Enduring Success: What Top Companies Do Differently

207 Pages·2007·0.822 MB·English

by  Franz Bailom, Kurt Matzler, Dieter Tschemernjak (auth.)

Enduring Success
What Top Companies Do Differently
Franz Bailom, Kurt Matzler
and Dieter Tschemernjak
ENDURING SUCCESS
This page intentionally left blank
Enduring Success
What Top Companies Do Differently
Franz Bailom, Kurt Matzler
and
Dieter Tschemernjak
Translated by
Matthew Stevenson and Annette Joyce,
Language by Design
©FranzBailom,KurtMatzlerandDieterTschemernjak2007
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
Noparagraphofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted
savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence
permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency,
90TottenhamCourtRoad,LondonW1T4LP.
Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication
maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages.
Theauthorshaveassertedtheirrightstobeidentified
astheauthorsofthisworkinaccordancewiththeCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
FirstpublishedinAustriain2006byLindeasWasTop-Unternehmen
andersmachen
FirstpublishedinEnglish2007by
PALGRAVEMACMILLAN
Houndmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XSand
175FifthAvenue,NewYork,N.Y.10010
Companiesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld
PALGRAVEMACMILLANistheglobalacademicimprintofthePalgrave
MacmillandivisionofSt.Martin’sPress,LLCandofPalgraveMacmillanLtd.
Macmillan(cid:2)isaregisteredtrademarkintheUnitedStates,UnitedKingdom
andothercountries.PalgraveisaregisteredtrademarkintheEuropean
Unionandothercountries.
ISBN 978-1-349-36192-2 ISBN 978-0-230-28704-4 (eBook)
DOI10.1057/9780230287044
Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully
managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing
processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe
countryoforigin.
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
For our “master teacher,” Professor Hans H Hinterhuber, who always taught
us to separate what is important from what is unimportant, to see
the larger picture, rather than small details, to find enthusiasm
for new ideas and to develop a feeling for vision and strategy.
We dedicate this book to him.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Foreword ix
1 In search of the secrets of success 1
2 The customer-value competition is pushing many companies
to the limit of their possibilities 7
Changing market dynamics – the profitability of many companies
is increasingly at risk 8
Success of the optimizers in the customer-value competition 11
The innovators’ success in the customer-value competition 13
Summary conclusions to phase 1 14
3 The IMP Model: The strategies of winners 23
The IMP Model 25
The result: Explaining 50 percent of corporate success is a lot,
but at the same time not much 26
Core findings 27
4 What makes top performers different 35
Top performers never settle for today’s success 36
The most senior executives are themselves the innovation drivers
in the company 38
Top performers succeed in combining forward-looking market
knowledge with sustained competence management 42
Top performers show an impressive understanding of innovation 44
Top performers rely more on uniqueness than on market share 47
Top performers put strong emphasis on culture development 50
5 Market orientation: Understanding markets, shaping the
future 55
Sourcing market knowledge: The new sources of innovation 55
From simple to complex markets: Understanding the rules of the
game 63
The new role of market research 71
vii
viii Contents
6 The sails determine the course, not the wind 77
The market-based view versus the resource-based view 77
The sources of core competences 83
Managing core competences 91
7 Corporate culture: The latent potential 99
Values and identity as a basis for commitment 102
The entrepreneurship culture 105
8 Innovation: Improving existing things, creating new things 113
Delighting customers with something new 114
Cost competition: Redesigning processes 120
Gearing processes toward the customer 125
Developing new business models 129
9 Top management: The architects of success 133
Leadership, innovation, and change 134
The ability to be lucky 139
10 What do top companies do differently 145
11 The insights of great leaders 151
PeterBrabeck-Letmathe,ChairmanandCEO,NestléSA,Vevey,
Switzerland 151
Markus Langes-Swarovski, member of the executive board,
Swarovski 156
Prof. Dr Michael Popp and Dr Uwe Baumann, Bionorica AG 160
Stefan Pierer, CEO, KTM sportmotorcycle AG 165
René Obermann, CEO, Deutsche Telekom 170
Prof. Dr Michael Mirow, Former Head of Strategic Planning,
Siemens AG 175
Peter Lorange, President of IMD Business School, Lausanne 177
Hans-Joachim Reck, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles, Germany 181
Notes 185
Bibliography 193
Index 203
Foreword
This book is written for people who want to make a difference. People who
wanttomakeadifferenceneed“theserenitytoacceptthethingstheycannot
change, the courage to change the things they can, and the wisdom to know
the difference” (Friedrich Christoph Oetinger).
Thisbookisintendedtoprovidefoodforthoughtandgiveyoutheimpetus
to bring about those changes that are necessary to maintain or increase the
competitiveness of the companies you run or the companies in which you
work. It should help increase your awareness of what is essential and direct
yourattentiontowardsthoseleversthathaveadecisiveinfluenceonthesuccess
of the company. “What Top Companies do Differently” is the result of a
4-yearresearchproject.Itisasynthesisofourscientificstudies,ourexperience
in practice, and of numerous conversations with successful entrepreneurs and
senior executives. Our objective was to find out the secret of top companies’
success.Withthehelpofnumerousindividualsandinstitutions,wewereable
to move a little further towards that goal.
We would like to thank the 1100 senior executives and companies who
participatedinourstudiesandmadetheirvaluabletimeandknowledgeavail-
able to us for our analysis work. Particular thanks are due to Peter Brabeck-
Letmathe,Nestlé;MarkusLanges-Swarovski,Swarovski;PeterLorange,IMD;
Michael Mirow, Technische Universität Berlin; René Obermann, Deutsche
Telekom; Stefan Pierer, KTM; Michael Popp and Uwe Baumann, Bionorica;
andHans-JoachimReck,Heidrick&Struggles,who,inthecourseofintensive
discussions, provided critical reflection on our research findings. They gave
us an insight into their views on leadership and strategy, and their ways of
thinking.
Thisresearchprojectwasonlypossiblethankstothecommitmentofourenthu-
siasticcolleaguesatIMP.Inparticular,ourthanksareduetoAlexanderKausl
andAndreasStaudacherfortheirconsiderablesupportinplanningandcarrying
out the empirical studies: their contributions formed the central pillar of the
entireresearchproject.WealsothankJohannWiespointner,MarkusAnschober,
Josef Storf, and Werner Müller, who engaged us in thought-provoking
discussionandwhosevaluablecommentsgaveusmuchtothinkabout.
OurthanksgotoArturBobovnicky,WolfgangBraitsch,ElisabethKlapsch,
andMonikaMillerfortheirsupportduringtheentireresearchproject.Thanks
ix