Reviews
First articles were better than the second half but it was nice to see different perspectives on change management.
As the sub headline says, this is the book to read "if you read nothing else on strategy". Not meant for (experienced) strategists as this book presents a rather succinct version of famous/more popular strategic concepts (e.g. Michael Porter's 5 forces). I feel this is good as an introduction to strategy and could possibly help employees in MNCs to see the point of the various administrative tasks they have to carry out (e.g. meet criteria/KPIs of the balance scorecard)
Highlights
Connsider this simple exercise. The probability that competitors can match any activity is often less than one. The probabilities then quickly compound to make matching the entire system highlv unlikely (.9 x .9 =.81; .9 X .9x.9 x.9 =.66, and so on). Existing com. panies that try to reposition or straddle will be forced to reconfigure many activities. And even new entrants, though they do not con- front the trade-offs facing established rivals, still face formidable barriers to imitation.
For those who argue that competitors can copy any market position, the airline industry is a perfect test case. It would seem that nearly any competitor could imitate any other airline's activi- ties. Any airline can buy the same planes, lease the gates, and match the menus and ticketing and baggage handling services offered by other airlines.