Table of Contents
About the Author vii
Introduction 1
1. Why are Firms in Business in the First Place? 5
Mission and corporate strategy
2. Segmentation 11
Customer-based segmentation
Skills-based segmentation
3. Ranking SBUs 22
4. Corporate Strategy Revisited 30
Portfolio strategy
Vertical integration
Horizontal integration
Financial holding strategy
5. How Well is the Firm Doing? 44
Return on equity
Cash flow
Productivity
6. Understanding the Market Context 54
Competition: differentiation versus low costs
The market model
7. Core Competencies 85
Value chain strategy
Operations strategy
Marketing, sales and service strategy
Innovation strategy
Financial strategy
Human resource strategy
Information technology strategy
Lobbying position with government
8. Core Competencies Revisited 217
9. Back to Corporate Strategy 224
Corporate structures
Role of management
10. Back to the Bottom Line 233
Calculating future cash flows
Valuing cash flows
11. Conclusion 242
Appendix 1: Benchmarking 244
Appendix 2: Where Do You Get the Data? 247
Select Bibliography 250
Index 255