BCG - The Boston Consulting Group

• Foreword
• Preface
• Part One The Nature of Business Strategy
• Part Two The Development of Business Strategy
• Part Three The Practice of Business Strategy
• Part Four Business Thinking
• Part Five Social Commentary
• Index

Addressed to the chief executives of large enterprises, Perspectives developed a devoted following, even circulating in bootleg copies in some companies. Perspectives challenged executives to think about their businesses strategically rather than simply operationally. They combined economic insight with an understanding of how management decisions can be distorted by organizational compromise. Their radically simple logic was unsettling.

Perspectives helped many people understand for the first time that:

• Being number one or number two in a business is a necessity.
• The prevailing management practices in diversified companies had to be scrapped and replaced with read portfolio management.
• Japan's competitive strength came from strategic intent as much as from macroeconomics or culture.
• Beating the competition is more important than beating the last quarter.
• Cash flow is pivotal in determining a business's real rate of return.
• Regulation can have devastating effect on market mechanisms.

The best ideas have many parents, and are but the forerunners of what's to come. In this spirit, we publish this selection of Perspectives as both a memorial to Bruce Henderson and a tribute to the clients, employees, and friends, past and present, of The Boston Consulting Group.

Carl Stern is Chairman of the Board of The Boston Consulting Group and is based in the firm's Chicago office.

George Stalk Jr. is a senior partner and managing director in the firm's Toronto office. He is a core member of the Consumer, Organization, Operations and Strategy practice areas.