Managing the Future: 10 Driving Forces of Change for the Next Century [Paperback]

Robert B. Tucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1991

The definitive guide for today's most successful business leaders, Managing the Future offers insights into the greatest corporate success stories of our time.

"Oh, how I envy those of you who are about to read and profit from Tucker's insights -- and how I pity your competition! -- Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D, author of How to Win Customers and keep Them for Life

"Guaranteed to stimulate innovative thinking in every leader who applies its powerful message". -- Dr. Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning

In a rapidly changing marketplace, smart companies must work with tomorrow's trends to beat today's stiff competition. In Managing the Future, Robert B. Tucker recounts great corporate triumphs and disasters of the last several decades -- and shows every leader what it takes to keep one's business far ahead of the pack. Invaluable insights into:
-- How Levi Strauss keeps an over-century-old company current
-- How Dell Computer is taking market share away from bigger industry guns
-- How Southwest Air keeps seats filled in a competitive environment
-- How Charles Schwab creates new customers
-- and more

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Americans seem to have a tremendous fascination for futurists and their predictions for upcoming trends and events. Alvin Toffler's Powershift ( LJ 11/1/90), John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene's Megatrends 2000 (LJ 12/1/89), and Pat Robertson's New Millenium (Word Bks., 1990) have attracted readers hoping to have a slight edge in facing the future. Tucker, a business consultant and coauthor of Winning the Innovation Game , no doubt hopes to find that same responsiveness to this book, which lists "10 Driving Forces of Change" that businesses must respond to in order to succeed in the 1990s. These are speed, convenience, age waves, choice, lifestyle, discounting, value-adding, customer service, techno-edge, and quality. His reasoning makes sense, and he provides practical advice on how to deal with each one. Like its predecessors, this book should prove popular. Recommended.
- Robert Logsdon, Indiana State Lib., Indianapolis
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; Updated 1999 edition (December 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425130835
• ISBN-13: 978-0425130834
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,208,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert B. Tucker is president of The Innovation Resource (TIR), and an internationally recognized leader in the field of innovation. Formerly an adjunct professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, Tucker has been a consultant and keynote speaker since 1986.

His pioneering research in interviewing over 50 leading innovators was published in the book Winning the Innovation Gamein l986. Since then, he has continued to publish widely on the subject, including his international bestseller Managing the Future: 10 Driving Forces of Change for the New Century, which has been translated into 13 languages. In Driving Growth Through Innovation he identified the emerging best practices of 23 innovation vanguard companies. And in his latest work, Innovation Is Everybody's Business, Tucker interviewed 43 innovation-adept individuals from multiple industries and all levels of organizations, and teaches the personal skills necessary to become an innovator in this hyper-competitive world."

As one of the thought leaders in the growing Innovation Movement, Tucker is a frequent contributor to publications such as the Journal of Business Strategy, Strategy & Leadership, and Harvard Management Update. He has appeared on PBS, CBS News, and was a featured guest on the CNBC series The Business of Innovation.

The Innovation Resource, based in Santa Barbara, California, is a consulting firm devoted exclusively to assisting companies seeking to improve top and bottom line performance via systematic innovation.

Tucker is a much sought after keynote speaker at conventions, company management meetings, and industry conferences. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies as well as clients in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Australia.

Robert Tucker resides in Santa Barbara, California with his wife, Carolyn McQuay, and daughter Cara Rose Tucker.

Website: www.innovationresource.com
Email: [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Driving or Being Driven?, July 17, 2000

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing the Future: 10 Driving Forces of Change for the Next Century (Paperback)

There are dozens of books on this subject, several of which I consider superior to this one (eg Drucker's Managing Change and O'Toole's Leading Change); however, Tucker has made an important contribution by suggesting and then discussing "10 Driving Forces of Change for the Next Century." They are:

* Real-Time Responsiveness

* No-Hassle Convenience

* Aging Boomers/Rising Xers

* Mass Customized Choice

* Lifestyle [Changes]

* Discounting

* Value Differentiation

* Ultra Service

* Techno-Edge

* World-Class Quality

Tucker offers thoughtful discussions of these "Driving Forces" (devoting a separate chapter to each), including also a series of mini-case studies based on companies such as Williams-Sonoma, Dell Computer, Southwest Airlines, and Charles Schwab. Please keep in mind that Tucker wrote this book almost ten years ago. So much has happened since, especially because of the Web and globalization initiatives made possible by it.

After a decade, Managing the Future remains a thoughtful, well-written book of special value to less-experienced executives. For those on higher levels of management, it may not offer much that they do not already know but it will certainly help them to clarify their thinking as they proceed into an uncertain future.