From the Inside Flap
In the '90s, Frederick Webster's Market-Driven Management made an appeal for the wide adoption of a customer-focused concept of business management after decades of near unanimity that creating value for shareholders was the ultimate duty of companies. Today, because of the new realities of the global marketplace, business thinkers have finally embraced the idea that business strategy focused on customer value is a central factor in maintaining a competitive edge.
New research suggests the importance and effectiveness of business strategies based on value delivery and points to a concrete connection between customer value and shareholder value. This new, completely updated Second Edition of Market-Driven Management revises Webster's original marketing concept for the new business realities of the twenty-first century-incorporating ideas from strategic planning, financial management, organizational design, and information technology. The book traces the evolution of the marketing concept over the last fifty years and blends the best of management theory and practice to offer specific guidelines for creating a customer-focused organization. It explores the strengths and weaknesses of modern marketing and highlights the ways marketing must adapt to an ever-changing, consumer-oriented economy.
In addition to being a respected business scholar and educator with over thirty-five years on the faculty at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Webster is also a renowned international business consultant. His ideas are based on his decades of research at leading companies around the world, and they have been tested with thousands of managers in his seminars and through his consulting practice. Drawing heavily on case studies and real-world examples, he offers his incisive analysis of what works, what doesn't, and why. Most importantly, he provides a plan of action for implementing the new concept of marketing that is applicable to any organization.
This edition includes completely updated information on database marketing, customer relationship management, outsourcing and strategic alliances, globalization and e-commerce, and touches on the powerful business lessons we should take away from the dot.com disaster. New sections have been added on such current topics as branding, marketing strategy implementation, sales force deployment, and value delivery.
The demands of the new economy make clear that a new concept of marketing is desperately needed. As this fundamental transformation takes place, managers and business leaders require a comprehensive and practical guide for keeping up with the changes. Market-Driven Management, Second Edition offers the expert guidance and real-world advice that managers need to ensure their companies stay at the forefront of marketing evolution.
From the Back Cover
"Here is fifty years of managerial wisdom and actionable prescriptions, distilled into a thoroughly convincing and eminently readable jewel of a book."
-Steve Haeckel, Director of Strategic Studies at IBM's Advanced Business Institute and author of Adaptive Enterprise: Creating and Leading Sense-and-Respond Organizations
"Fred Webster knows what matters and what works. The new edition of Market-Driven Management is an unqualified success at combining rich conceptual insights with practical managerial guidelines."
-Kevin L. Keller, author of Strategic Brand Management
"Fred Webster-certainly one of the most influential marketing scholars of the twentieth century-has once again broken ground with this book. In sharp contrast to faddish management books, it combines the rigor of empirical research with practical advice to help managers win in increasingly hostile competitive environments. It is the definitive guide for senior managers who need to build truly customer-driven companies."
-Bernie Jaworski, Chief Idea Officer, Monitor Group
"Marketing will realize its full potential only when viewed simultaneously as an organization-wide commitment to putting the customer first, a strategic management responsibility for shaping the customer value proposition, and a functional responsibility to sense and respond to the market. This is the best road map I've seen for meshing these three perspectives to deliver superior customer value."
-George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School and author of The Market Driven Organization
"The fundamental truth in the marketing concept about making the customer the focus of business strategy has been paid only lip service in many firms. Fred Webster shows how marketing is much more than the 4 Ps of execution-it is as much a conversation about strategy and culture. This is a timely articulation of business strategy viewed through the lens of the customer that has profound insights for both academics and practitioners."
-Rohit Deshpand?, Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Harvard Business School
"This second edition of Market-Driven Management will help readers understand the evolution of marketing and strategy in their organizations and provides practical applications to manage and profit from these changes. With this book, once again, Fred Webster has distinguished himself as a thought leader."
-Jim Figura, Vice President, Consumer Insights & Research, Colgate-Palmolive
