The Art of Profitability FROM OUR EDITORS
In The Art of Profitability, the author of The Profit Zone returns to his favorite subject: making money in business. In 23 trim and taut lessons, he challenges readers to step back and rethink their strategies about achieving profit. Using the device of a fictitious teacher-student tutorial, Slywotzsky presents new profit models and describes specific actions your organization can take almost immediately to improve its position.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
What do Barbie dolls, Nokia phones, and American Express credit cards have in common? They all represent a powerful business model called pyramid profit. How about Intel, Microsoft, and Stephen King? They all exploit another model called value chain position profit.
The Art of Profitability reveals the invisible but important governing principles that can mean the difference between business failure and success. Writing with wit and provocative insight, bestselling author Adrian Slywotzky tells the story of eccentric strategy teacher David Zhao and his young student. Each of the book's twenty-three chapters presents a lesson from the exuberant and always challenging master -- and a profit paradigm that will open your mind to the many ways to make profit happen.
You'll understand -- from a different perspective -- how your company and your competitors generate profit...which business models can be best applied to your profit-making strategy...what specific actions your organization can take in the next ninety days to improve its bottom line...and more.
With scores of examples from today's global marketplace, and an eclectic business reading list ranging from Obvious Adams to Einstein's Dreams, The Art of Profitability invites anyone in business to engage in the lively exchange between mentor and protege.
Enter the classroom. Discover the art. And learn which form of profitability will help your company succeed today and grow tomorrow.
SYNOPSIS
Presented in 23 compact lessons, THE ART OF PROFITABILITY features an ongoing tutorial between two fictitious individuals: the old and wise teacher, David Zhao, the business master, and his pupil, Steve Gardner, a young and ambitious manager.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
This compact tome from consultant Slywotzky (The Profit Zone) offers 23 business lessons via the tale of a manager's quest to learn the "art of profitability" from David Zhao, a wise master. It's an attractive and refreshing concept that taps into the Zen of business. The author cautions readers to "please read only one chapter per week... Think about it. Let it stew." His advice, centered around the mantra that the path to profitability lies in fully understanding the customer, is valuable- e.g., watch out for cracks in a business's foundation, because they can quickly lead to a collapse. Slywotzky has tried to make his text seem ancient, even timeless, by featuring the clichi of the wise sage and the eager pupil, and this forced effort may frustrate some readers looking for a quick fix. But those seeking a new alternative to tired business manuals should revel in Zhao's fable-like teachings. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
Harvard professor Adrian Slywotzky's ART OF PROFITIBILITY brings a holistic approach to the making of money. Read by actors Scott Mosenson and Jack Ong, who play a young businessman and a famous strategist, the book is really a series of lessons on the many ways companies position their products for profit. Why do we willingly pay so much for Coke in a restaurant and so little in the supermarket? Incorporated into the lessons are books the strategist, David Zhao (Ong), assigns to the Mosenson character to help guide him along the path to profit-making enlightenment. Authors from Isaac Asimov to Sam Walton are mentioned, each having a valuable insight into how profit is achieved. S.E.H. 2003 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
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