Synopses & Reviews
[BACK COVER]
Product Strategy for High Technology Companies2nd EditionMichael E. McGrath
[CATEGORY] Management
[HEAD] How Todays High-Tech LeadersMicrosoft, Intel, Motorola, and OthersContinue their Dominance in an Increasingly Competitive Marketplace.
Companies looking to make a mark in todays crowded high-tech battlefield need two primary elements: a distinctive product and a powerful product strategy. Without both, they simply wont survive.Product Strategy for High Technology Companies, 2nd Edition, is todays only book on product strategy written specifically for high-tech companies. Updated and revised to encompass everything from changing product strategies to Web-based technologies, this forward-thinking book provides page after page of market-tested strategies and techniques that include:
• An in-depth examination of the market-proven Core Strategic Vision (CSV) and Market Platform Plan (MPP) Frameworks
• Case studies examining 14 unique differentiation strategieswhat worked, what didnt, and why
• More than 250 examples of product strategy in action, from the success of Microsoft to the equally stunningat the timefailure of Osborne
The opportunities in todays wide-open technology marketplace are unparalleled in history. Benchmark yourself against the high-tech leadersand discover techniques to carve out your own area of expertise and successwith Product Strategy for High Technology Companies.
[FLAP COPY]
Product Strategy for High Technology Companies2nd EditionMichael E. McGrath
• How did Xerox, a dominant world leader in light-lens copying, change its strategic focus in time to secure a foothold in the emerging digital technologies arena?
• Which line strategies helped Tylenol leverage its single productacetaminopheninto a broad-based platform that has sold nearly a quarter-trillion tablets?
• What innovative strategies did Dell Computer use to become a low-price leader in the notoriously razor-thin margin world of personal computers?
Continuous technological change…Short product life cycles…Fast-moving, innovative start-up competitors…
High-technology companies face a number of unique challenges not encountered by companies in other industries. And yet someMicrosoft, IBM, Apple, and Intel, to name just a fewconsistently overcome the same obstacles faced by others, and continue to strengthen their competitive positions year after year. How do they do it?Product Strategy for High Technology Companies defines how high-tech companies have used product strategy and product platform strategy to achieve competitiveness, profitability, and continued expansion in the Internet age. Product strategists in high-tech companies will get the latest information on developing successful product policiesincluding technological change, product differentiation, timing and contingency planning, as well as marketing and financial considerations.
And far from offering a one-sided viewpoint of the marketplace, author Michael McGrath draws on his nearly quarter-century of experience to relate how product strategy works in the real world. McGrath discusses the strategies that allowed Amazon to create and launch numerous products in record timeand their plans for continuing this cycle of innovation and growth. He examines how companies such as Motorola were able to successfully leverage existing product lines, while others such as Wang quickly failed and disappeared.
Product Strategy for High Technology Companies is nothing less than a template for growth in the brutally competitive arena of high technology. Candid, comprehensive, and generous in its use of real-life examples to illustrate strategic realities, it shows todays emerging technology challengers how to build a solid strategic foundation, leverage the strengths of that foundation, then build from it to assume and maintain a position of leadershiptoday and well into the 21st century.
About the AuthorMichael McGrath is a cofounder and managing director of Pittiglio Rabin ToddandMcGrath (PRTM), a leader in helping technology-based companies develop agile, robust management processes and methodologies. In over two decades of management consulting, he has worked with more than 100 companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. McGrath initiated PACE“ (Product And Cycle-time Excellence), PRTMs product-development consulting practice, and has directed many of PRTMs projects in reducing time-to-market in a variety of high technology companies. He coauthored the books Product Development and Setting the PACE in Product Development, and has published numerous articles on international manufacturing, product development, and trends in the high-technology industry.
Synopsis
One of the key determinants of success for todays high-technology companies is product strategyand this guide continues to be the only book on product strategy written specifically for the 21st century high-tech industry. More than 250 examples from technological leaders including IBM, Compaq, and Appleplus a new focus on growth strategies and on Internet businessesdefine how high-tech companies can use product strategy and product platform strategy for competitiveness, profitability, and growth in the Internet age.
About the Author
Michael McGrath is a cofounder and managing director of Pittiglio Rabin Todd and McGrath (PRTM), a leader in helping technology-based companies develop agile, robust management processes and methodologies. In over two decades of management consulting, he has worked with more than 100 companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. McGrath initiated PACE“ (Product And Cycle-time Excellence), PRTMs product-development consulting practice, and has directed many of PRTMs projects in reducing time-to-market in a variety of high technology companies. He coauthored the books Product Development and Setting the PACE in Product Development, and has published numerous articles on international manufacturing, product development, and trends in the high-technology industry.
Table of Contents
Part I: Framework for Product Strategy. 1. Strategy Requires Vision. 2. Aligning Vision and Strategy. 3. Building the Foundation: Product Platform Strategy. 4. Defining the Offerings: Product Line Strategy. 5. Addressing Market Realities: the MPP Framework. 6. Successful Expansion Paths: The Leveraged Expansion Framework. Part II: Competitive Strategy. 7. Achieving Sustained Differentiation Using Vectors of Differentiation. 8. Product Pricing Strategy. 9. Taking Advantage of First-to-Market and Fast-Follower Strategies. 10. Thinking Globally About Product Strategy. 11. Understanding the Opportunities and Risks of Cannibalization. Part III: Growth Strategies. 12. Highways to Rapid Growth. 13. Growth Through Acquisitions. 14. Growth Through New Ventures. 15. Growth Through Innovation. Part IV: The Process of Product Strategy. 16. Strategic Balance and Portfolio Management. 17. Process Elements.