and practical book.” -- Choice magazine
Review
“Kotler and Caslione have produced a timely and thoughtful analysis of the turbulent economic environment in which we now live, with a series of practical responses to the challenges faced.” -- The Irish Times
Review
“…wrestling with how the increasing speed of change is affecting your business…then there is plenty of rock-solid…common-sense advice in the book...well worth your time.” --1to1 magazine
Review
“In Chaotics, authors Philip Kotler and John Caslione pool their expertise to provide business leaders with a system for navigating the turbulent times…” -- Consulting magazine
Review
“…outlines a powerful new system for managing waves of uncertainty affecting customers, employees, and other stakeholders….The best of the year so far!” -- CEO Refresher.com
Review
"The authors hit a home run with this book. Reader value is off the charts.” -- Springfield Business Journal
Review
“Philip Kotler…The man who brought metrics to marketing doesn’t disappoint…even the chart-averse will admire the skillful discussion of economic ‘chaotic theory.’” -- The Deal
Review
“…very timely book…world economies are still turbulent, and given their interconnectivity, that's increasingly likely to continue…well-written, lucid treatise on surviving the new state of capitalism.” --Financial Executive
Review
Selected as on the best books of 2009 by CEO Refresher.com
Review
“…true value of the book is in pressing readers to change their mindset...never expect normality nor take it for granted…excellent read for anyone who does not want to be one of the dimwits.” --Graziadio Businessreport
Review
CHOICE April 2010 Editors' Picks “…clearly written, interesting, and practical book.” -- Choice magazine
Synopsis
"Chaotics" presents a revolutionary set of guidelines designed to help businesses detect sources of turbulence, price strategically, and adjust products to meet new customer values.
Synopsis
We have entered into an entirely new era, an age of increasingly frequent and intense periods of turbulence in the global economy. Unlike past recessions, today’s crises have precipitated a need for businesses to develop a new mindset, one that takes into account intermittent periods of disturbance, allowing them to thrive while under the constant threat of chaos. Chaotics presents a revolutionary set of guidelines designed to help businesses:
• detect sources of turbulence
• prepare scenarios
• predict resulting vulnerabilities and opportunities
• develop responses to ensure long-term resilience and success
• avoid risk while advancing the interests of the company
• build flexibility into the balance sheet
• price strategically
• adjust products to meet new customer values
• and more
Complete with metrics and measurements, Chaotics outlines a powerful new system for managing waves of uncertainty affecting customers, employees, and other stakeholders. In this climate of increased turbulence, no organization can survive with less.
Synopsis
Praise for Chaotics:
“It’s a simple and profoundly important fact that the practice of management needs retooling as much as our economy and financial system in general. Chaotics is a superb start on the retooling process—especially its emphasis on imbedding resilience in organizations. Leave it to Phil Kotler to give us lift-off power when we need it most.”
— Tom Peters, coauthor, In Search of Excellence
“An unprecedented book—for unprecedented times. Should be required reading for all managers in today’s chaotic world.” — Marshall Goldsmith author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and Succession: Are You Ready?
“Kotler’s and Caslione’s timing is simply perfect. Chaotics offers tremendous insight into our new normality of turbulence and uncertainty—which most businesses are ill-equipped to handle. Chaotics is an excellent strategy manual for business leaders and their organizations for handling and overcoming all crises, now and into ‘The Age of Turbulence.’” — Ferdinando “Nani” Falco Beccalli, President and CEO, GE International
“In times of unprecedented turbulence and volatility, new ways of thinking about and approaching the enormous issues facing business leaders are essential. Chaotics provides a compelling analysis of the issues and the roadmap needed to navigate through an increasingly risky and unpredictable business environment.”
— John Hahn, Managing Director, Providence Equity
“When skies are darkest, the brightest stars shine clearest. In the corporate world, they are the ones with strategic focus, not those who resort to knee-jerk, across-the-board cost cutting. In marketing’s gloomy sky, Philip Kotler is our brightest star. Together with strategist John Caslione, he has created this outstanding, timely, practical book to steer businesses through these turbulent times. Buy it. Read it. Do it.”
— Emeritus Professor Malcolm McDonald,
Cranfield University School of Management, United Kingdom,
author of Creating a Company for Customers
“There will be winners and losers emerging from this Age of Turbulence. Chaotics provides a timely framework for dealing with turmoil and prevailing in the zero-sum contest for survival.” — George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor of Marketing,
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
About the Author
Philip Kotler (Evanston, IL) is one of the world’s foremost experts on the strategic practice of marketing, voted the first Leader in Marketing Thought by the American Marketing Association. He is the S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the author of many influential books, including Marketing Management.
John A. Caslione (Lake Forest, IL) is a highly sought after expert who has executed global business development strategies in 87 countries on six continents. He is the founder, President, and CEO of the global mergers and acquisitions advisor GCS Business Capital LLC.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Preface VII
Introduction 1
1 THE WORLD HAS ENTERED A NEW ECONOMIC STAGE:
FROM NORMALITY TO TURBULENCE 5
What Is Market Turbulence? 12
Factors that Can Cause Chaos 18
Conclusion 41
2 MANAGEMENT’S WRONG RESPONSES TO TURBULENCE
NOW BECOME DANGEROUS 45
Resource Allocation Decisions that
Undermine Core Strategy and Culture 51
Across-the-Board Spending Cuts versus
Focused and Measured Actions 53
Quick Fixes to Preserve Cash Flow,
Putting Key Stakeholders at Risk 56
Reducing Marketing, Brand, and
New Product Development Expenses 57
Declining Sales and Price Discounting 60
Decoupling from Customers by
Reducing Sales-Related Expenses 62
Cutting Back on Training and Development
Expenses in Economic Crises 63
Undervaluing Suppliers and Distributors 64
Conclusion 69
3 THE CHAOTICS MODEL: MANAGING VULNERABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY 71
Constructing an Early-Warning System (EWS) 81
Construction of Key Scenarios 89
Scenario and Strategy Selection 98
Conclusion 102
4 DESIGNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR RESILIENCE 103
The Chaotics Management System108
Finance and Information Technology 112
Manufacturing/Operations 122
Purchasing/Procurement 129
Human Resources 134
Conclusion 138
5 DESIGNING MARKETING SYSTEMS FOR RESILIENCE 141
Common Marketing Reactions to Crises 145
Strategic Marketing Responses to Crises 150
Operational Issues Facing the Marketing Department 157
Operational Issues Facing the Sales Department 162
Conclusion 166
6 THRIVING IN THE AGE OF TURBULENCE:
ACHIEVING BUSINESS ENTERPRISE SUSTAINABILITY 169
Business Enterprise Sustainability 172
Conclusion 190
Notes 193
Index 205