Focus

"Managers frequently fall for the fallacy that customers are demanding more flavors, more variety, more choices."

"As the world moves to a global economy, companies are going to have to become more specialized."

"The driving force in business today is not convergence, it's division."

"Thoughtful business leaders are quietly beginning to bring their companies into focus."

"The advantage of serving a declining industry is the fact that you can develop a semimonopoly."

"If any concept has been discredited recently, it's the notion that a professional manager can manage anything."

"Whether it's true or not, the consumer believes the better-quality product will win."

"Companies own the quality position where it really counts, in the mind."

"The biggest single barrier to the development of an effective corporate strategy is the strongly held belief that a company has to appeal to the entire market."

"One of the myths of management is the notion that rapid change is desirable."

"Winning conglomerates emphasize execution, which is the only way to differentiate their companies from their conglomerate competitors."

"In an ideal situation, every company would have multiple steps, or brands, in a single-focus strategy and then keep feeding in new brands at the bottom while retiring old brands from the top of the ladder."

"There are four fundamental things you must do to successfully cross the trench: (1) Act early, (2) develop a totally new product, (3) give the new product a new name, and (4) move boldly."

"One of the most important ingredients of a memorable idea is uniqueness at the time you first make the claim."

"A focus should cover only that aspect of your business that represents the future."