Smart Rivals: How Innovative Companies Play Games That Tech Giants Can’t Win
Feng Zhu and Bonnie Yining Cao
Harvard Business Review Press (August 2024)
The smart rival company’s road to success is paved with smart innovation
Most of the counsel that Zhu and Cao provide in Smart Rivals offers few (if any) head-snapping revelations, nor do they claim to. Both are empiricists whose research on business success and (yes) failure focuses on what works, what doesn’t, and especially WHY. They lock in on exemplar companies that include Domino’s Pizza (Pages 9-16 and 39-40), Sephora (11-12 and 16-19), Nike (47-48 and 93-95), Powell’s Books (67-68), and Home Depot (68-69). What were they up against? What did they have going for them? What are the most important lessons to be learned from each?
These are among the passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to indicate the nature and scope of Zhu and Cao’s coverage:
o Fight the Right Battle (Pages 1-8)
o Amplify Strengths (9-10 and 11-28)
o Focusing on strengths of traditional businesses (11-28)
o Customer centricity (29-51))
o China (20-21, 27-29, 37-39, 79-83, and 125-127)
o Financial institutions (36-39)
o Customer issues (36-40, 44-47, 66-71, and 108-109)
o Platform business models (53-78, 75-78, 83-84, and 136-137)
o Keys to success in platform business models (58-75)
o Key performance indicators (71-72)
o Operating models (71-75 and 134-135)
o Grow Your Own Ecosystem (79-101)
o Principles for Growing Ecosystems (84-97)
o Understand and Manage Co-Innovation Risks in Your Ecosystem (97-101)
o Risks of Partnering with Tech Giant(s (105-110
o Relationships with Regulations/Regulators (119-123 and 136-139)
o Managing Disruptions (125-144)
o Fighting Brands (128-130)
o Core Capabilities (140-143)
o Conclusion: Become Smart Rivals (145-147)
I commend Cao on their brilliant, substantial contributions to thought leadership throughout the global marketplace and highly recommend this material to all C-level executives and those who aspire to become one as well as to those who are now preparing for a business career or have only recently embarked upon one.
Throughout Smart Rivals, Feng Zhu and Bonnie Yining Caourge urge leaders of traditional businesses to become smart rivals “by forging their own paths, steering clear of the pitfall of mimicking tech giants — often the most challenging route to growth and success.”
They provide an abundance of valuable information, insights, and counsel that, they fervently hope, will help these leaders to design unique strategies to amplify their competitive advantage, drive customer centricity, grow platforms and ecosystems, navigate frenemy relations, and adapt to disruptions. I agree: “Business leaders must cultivate a smart rival mindset, c consistently engaging in strategies that the giants find difficult to compete against.”
If thinking about this opportunity puts white caps on your gray matter, Smart Rivals is a must-read for you.
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Here are two suggestions while you are reading Smart Rivals: First, highlight key passages. Also, perhaps in a notebook kept near-at-hand (e.g. Apica Premium C.D. Notebook A5), record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines). Pay special attention to the chapter title and “Things to Look Out For” warnings at the end of chapters.
These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.