Marketing guru Al Ries, coauthor of the acclaimed bestsellers "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" and "Marketing Warfare", uses real company profiles to prove that in today's rapidly evolving business environment, the most successful companies are those that remain focused on their core business.

Reviews

While he doesn't go so far as to say that small is beautiful, Ries (Positioning) levels a commonsense critique at the compulsion for growth that drives corporate America. Growth for its own sake, particularly when it involves diversification into products unrelated to a company's original business, Ries says, causes many companies to become unfocused, confuses customers and loses money. The frenzy for acquisitions that spread many a well-known brand name over a diversity of products has proved untenable, with the result that companies that grew fat are regaining their original focus by slimming down. Sears, Roebuck, a once focused retailer that expanded unwisely into real estate, stock brokering, business system centers and credit cards, is having to divest itself of all but its original retail chain. Managers seeking to focus or refocus their companies will find helpful examples here, drawn from a broad range of enterprises. $50,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Apr.)

Ries, whose previous books were authored with Jack Trout, writes his latest with research assistance from his daughter. Together they go after the management of some of the world's most easily recognized firms, including PepsiCo and IBM. The authors use companies' experience as evidence that "focus" on the core businesses or products is the key to success in today's business environment, arguing that companies that remain focused, e.g., Volvo or McDonald's, have a substantially better track record than those that have strayed from their "core" businesses. This thesis, which is illustrated liberally with examples from the business world, is thoroughly developed. The reader may not always agree with the authors' statements, but they are well made and worth considering. For all management collections and for libraries that support all types of business, large or small.-Littleton M. Maxwell, Business Information Ctr., Univ. of Richmond, Va.

"A very important book, well documented, well argued, but destined to be controversial. Next time your company is tempted to broaden or diversify, I guarantee that you will think twice."-- Philip Kotler, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management