Winning in Turbulence (Memo to the CEO)

By Darrell Rigby

Book Overview

The current downturn may prove more brutal than most previous recessions. It's already hammering companies in markets around the globe. It will test businesses to their fullest-many won't survive.

But downturns present strategic opportunities, too. In fact, many more companies achieve dramatic gains during recessions than in normal times.

How to ensure your company emerges successful? In Winning in Turbulence, a new volume in the Memo to the CEO series, Bain & Company downturn strategist Darrell Rigby provides the playbook. He presents a powerful framework and diagnostic tool (available in the book and online) for assessing three dimensions of your situation: Your industry's sensitivity: How hard is it hit by this downturn?Your company's strategic position: Are you an industry leader or follower?Your firm's financial position, including cash reserves.

The author then explains how to craft an action plan tailored to the situation you've diagnosed, providing tools for: Cutting costs intelligently-sustaining your margins and brandBoosting revenue by refocusing your sales force on the right customersChanneling resources into your core businessesPreparing for bold moves, such as game-changing acquisitions

Timely and practical, this book positions you to survive a downturn and emerge stronger once the recovery begins.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1422139158
• ISBN13: 9781422139158
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.7" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Whenever A Recession Hits, Books Like These Come Out The Woodworks!

You can always tell when the United States economy has hit a downturn into a full-fledged recession. We start seeing books like WINNING IN TURBULENCE come out as a means for helping businesses not just survive but thrive when customers become skittish about spending their hard-earned dollars on their products and services. Not that there's anything wrong with this, but it's as predictable as people going to the grocery store to buy milk and bread when a hurricane is coming! That said, author Darrell Rigby and his team of contributers bring a healthy dose of reality back to the topic of the economy. Most business owners will simply blame their losses during tight times on it, but the honest answers to these three questions can accurately tell you whether the economy really is to blame: 1. Is YOUR industry affected by the downturn? 2. Are you a leader or a follower in your industry? 3. Do you have the proper cash flow to run your business? Regardless of the situation, Rigby offers up innovative ways that you can cut costs effectively, zero in on meeting the needs of your best customers, spend money on the essential aspects of your business, and provide you with the confidence to make bold decisions when the opportunities avail themselves. This is a unique strategy for catapulting through an economic downturn to become even more profitable than when the recession began. HIGHLY recommended book for CEOs and small business owner who fear for their company's future during trying times.

Simple, Straightforward Advice on Overcoming Tough Times

Darrell Rigby has it all figured out; there are three dimensions that affect companies during economic downturns: Industry Impact, Strategic Position, and Financial Strength. From a particular company's position in those dimensions, different tactics are recommended to get through the tough times, or even excel in them. From "Full speed ahead" to "Mayday," Rigby uses flying terminology to associate companies with "Turbulence" analogy. For each position in the three-dimensional matrix, the author provides advice from turbocharge sales for the well-positioned companies to tightly manage cash flows and liquidity for the not-so-well-positioned companies. Perhaps this is a bit too simplified for the real world, but the advice is sound and the it doesn't hurt to look everywhere for information that might help in these turbulent times.

An Astonishing Primer for Business

The definition of a recession is "two consecutive quarters of decline in real gross domestic product." I learned that reading Darrell Rigby's slim volume "Winning in Turbulence." Rigby defines many of the problems facing businesses small and large in this era of uncertainty. If you own a business, if you manage a business, even if you are part of the greater workforce, "Winning in Turbulence" can help you navigate the tough economic times we find ourselves in at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century. This is no mere book of suggestions. It is a solid guide to what works and what doesn't work. The illustrations and tests aren't mere exercises in fun. They give the reader practical applications of the philosophies expressed by Rigby and his contributors. How could re-creating your back office structure impact your bottom line? How do you create a "heat map" and "double down on the hot spots"? These are only two examples of the great insight to be found here. One section is titled "Where is Demand Falling Most?" How many companies spend thousands of dollars trying to recreate a past success instead of spending that same money creating a NEW success? Don't be left behind. With businesses failing and an astonishing rate, now is the time to figure out exactly what to do to be a "winner." Bad times also create great opportunities. If you need good news today in the middle of all of the bad news in business, you can't do without this book. I imagine it will be omnipresent in boardrooms and corner offices all around the country before the end of the year. Do yourself, or the businessman you love, a favor. Being a winner in these turbulent times IS possible. And this book shows you exactly how to do it.

Emphasis on Applied, Solid Info That Won't Waste Your Time

This is exactly the type of book managers, business owners, consultants and others will want to read. Very little fluff, emphasis on applied information that is timely. Concise yet relevant this isn't a large book but is instead packed full of information you can begin to use in "real life" rather than a lot of feel good theories, vague concepts etc... Yes, the book is relatively small as other reviewers have commented but as any professional that regularly reads Harvard Press knows, it's the content that counts not the number of pages. Think of this like the Cliff Notes of creating a winning road map through the current economic troubles. Beginning with how to take an inventory of your company and deciding where it ranks these simple step-by-step instructions are flexible enough to work for nearly any industry yet specific enough to easily implement. Once you take the inventory it forms the basis for deciding which action steps apply to your business...shore up, consider M & A, positioning for future recovery and even growth. As the authors correctly point out, turbulent times result in the demise of many corporations and/or small business entities yet also create unprecedented opportunity that has led to the larger growth which puts many ahead of the pack for years to come. As a former VP, current college instructor and writer that reads more than my fair share of business related books...this is exactly the type I enjoy most. Short, to the point, relevant, timely and emphasisizing the applied approach yet versatile enough for nearly any industry. A++. Another superb book from Harvard Business Press.