The System: A Story Of Intrigue And Market Domination [Hardcover]

Terry Waghorn (Author), Ken Blanchard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Set in the high-stakes world of global business, The System is a fast-paced thriller that takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of cutting-edge business developments, corporate espionage, and ruthless takeovers, where the last man standing may just be the one to get away with murder.Tim Hunt and David Atkinson are on the brink of a business breakthrough that promises to save David's lumbering old-economy behemoth, Quenetics-and put the company way ahead of its competitors by applying Tim's revolutionary (and top-secret) intelligent agent technology. But as rumors of their "killer app" begin to spread, they become the target of a cunning rival, who will stop at nothing to thwart their plans. As the pressure mounts to fend off an impending shareholder mutiny, Tim and David wonder who is behind the sinister plot that threatens much more than the business.As entertaining as it is informative, this page-turner delivers a powerful new approach to achieving-and sustaining-market domination in a world full of surprise, threat, and mystery.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The System is a truly original business book. Neither a traditional corporate novel nor one of the light-on-plot management fables currently all the rage, it mixes the soul of the first with the heart of the second to create an engaging tale that pointedly champions a series of practical principles. Its story begins on a Caribbean scuba-diving expedition when Tim Hunt and David Atkinson come close to death after being surreptitiously given contaminated air tanks. To trap the would-be assassin, and simultaneously save Atkinson's Boston-based company from what appears to be a related hostile takeover, the two team up to allow successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur Hunt to incorporate his personal fundamentals--dubbed Focus, Fortify, and Foster Futurity--into the old family-controlled firm. At various junctures they are developed in the context of Atkinson's business, while the story additionally focuses on ancillary topics such as ethics, infighting, and the various possibilities technology can bring to even old-line industries like temporary staffing. The writing is a bit clunky at times and occasionally given to clichés, but Waghorn and Blanchard have nonetheless produced a readable tome packed with advice worthy of consideration by today's business leaders. --Howard Rothman

From Booklist

Billed as a global business thriller, this novel is a fictional account of Quenetics, an old economy corporation trying to remake itself in the face of stiff competition in the race for Internet domination in the field of career placement. With its stock in free fall and internal troubles afoot, Quenetics CEO David Atkinson is desperate for a change that will instill confidence in shareholders. The company has diversified far beyond its core business model and has lost its focus, so David brings in Tim Hunt, an expert in corporate makeovers. Tim's research group is on the verge of something really big--a highly secret "killer app" called iQu that could be the first program to really harness artificial intelligence--and he wants to develop it through Quenetics. But when news of iQu leaks out, David and Time become a target of a ruthless competitor who will stop at nothing to thwart their plans. Waghorn uses his expertise on business strategy to cunningly instruct in the ways of corporate renewal while keeping the reader entertained throughout. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738207918
• ISBN-13: 978-0738207919
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,801,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good business ideas, weak novel, January 17, 2003

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"infoball" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The System: A Story Of Intrigue And Market Domination (Hardcover)

I don't think it's a dud as one reviewer stated, but it's really quite thin. As a novel I do not like it although Terry would probably do a passable job as screenwriter for "The Bold and the Beautiful" or some other daytime drama/soap opera. The characters of the book are like that, sort of two-dimensional, too-perfect characters constantly plotting against each other and I could not make myself believe in them and their actions.

Anyway, the meat of the book is in the presentation of a business strategy built on three pillars; focus, fortify and foster futurity. I like that part, but it could have been condensed into a five-page (or so) article for some economic magazine instead of creating what I'd like to call a use case with complications. As a strategy I think it is common sense, but then a lot of things are, and economic/business/strategic works are often needed to explain the obvious. I do not consider it as innovative as Ken Blanchard tries to make it sound (in particular "focus" has been a staple of business strategy on and off for ages). What is very good is the way he presents a cyclic way of thinking about strategy. There is no one thing a manager needs to do and then everything will be fine, it is instead a cyclic series of steps including recurring evaluation of business opportunities and competitors to make sure that your company makes money. Those who lead must not be afraid to change what the company does when it is needed to stay ahead of the pack, even if it means changing the core business!

Discussion and arguments are a bit lacking. In the book, the two main characters discuss the strategy, but Terry basically skips any fact-based argumentation and just states that "David was now all fired up" (or somesuch) to show that the ideas are absolutely fabulous. If there's a proper article on this somewhere (preferably publicly accessible on the Internet) I'd really like to read it. For instance I do not believe that all companies can change as quickly as is needed without incurring prohibitive costs.

In conclusion: do read the book for the business value of the ideas but ignore the story, which actually detracts from the value of the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brillant business acumen with a mix of mystery and intrique, January 9, 2003

By 

Alison Miller "Alison Miller" (Maui, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The System: A Story Of Intrigue And Market Domination (Hardcover)

A powerfully written story filled with intrigue, insight and ingenuity. Terry Waghorn presents a business mind of brilliance and forethought that is invaluable. An attentive reader can derive business genius while enjoying the mystery and intrigue of an exciing story.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining and educational. Bravo., December 7, 2002

By 

Philip B. Capelle (huntington beach, ca USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The System: A Story Of Intrigue And Market Domination (Hardcover)

I read the book in two sittings. Imagaine a top notch thriller that simultaneously teaches you valuable lessons you can apply immediately to your buisness! What a great combination! The author then conveniently summarizes his lessons in a 5 page section at the end of the book. In a nutshell, Waghorn advises you to follow a four step procedure to beat the competition: 1 Focus on one business you can excel at: 2 Find a way to differentiate yourself from the competition 3 Fortify your position by making your competitors irrelevant: 4 Foster
futurity by planning your next moves while your competitors are playing catch up to your previous innovations. I particularly like his point on competencies. Waghorn advises you to discern the market opportunity and then acquire the competencies required, rather than building on core competencies that may have little value in the marketplace.