The book focuses on execution of new business models with disruptive elements and/or unprecedented strategic perspective. This is elucidated by including the newest literature on strategy and visualized in the case descriptions and analyses throughout most of the chapters in the book.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Foreword * Are We Able to Produce Gold? * Chapter 1 - The X-factor Universe is Overlooked in Strategy! * Hatched in a Swan's Egg? * Can Entrepreneurs Have Their Cake and Eat it Too? * Building Unprecedented Bridges, Breaking Conventions? * Optimizing the Exploitation of Trigger Events * The X-factor Narrowed Down * Chapter 2 - The Recipe Game * Excellence is in the Eye of the Beholder * Built to Last But Not Necessarily to Stay Ahead * One Plus One Equals None * From Good To Great To Evergreen * Does It Work? * The Mix of Excellence, How To Last, Great Leaps and Things That Work * Troubled Waters * Chapter 3 - The Strategy Landscape * Strategic Management in Brief * The Dawn of Strategic Management * Various Modes of Strategy Thinking * Competence and Critical Management * Strategy As An Ocean * Value Creation Versus Disruption * The Ongoing Development of the Tool Box of Strategy * Strategy as a Position -- A Porter Toolbox * Strategy the Sum of Your Resources -- Another Traditional Toolbox * Blue Oceans as a Toolbox Without Competition * Value Destruction Through Discount Tools * Mapping the Four Different Perspectives * Chapter 4 - The Strategy System or How To Combine Perspectives * The Institutional Zone -- Neglected or Often Forgotten! * The Market Zone -- The Traditional Zone At Work * The Internal Zone -- Avoiding Internal Cannibalizing * The X-factor Universe Versus the Recipe Universe * The X-factor Universe as a Destination * Chapter 5 - What Triggers Strategy? * Approaching the X-factor Universe With Value Creation or Value Destruction * Discovering Your Strategy * The Crisis That Lead To Supremacy * Failure(s) - A Vehicle For Success? * Stumbling Upon the Goldmine * Planned Attacks That Conquered * Four Triggers of Strategic Behaviour * Bridge Building Across Perspectives * Laying Down the Strategy to Approach the X-factor Universe * Chapter 6 -- Exploiting Customer Attitudes * What is a Customer? * Customers Viewed Through Different Lenses * Customers As Viral Ambassadors * Customers Are No Longer Just Consumers! * The Break-up of Conventional Relationships * The Customer and the Brand * The Customer as the Social Capital Base of the Company * Brandr and Brand * Customer Centric Marketing * Attitudes as Part of the X-factor Universe * Chapter 7 -- Revising the Product Portfolio * The Rise (and Fall?) of the Product Portfolio Perspective * Competition in Various Zones * What Should Be the Product Scope? * The Core Product Needs Stickiness * When Products Create Their Own Eco-system * From Products to Business Modelling * Demand Driven Products * The Relevance of the Product Life-cycle Thinking * Why Do Good Companies Go Bad? * The Complexity of 'Simple' Products! * The Financial Circuit -- The Overlooked Strategy Aspect * Facilitating a Success Free of Charge * The Price Killer Model * The Search That Just Keeps On Growing * From a Paper Copy to a Worldwide Network * Cost Innovations * The Chinese Challenger * Innovating Consumer Electronics * Cash Kings * Reversing Cash Flows * Cash Collecting Financial Health * Financial Partnering * Distribution as a Financial Partner * Co-operating With Competitors * The Financial Circuit and its Unique Influence * The Financials as a Vehicle to a Higher Return on Strategy * Chapter 9 -- Optimizing the Organizational Design * The Collectivistic Wolf Culture * The Liberalistic High Performance Culture * The Organizational Design -- The Engine or the Pulse of a Company * Structure as the Backbone of a Corporation * Franchise Structure Central to a Healthy Strategy * Structured to Exploit Channel Conflict * The Search For Valuable Values * Externally Focused Values * Internally Focused Values * Culture as the Binding Glue * Customer Service Culture * The Go-go Culture * People - The Real Gasoline * The People Design * The Organizational Design and Its Impact * Chapter 10 -- Spinning the Technological Chain * Technology in a Broad Sense * A Full Chain of Technology * Technological Exuberance -- Pouring Resources Into the Deep Water * The Choice and Utilization of Technology * The Technological Dilemma * The Denominators in the Technological Chain * The Technological Chain and Its Influence On Strategy * Chapter 11 -- Driving the Leadership Genes * Leadership -- A Driver or an Obstacle? * The Chicken and the Egg of Leadership and Strategy * Governance of Leadership * Leadership Throughout the Organization * The Talent Factories * Practicing Leadership * Strategic Leadership * Driving the Business * Aligning to External Stakeholders * Leadership Performance and Execution * The Essence of Making Sense * Commitment as a Driver * Focus on Execution * Where Does Leadership Take Us? * Chapter 12 -- Inroads to the Achievement of a Higher Return on Strategy * The Recipe Universe Revisited * What is Success? * Beginning to Unfold the X-factor Universe * All the Key Success Drivers as Part of the Strategic Engine * Trigger Events -- The Opportunity * The Strategic Engine: The Key Success Drivers at Work * Return to Strategy * Appendix I -- Zero SAC * Appendix II -- Foremost Case Companies * Bibliography * End notes *

Author Biography

Copenhagen School of Business, Denmark