Jennings has written several business best-sellers, including Less Is More, It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small...It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow, and most recently Think BIG, Act Small. He continues to travel the world, working closely with some of the largest multi-national corporations when not speaking to international trade and professional associations as well as economic development councils. Jennings’ focus is on eight companies which “use productivity as a competitive tool in business.” He set out to learn how they got that way and which lessons can be learned from them which “any company could follow.”
As he explains in this volume, he and his research associates examined more than 4,000 companies, settled on a short list of 100, and then reduced it to the top eight outstanding performers. The criteria for evaluation and selection included revenue per employee, return on equity, return on assets, and operating income per employee. Next, questions were posed such as “Has the company been overexposed?” and “Might this company pull an Enron?”. Here are the eight: IKEA, Lantech, Nucor, Ryanair, SRC Holdings, World Savings, Yellow Freight, and The Warehouse. When discussing them, Jennings focuses with meticulous on issues such as these:
Each of these is subjected to a rigorous and eloquent analysis. By this process Jennings reveals the “lessons” referred to earlier. All of these lessons are directly relevant to all organizations (regardless of size and nature) and can be effectively applied if (huge IF) those who read this book select an appropriate course of action from among the four options Jennings identifies. If nothing else, each reader can model him or herself after the principles and traits of the most productive companies and their leaders. By doing so, they will add a “turbocharger” to their professional growth.
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