Synopses & Reviews
Praise for WHERE VALUE HIDES
"The key idea here is that within any industry there are market segments where leadership drives significant profits and value. Jackson explains how to find these sweet spots. CEOs, strategic planners, and marketers will find the book invaluable."
John Schweig, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Development, W.W. Grainger
"Provides a powerful (and often counterintuitive) framework for acquisitions, new product launches, and major marketing initiatives."
Jim Lawrence, Vice Chairman, General Mills
"Anyone wanting to understand what really drives corporate value should read this book. Jackson has made it clear for all of us."
C. John Wilder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, TXU
"Building a strategic market position does not happen by chance. Where Value Hides clearly explains how to manage (and invest in) a business strategically. The tools and approach have been successfully applied at AMETEK, and I am applying them at Wabtec."
Al Neupaver, CEO, Wabtec
"CEOs will find here a creative new paradigm for growth that doesn't sacrifice profits. Strategy and marketing VPs will find practical tools for putting the ideas to work."
Mike Mussallem, CEO, Edwards Lifesciences
"This is an invaluable and insightful book. It gave me a much-improved framework for growth strategy and I'm putting it to good use!"
Kevin Mayer, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Technology Group, The Walt Disney Company
"Growing your business without diluting your brand positioning is a critical challenge for executives. Where Value Hides provides a rigorous approach for developing new profit streams across channels and countries."
Ben Gordon, CEO, Mothercare
"The illustrations around how companies have used, or failed to use, an understanding of Strategic Market Position to drive growth and profitability are excellent. They provide a great framework for thinking about strategic issues."
Simon Duffy, Executive Vice Chairman, ntl
"Where Value Hides is an excellent strategic framework for those executives and managers interested in why strategies succeed or fail. It is a highly readable book filled with very relevant and helpful mini-case studies."
Michele Hooper, Managing Partner, The Directors' Council
Review
What I like about Mr Jackson's SMP analysis is that it promises to liberate managers from the inherited and still often unchallenged idea that "bigger is always better" as far as market share is concerned. This thinking goes back at least four decades - when ICI ruled the world and when Bruce Henderson's Boston Consulting Group introduced its "experience curve" to a world of grateful clients. (
Financial Times, Tuesday, December 12, 2006
)When a business does not perform as well as hoped, how do you decide whether it's an operational problem or a more fundamental problem with how your company is positioned against competitors? When you are required to look for new sources of growth each year, how do know which opportunities truly build on your existing competitive strengths versus taking you into new business areas where your existing capabilities no longer apply?
Mr. Jackson offers a new approach, strategic market positioning, to answering these tough strategic questions.(Journal of Business Strategy, January issue)
Jackson shows how you can draw on SMP [Strategic Market Position] to create clarity around essential business decisions with confidence. . . His writing style is readable, yet weighty and gives valuable insights into improving strategy and creating frameworks for growth. If you want to understand what really drives corporate value you could do worse than read this. (European CEO, Wednesday, January 31, 2007)
Synopsis
Where Value Hides introduces the Strategic Market Positioning theory, which accurately reveals a company’s true health based on factors like market share. SMP helps your business define its markets, measure the real value of those markets, and correct bad assumptions. This book uses real-life examples to explain how to use SMP to directly and positively impact corporate health and profits.
Synopsis
Where Value Hides presents the discipline of Strategic Segmentation – a powerful, profit-centered business model used to direct some of the largest global companies towards profitable growth. It’ s a discipline that ties together principles of customer preference, producer economics, and corporate finance to build a “ game board” for a company’ s industry sector. Strategic Segmentation shows where and how increased scale and market share can build competitive strength, and thereby enhance shareholder returns.
Synopsis
Why do some companies succeed while others fail? How come some seemingly far-fetched business ideas outperform ideas that look like sure things? Is there a trend or pattern that can determine the fate of a business? Stuart Jackson answers all of these questions in Where Value Hides, and reveals what makes some companies soar while others suffocate.
Where Value Hides introduces Jackson's "Strategic Market Positioning" (SMP) theory, which combines principles of customer preference, producer economics, and corporate finance to reveal an accurate picture of a company's health. SMP helps businesses define their markets, measure the real value of those markets, and correct the bad assumptions that lead to misguided growth strategies. Where Value Hides shows business leaders how to devise their company's SMP and explains how market share directly impacts corporate profitability.
Once you understand the fundamentals of SMP, you can apply it to any business venture for profitable growth. Jackson explains the best way to collect data and insight to map out a company's SMP. Moreover, he shows how to use SMP to stimulate a business with stagnant growth or tap into hidden yet profitable markets.
Using real-life examples, Jackson shows how SMP makes business success predictable and transparent. With SMP you'll be able to run a smart business with confidence, based on real and accurate calculations of your market position and its value. Whether you work for a small business, a mid-sized company, or a large corporation, Where Value Hides will give you a clear strategy for profitable growth and give you the tools you need to lead your company to success.
About the Author
STUART E. JACKSON is a senior partner withL.E.K. Consulting, a global management con-sulting company, and is the supervisor of their Chicago office. Recently, he opened the firm's first office in Japan. His clients have included Baxter, General Mills, GE, Yoplait, Shell, OfficeMax, MCA, and many other Fortune 500 companies.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.
Introduction: Where Value Hides and Why it Matters.
I: WHY PROFITABLE GROWTH IS SO HARD TO FIND.
1. Where You Should Compete.
2. Bigger May be Worse.
3. Uncovering Where Value Hides.
II:HOW TO USE STRATEGIC MARKET POSITION TO CHART YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY.
4. Capturing Value.
5. Doing Detective Work.
6. Applying SMP to Sales and Marketing.
III: KEY APPLICATIONS OF STRATEGIC MARKET POSITION.
7. Using SMP to Find New Markets.
8. SMP Strategies for Low-Growth or Low-Margin Businesses.
9. When Do Acquisitions Make Sense?
Appendix: Guide to Information Sources for Competitive and Market Intelligence.
Notes.
Index.