The first sentence of chapter 1 gets attention: “Why is it that Casio can sell a calculator more cheaply than Kellogg’s can sell a box of cornflakes? Does corn cost that much more than silicon?” Page 3 then goes on to ask other provocative questions.

The thesis of the book is that: Market leaders succeed by concentrating in one of 3 areas.
- Operational excellence – lowest cost
- Product leadership – innovative products
- Customer focus – total solution

It includes comments from several people in each of several companies about their strategy. I skimmed over these interview snippets even though they indicated the depth of work the authors went to in order to learn about the featured companies.

As with so many business books, companies that are held up as an example subsequently falter: “Over and over, companies slump within a few years of a rave review. It’s happened to IBM, Westinghouse, American Express, and Kodak. The kiss of the media turns into a curse.” (Page 191)

The authors propose that in deciding what their focus should be, executives make “three rounds of disciplined assessment and deliberation.” (Chapter 10) Good advice if you are part of the Corporate-suite. ( )