ValueSpace: Winning the Battle for Market Leadership Book

In today's hyperkinetic marketplace, businesses must constantly be on the lookout for ways to separate themselves from their competitors. ValueSpace outlines and analyses specific moves which help leading firms earn and maintain their stellar reputations. The authors, Banwari Mittal and Jagdish N Sheth, believe the best method is to deliver superior value to customers and "valuespace" is the term they coined to describe the total corporate package top companies create to do just that. Mittal and Sheth, business professors and consultants thoroughly studied 11 superlative businesses before identifying the three components all relied upon to provide such value: performance (ensuring products and services work as advertised), price (setting fair and reasonable rates) and personalisation (making it easy for customers to deal with them). They then show how each of their leading corporations shine in these areas. 3M, for example, operates rock quarries so only the highest quality minerals are produced for roofing shingles; AutoNation initiated "no haggle" pricing at dealerships to ease a common anxiety among car buyers; American Express is available to merchants with problems around the clock every day of the week. The authors helpfully conclude with solid suggestions for adapting these ideas and others from their spotlighted companies--which also include Caterpillar, Xerox, UPS, PPG, Hilton, SYSCO, Rosenbluth International and Fossil--into operations where such "valuespace" is lacking. --Howard RothmanRead More