Customer Reviews

Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business

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In his timely book, Gulati provides CEOS and managers with a wakeup call and a practical tool kit they can use to re-organize their firms to thrive in increasingly turbulent economic conditions. The issues discussed in this book are of importance for small, large and even non-profits. Gulati has done an excellent job of writing in a very readable style that I believe will benefit many firms that are seeking ways to survive and thrive.

The core message of this book is that only those firms attain resilience that are truly able to place their customers at the center of their enterprise. However, implementing this strategy is not easy for most firms. Gulati notes that many of the firms which believe that they are customer centric by virtue of going through the motions of traditional market research may actually be deluding themselves. Even when they do solicit ideas from their customers, they do so through the lens of their products as their focus remains on how the customer experiences their products. Further, most firms get caught up in their day to day operations and processes and forget to keep the customer at the center of their enterprise. Unfortunately, customers "become after thoughts" because firms become distracted and blinded by the rigidity of their internal architecture.

Based on qualitative and quantitative research, Gulati explains that while many firms get locked in self-erected silos and thick internal walls, some firms thrive while embracing brutal competition and demanding customer. What distinguishes these firms?

To answer this critical question, Gulati distills lessons from a broad array of firms. He explains that the key differentiator of these successful firms is not just their curiosity and engagement with their customers and their problems, but the ability to actually turn some of those insights into action.

To achieve this high degree of "customer-centricity" Gulati advises firms to dismantle their rigid "inside-out" organizational architecture and adopt a customer focused "outside-in" mind set with an intense focus on understanding and serving the needs of their customers. Putting the customer in the driver's seat can be accomplished only by radical reorganization. This in turn comes about from their capacity to effectively coordinate the appropriate organizational, human, and social resources for creating products and services that satisfy the real needs of their customers. By becoming nimble and flexible, firms can foster "resilience" to achieve competitive advantage for thriving under adversity.

The book not only provides an answer to the WHY of resilience but also the HOW. Gulati peels away multiple layers to demystify the operative mental models as well as the structural and social architecture of exemplary resilient firms. He explains the features and processes that are related with the five key levers that need to be engaged in reorganization. The five levers are: coordination, cooperation, clout, capability and connection.

I particularly appreciated Gulati's efforts to simultaneously highlight the structural, human, and relationship aspect of each lever. Most important, he provides clear and practical guidance on how to appropriately engage these levers to achieve resilience and customer centricity.

This book is not recommended for leaders who wish to undertake incremental changes. Gulati is blunt in his assessment and advice. While acknowledging that creating resilient organizations is not impossible, he cautions that it is not easy because it requires long term perseverance and consistent effort. He also notes that re-organization can be fraught with heightened concerns and operational chaos. But the eventually rewards can be dramatically positive. Thus, he cautions leadership to be prepared to invest considerable energy in creating companywide commitment.

Since any organizational transformation journey must begin with honest self assessment, I suggest that CEO's and leaders read this book first. After taking a hard look and reorienting their personal mental models, they should require their entire staff to read it. They should then use this book to initiate an honest conversation within their organizations and start preparing their blue prints for achieving "customer-centricity".

Gulati's approach to customer centricity is practical and seemingly obvious, yet so elusive to the vast majority of companies today. So few senior leadership teams recognize the daily importance of looking at their organizations from the perspective of their customers rather than relying on internal mechanisms geared toward assessing market segment rather than customer need. Gulati effectively uses outside-in organizational architectures as catalysts for true value creation and defines that value as that which the customer is willing to pay for over a simple incremental improvement that commands no value definition. As organizations grow and mature, they increasingly tend toward inside-out frameworks and hierarchies (product and geographies), which can result in loss of strategic focus around the customer, product incrementalism, and thus, loss of comparative edge in the market place and finally commoditization. Gulati's book illustrates this dilemma and provides pragmatic and insightful advice to readers to avoid these pitfalls by reorganizing resources around the customer to achieve breakout success despite exogenous factors or general market uncertainty.

My management team has applied these principles to our markets with resounding success despite a challenging economic environment. The greatest strength of this book is that it serves as a powerful reminder for whom we are truly working: the customer.

Robert Grant
Allergan Medical

This book is great for anyone who has a customer. Gulati provides a useful construct - an outside-in approach -- for considering whether your offering actually delivers something customers want. There are useful questions and read-able examples to draw from. Great book!

Harvard Professor Gulati has written an important book for senior executives seeking to transform their organizations towards a more customer-centric model.

The book is deeply researched and Prof. Gulati has provided a framework and examples of how others have managed the long-road from internal-focused management practices to customer-centric ones. Five levers are defined in the model, each starting with the letter C, that, when pursued in order over an extended period of time ( 3 to 5+ years), can guide corporate transition. The five levers are: Coordination, Cooperation, Clout, Capabilities, and Connections. Implemented together they equal Customer Centricity.

Because there is no single path to overcome and redefine entrenched cultural resistance to the creation of a resilient organization, the reader has to consider the examples given and determine how and if they may be beneficial in the context of their own organization. Because of the abstract nature of considering concrete examples and transposing them to the reader's own context, I found this book very difficult to get through, even though it's just over 200 pages long.

This book is best suited for senior executives who are actively committed to a market-focused business strategy and are actively engaged in the long-term effort to align structure, processes, procedures, and cultural elements to enhance business vitality and resilience. If that's the position you are in, this book is likely an invaluable resource to shape the journey.

If you don't need that much detail, seek out his HBR articles.

I was first drawn to Ranjay's ideas on how to create a more fluid and customer-focused organization through his HBR article called "Silo Busting". Since my consulting company provides assistance to technology-based companies on how to develop, market, and sell real solutions, I was struck by how his business perspectives strongly overlapped with ours. I then went out and purchased this book, "Re-Organize for Resilience". Believe me, I wasn't disappointed.

As I read his book, I concluded that nearly all of his observations and recommendations are extremely appropriate for any company that is looking to leverage all of its assets, IP, and other resources to provide the true value that customers expect. This, by the is very difficult to do when your offerings are technology driven. Ranjay's main messages should be memorized by all executives that are looking to ensure they maintain long-term relationships with their customers, and want to develop opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.

In reviewing the main concepts of his book, here are only two of many of his ideas that I believe are a MUST for corporate strategists and heads of operations are:
-- Understanding the Four Levels of Organizational Resilience -- These are stages of organizational development that we see every day. He's nailed it -- to move from a position where the company is focused solely on developing great products regardless of market demand to one where the customer wants and needs are the centerpiece of everything you do -- R&D, marketing, delivery processes, sales methods, etc. -- is a no-brainer to understand but very difficult to do. Ranjay provided specific recommendations on how to do it, with clear company examples.
-- Expanding the Role of Tasks Integrated -- The key word here is "integrated". For a company to deliver real solutions, they need an internal organizational vehicle by which they can identify and leverage all of the organization's assets and capabilities. Ranjay fully understands this, and rightly claims that it's the #1 hurdle to resilience. In my world, I would claim that it's the #1 inhibitor to improving a company's ability to deliver highly valued solutions. Regardless of the terminology, he's spot-on in terms of understanding the problem and how to address it.
There are many other concepts in the book where I applaud Ranjay's insights -- I can only suggest that you buy the book so that you can personally benefit from his great insights.
Steve Hurley
Managing Director
Solutions Insights, Inc.

For any business looking to discover the secrets for long-term success, Ranjay Gulati has devised a great blueprint; the key strategies revolve around creating a customer centric approach to doing business. After all, if your customers' needs aren't being fulfilled, chances are your bottom line is lacking as well.

Gulati suggests taking an "outside-in" perspective when determining the best course of action for any business; in other words, the focus is geared towards satisfying the needs and wants of the customer; not, the needs and wants of the CEO. Not surprisingly, by taking this customer centric "outside-in" approach, the needs and wants of the CEO will also be fulfilled on a more consistent basis.

This may seem like nothing more than simple "common sense", but rarely has "common sense" reared its beautiful head with much degree of regularity in the perplexing landscape of corporate America in recent years. Hopefully, Gulati's book will be widely read by the heads of business from all sectors of society; and more importantly, his sound advice followed with conviction.

Gulati synthesizes research and experience into a thoughtful client centric management framework for any organization - large or small - to consume. Clear descriptions and reference tools and case examples provide the details needed to effectively implement. A great guide for challenging times.

This if a fast read, idea-packed and timely in this wobbly economy. Perhaps the most efficient way to optimize a business or other organization is to encourage employees to use their best talents with each other as these five levers of resilience reflect. This is vital to becoming the top-of-mind choice in this increasingly complex, connected and bottom-up world. I'd add that another is to encourage employees who see an opportunity or problem to form self-organized project teams, get the buy-in of their boss and move quickly. As well, the fifth level - "Connection" is really about forging the profitable partnerships that enable a business to generate more visibility and value and thus stand out from the competition. For those who want to learn more about ways to partner see Walk Your Talk Walk Your Talk: Grow Your Business Faster Through Successful Cross-Promotional Partnerships

This is an excellent book that lays out the often difficult steps that are required of businesses that want to embark on the journey to being customer-focused. Prof. Gulati makes it clear that significant work is needed to both identify the needs of customers and, more importantly, aligning the entire enterprise with the customers' needs. This is probably one of the best books that I have read on this subject.

Gulati has taken the concept of customer focus to its most practical level and given us the tools to be able to make it a reality. No longer can business leaders claim it's impossible to build a customer-centric organization, because this book provides the basic steps necessary to get the job done.