Customer Reviews

Extreme Competition: Innovation And the Great 21st Century Business Reformation

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If you are a citizen of India or China, this book will warm your heart and swell you with pride. If you are an American, it will scare you to the end of your toenails. Fingar describes the modern economic world and how it continues to change. I cannot describe him as a pessimist, although his projections describe a great deal of future economic difficulty for the United States. It is hard to tag someone as a pessimist when they are almost certainly correct.
I have seen this before, in the 1980's the mantra of fear in the United States was about the Japanese taking over the U. S. and the rest of the economic world. That turned out to be overblown but there is no doubt that the current situation with India and China is more genuine. Japan is a small country with few resources and a small population relative to the rest of the world. Furthermore, their population is growing very slowly, so this combination means that it is difficult for them to sustain significant economic growth.
That is not the case for most of the other nations of Asia. With populations measured using nine zeros to the left of the decimal point, China and India have an enormous capacity to produce goods extremely cheaply. Even a relatively insignificant $1 increase in their per capita earnings will grow their economies by over a billion dollars. However, the source of their economic power is not just in their ability to provide cheap labor for manufacturing. Both countries have embarked on significant programs to improve the technical skills of their population.
The numbers of highly skilled technical people that the university systems of India and China are producing compared to the United States is enough to make you question the future stability of the U. S. economic and social structure. Combining this with the fact that the U. S. is running enormous budget deficits that are being financed by foreign countries makes you realize that there is a crisis in the making.
Fingar uses examples and data to emphatically make his points. This is one of the few business books, and I have read a lot of them, that I couldn't put down. As I read through it, I repeated to myself, "That's right", and started thinking about ways in which I could modify my business strategies. As a decades-long news and political junkie and occasional activist, I was able to relate his case studies to the past and projections for the future. The business and political leadership of this country needs to get a symbolic swift kick in the sit-down in order to get motivated to face the fierce realities of business in the 21st century. Fingar provides a great deal of excellent advice on how to survive and thrive in the modern world. In politics, the phrase is "All politics is local." The modern slogan for business is now, "All business is global."

In the animal kingdom, a sudden threat means either facing the threat ("fight"), or avoiding the threat ("flight"). Globalization, driven by the Internet and three-billion new low-wage and highly-educated competitors from China, India and the former Soviet Union should trigger the fight or flight response in anyone who reads this book.

But you cannot run away from the threat this book describes, so you'll have to learn the nature of the threat and act. No, it won't be a physical fight, it will be mental, and this book conveys what you should be thinking and doing as you call on your ingenuity to compete in the 21st century.

In some ways, this is a scary book - because it speaks of global business change on a scale that is daunting. Yet that is not the real message here. Peter has done a very good job of presenting the information necessary for readers to successfully begin preparation for a degree of competition unprecedented in human history.

And that's the point. Not that the change is occurring (sure, for many of us this is relatively new) but that it is heralding in a period where new extremes of competition will be experienced. Those who are ready and willing to compete will participate in a new era of creativity and innovation - and that participation will unlock new doors of opportunity and success. Those who don't will fail.

Take your time when you read this book (and you NEED to read this book). To be successful in the future we must all be prepared to join in a new game of global competition - what Peter calls Extreme Competition. I give this book my highest endorsement because I believe Peter has done an excellent job of unmasking the biggest change, threat and opportunity to personal and business success we have experienced in my lifetime. Not even the advent of the PC and the Internet are of the magnitude of change presented in Extreme Competition (though they are essential parts of what has enabled this change to occur).

This book provides all that is needed to open the mind and awareness to the coming effects of globalized capitalism. There are clear indications that not only will the number of competitors in business skyrocket, but that many of the rules, approaches and techniques for succeeding in business will change as well. Extreme Competition presents the facts of this case clearly and simply. Well done, Peter.

Before writing a review of this book, I skimmed the reviews already posted. I especially made note of the fellow from Turkey who disses this book in favor of muich larger books, esp. Origin of Wealth, a book about complex adaptive systems and panaceas (e.g., Publishers Weekly writes: Though he asserts that complexity economics can reduce political partisanship and increase social capital, Beinhocker stops short of saying that it cures sexual dysfunction. By the end, the concept emerges as a great idea that the author tries to make a panacea." It's a very interesting book, especially for those who like to ponder Complexity Economics, entropy and 'fit order' and the theories of complex adaptive systems.

Let's see, if you have time on your hands, start with Friedman's World is Flat (story after story, metaphor after mixed metaphor) + Beinhocker's Origin: 1,120 pages in all.
If you don't have a lot of spare time on your hands and are looking for concise practical information, Fingar's 222 page book is as Clyde Prestowitz says: "the definitive guide to business success in the new age of total global competition." Prestowitz is the author of Three Billion New Capitalists, recommended by the fellow from Turkey. As a guide, Extreme Competition explains the 5 drivers, 16 new business realities, and 13 practical strategy paterns you'll want to consider as you come to grips with globalization. It incorporates the work of 14 expert contributors from around the globe, and was carefully edited to make the book a quick read for busy people.

The book closes with a call for readers to begin the journy to becomming extreme competitors, and has 4 pages of suggested follow-on readings to let the journey continue. So, if you want a zillion page book that covers all in this vast arena called globalization, look elsewhere. If you want a concise and comprehensive overview, and are as busy as most Americans are today, start your journey here, for globalization affects all of us, not just economists or researchers.

...and Business Technologist Peter Fingar understand this. Fingar has a strong grasp of the revolutionary times that we live in. Comparing the Internet with Gutenberg's printing press, Extreme Competition allows readers to tap into Mr. Fingar's 30+ years of work at the intersection of business and technology.

Fingar's focus on cyber companies like eBay, Google, Lulu and Skype, as well as his understanding of today's "Extreme Individuals" provides important nuggets of information for everyone interested in the global economy.

The sweep of Mr. Peter Fingar's knowledge and experience, and his wonderfully elegant writing style are a treat. This book offers a number of thought provoking insights into innovation and globalization.
It's written so as to be easy to read and is quite simply the best available on economic globalization.
You really should read this one...

All sorts of pundits and journalists have filled pages and pages with
stories of globalization, often posing as so-called experts. One key
point makes this book completely different. Peter Fingar reached out to
14 experts around the globe to collaborate on bringing this book together.

From the revealing foreword by Rajesh Jain, Internet pioneer in India,
to fresh reporting from Omar Ragel in the Middle East on little known
high-tech booms in places like Dubai, this book isn't a tome of
speculation by a self-proclaimed globalist or journalist, its
information straight from the front lines of the economic hot spots
around the globe: Shanghai, London, Amsterdam, Bangalore, Chennai,
Taipei, Tokyo, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Sydney, Riyadh, Manama, Seoul and
Singapore. In the book's pages you'll find information you would only
hear around the break room in high-tech companies in these
locations-some of which you've probably never even heard of. Take for
example, Flextronics in Singapore, which is the actual assembler and
manufacturer not only of the IBM ThinkPad, but of HP printers, Dell
laptops, the Microsoft Xbox and lots of other things that have other
company's labels on them. Then there's the Taipei company, Quanta, that
has been commissioned to make MIT's $100, wireless Internet ready,
laptop. Quanta Computer`s ability to design and build new laptops from
scratch has helped it gain a 25 percent share of all laptops sold in the
United States, including brand named notebooks from Apple, HP, and IBM.*

*
Then, there's Dubailand, a theme park in Dubai that's twice as big as
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and will compete with Disney for
international visitors. Educomp and HeyMath are Indian companies that
bring highly educated, low-cost, live tutors to the U.S. and elsewhere
without the tutors leaving their seats in India. Educomp is targeting
one million students by 2010. Could this be a solution to America's
education crisis? Could Indian pioneer, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, become the
Bill Gates of healthcare? Could he locate branches of his world-renowned
Apollo hospital near America's coast and help solve America's health
care crisis? These are but a few examples of companies that jump of the
pages of Extreme Competition, that not only surprise you, but also
stimulate your thinking about new opportunities for you and your
business. It's a whole new world out there, and you don't want to be
left behind in the new Global Village.

This book provides a pulse of what is going on in the world in terms of competition. The lines between geographical boundaries are blurred and Peter provides some good examples that all global businesses must be aware of. If you produce products domestically in the USA, you better be aware of competition at a global level. Extreme Competition drives home the point that the world is a smaller place and businesses need to adapt to the new business environment. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, the USA is going through some interesting economic transitions in order to adjust to the increase competition from overseas. Take oil for example, there is a direct correlation to the increased price due to competing buyers (i.e. India and China). This is only one of many examples you can gain from reading this book. The book is a must read for anyone who does not have the opportunity to travel overseas and experience the examples Peter has seen first hand. In many ways this book is a portal view into the global environment around us. I highly recommend it.

This book offers a terrific portal into what we are up against and what we must prepare for in the rapidly evolving 21st century global business landscape. Peter Fingar has done a great job of describing forces that are quickly dropping traditional layers of insulation and giving way to new forms of competition and collaboration across domains in every important realm of business. Concise, yet informative and inspiring. A must-read for any businessperson or entrepeneur.

There's really big problem that's landed on our doorsteps. Just pick up your morning paper and you will see that the world is going through one of the most dramatic changes in modern history. But to move beyond the headlines of the new age of globalization, Extreme Competition defines the problem, uncovers the causes (the 5 key drivers), explains the effects (the 16 new realities in business), and provides solutions (13 strategy suggestions). This book provides the template you'll need to understand how globalization affects you and what you can do about it.