Leap

Every business faces the existential threat of competitors producing cheaper
copies. Even patent filings, market dominance and financial resources can't
shield them from copycats. So what can we do -- and, what can we learn from
companies that have endured and even prospered for centuries despite copycat
competition?

In a book of narrative history and practical strategy, IMD professor of
management and innovation Howard Yu shows that succeeding in today's
marketplace is no longer just a matter of mastering copycat tactics, companies
also need to leap across knowledge disciplines, and to reimagine how a product
is made or a service is delivered. This proven tactic can protect a company
from being overtaken by new (and often foreign) copycat competitors.

Using riveting case studies of successful leaps and tragic falls, Yu
illustrates five principles to success that span a wide range of industries,
countries, and eras. Learn about how P&G; in the 19th century made the leap
from handcrafted soaps and candles to mass production of its signature brand
Ivory, leaped into the new fields of consumer psychology and advertising, then
leaped again, at the risk of cannibalizing its core product, into synthetic
detergents and won with Tide in 1946. Learn about how Novartis and other
pharma pioneers stayed ahead by making leaps from chemistry to microbiology to
genomics in drug discovery; and how forward-thinking companies, including
China's largest social media app -- WeChat, Tokyo-based Internet service
provider Recruit Holdings, and Illinois-headquartered John Deere are leaping
ahead by leveraging the emergence of ubiquitous connectivity, the inexorable
rise of intelligent machines, and the rising importance of managerial
creativity.

Outlasting competition is difficult; doing so over decades or a century is
nearly impossible -- unless one leaps. Ultimately, Leap is a manifesto for how
pioneering companies can endure and prosper in a world of constant change and
inevitable copycats.