The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy Classic Concepts and New Perspectives

A collection of the best thinking from one of the mostinnovative management consulting firms in the world For more than forty years, The Boston Consulting Group has beenshaping strategic thinking in business. The Boston ConsultingGroup on Strategy offers a broad and up-to-date selection ofthe firm's best ideas on strategy with fresh ideas, insights, andpractical lessons for managers, executives, and entrepreneurs inevery industry. Here's a sampling of the provocative thinkingyou'll find inside: "You have to be the scientist of your own life and be astonishedfour times:at what is, what always has been, what once was, andwhat could be." "The majority of products in most companies are cash traps . . ..[They] are not only worthless, but a perpetual drain on corporateresources." "Use more debt than your competition or get out of thebusiness." "When information flows freely, reputation, more thanreciprocity,becomes the basis for trust." "As a strategic weapon, time is the equivalent of money,productivity,quality, even innovation." "When brands become business systems, brand management becomesfar too important to leave to the marketing department." "The winning organization of the future will look more like acollection ofjazz ensembles than a symphony orchestra." "Most of our organizations today derive from a model whoseoriginal purpose was to control creativity." "Rather than being an obstacle, uncertainty is the very engineof transformation in a business, a continuous source of newopportunities." "IP assets lack clear property lines. Every bit of intellectualproperty you can own comes with connections to other valuableinnovations."