Value Drivers, Mass Market

Mark C. Scott value drivers How does my company actually work? How do I become a better manager? How can I fit these pieces together to get ahead? The Manager's Guide to Driving Corporate Value Creation These questions are answered in this book. Mark Scott has created an easy-to-understand visual framework and the practical tools that will enhance any manager's performance. He teaches you how to recognize what your own organization does well and what it does badly. The tools provided will help you make crucial improvements in your own area of responsibility within your organization. "In a decade where most management books wax lyrical on consulting fads for the boardroom, it focuses on the solid, unglamorous but essential ground of helping managers and employees diagnose performance and take action for themselves." Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer, WPP Group PLC "Effective strategy is something that is lived everyday by managers at the coal face through a continual process of analysis, learning, refinement and application. This book is a useful primer for time-pressed managers who want to know how to add value to their companies' strategies." Professor John Quelch, Dean, London Business School "Our business is founded on smart, independent thinking professionals helping clients solve complex problems. Any book that can give people better tools to understand these problems is useful. Unlike many I read, this is a useful book." Terence M. Graunke, Chairman, Lighthouse Holdings IncDer Erfolg jedes Unternehmens steht und fällt mit der Leistung seiner Manager. "Value Drivers" ist ein leicht verständlicher, praktischer Leitfaden, der Ihnen hilft, Geschäftsbeziehungen innerhalb Ihres Unternehmens besser zu verstehen, Ihre Führungsaufgaben noch effektiver zu bewältigen und Ihren Kollegen stets eine Nasenlänge voraus zu sein. Mark Scott zeigt Ihnen, wie Sie erkennen können, wo die Stärken und wo die Schwächen Ihres Unternehmens liegen und liefert gleichzeitig praxiserprobte Managementtechniken zur Leistungssteigerung durch wesentliche Verbesserungen in Ihrem eigenen Aufgabenbereich. Sie sind ein Manager mit Ehrgeiz- dann ist dieses Buch ein absolutes Muß. (11/99)

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

Mark C. Scott is Executive Vice President of Lake Capital Management, a principal investment group specialising in investing in professional service firms. He formerly held the same position at Lighthouse Global Network, a global marketing services group. He was previously an Operations Director at WPP Group plc and prior to this has worked for a number of years as a management consultant in Europe and the USA. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and was educated at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He is the author of Value Drivers and Reinspiring the Corporation.

Mark C. Scott value drivers How does my company actually work? How do I become a better manager? How can I fit these pieces together to get ahead? The Manager's Guide to Driving Corporate Value Creation These questions are answered in this book. Mark Scott has created an easy-to-understand visual framework and the practical tools that will enhance any manager's performance. He teaches you how to recognize what your own organization does well and what it does badly. The tools provided will help you make crucial improvements in your own area of responsibility within your organization.

"In a decade where most management books wax lyrical on consulting fads for the boardroom, it focuses on the solid, unglamorous but essential ground of helping managers and employees diagnose performance and take action for themselves."
—Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer, WPP Group PLC

"Effective strategy is something that is lived everyday by managers at the coal face through a continual process of analysis, learning, refinement and application. This book is a useful primer for time-pressed managers who want to know how to add value to their companies' strategies."
—Professor John Quelch, Dean, London Business School

"Our business is founded on smart, independent thinking professionals helping clients solve complex problems. Any book that can give people better tools to understand these problems is useful. Unlike many I read, this is a useful book."
—Terence M. Graunke, Chairman, Lighthouse Holdings Inc