Book Review:Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad

ISBN 0-87584-416-2, Cost $24.95. First published in 1994 by Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 296 pages plus notes

Competing for the Future, written in 1994, extols senior management to create a sense of direction, discovery and destiny to beat the competition to 'get to the future first'. Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, both eminent corporate strategists, introduce two theories on management thinking. Firstly creating strategic intent, and then understanding the core competencies to achieve the intent. As with so many books on management, the question is has the content stood the test of time, and are the messages still relevant?

Although the corporate examples quoted in the book, such as DEC and TWA, may now seem somewhat dated, the essential messages still hold good in that senior managers spend too much time pursuing the current business model of operational efficiencies, profit and 'down' or 'right' sizing (means less people). By definition this means that too little time is spent on the future strategy in terms of foresight, intent, commitment and competencies.

Hamel and Prahalad argue that managers become comfortable re-engineering' today's business processes to maintain the status quo, and do not spend enough time 'regenerating' business processes to meet future competition. An essential element is attracting new thinking by younger minds, and listening to their ideas. To ensure future competencies, the next generation of managers must learn faster, epitomized by the younger generation who have less to 'unlearn'.

The assumption that senior management is in control of the company strategy is challenged by this book. To this end a management questionnaire is offered which I suspect some managers may be wary of taking, even after 12 years!

This book is about strategy, a cynic might suspect that its prime goal is to generate consulting fees rather than inform an open mind, but this is too harsh a view. Perhaps the book should be described as a 'should read' rather than a 'must read', but its content has stood the test of time, and its messages are possibly more relevant today than when the book was written. The faster the business world changes, the less time is dedicated to future strategy. A quote by Gary Hamel encapsulates the book; 'On the road to the future, who will be the windshield, and who will be the bug?'

Also in this issue . . . .

The PLM Universe: Nick Ballard gives his latest view of the Engineering Applications market Everyone likes Sausages..: Nick Ballard compares market numbers to sausages...

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