Will & Vision: How Latecomers Grow to Dominate Markets (Hardcover)

~ Gerard J. Tellis (Author), Peter N. Golder (Author), Clayton Christensen (Author) "Gillette. Coke. Tide. These brands not only dominate their respective categories but have done so for several decades..." (more)
Key Phrases: enduring market leaders, safety razor market, generalized assets, Internet Explorer, Federal Express, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although the "first mover's advantage," a belief that the first company to make inroads into a marketplace has an almost insurmountable advantage, has gained acceptance in recent years, these authors contend it is a faulty conviction based on spotty research. Tellis (who teaches at USC's business school) and Golder (of NYU's Stern School) contend that there are three primary reasons for this incorrect principle. First, the research that has been done tends to downplay those pioneers who failed. Second, the studies tend to interview current leaders of successful companies who may not have a firm grasp of the industry's history. And three, the research tends to define markets very narrowly. After spending the last 10 years studying the history of 66 industries, the authors conclude that "the real causes of enduring market leadership are vision and will. Enduring market leaders have a revolutionary and inspiring vision of the mass market and they exhibit an indomitable will to realize that vision." The authors present countless examples to back their points. People who endorse the first mover's advantage will probably not be swayed by Tellis and Golder's argument, citing personal examples. But this work is bound to make companies question whether they need to be first and also reexamine just how strong their devotion to a particular market is.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Winner of the American Marketing Association Berry Prize for The Best Book in Marketing.

One of the top 10 business books of 2001, Harvard Business Review.

"Engaging stories, empirical analysis, and intelligent commentary make this an impressive book."--excerpt from book review in Harvard Business Review, September 2001

"Engaging stories, empirical analysis, and intelligent commentary make this an impressive book."--Harvard Business Review

Everybody knows that it's the market pioneers who have the best name recognition, the highest market share, and the most enduring market leadership....right? In order to test the truth of the perceived wisdom on being first to market, Gerard Tellis and Peter Golder carried out an in-depth historical analysis of various markets, as they evolved, over the past decade.

Among other things, they found that, not only does being first not guarantee anything, but that the current trend of staking everything on getting there first all too often leads companies to embrace a disastrous strategy of rushing to market with incomplete, inferior, and flawed products. With the help of numerous fascinating case histories chronicling the success and failures at industry giants, including Xerox, Gillette, Microsoft, Matsushita, and Intel, Tellis and Golder explore the ways in which being first to market is often more a curse than a blessing. They isolate the 5 key principles that ensure enduring market leadership--vision of the mass market, managerial persistence, relentless innovation, financial commitment, and asset leverage.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007137549X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071375498
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,070,180 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fascinating: One of the finest works on business, November 30, 2001

By	"rchandy" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Few business principles engender as much faith among people as the principle of the pioneer's advantage. For example, Ries and Trout, in their book on the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, boldly state the "first immutable law of marketing" to be "It's better to be first, than it is to be better." Brand recognition, brand loyalty, consumer inertia, network effects, experience effects, access to distribution channels - these are all reasons for why the first movers in a market could have an advantage over others in the quest for market domination. Consultants, academics, and managers note the many examples of pioneers who appear to have done very well in their markets. Look, they say, at Gillette (in safety razors), Hewlett-Packard (laser printers), Microsoft (PC operating systems), and Amazon.com (online bookselling). All of these cases appear to prove the pioneer's advantage.

Tellis and Golder argue quite convincingly that these examples prove exactly the opposite: pioneers are much more likely to be cursed to failure than blessed with long term success! The authors show that the real pioneers in the markets listed above are not the current market leaders. Gillette entered the safety razor market in 1903, but a company called Star, they find, had already introduced a safety razor in 1876. H-P entered the laser printer market in 1984, but IBM had one on the market in 1975. Microsoft introduced MS-DOS in 1981, but Digital Research had introduced its CP/M operating system back in 1975. Amazon.com entered the online bookselling business in 1995, but Clbooks.com/books.com was selling books online in 1993. Most of these pioneers are forgotten now - many are long dead. Yet the myth of the pioneer's advantage lives on.

Using new and detailed historical research, Tellis and Golder systematically debunk the myth of the pioneer's advantage. The book refutes much conventional wisdom, and wonderfully weaves together hard data and vivid business stories to argue its thesis. Tellis and Golder are two of the world's leading experts on market entry and long term success. Their prior research has had a major impact on the academic business community. Yet if current and recent business practice is any indicator, few managers seem to be aware of the lessons that emerge from this remarkable stream of research. One only needs to think back at the Internet gold-rush to see this point.

The bulk of the book is on the question: If pioneering does not explain market dominance, then what does? Again, Tellis and Golder bring fresh, unorthodox insights to this question. They organize the answer to this question along two dimensions: Vision and Will. Their arguments force one to rethink several common precepts. For example, they challenge the very notion "vision" as it's currently understood. Similarly, they point out that dominance is often seen as a function of luck, or being at the right place at the right time. In fact dominance is more a function of small, incremental innovations in design, manufacturing, and marketing over many years. Indeed, it took Procter and Gamble (a latecomer) 10 years of persistent planning and research to find success in the lowly disposable diaper market.

Overall, the book is provocative and compelling, meticulously researched and highly practical. The case studies alone are worth the price of the book. But the novelty and persuasiveness of the insights make it one of the finest works on business strategy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early birds beware, May 22, 2002

By	B.Sudhakar Shenoy (India) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book comes out with a hypothesis challenging conventional thinking which assumes that pioneers dominate markets. Collecting and analyzing historical data from over 66 industry segments the conclusions by the authors is baffling. This is not a case where statistics is used conveniently to support untested theories using available tools to prove a point. The approach to understanding market dominance and the role of pioneers and followers is path breaking. Contrary to common belief, data shows that in many cases the pioneers have as little as 9 % market share. The ingredients for success are therefore not being there first, but doing the right things.

Five factors that emerge as key to ensuring long term success and market dominance are Vision, Persistence, Financial Commitment, Innovation and Asset leverage- factors that are structurally related in a causal chain starting with a clear vision for a mass market. There are innumerable examples and detailed cases where the inability to see a mass market for innovative products has resulted in late comers grabbing the market from incumbents. Fear of cannibalization of existing products, bureaucracy, complacency, are some other causes that stifle growth.

After explaining the hypothesis, a good and crisp summary of the conclusions from the historical data, every chapter proceeds sequentially to substantiate the findings. This is a rare combination of business history, statistical analysis and strategy. It is this unique combination and the unconventional wisdom that is bound to make this book a classic in its own right. The range of products covered varies from diapers to couriers and computers. IBM, Microsoft, Fed Ex, Xerox, Gillette are some companies that are discussed in detail.

Comparing it with other books on similar research, my prescription for business would be:

Innovators Dilemma + Will and Vision + Built to Last + Good to Great = Road to Market dominance.

Highly recommended.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is UN-PUT-DOWN-ABLE, November 1, 2001

By	"asood" (Los angeles, USA) - See all my reviews

The best thing about this book is that it is written with an impeccable style that makes it easy and fascinating to read. In fact, if you are interested in innovation, pioneeering and market leadership, this book is UN-PUT-DOWN-ABLE! The amount of research that must have gone into compiling insightful commentaries on leading organizations in different industries amazed me, and interesting conclusions drawn from these observations kept me reading on till the very end.

I am currently doing research in these areas and find this book full of new ideas that stimulate rethinking of traditional truisms on innovation prediction and management. I highly recommend this book!