Summary: What Really Works

Review and Analysis of Joyce, Nohria and Roberson's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9782511020456
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

The must-read summary of William Joyce, Nitrin Nohria and Bruce Roberson's book: `What Really Works: The 4+2 Formula for Sustained Business Success`.

This complete summary of the ideas from William Joyce, Nitrin Nohria and Bruce Roberson's book `What Really Works` asks a fundamental question: `What is the secret to sustained business success?` In their book, the authors reveal the research they carried out in order to answer this question, which they summarise in one simple result: all successful companies master six specific management practices. This summary explains each of these practices and how you can implement them to boost the success of your business.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read `What Really Works` and discover the key strategies for future success.

Summary of What Really Works (William Joyce, Nitin Nohria & Bruce Roberson)

1. The four primary management practices

1. Strategy

Devise and articulate a strategy which is clear and narrowly focused

Winning companies and organizations:

1. Stay tightly focused on their chosen business strategy – whether that strategy is low prices, innovative products, best service or another option.
2. Find ways to continue to grow their core business over time – typically doubling the size of their core business every five years through organic expansion, mergers and acquisitions or a combination of both.

To develop a clear and focused business strategy which can be readily and logically explained to others, you need to do five basic things:

1. Build your strategy around a clear value proposition for the customer.
   A good value proposition specifies not what you want to be but what you are. It serves as the interface between your organization and your customer. Winning companies have a realistic perspective of their own capabilities and their target customer needs. Sometimes value propositions emerge from an intensive analysis while at other times they come about as the intuitive insight of a single individual.
   For example, Target’s value proposition is: “The physical comforts of a department store but with bargain prices.” That’s clear and concise. It expresses the company’s goal to offer a shopping experience that makes customers feel good about themselves.
2. Develop your strategy from the outside in – that is, based upon what your customers, your partners and your investors have to say.
   If you rely solely on your own “instincts” and “feel” for the marketplace, you might inadvertently head off in the wrong direction. Or you may feel all that’s needed is a little time for the market to warm to your idea. That’s dangerous, because it ignores the realities and disciplines of the marketplace. High performers avoid this trap by always developing their strategies from the outside-in rather than the inside-out. By using feedback from others, your business strategy can be much more robust and applicable. Your best strategy will always be based around the desires of your customers, not your own convenience or advantage.
3. Put in place antennae that will allow you to fine-tune your strategy so you can respond to changes in the marketplace.
   A good strategy is never set in stone. Instead, it needs to evolve as new developments come along. This is only feasible if you can learn about marketplace trends early enough to react. Therefore, you need to have multiple antennae in place with your customers and your competitors. It’s also a good idea to keep abreast with what’s happening with customers and potential competitors in adjacent businesses. If you track of what’s happening on the margins, you’ll know when they are starting to make inroads. That way you can respond before they succeed in attacking your mainstream product line.
4. Clearly communicate your strategy – to your customers, to your stakeholders and internally.
   A good strategy in and of itself is of little use unless it is known. Therefore, you have to become highly adept at communicating your business strategy. Explain it in detail to your managers and the employees who will be bringing that strategy to life. Let your customers know precisely what you’re attempting to do for them. Talk with your stakeholders, and invite them to become partners in the chain of value creation. The more you convey your strategy, the better.
5. Keep growing your core business and avoid unfamiliar business opportunities.
   Every company leader loves the idea of growth as a sign of progress. Unfortunately, that generally means seizing every commercial opportunity that comes along, even if it’s in a line of business you have no experience in. A much better approach is to stay focused and grow your existing business rather than go into a new field altogether.
   The best performing companies don’t plunge into unrelated businesses. Instead, they:
   • Attempt to grow their core business by 15-percent each year – which means they will double their turnover every five years or so.
   • Attempt to develop a new ancillary business equal in size to their current company – by moving into something which is closely related, such as a new customer segment, channel of distribution, geographical market or product market.
   • Start building their next growth business before the growth potential of their current business is completely exhausted – so they can dynamically evolve into a strong competitive position in the future.

“One thing most managers can agree upon, at least in principle, is that growth of the core business should be the major strategic focus. But in the heat of the moment, with demands for greater support arriving hourly from all segments of the organization, too many leaders allow their resources to be used for lesser pur...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of What Really Works (William Joyce, Nitin Nohria & Bruce Roberson)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright