Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink: Why 40 Percent of Your Business Is Unprofitable and How to Fix It

by Jonathan L.S. Byrnes

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

* 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 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.

Genres: Business

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2010

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Veerrrrryyyyy dry corporate exec book. Focus on managing sales and workforces, supply chain, blahblahblah. I got more than enough of this in college.

[Effendy Yahaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Exactly the right time as I need it. The next quarter I shall then perform the funnel analysis, in deep. Next on company assessment, for each of the forces. In order words, identify the key independence and contribution for the company growth, skills, knowledge and experiences that to be imparted for the middle manager. Realign the company roadmap as I really need to focus on and strategize properly. THat should covers the gist of that this book lay the foundation, reference and guideline on what what went missing, practically and the most efficient. I will apply it soon. Great!

[Barry Linetsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical with a lot of great ideas and case studies on how to find ways to enhance profitability. The advice and case studies are rooted in real business problems and real initiatives that most businesses face.

[Lisa]

Couldn't finish