More than we ever anticipated, alliances among firms are changing the way business is conducted, particularly in the global, high-technology sector. The reasons are clear: companies must increasingly pool their capabilities to succeed in ever more complex and rapidly changing businesses. But the consequences for managers and for the economy have so far been underestimated. In this new book, Benjamin Gomes-Casseres presents the first in-depth account of the new world of business alliances and shows how collaboration has become part of the very fabric of modern competition. Alliances, he argues, create new units of competition that do battle with one another and with traditional single firms. The flexible capabilities of these multi-firm constellations give them advantages over single firms in certain contexts, offsetting the advantage of a single firm's unified control. When managed effectively, alliances can strengthen a firm's competitive advantage and narrow the gap between leading firms and second-tier players. This often results in intensified rivalry, and the competition within an industry is transformed. Alliances often spread swiftly through an industry as firms jockey for advantage. Yet the very spread of alliances increases their costs and poses new limits on their use. Gomes-Casseres concludes that firms need to manage their constellations to enhance collaboration within their groups, while raising what he calls "barriers to collaboration" for rivals. These ideas are developed and illustrated through original case studies of alliances among U.S., Japanese, and European firms in electronics and computers, including Xerox, IBM, and Fujitsu as well as other small and large companies. The book should be of interest to business academics, managers, and general readers concerned with contemporary capitalism.

This text is designed to be appropriate for Operations Strategy modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. It combines knowledge management, relationship management and advances in technology to inform the development of strategic advantage. The text adopts a value chain approach and contains a number of features to aid the learning process - chapter introductions, chapter summaries, further reading and boxed features.

Top companies around the world turn to MIT's Jonathan Byrnes to figure out where the profit is. Using his systematic process for analyzing profitability, they can quickly determine which parts of the business are worth expanding and which are just a drain on resources. Then, using Byrnes's "profit levers," they can turn unprofitable business into good business and good business into great business. We now live in the Age of Precision Markets, yet most of the management processes taught in business schools were developed for the prior Age of Mass Markets. Today's savviest managers are exploiting this disconnect. They're rethinking strategy, customer relations, operations, and metrics, and overcoming internal resistance to constructive change. They also reject such harmful myths as: * Revenues are good, costs are bad * All customers should get the same great service * If everyone does his or her job well, the company will prosper Byrnes reveals an uncomfortable truth: It's possible, even easy, for everyone to meet or exceed their budget targets and for the company still to have an enormous portion of the business unprofitable by any measure. But profit levers can flip everything around. For instance, several leading companies have utilized profit levers to increase their sales by over 35 percent in their highest penetrated customers, while others have reduced their operating costs- and their customers' costs-by over 30 percent One company described in the book raised its net profits by over 50 percent in a three-year period. The book is a practical, step-by-step guide to achieving these results. Every business has enormous potential waiting to be unleashed; this book offers bold new strategies to help you find and grow those islands of profit.

Dr. Trent presents a framework for achieving sustainable competitive advantages in price and cost, quality, cycle time, technology, flexibility, and customer responsiveness through progressive strategy supply management leadership.

In our latest yearbook, we explore the strategic dynamics and global impact of eSports, highlighting the revolution of intelligent agents, the fusion of traditional sports, and insights into legal and economic challenges. Personal stories showcase the potential for career development within the vibrant gaming community. This edition celebrates the resilience and spirit of eSports, emphasizing its promising future in competitive gaming. Join us in examining the innovations, cultural shifts, and the passionate community driving the industry forward.

This casebook, designed as a companion volume to Richard J. Schonberger's "World Class Manufacturing: The Lessons of Simplicity Applied," contains 26 cases that let students of WCM concepts solve actual JIT and TQC implementation problems in a wide variety of manufacturing and corporate settings. For readers with specific concerns, each case lists the topics covered (i.e., kanban, total preventive maintenance, partnership with customer) and each case includes questions on issues that companies commonly face in implementing WCM concepts. Dr. Schonberger also explains two JIT and TQC concepts not previously published -- micro-JIT analysis of shop-floor conditions by ratios and the "naturalistic" approach to quality improvement.