Break Through Growth Limits: How Top Companies Like Walmart and Toyota Navigate Business Complexity

Author: (USA) George / (USA) Wilson / Zheng Lei / Zhang Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: "The only difference in business success in the next decade will be whether you master complexity." — Michael George and Stephen Wilson
Many managers intuitively understand the immense benefits of mastering complexity, but only a few worldwide know how to precisely measure, manage complexity, and profit from it. Now, the world authority on complexity management, Michael George and Stephen Wilson, has released their groundbreaking book, Breaking Through the Growth Barrier, which changes everything by showing you how to eliminate bottlenecks that hinder company profits and growth. I am very interested in the concept of mastering complexity, and now I am applying it to my actual business operations! I have always considered complexity a major problem, but it has always been like the Gordian knot. I’m truly delighted to have mastered a new method to solve this! — Julianio, CEO of ITT Industries
Clearly, when dealing with the most challenging issues in a company, managing complexity is key. For a company like Xerox, which once actively cut costs, controlling the cost of complexity is the next important task. We must face the challenge of complexity costs. To seize this opportunity, we must take action immediately. — Anne Mosca, Chairman and CEO of Xerox
Clearly, complexity has become a major cause of waste. Although I intuitively sensed the severity of this problem long ago, the research by the two authors and the George Group is undoubtedly more significant. They have made it clear to more people how complexity in management arises and how to prevent and address it. — Chris Coulter, Vice President of Northrop Grumman
In your business operations, complexity can sometimes seem overwhelming, eroding your profits, hindering productivity, confusing customer choices, and increasing many unrecoverable costs, all of which put you at a disadvantage in the market. But this is only one side of the issue: sometimes, you may be at a disadvantage because there is too little complexity in products, services, and other choices offered to customers. Customers call this added value complexity "diversity," "choice," or "customization." In Breaking Through the Growth Barrier, you will discover how much complexity can impact the loss of profit and growth opportunities. In this groundbreaking book co-authored by Michael George and Stephen Wilson, you will learn tools to quantify the cost of complexity in business operations and how to develop strategic plans to achieve the optimal level of complexity in products, services, and business operations. Breaking Through the Growth Barrier is grounded in real-world business scenarios, offering practical advice and guidelines from both strategic and tactical perspectives. The book uses compelling and thought-provoking case studies of companies like Dell, Capital One, Southwest Airlines, Walmart, Toyota, Scania, Lockheed Martin, Adidas, and others to show readers how they have mastered complexity to become industry leaders: how to determine the level of complexity in products and processes from a strategic perspective; how to quantify the impact of complexity; how to identify which complexities can drive growth and should be maintained, while which complexities hinder growth and should be eliminated to reduce costs; how to select and implement specific operational methods to eliminate different types of complexity; how to maintain an optimal balance of complexity to maximize production and profits; and how not to let complexity become a bottleneck limiting profits and growth. Read the book and put it into practice to serve your customers more effectively, enhance competitiveness, and meet shareholder needs!