The Myth of Market Share: Why Market Share Is the Fool's Gold of Business (Crown Business Briefings) [Hardcover]

Richard Miniter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Crown Business Briefings | Publication Date: October 29, 2002

Richard Miniter skewers the sacred cow of market share and debunks the conventional wisdom that corporate profits rise as you grab more territory in the marketplace.

Market share is the fool’s gold of modern business. In reality, companies that maximize market share end up minimizing profits, while their smarter rivals earn higher returns. Three times out of four, on average, the most profitable firm is not the one with the largest slice of the market. Yet the myth of market share continues to hobble and kill great companies, while smaller competitors dig out real profits. Executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and regulators will learn why megamergers often fail, brand extensions wither, and stocks tumble. The Myth of Market Share also reveals a positive and proven strategy for transforming a company into a profit leader.

Richard Miniter recounts many cautionary tales of great companies that refused to change—and outlines the practical plans of those that changed and flourished. Managers and investors will profit from knowing why Dell prospers by treating market share as a benchmark, not as a goal. Executives and entrepreneurs can retool their strategies by examining the case studies in this book, including Ryanair, an upstart Irish air carrier that transformed itself into the world’s most profitable airline; International Paper, a manufacturing Goliath that tried to buy success; Boeing, the plane maker that pulled out of a steep dive by jettisoning its market share strategies; and DaimlerChrysler, the carmaker that stalled when it tried to be all things to all people.

By providing a road map for persuading doubtful colleagues and leading a company to profit leadership, The Myth of Market Share is an entertaining, historical review and leadership tutorial, delivering proven strategies for generating long-term profits and sustainable growth during these uncertain times.


From the eBook edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Miniter, a former editor for The Wall Street Journal Europe, relishes in debunking the popular dot-com era myth that market share trumps old-fashioned profits. The author sees belief in market share as an unholy cult, and attacks the idea with his own religious zeal. His point: industry-dominating companies don't always have desirable rates of return for investors. In fact, massive size can often mean lousy performance. Savvy investors, of course, have long known about how unwieldy corporate giants can be. But it's a valid point, and this new addition to Crown's Business Briefings series certainly hammers away at it. For flavor, Miniter tosses in a variety of disastrous case studies (e.g., Chrysler, Boeing), and even reaches back to the Robber Barons for some historical heft. The hard-won lesson, in every case, is that size doesn't matter.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Rich Miniter has written an important book. His point is simple, bold, and right on the money: Companies that pursue market share instead of profits are hurting shareholders. It’s a warning that firms and investors need to heed.”

—James K. Glassman,
author of The Secret Code of the Superior Investor


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; 1 edition (October 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609609882
• ISBN-13: 978-0609609880
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #854,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bigger is not always better!, June 10, 2003

By 

Blaine Greenfield "eclectic reader" (Belle Meade, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Myth of Market Share: Why Market Share Is the Fool's Gold of Business (Crown Business Briefings) (Hardcover)

Heard the taped version of THE MYTH OF MARKET SHARE by
Richard Miniter, which presents an interesting concept that says that
being the biggest player in a market doesn't mean that you will make the
most profits . . . in fact, the opposite is often true; i.e., the
bottom line is that size does NOT automatically lead to profits.

According to Miniter, there are three types of companies in every line of
business: the profit leaders, which make the most money; the market
leaders, which have the largest share of the market; and everyone else.
And the goal, at least as it seems to me, should be to become the
profit leader. Such a company doesn't go in for the dangerous
discounts that sap the strength of its brands in pursuing market share.
It avoids foolish mergers for the sake of size. And it focuses on the
customer, rather than on the competition.

The above might seem easier said than done, but real-life examples
(Mobil, Roche Diagnostics, Dell, etc.) so how this can be accomplished.
As a result, I liked the book and would recommend it, if just for the
conclusion which drives home this key marketing point:

In contrast, companies that are profit leaders can usually survive and
gain a larger share of the market--as long as they continue to focus
on giving the customers precisely what they want, at a profit.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good concept, mediocre writing, February 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Myth of Market Share: Why Market Share Is the Fool's Gold of Business (Crown Business Briefings) (Hardcover)

The concept is a good one. Too many times we hear that a sale must be won or the competition will get it (regardless of profit). Unfortunately, those executives who need Mr. Miniter's message the most will probably never hear or understand it.

Unfortunately for the book, the author's writing style is mostly surface gloss and generalized facts and figures that "supports" his points. He cites numerous company examples, but I walked away with the feeling that each one was much more complex than he leads the reader to beleive and there were many more variables to the success or failure being presented as "evidence". I have little doubt that he has a good point, but I don't think he backs it up very well.

Case in point: On Page 94, he talks about the Smart car and questions why Daimler would venture into the small car market with such an introduction. Actually, they did not create the car, a small independant maker did and they acquired it. The story of this independant car maker and Daimler's insistance in buying them out would have made more interesting reading and could have added to the depth of the book.

Concept 4 stars, writing 2 stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Written, October 2, 2011

By 

A. Memon (tenafly, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Myth of Market Share: Why Market Share Is the Fool's Gold of Business (Crown Business Briefings) (Hardcover)

I am the CEO of a midsized company and I don't know how this man is able to publish. He butchers the English language and is terrible at articulating his ideas. This is a TERRIBlE read.