BCG Releases a Compendium of Winning Moves and Strategies for Leaders to "Own the Future"

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2013) - The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) announced today the publication of "Own the Future: 50 Ways to Win from The Boston Consulting Group." The book is part of BCG's Game Changing Program -- a year-long endeavor engaging leaders on how to navigate shifts in business and the global economy. (For more on Game Changing, click here.)

"Own the Future" offers 50 powerful ways for executives to face the challenges and seize the opportunities in a time of economic restructuring and rising uncertainty. At the book's core is a manifesto for radical transformation that has been BCG's underlying mission since its founding 50 years ago.

"The decisions that leaders make today and over the next ten years will have an extraordinary and enduring impact on their own fortunes as well as on those of their organizations, the global economy, and society at large," write the editors, BCG President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Lesser and senior partners and managing directors Michael Deimler, David Rhodes, and Janmejaya Sinha. "By definition, the future is unknowable with certainty, but leaders can prepare by developing the capabilities needed to pivot one way or the other depending on circumstances. The goal is to put themselves in the best position to win -- to change the game and own the future."

Ten Attributes of Outstanding Organizations and Their Leaders

"Own the Future" is organized around the ten characteristics that BCG believes organizations should aspire to in order to own the future in their sectors. Tomorrow's leaders will earn their positions by being:

• Adaptive: Matching their strategic approaches to their competitive environments and rapidly adapting in response to turbulence.
  
  
• Global: Pursuing growth where it exists, from the developed world to the emerging cities of the developing one, and striving to be or to beat a "global challenger" -- BCG's term for the developing world's best companies.
  
  
• Connected: Embracing the opportunities and navigating the disruption inherent in the explosion of cheap connectivity -- and seeking tighter connections with employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and other stakeholders.
  
  
• Sustainable: Seeking sustainability not just in the environmental sense, but also through innovative business models that drive profit and competitive advantage by reducing the need for scarce resources while addressing unmet customer needs.
  
  
• Customer First: Founding their strategies on a deep understanding of how to satisfy the needs and overcome the frustrations of key customer segments -- and rethinking the ways they connect with customers.
  
  
• Fit to Win: Ensuring that their organizations go beyond great ideas to execution, and developing superiority on all the organizational and operational dimensions critical to competitive advantage.
  
  
• Value-Driven: Reconciling the imperative for long-term value creation with the need for short- to medium-term results.
  
  
• Trusted: Recognizing that trust, while not reflected on the balance sheet, is the organization's most important and easily squandered asset.
  
  
• Bold: Having the vision, confidence, and courage to take calculated risks, invest in alternative futures, and make the kinds of transformative moves that reshape industries and upend rivals.
  
  
• Inspiring: Providing the spark, the story, and the vision that empower employees to adapt to turbulent times and that inspire customers to follow them into new spaces.
  

To own the future, say the editors in the book's introduction, leaders must do two things. "First, and very fundamentally, they need to win in the marketplace. This is the competitive imperative." Second, "they need to be accountable for their actions. This is the social imperative." And if leaders are to win, if they are to put their stamp on tomorrow, they must decide to do so today.

Ordering information and a summary of the book can be found here.

To arrange an interview with one of the editors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com.

Additional publications related to BCG's Game Changing program can be found here.

About The Boston Consulting Group
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 78 offices in 43 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.

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