Growth and Competitive Strategy in 3 Circles

Reviewed by Lance Gentry, Professor, University of Mary Washington on 6/10/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This is not a comprehensive book on strategy. Nor is that the intent of the book. Instead it provides a ten-step process for developing and implementing a competitive growth strategy. For that purpose it does a good job. It would be much better if the book included both a table of contents and an index.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

It is well-written and seems free of bias.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book should be timeless. It is not based on specific technologies, but on general planning and implementation. The planning is grounded in marketing truths emphasizing customer value and differentiation. The implementation encourages managers to focus on distinctive capabilities, resources, and assets that support the planning.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is easy to read and appropriate for both undergraduates and graduates who already have a basic understanding of business vocabulary and concepts.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is internally consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

The book has eight primary chapters and a ninth chapter summarizing everything. These chapters have subheadings and sections and can also be easily divided. Technically the book has ten chapters, but the last is simply a Works Cited section and is not really a chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The book is well organized. However, it could greatly benefit from a table of contents and an index. It would also be improved if each of the steps was a separate chapter (and the Works Cited was not called a chapter).

Interface rating: 5

No issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No problems.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No issues.

Comments

This is a useful tool for students who already understand basic marketing and management concepts. It provides them with clear directions on how to develop and implement a market-driven growth strategy.

Reviewed by Robert Samples, Faculty Specialist , Western Michigan University on 5/4/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

While most strategy text books focus on the 10 steps involved in establishing a strategy, this book focuses on the functional aspect of how those steps impact; the Customer, the Company, and the Competition. Students will learn how to apply the (10) elements of a strategy into an actual growth plan. As a former VP of Marketing for a Fortune 100 firm, this book aligns well with the process used in a corporate planning setting to build a growth strategy. The students leave with a far more useful idea of how to build or think through a strategic plan, then they would from a standard textbook.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not find any major errors in this book. While some content was dated, that was easily managed by using current examples of marketing growth strategies from industry reports and experts.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The 3 Circles Growth strategy is far more relevant than other text books I have used in the past. It aligns well with current business practices and the examples are easily updated by drawing from current events and publications.

Clarity rating: 4

This eBook is clear and easy to understand. The only markdown is for repetitiveness of some material.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology and content flowed consistently throughout the book.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is easy to break into three separate sections. I used this to establish team "Board Meetings" for each circle, to help guide the class on dealing with each in detail as they worked on a strategy case in small teams.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I found the three circles helped build a natural and logical progression of thought.

Interface rating: 5

I, nor any of my students had any problems accessing the text and materials.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No notable grammatical errors were noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

While one example was from a parochial school, non of the material was offensive or insensitive in any way.

Comments

I found this text book both relevant and stimulating for students who wan't to learn about developing a marketing growth strategy. It is easy to build this into a semester long team strategy case assignment also. It would be nice to have more materials available on testing and/or audio visual tools for the classroom.

Reviewed by Wayne Speer, Visiting Prof of Entrprenerurial Studies, Miami U - Oxford on 8/2/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book does a very good job covering the marketing approach to developing strategy. It pulls in many processes, approaches and other resources - that encompass a 'total' approach. I like how it links back to the firm.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I have no reason to doubt this. It sites many examples of cases in business to illustrate it's approach ( 3- Circle)

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Actually, I am pleasantly surprised., Although it does reference Palm Pilot. - many of the other references are current ( enough)

Clarity rating: 5

Excellent. It uses common, "non-academic", language and is easily understood.

Consistency rating: 5

Excellent.Throughout the text - the same language, references, etc. are great.

Modularity rating: 5

9 Chapters, and the layout is easy and consistent throughout. The heading,sub heading are also consistent - so you know what each chapter is building in content.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The build ( flow) was logical and easy to follow. The text build to a natural end-state.

Interface rating: 5

The text has no interface issues

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Non grammatical errors.
There was one chart -where the labeling was incorrect ( B was not in the appropriate place - but no issues)

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

It used a very wide range of references - non are offensive

Comments

I thought it was extremely good. The 3-Circle approach uses the visualization - to help the reader "see'" the development of a Growth Strategy. I will likely incorporate some of the content into my Marketing MBA class.

Reviewed by James Stock, Distinguished University Professor, University of South Florida on 3/27/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

For a text on marketing strategy, the book presents a reasonably comprehensive view of the major components of strategy. The fundamental focus of the text is the customer value proposition, which is a very good way of approaching marketing strategy. The 3 Circle concepts is relatively straightforward and can be easily grasped by students. I have used the text in my graduate Marketing Stragegy course and the concepts seem to be well understood by the students and the examples in the text bring the concepts to life. I have not used the text in an undergraduate class, but would assume that at a senior level, the text would also be well received. The only significant omission and suggestion would be to include some in-depth discussion of the distribution aspects of marketing strategy, especially as they relate to omnichannel retailing and supply chain management. These are issues of importance in the customer value equation. Otherwise, the text is fairly comprehensive from a marketing mix perspective. I did not see a glossary or index in the text, so I cannot comment on those items. Having said that, it did not seem to be a problem in that the concepts are defined adequately in the text and because the text is only slightly over 200 pages, an index is not really necessary. A list of references is provided and it seems comprehensive, but most teachers will likely not have time to research the articles and books that are referenced therein.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not see any errors in terms of content. The text is written in a generally objective fashion, so no bias is evident. The examples are very good for the most part and of sufficient length is be useful in illustrating various topics and issues. Overall, the text appears to be a good representation of the relevant literature in marketing and strategy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The examples and illustrations are fairly recent and most students will be able to relate to them. The majority of the examples, whether they are industry- or firm-specific, are appropriate and recent enough so that readers will be able to "fill in the blanks" if more detail is required. The text can probably be relevant without updating for at least a few more years. I would add some of the Amazon-related material as well as additional discussion of technologies such as blockchains, artificial intelligence, automation, demand sensing, big data analytics, etc.

Clarity rating: 5

I found the text to be reader friendly; that is, it was not too academic. It has a good blend of theory and practice and the use of the 3 Circles model ties everything together very well.

Consistency rating: 5

Everything is tied together well and is presented in a logical and consistent fashion. I did not notice any inconsistencies in the discussion, examples/illustrations, or exhibits. Terms used will be understood by most students, so there is no confusion there.

Modularity rating: 4

The modules or chapters are standard, that is, they can be covered individually, although I would hestitate to discuss them out of order since they are best taught in sequence. I don't find the nine chapters to be presented differently than most other marketing texts, which is a good thing inasmuch as students and teachers are used to having such order in a text. Other marketing texts can be presented in varying order or sequence as determined by the instructor. This text does not lend itself to having an instructor cover chapters out of order or sequence. Whether one views that as a pro or con depends on the teaching approach used by the instructor. In my class I did not mind covering the chapters in the order that they were presented by the authors.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The structure and sequencing of the text is fine. Chapters build upon one another and the 3 Circle concept ties it all togeter.

Interface rating: 3

The use of figures, charts and exhibits are adequate. More of them would be better. Some exhibits are very busy and take time to absorb the material because of the large number of elements that are presented. I'm afraid that students for the most part would skim over those very busy exhibits rather than sudy them in detail. The content is there, but it would be better if the students could digest them in smaller bites rather than try to consume them in one large mouthful. This is one aspect of the text which would benefit from an update/revision.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not see any grammatical errors in a general reading of the text. Likely there are probably some errors given 200+ pages, but I did not read the text as a proofreader, but only as a person who wanted to grasp concepts and strategies.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

My classes tend to have a majority of international students in them and i have not sensed any cultural problems surrounding the material in the text or the approach used to cover the concepts and applications. Most of the examples and illustrations seem to be relevant to students of any culture.

Comments

The book does a reasonably good job at presenting a relatively simplistic but pragmatic approach to marketing strategy. It has served me well in my graduate classes on marketing strategy and should be effective in a senior-level course at the undergraduate level. I would not hesitate to recommend this text to instructors teaching such courses. The customer value oridentation of the text is a big plus!