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Intense, high-velocity change is relentlessly
reshaping the face of business in fledgling high-tech ventures
and Fortune 500 giants, from Santiago to Stockholm, in steel
and silicon alike. Everywhere, and in every industry, markets
are emerging, closing, shrinking, splitting, colliding,
and growing -- and traditional approaches to business strategy
are no longer adequate. In their revolutionary new book,
Brown and Eisenhardt contend that to thrive in these volatile
conditions, standard survival strategies must be tossed
aside in favor of an entirely new paradigm: competing
on the edge.
Competing on the edge is an unpredictable,
uncontrollable, often even inefficient strategy, yet a singularly
effective one in an era driven by change. By linking the
practical concerns of business managers to some of the most
exciting ideas from science concerning complexity and evolution,
the authors have created a bold new strategy that harnesses
the dynamic nature of change to create a continuous flow
of competitive advantages. To compete on the edge is to
chart a course along the edge of chaos, where a delicate
compromise is struck between anarchy and order. It requires
maneuvering on the edge of time, where current business
is the primary focus, and actions are shaped by past legacies
and future opportunities. By adroitly competing on
these edges, managers can avoid reacting to change, and
instead set their own rhythmic pace for change that others
must follow, thereby shaping the competitive landscape --
and their own destiny.
Drawing from their own in-depth research
with twelve global businesses and interviews with more than
one hundred managers, the authors use real-world examples
to showcase competing-on-the-edge strategies in action.
These lessons are linked to fundamental scientific principles
from complexity theory, the nature of speed, and time-paced
evolution. In one of the first books to translate leading-edge
complexity concepts from science into management practice,
the authors explain how these ideas play out in real firms,
and the surprisingly practical value they hold for the business
arena. Business and science converge in Competing on
the Edge, and the result is a groundbreaking book that
will take managers to sophisticated new levels in their
understanding and practice of strategy.
At its heart, competing on the edge meets
the strategic challenge of change by constantly reshaping
a firm's competitive advantage, even as the marketplace
unpredictably and rapidly shifts. The best firms, argue
Brown and Eisenhardt, employ a competing-on-the-edge strategy
to change routinely, relentlessly, and rhythmically over
time. Written for managers (or would-be managers) who understand
that their primary challenge is not to survive change but
to embrace it, the lessons and insight in Competing on
the Edge offer an unprecedented opportunity to seize
the change initiative, set the pace of competition, and
ultimately dominate an industry. Inspired by the theories
of science yet grounded in the practical realities of business,
the detailed examples, rigorous research, and serious thinking
that inform every aspect of this thought-provoking new book
coalesce into a surprising strategy that works -- when the
name of the game is change.
Shona L. Brown is a consultant with McKinsey
& Company. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt is a professor at
Stanford University.
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