Richard N. Foster Book order (chronological)

A Senior Partner and an Innovation Specialist from McKinsey & Company challenge the belief that enduring, high-performing companies can consistently excel. They argue that to remain competitive, these corporations must embrace dynamic strategies of discontinuity and creative destruction. Drawing on extensive research of over a thousand companies across various industries over thirty-six years, they reveal that even the most admired firms struggle to sustain market-beating performance beyond ten to fifteen years. Their studies indicate that the ideal of a consistently outperforming company is a myth. Traditional management philosophies, rooted in continuity, hinder corporations from adapting to rapid market changes. Foster and Kaplan propose a radical new paradigm, advocating for a redesign of corporations to match the pace of capital markets rather than merely function efficiently. They illustrate how companies like Johnson & Johnson, Enron, Corning, and GE are breaking free from cultural "lock-in" by transforming their operations, creating new businesses, divesting underperforming divisions, and adopting innovative decision-making processes. For corporations to achieve sustained superior returns, they must become as dynamic and responsive as the market itself. This groundbreaking perspective promises to reshape conventional business thinking.

Foster analysiert, warum manche Unternehmen plötzlich Ihre Märkte an neue Wettbewerber verlieren und wie andere Unternehmen es geschafft haben, diesem Schicksal zu entgehen. Der Grund für Aufstieg oder Niedergang eines Unternehmens liegt laut Foster in der Art und Weise, wie Unternehmen mit Innovationen umgehen. Da technologische Erneuerungen auch weiterhin zunehmen und viele etablierte Unternehmen an ihren technologischen Grundlagen hängen und diese bis zum bitteren Ende ausreizen, haben neue Unter- nehmen die Möglichkeit, aufgrund ihres Ideenvorsprungs erfolgreicher zu sein. Zahlreiche Beispiele und Fall- studien reichern Fosters Untersuchung an.