Beyond Price [Hardcover]

Mary Kay Plantes (Author), Robert D. Finfrock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Commoditization is the gravitational force pulling competing products and services down to the same level, until price determines which company wins and loses customers. Beyond Price will teach readers how to innovate their business models to escape the gravity of commoditization and price-driven competition.

Business leaders will find immediate value in this systematic guide to transforming a company from one-of-many to one-of-a-kind, a company whose offerings competitors will find hard to copy and customers will feel excited to discover. A strategically differentiated business model, executed effectively, will create

• Customers willing to pay a premium for a product
• Long-term relationships with customers and suppliers
• A collaborative environment focused on shared goals of where and how to win business
• Faster decisions about how and when to pursue opportunities
• Better resource leveraging through clear direction and focus

A well-defined roadmap to building a thriving business, Beyond Price identifies and integrates all the areas of change, beyond strategy, leaders must address to break out of and stay out of commodity competition.

Praise for Beyond Price:

'Change is continuous and accelerating; the old strategies don't cut it! Beyond Price provides leaders with a guide to both deal with this reality and build a high-growth business' --Richard Teerlink, retired chairman and CEO, Harley-Davidson

'Beyond Price provides pragmatic steps and principles all leadership teams should follow to avoid price-driven competition and to develop a differentiated position in the marketplace.' --Nick Meriggioloi, president, Oscar Mayer, a division of Kraft Foods

'Beyond Price is an amazing book that shows any leader how to think like a change agent and bring about a game-changing strategic shift. This book is a totally original approach to the dilemma of running a commodity business. Any business leader can put it to work without difficulty. This isn't a book of business platitudes; it's a book showing you how to ask a whole different set of questions about the business you are in to launch a new era of competitive strength and profitability.' --Robert Beeby, retired CEO, Frito-Lay; retired CEO, Pepsi-Cola International; retired CEO, Wilson Sporting Goods

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Kay Plantes is an economist and founder of Plantes Company, a strategy consulting firm based in Madison, Wisconsin. She is also an executive educator, university lecturer, and business strategy columnist.

Robert D. Finfrock is the owner and president of Finfrock Design-Manufacture-Construct, Inc. After working with Dr. Plantes, he reinvented his company to break out of the construction industry's intensely competitive price-based bidding, resulting in dramatically increased revenue and profit margins.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group LLC; 1 edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929774737
• ISBN-13: 978-1929774739
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 1.2 x 6.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Marketing > Product Management

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Differentiate and win the pricing battle October 17, 2008

By Mary Clerk

Format:Hardcover

Having a company that is price reliant and schedule driven it was refreshing to read Beyond Price. It provides very clear answers to questions as to why we are chasing the pricing model. When you read the authors step by step analysis of how to move your company from this arena to one that creates a clear need for your customer to do business with you it makes the effort well worth the time. Thanks for writing this book. It needed to be done.

Steven High Chairman H J High Construction Co.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wake up call for general managers and product managers October 13, 2008

By Nick Ecos

Format:Hardcover

As the general manager of global business unit responsible for managing a portfolio of products, never has a book been more relevant and provided a healthy sense of discomfort. It is much more ambitious than its modest title may suggest. I'm not aware of a book that has ever laid out so clearly the role that GMs, their high-level product managers, and the rest of their leadership teams have a responsibility to fulfill, with a clear process for getting there. I read it with a growing sense of unease over how we delude ourselves into thinking that are acting strategically, when really we are operating at varying levels of the tactical. You can't read this book without pausing to think hard about what business you are really in, and, more important, how you create the culture and processes with your team where that question is systematically, relentlessly examined. This book is one of those rare cold slaps to the face, and for business unit leaders, not to be missed (except, hopefully, by my competitors!).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid & Timely Advice for Competing in the 21st Century October 8, 2008

By R. Saecker

Format:Hardcover

Just in time -- insightful and practical advice for surviving *and* succeeding despite the current economic downturn. This wonderful, clearly written book describes how to re-envision your business strategy to escape being caught in the downward spiral of competing solely over price. Most importantly, the authors have "walked the walk" and provide succinct, practical examples of their approach. They methodically lay out how to identify if your business is trapped in a cycle leading to nowhere and how to rise above "old school" thinking (old school = entirely consumer-driven instead of market-driven; marketing information in companies being individual-owned instead of company-owned). Broadly appealing and highly timely, the perfect antidote to paralysis due to fear of change, especially in businesses that need to evolve.