Think Big, Act Small: How America's Most Profitable Companies Keep the Start-Up Spirit Alive

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Think Big, Act Small: How America's Most Profitable Companies Keep the Start-Up Spirit Alive Pub. Date: 5/28/2005 Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

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Overview

Is it possible for a company to grow its revenues and profits by 10 percent or more for at least ten consecutive years, not counting acquisitions? That’s an incredibly high bar for growth and profitability, one that 99.99 percent of American companies can’t meet—including the famous ones that routinely land on magazine covers.

Management expert Jason Jennings screened 100,000 companies to identify nine little- known firms that have delivered stellar performance for a full decade or more, despite the ups and downs of the economy. And, as he reveals in his new book, these superstars have a lot in common despite their wide range of industries, which includes software, food services, medical supplies, and sporting goods.

It turns out that the best long-term performers all combine the strengths of a big organization with the hunger of a start-up. They build excellent relationships with their customers, suppliers, workers, and shareholders. They groom future leaders at all levels. They balance their short-term goals with their long-term visions. And they teach their managers to get their hands dirty.

Jennings did extensive interviews at his nine featured companies to find out exactly how they consistently increase revenue and profits without using manipulation or gimmickry. He reveals their unique approach to leadership and shows how any company, no matter what size or industry, can benefit from following their examples.

Think Big, Act Small may be the most powerful management book since Good to Great and Execution.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

The latest insightful and inspirational title from Jennings (Less Is More; ...It's the Fast That Eat the Slow) again demonstrates potential profitability in contrary concepts. Offering engaging case studies of nine of the country's best performing (if unfamiliar) businesses, Jennings identifies 10 practices they all have in common, which, he argues, catapulted them into the rarefied category of increasing profits and revenue by 10% or more for at least 10 consecutive years. They cut across a wide spectrum of enterprises, but all, according to Jennings, have "nailed the fundamentals." Ten bullet-pointed and chart-summarized chapters with prescriptive titles present the basics that these prosperous business have mastered and asserts that others who apply the principles will also fatten their bottom lines. In breezy prose with plenty of anecdotes from CEO and worker interviews, Jennings argues that regardless of how big a company becomes, acting big and ignoring the needs of employees, merchants and customers always leads to lost profit. Concluding sections offer business self- evaluation materials, fascinating background on research methodologies and more data; the whole will not disappoint Jennings's fans. Agent, Alan Nevins. (May 9) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781591840763
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Publication date: 5/28/2005
Pages: 288
Sales rank: 427,596
Product dimensions: 6.34 (w) x 9.29 (h) x 1.03 (d)

Meet the Author

Jason Jennings has spent more than twenty years teaching businesspeople how to build great organizations. He gives more than sixty keynote speeches every year and is the author of two previous business bestsellers: Less Is More and It's Not the Big That Eat the Small, It's the Fast that Eat the Slow. He lives near San Francisco.

Sect. 1	Think big	1
Sect. 2	The building blocks	9
1	Down to earth	11
2	Keep your hands dirty : SAS institute	27
3	Make short-term goals and long-term horizons : Sonic Drive-in	42
4	Let go : Cabela's	56
5	Have everyone think and act like an owner : Koch Industries	72
6	Invent new businesses : Dot Foods	91
7	Create win-win solutions : Medline Industries	110
8	Choose your competitors : PETCO Animal Supplies	130
9	Build communities : Strayer Education	149
10	Grow future leaders : O'Reilly Automotive	167
Sect. 3	The QUAD : a self-evaluation and ranking	187
Sect. 4	The research	203
Sect. 5	Charts	221
	Conclusion	231

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Anonymous

Posted January 23, 2006

Stunningly Useful for Growing Businesses

We recommend this book to all companies dealing with growth. If your business is content with staying small, skip it. Read this book if you are in a growing business or in one that lost its way while it expanded. The final quiz section, where author Jason Jennings walks you through a series of exercises to identify where your business falls in his rubric, is not so impressive. Skim it. Everything else in the book is stunningly useful. Jennings and his staff did a lot of research, including both statistical analysis and first-person interviews. They also reflected seriously on the sorts of businesses they should hold up as models for others to follow. These model businesses operate in fields ranging from fast food (SONIC) to sports outfitting (Cabela¿s). Some of these enterprises - such as Strayer University, the higher education representative - initially seem too specialized to provide generalizable lessons, but Jennings succeeds in making them relevant. The result is a book that is entertaining and convincing, if not always easy to follow. After all, Jennings wants you to become proficient at business fundamentals, an asset which is, as he notes, both rare and difficult.
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Anonymous

Posted June 8, 2005

A 'must read' for business leaders

There is no bigger challenge for big companies than getting too big to serve their customers. Read this at your own risk: Jennings has loaded this one with explicit ideas that get your company thinking big and acting small.
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Posted March 1, 2012

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Posted February 13, 2010

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