The Upside of the Downturn: Ten Management Strategies to Prevail in the Recession and Thrive in the Aftermath

By Geoff Colvin

Book Overview

Never waste a crisis.Some businesses--and some people--will emerge from today's economic tumult stronger and more dominant than when it started. Others will weaken and fade. It all depends on critical choices they make right now.Geoff Colvin, one of America's most respected business jour-nalists, says even the scariest turbulence has an upside. The best managers know that conventional thinking won't help them in tough times. They're taking smart, practical steps--frequently unconventional and even counterintuitive--that will not only keep them strong, but will also distance them from the pack for years to come.The dozens of top-performing leaders Colvin interviewed reject the common view that slashing costs and firing employ­ees are the only effective tactics. They see volatility as a rich opportunity to reinvent their organizations and lay the ground-work for future growth.Colvin shows us how these strategies really work, using exam-ples of major companies that have successfully applied them. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591842964
• ISBN13: 9781591842965
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Portfolio
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Common sense, a contrarian and a touch of ERM

Great to see someone take both a contrarian view and be willing to go on record for it and to apply common sense to the results that quantitative models and their owners projected. Hunkering down is easier to do than to do the extra work, strategy, and risk management needed to thrive over the next few years. Gary W Patterson the FiscalDoctor Author of Stick Out Your Balance Sheet and Cough: Best Practices for Long-Term...

A must for all CEO's

This book was insightful and provided much needed perspective for these turbulent (and opportunistic) times. This is an easy, must read for all C-Suite Execs

A brilliant analysis of "why this historic downturn is so rich with possibilities"

Although in dispute whether or not (as some insist) the Chinese character for the word "crisis" has two meanings, peril and opportunity, the juxtaposition of the two helps to explain Geoff Colvin's response to a question many business leaders now ask: "How can my company survive and then prevail during the current recession, and eventually thrive in its aftermath?" What he recommends are ten management principles (none of...

Drawing the right lessons

My mom told me that "all experiences in life are good ones, but only if you draw the right lessons from them. Otherwise, it is just something that happened to you." My mom and Colvin would have gotten along. In 171 pages, he sets out how to draw the right lessons and what to do now. Here is one gem: "they'll never forget what you do now." Think about employees, clients, vendors and your intereactions with them. How are you...

A good read to help you find a prosperous path through the current financial crisis.

I took a scuba diving training course when I was a teenager so I could go diving with my brothers. Of the many helpful things I took away from that excellent course, one principle more than any of the others has found its way into every aspect of my life: "panic kills". The sudden economic changes we are going through now (and will continue to face over the coming months and years, despite rosy government predictions) too...