Few collaborations have produced so much: A.
Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase through this link we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The CEO who doubled Procter & Gamble's value and Toronto's business school dean turned their collaboration into the most operational strategy framework there is: five cascading choices — winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, capabilities, and management systems — illustrated with the real decisions that transformed Olay and Gillette.
Few collaborations have produced so much: A. G. Lafley doubled Procter & Gamble's value in his first stint as CEO, and Roger Martin — Rotman's dean and his strategic advisor for years — theorized the method they used. «Playing to Win» condenses it into the cascade of five choices: what is our winning aspiration; where do we play (markets, segments, channels); how do we win there; what capabilities do we need; and what management systems make it sustainable. The book's strength is that every concept is illustrated with real P&G decisions — reinventing Olay as a prestige brand in the mass channel, the Gillette acquisition, opening innovation with Connect+Develop — told with their numbers and their doubts. Compared to the more intellectual Rumelt, Lafley and Martin are operational: their framework is built to be used on Monday morning, cascading from the corporation to every brand and function. Its limit is its origin: the method was born in consumer goods and demands adaptation outside it. As a bridge between strategic theory and executive practice, it remains unsurpassed.
For executives and brand or product leads who need an immediately applicable strategy framework; the ideal practical complement after reading Rumelt or Porter.
FactDuring Lafley's tenure as CEO (2000-2010), P&G doubled sales and multiplied profits; the Spanish edition was published by Arpa in 2020.
