Agile Business for Fragile Times

by MCCARTHY MARY PAT

• ISBN13: 9780071400848
• ISBN10: 0071400842
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-23
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

Battle-tested strategies for business success in brutal financial environments A successful company must be prepared to thrive in any environment. Agile Business for Fragile Times provides managers and executives with innovative techniques to withstand the challenges and see the opportunities in a recession. This timely book provides the necessary strategic, financial, and operational steps managers should execute during down times to ensure that their organizations are properly prepared for the inevitable economic rebound. M&A dos and don'ts . . . tips for poaching talent from competitors . . . guidelines for business process optimization and margin enhancement . . . All these and more receive in-depth coverage, along with battle-tested insights and case studies from leading companies around the world. The book's three-stage process walks the reader through: Strategy­­Suggestions to "prioritize, digitize, and optimize" to anchor strategy Execution­­Specific business processes and issues for delivering on strategy Implementation­­Straightforward, practical recommendations for putting strategy to work

Author Biography

Mary Pat McCarthy is global chair of KPMG's Information, Communications, and Entertainment line of business. She is a member of KPMG's Management Committee and a business adviser to many of the world's leading high-technology companies. Her prior books include the bestseller Digital Transformation and its sequel Security Transformation.

Jeff Stein is the U.S. deputy chairman and chief operating officer of KPMG LLP and chairman of the U.S. firm's Americas Management Committee. A leading authority on tax and financial matters, Stein is frequently consulted by many major multinational corporations. He was formerly KPMG's national managing partner and vice chairman of Tax, and served on the firm's Global Tax and Legal Advisory Board.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Not Business as Usual	p. 1
From the Top	p. 15
Challenging Conventional Wisdom	p. 37
The Heard and the Herd	p. 63
New Strategies for an Uncertain World	p. 84
Creating a Performance Culture	p. 97
Contrarians at the Gate	p. 115
It's Not Easy Being Lean	p. 136
Polishing the Stone	p. 158
The Search for Value	p. 187
Agile Redux	p. 208
Bibliography	p. 224
Index	p. 233
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.