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The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building A Disruptively Better Business (2011)

by Umair Haque(Favorite Author)

3.91 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1422158586 (ISBN13: 9781422158586)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Harvard Business Review Press

review 1: THE MAIN IDEA Capitalism as it’s functioned for last few hundred years is morally bankrupt and, more importantly, no longer works. Capitalism needs to be reinvented. And, in its new shape, it will help power a new generation of growth – but in a sustainable and long-term manner. This book – as a manifesto – outlines what needs to be done to ensure that this transformation occurs. INTERESTING TIDBIT He has also recently been awarded a place on the prestigious Thinkers50 list, the premier ranking of global business thinkers. WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW Businesses need to shift towards the creation of thick value. Thick value lasts over the long-term – beyond simple production and consumption cycles – and makes a meaningful impact on people’s lives. Thick value... more grows over times and acts to create ever-wider virtuous circles that benefit an ever wider range of stakeholders from shareholders and consumers through the global environmental system as a whole. THE GENERAL OVERVIEW This is a really interesting book. People tend to throw the term disruptive around a lot nowadays and it’s becoming increasingly faddish – much like innovation was during the last 5-10 years. But this book really does provide some very concrete ways in which capitalism – as a global system – can be productively disrupted and help lead to the creation of what the author terms thick value. In the book, thick value is defined as: “value that’s meaningful in human terms, reflecting durable, tangible gains.” Using a wide range of case studies, and data from a slew of companies undertaking the kind of change advocated in this book – a convincing case is made not only that change is required, but how this change can be brought about. Without going into too much detail the book outlines five key shifts that required for organizations to undertake as part of their shift towards the creation of thick value. These five shifts are: value chains => value cycles value propositions => value conversations strategies => philosophies protection => completion goods => betters Much of what the book discusses could be dismissed as pie-in-the-sky idealism and dreaming were it not the fact that the ideas discussed in the book are drawn from case studies of some of the most successful companies in the world today – including Nike, Walmart and Starbucks and host of others. It’s the mixture of big picture thinking with very concrete examples drawn from these very successful companies that makes this book so good and so useful for business really wanting to make positive change in the world. This is a book well-worth reading – and reading again! We did!
review 2: A truly thought-provoking, but somewhat flawed book. I highly recommend reading it and I know that I will be keeping Haque's points in mind thinking about my own and other businesses. However, I couldn't help but feel uneasy over the pollyannaish treatment of his exemplar companies. There's a brief admission near the end that those companies (Google, Nike, Wal-Mart, etc.) aren't perfect, but I think that really falls short. Those and any company are still engaging in bare knuckle 20th century style competition even if they are partly transitioned into Haque's 21st model.BUT, do read the book yourself and make your own judgement. less

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