Summary: Blockbusters E-Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Herausgeber: Business Book Summaries
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 42

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The must-read summary of Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly's book: "Blockbusters: The Five Keys to Developing Great New Products".

This complete summary of the ideas from Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly's book "Blockbusters" shows that great companies achieve lasting success because they constantly produce good products, or "blockbusters". In their book, the authors present five best practices for developing great new products, which you can implement into your own company. This summary is a must-read for any entrepreneur who wants to unlock their business potential and achieve success with blockbuster products.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read "Blockbusters" and find out how you can consistently develop great products.

Leseprobe

Book Presentation: Blockbusters by Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly

Summary of Blockbusters (Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly)

Book Presentation: Blockbusters by Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly

Book Abstract

“Great companies succeed and endure because they continually produce great products. Companies fail because they have forgotten this simple truth. Manipulating inventory values, accelerating depreciation schedules or moving corporate headquarters offshore does not create value. Even establishing world-class customer service will do little if a company’s products or services are inadequate. To produce real value, companies must develop and launch great, blockbuster products – this is the heart and soul of any successful business.”

– Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly

With that in mind, a 10-year research program of more than 700 product development teams found there were five best practices which successful development teams followed and which the also-rans did not:

All five of these practices fit together carefully and deliberately. That means to succeed, all five practices must be implemented simultaneously. If just three or four of these practices are used, the chances of success drop dramatically. Note also none of these practices are size dependent – that is, blockbuster new products are just as likely to come from small companies as they are to come from large corporations. The differentiator is not the size of the development team or even the available budget, but the adherence to these five best practices. They have worked for several of the most profitable teams ever assembled and they will work equally well again in the future.

“We believe that if your team excels at these five practices, its probability of failure is virtually zero. That’s our promise, and it’s a promise that we have demonstrated statistically. The second bit of good news is that these practices are all within your control. The bad news is this is not going to be an easy journey. Your team must implement all five practices to succeed. There is no shortcut. This is not about incremental innovation, continuous product innovation or day-to-day innovation. It is about creating a blockbuster new product that knocks your competitor out of the box, sets a new standard for your industry, and possibly creates a new product category. The five essential practices can help you launch one – not a family of them, just one – blockbuster product per division.”

– Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly

About the Author

GARY LYNN (a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology) specializes in product design and new product launches. In addition to developing and commercializing several of his own products, Dr. Lynn is also the author or coauthor of three books on technology, innovation and marketing including Breaking Through Bureaucracy and From Concept to Market.

RICHARD REILLY, also a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology, is a recognized authority on individual and team assessments. Dr. Reilly has previously worked as a research psychologist for Bell Laboratories and AT&T.

Important Note About This Ebook

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book. This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, viewpoints and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.

Summary of Blockbusters (Gary Lynn and Richard Reilly)

Best Practice #1: Active leadership from senior managers

Blockbuster teams don’t just have the approval of high level managers but their full commitment and intimate involvement. These teams succeed because the business managers get closely involved in clearing away hurdles, backing the project and giving the team the authority they need to actually get things done.

The concept of empowerment sounds “new age” and great. The reality of the workplace, however, is that unless a senior manager takes a hands-on role in developing a new product, the project will never achieve anything substantial. Or, put another way, without fail, blockbuster products only ever succeed when the firm’s top managers become intimately and actively involved in every aspect of the development program.

There are several roles senior managers can play in a new product development program:

Project leader – The company president or CEO can personally manage every aspect of the program – everything from controlling the schedule through to designing prototypes and participating in field testing. A manager who is hands-on to this degree motivates and focuses the entire team.Technical guru – Senior managers who have a technical background may become the lead person for some technology aspect of the development program. When the CEO is the technical expert, he or she can ensure the project stays on track rather than getting sidetracked.Coach – Coaches solve problems by making the tough calls nobody else wants to. When the CEO or another top manager functions in this role for a team, that team then becomes the center of action for the entire firm. A coach finds the way to get every member of the team performing up to their potential.Active champion –