Book review: How to Plan your Competitive Strategy. S. Layton, A. Hurd and W. Lipsey, Kogan Page, London, 1996, 93 pp, ISBN 0 7494 1907 5, price £6.99 paperback.
✍ Scribed by David Hussey
- Book ID
- 101297285
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 40 KB
- Volume
- 6
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1086-1718
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The book is divided into ten chapters (as one might expect!) covering such issues as competitive advantage, how to exploit and protect an advantage, attacking brand leaders, price wars, brand shares and an aptly named chapter `if you're not going to win, don't play!'
There is nothing amiss in the rules. They are indeed, in my humble opinion, wise advice. The trick is translating them into practice. Len Hardy has successfully attempted to give practical advice by his very realistic approach. Indeed, he includes sections in each chapter on criticism of approaches and what to do when the `golden rule' may not be the prudent way forward.
The book is peppered with examples from major companies including Proctor and Gamble, Cadbury-Schweppes, Hanson and the TSB to name just a few. This is hardly surprising when one realizes that the author, Len Hardy, was a member of the Lever board for over 20 years, with 4 years as sales director, 6 years as marketing director and over 10 years as chairman.
To conclude, the book is very easy to read and written in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner. The book sets out to help both students and practising business executives. At £15.99 a copy, Ten Golden Rules would grace any company desk.