The Art of Profitability

Unabridged
Author: Adrian Slywotzky
Narrator: Scott Mosenson , Jack Ong
Genres: Business, Finance
Publisher: Time Warner Audio Books
Date: September 2002
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
Formats:
  • CD

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Overview

What do Barbie dolls, Nokia phones, and American Express credit cards have in common? They all represent a powerful business model called pyramid profit. How about Intel, Microsoft, and Stephen King? They all exploit another model called value chain position profit.

THE ART OF PROFITABILITY reveals the invisible but important governing principles that can mean the difference between business failure and success. Writing with wit and provocative insight, bestselling author Adrian Slywotzy tells the story of eccentric strategy teacher David Zhao and his young student. Each of the book's twenty-three chapters presents a lesson from the exuberant and always challenging master—and a profit paradigm that will open your mind to the many ways to make profit happen.

You'll understand-from a different perspective-how your company and your competitors generate profit…which business models can be best applied to your profit-making strategy…what specific actions your organization can take in the next ninety days to improve its bottom line...and more.

With scores of examples from today's global marketplace, a weekly assignment, and an eclectic business reading list ranging from Obvious Adams to Einstein's Dreams, THE ART OF PROFITABILITY invites anyone in business to engage in the lively exchange between mentor and protégé. Enter the classroom. Discover the art. And learn which form of profitability will help your company succeed today and grow tomorrow.

About the readers:
Scott Morenson appeared in the movies EXTREME HONOR, BULWORTH, and CLOCKWATCHERS. He also appears on television in CHARMED, ER, FRIENDS, JUST SHOOT ME, and ELLEN.

Jack Ong appears in the movies CANNES MAN, MAC AND ME, and FOR KEEPS. His television credits include THE BERNIE MAC SHOW, DHARMA & GREG, THE SIMPSONS, FRIENDS, and CHICAGO HOPE.

Selected Reviews

Better in print?

by Travis Wise
  • Book Rating: 2/5

Art of Profitability

by Evanston
  • Book Rating: 5/5

More...

Read All 16

Reviews (16)

Better in print?

Written by Travis Wise on December 8th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 2/5

Probably much better as a book. That way you could check the references and see the mentioned illustrations.

Art of Profitability

Written by Evanston on December 28th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Great book. The writing is very percise and goes into detail but with a really good story method. The readers are very good and come to life really well in this book. I would recommend this for anyone.

Excellent!

Written by Anonymous on November 17th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Excellent - very thought provoking and engaging - especially for a business book. Makes me want to go out and buy a hard copy and underline parts of it.

Very Good - Buy The Book

Written by RAnderson on October 20th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This is a great listen - I recommend it for anyone that ownes a business.

Disappointing

Written by Aaron Weast on September 25th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 1/5

A disappointing listen. I found myself literally laughing out loud at the writing. The book is flooded with excessive dramatic writing which is applied to situations that simply don't warrant it. It's as if the author was confused whether he was writing a romantic novel or a business book.

Art of Profitability

Written by Gail Kurpgeweit on April 21st, 2006

  • Book Rating: 1/5

BORING!!! I couldn't even complete the first tape because it was so monotone and boring - I kept dozing off. The writer was trying to make this topic more interesting by turning it into a story, but all that was really accomplished was that the one character rambled on and on and on and on and on and gave little "meat and potatoes" about the subject. Since I didn't finish the audiotapes, I don't know if I could have learned something valuable here, which is what I had hoped to do; but bottom line I would rather read a textbook that gets right to the point any day of the week! This was just awful!!!

Very good business book

Written by Larry Longtin on March 5th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

This is a surprisingly good business book. Although the narrative approach gets a little annoying at times, the content is very good. The book defines about 25 profit models in a way that very different businesses easier to understand.

Entertaining & Enlightening

Written by Ralph Perelis on January 4th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Breaks Profit Models down to simple business engineering.

The Art of Profitability

Written by Robert Weir on November 1st, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I expected to be bored. However, I was pleasantly surprized by this book. There are a number of business principles illustrated by the author in a very interesting and instructive manner. I was encouraged to buy the text after listening to this program and have thought of several new approaches to my job as a result.

Art of Profitability

Written by Roy Godwin on July 26th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 3/5

The story style presentation makes an otherwise dull but necessary business topic interesting. It has caused me to want to look more in depth into the concepts and principles of profitability.

Selected Reviews

Better in print?

by Travis Wise
  • Book Rating: 2/5

Art of Profitability

by Evanston
  • Book Rating: 5/5

More...

Read All 16

Author Details

Author Details

Slywotzky, Adrian

"Adrian Slywotzky is today?s foremost authority on growing business in slow-growth or no-growth markets. He can also tell you how to find, track, and exploit migrating value for competitive advantage, how to create profit models that fit your business, and how to develop innovative business designs to create new profits. He has worked extensively at the CEO level on issues relating to new business development and value growth, and speaks frequently on the changing face of business strategy, Value Migration?, and business design. His latest book, How to Grow When Markets Don?t (Richard Wise, coauthor), explains how companies can employ ?demand innovation? to fuel growth in markets that seemingly have run out of steam. Adrian Slywotzky is Vice President and board member of Mercer Management Consulting, Inc., a global-strategy consulting firm that develops strategies for growth in changing markets.

Mr. Slywotzky has unlocked the secrets of companies that have managed to create impressive revenue and profit growth in markets that have sluggish growth or none at all. Demand innovation?the core idea in How to Grow When Markets Don?t?goes beyond the usual approach of improving products to generate new profits by describing how to recognize the opportunities for new profits that surround a product. Shifting from product innovation to demand innovation is the answer, and companies that use this strategy can grow in an unpromising business landscape.

Mr. Slywotzky?s previous book, The Art of Profitability, outlines 23 profit models, each uniquely suited to different businesses, customers, and markets. He is also author of The Profit Zone, which BusinessWeek named one of the top 10 business books of 1998.

In his work with the leadership of major corporations, Adrian has developed customer-based strategies and effective new business designs that are drawn from in-depth research on companies that have been registering double-digit growth for years. These new ideas about customers and innovation help companies grow again and again, in the face of changing business environments.

Mr. Slywotzky has been featured at The World Economic Forum at Davos and at numerous conferences sponsored by The Conference Board and The Planning Forum. He was a keynote speaker at the 1997 Microsoft CEO Summit, and has been the keynote speaker at the Forbes CEO Forum, the Fortune CEO Conference, and the Fortune CIO Conference.
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