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The Impossible Advantage

The Impossible Advantage Winning the Competitive Game by Changing the Rules

Author: Wolfram Wördemann ; Andreas Buchholz ; Ned Wiley
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9780470717127
Published In: January 2009
Format: Hardback , 220 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Conventional business strategies tell you that differentiation, the right positioning, and defining your superior edge will turn you into the ‘best player’ in your market – but this is wrong. The Impossible Advantage reveals that success can be achieved by changing the market in which you operate, rather than trying to beat the competition. The authors illustrate that the biggest, most spectacular and groundbreaking business success stories feature companies that make the rules – instead of just following them. The best companies seem to know how to break, change, or reinvent the rules of the market that everyone else follows.

This book:

Will help you to break through to an entirely new level of thinking: winning the game by changing the rules in your own favour.
Explains that you don’t need a technological breakthrough, product innovation or a massive marketing budget to change the rules of the competition.
Shows you that you can become a ′game changer′ and gain a seemingly ‘impossible’ advantage even over far larger competitors, no matter how large your market or how small your segment is.
Introduces you to four compelling ‘Game Changing Strategies’ that work for managers from any industry or business sector.

About the Authors.

Foreword.

THE SURPRISING LIMITATION OF THE WORLD’S NUMBER ONE BUSINESS STRATEGY.

Why There Are Limits to the Power of Positioning.

The Rule Maker's 'Impossible' Advantage.

Game Changing Strategies Start Where Positioning Stops.

Six Prejudices to Ignore.

IT'S TIME TO THINK RADICALLY ABOUT GROWTH.

Someone Committed to Breaking All the Rules.

Games as a Strategic Model.

Four Classical Game Strategies.

Wanted: A 'Highly Infectious' Game Changing Idea.

Our Plea for Free, Open and Radical Thinking.

FIRST GAME STRATEGY: REDEFINING THE MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE.

Influence the Criteria of the 'Customer Jury'.

How to Make Stronger Opponents Play Your Game.

Attack on an 'Invincible' Market Leader.

Surprising Escape from a Price War.

How Global Power Players Rule the Game.

The Essentials in Overview.

SECOND GAME STRATEGY: RESHAPING THE MARKET LANDSCAPE.

How Market Structures 'Regulate' the Competitive Game.

Balancing Act Between Flop and Global Success.

Outfoxing a Negative Trend in the Market.

How to Conquer 'Impossible' Market Potential.

The Law of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

Change the World with a Radical Idea.

The Essentials in Overview.

THIRD GAME STRATEGY: RESTAGING THE COMPETITIVE CONFRONTATION.

What are 'Game Patterns' and How Can You Use Them?

'Staging' the Competitive Confrontation – Hollywood-Style.

Lessons Learned from Political Campaigns.

Breaking Free from a Negative Role Pattern.

Moving out of the Shadows into the Limelight.

Turning the Tide of an Almost-Lost Battle.

The Essentials in Overview.

FOURTH GAME STRATEGY: TAKING THE GAME TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

Taking the Game to the Next Level . . . What Does That Mean?

Old 'Top Dogs' Can Become Terribly Short Sighted . . . .

Why It Takes so Little to Control a Category's Evolution!

Courageously Slay the Sacred Cows!

Take the Lead When a Value Shift Hits the Market.

When the Market Needs a Complete Overhaul.

Radical Visions and Their Pitfalls.

The Essentials in Overview.

HOW YOUR BUSINESS CAN PROFIT FROM GAME STRATEGY.

1. Explore the 'Ideas that Rule the Market'.

2. Nothing Can Beat a 'Game Changing Idea'.

3. Game Changers Can Take a Certain Degree of Control in the Market – and over Their Competitors.

4. Game Strategy as a 'Behavior Changing' Instrument.

5. Finally . . . Game Strategy Is a Truly 'Democratic' Tool.

The Five Steps to Game Strategy.

It's Time to Explore Your Own Game Changing Opportunities.

AFTER THE GAME.

POSTSCRIPT: HOW GAME STRATEGY DIFFERS FROM GAME THEORY.

THANKS!

Index.

Andreas Buchholz, Wolfram Wördemann and Ned Wiley all began their professional careers at Procter & Gamble, where they occupied executive positions in marketing. Buchholz and Wördemann are management consultants for the development of 'topline' growth strategies, and have published numerous articles in the professional press, including the Harvard Business Manager. Wiley is the managing director of a new media operation of the Axel Springer group.