Agile and lean offer huge potential as methods for reducing risk and costs, delivering early benefits and ensuring IT projects genuinely deliver the business transformation benefits that they promise at the outset. This book provides guidance in establishing a successful environment to enable fast moving agile and lean project methods.
Strong customer-focused companies have a clear, relevant promise which they obsessively deliver day-in, day-out. At the same time, they relentlessly drive the market by evolving the offer in the face of market developments and opportunities. Because they meet customer needs better than the competition, again and again, they are able to generate sustainable, profitable, market-leading organic growth. The problem the book addresses is how to achieve this. The authors identify five key steps using their framework for success: Offer a clear, relevant "customer promise"Build "customer trust" by reliably delivering that promise"Continuously improve" the promise, while still reliably delivering itDrive the market by "innovating" beyond the familiarSupport all this with an "open organization" that promotes frank discussion based on clear facts and market feedback.Above all the book runs counter to the fashionable claim that the starting-point for business success should be to find a 'blue-sky', 'out-of-the-box' breakthrough innovation. Barwise and Meehan use many compelling cases to illustrate how managers can find ways within their existing network and organization to achieve long term growth.
There's a war on against the BBC. It is under threat as never before. And if we lose it, we won't get it back. The BBC is our most important cultural institution, our best-value entertainment provider, and the global face of Britain. It's our most trusted news source in a world of divisive disinformation. But it is facing relentless attacks by powerful commercial and political enemies, including deep funding cuts - much deeper than most people realise - with imminent further cuts threatened. This book busts the myths about the BBC and shows us how we can save it, before it's too late.
In this radically conservative book, the authors advocate a back-to-basics approach to marketing that replaces the relentless quest for differentiation with a relentless focus on these types of basic customer needs The authors’ research shows that most companies have been ignoring the basics for too long. At the heart of the authors’ approach is a view of why customers buy what they do. Barwise and Meehan argue that marketers must understand what customers want from the entire product or service category. So rather than focus on new luxury attributes for a specific car —marketers need to understand what basic needs customers have for automobiles in general (ie: safety, handling, etc). Once they figure that out—they need to deliver on those basic needs better than everyone else.
Although the balance sheet may not even put a value on it, a company's brand or its portfolio of brands is in many cases its most valuable asset, accounting for as much as 70% of a firm's market value in some cases. This book argues that because of this and because of the power of not-for-profit brands like Oxfam, all organisations should make the brand their central organising principle, guiding every action and decision.Divided into three parts and written by eighteen experts on the subject, this fully revised and updated guide to brands and branding examines the case for brands, outlines best practice and the future for brands. It includes chapters on brand valuation, what makes a brand great, brand strategy, brand experience, visual and verbal identity, brand communications, brand protection and new chapters on branding in India and brands in a digital world.
"[The authors] conducted the largest ever global study of marketing leadership, analyzing detailed original data on over 1,200 marketing leaders and more than 67,000 existing 360-degree assessments of both marketing and non-marketing business leaders. The research revealed 12 essential traits that can make or break marketers' business impact and career success ... It tells you how to: mobilize your boss: make an impact at the highest level and align marketing with the company's priorities; mobilize your colleagues: inspire and support your non-marketing colleagues to meet customers' needs better than the competition; mobilize your team: build and hone a winning marketing team. Become a leader of leaders; mobilize yourself: focus on goals that will benefit your customers, company, and long-term career. In The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader, you will read firsthand accounts of marketing successes from around the world--and gain psychological insights that will surprise you into the leaders who drove the key decisions. You will learn how to persuade your colleagues, motivate your team, and strengthen your leadership skills"--Publisher's website