Surfing the long summer: How market leaders grow faster than their markets Review

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(More customer reviews)This book compares many companies that the average person would not put in the same sentence: McDonalds, IKEA, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Cannon, Disney and others. How do you compare the business of Big Macs to IPODs or furniture?
The answer lies in corporate culture, focus on the customer and business practices. Who are you in business for? I give this book a big thumbs up. Having worked for a company that practiced much of what is preached here and unfortunately a few companies that just don't get much of it at all--- the information is right on the money. Your employees will be happier. Ultimately your stockholders will be happier. Your managers will be less stressed and your customers will be more loyal when they feel like you hear their input.

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Industries sometimes are dominated by one market leader for many years. These successful companies are called 'Summer Champions' by Carol Velthuis, referring to the natural seasonal cycle of businesses. The question is how a company can stay in the summer of this cycle for as long as possible.To identify these 'Summer Champions' Velthuis has analysed forty global industries and determined the growth rates and market shares of 500 companies over a period of six years. Fifteen companies emerge as having been global market leaders and also having outgrown the market over the entire period. Amazon, Apple, Disney, eBay, Google, Starbucks and others are enjoying a 'long summer'. Summer champions defy the wisdom of conventional strategic theories. They concentrate on the long run, they have deep understanding of their customers and their operation, they excel in both quality and cost, and they have strong, shared values. Attributes which many companies, for example in the financial sector, were lacking in the past few years. This book provides a unique framework for analysing competitive success and includes 25 lessons to become a 'summer champion'.

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