Business Agility: Sustainable Prosperity in a Relentlessly Competitive World Hardcover – Illustrated, March 3, 2009

Michael Hugos is one of my new Intellectual heroes. His works blend theory with reality in a fascinating way, he's like a Thucydides in business: His ideas don't come merely from study, he's actually been practicing them in the real world! I'm a business student, so perhaps I just don't have the experience to completely apply the theories in from most business writers, but reading Michael Hugos work just makes the theories click inside my head from his real world examples and super description. Example: I might read about Porters 5 Strategy Test and drill in my head "I must apply Fit across my value chain" but don't really know what that actually means. Hugos gives real life examples and step by step descriptions on how to apply this on businesses, and NOW the theories I've previously read begin to make sense and I can apply the ideas on a broader concept.Another example is Porters claim that you must reduce costs from business activities or increase the price of your products and services with tailored value propositions. This is too abstract, its difficult to apply this concept into a real world setting, but Hugos gives the most brilliant and clear description of how to achieve this through Information Technology and achieve Alpha Profits.Overall this is one of the most influential business books I've read and has completely altered the way I understand business and the career path I had planned. It shows how IT interconnects with every aspect of the company from Operational Effectiveness, Value Proposition, Corporate Strategy, Human Resource Management, etc. Its the kind of book I can't wait to reread several times and completely internalize its ideas on my head.-Eugene V. Sheely

GREAT BOOK FOR GOOD PRICE. THANKS

When trying to revitalize Office Depot, I was looking for ways to increase the overall business agility. As moving a giant isn’t easy, I ordered over 10 books on agility, ranging from ICT to Logistics and Business. Big organisations face challenges in renewing themselves. Although it is not an easy endeavour to revitalize a giant, the principles as presented by Mr. Michael Hugos, clearly explain how to differentiate between Lean and Leap aspects in the organisation.Perhaps even more important than the concept of Business Agility itself, is the practical way in which Mr. Hugos transforms vision into action. The book is suited for both conceptual and non-conceptual readers, offering practical advice to increase the overall Business Agility. Regardless if you are aiming to increase the R&D impact of your organisation, or if you are trying to optimize the overall efficiency, the book offers a guide to separate Lean from Leap and to harmonize energy in creating an integrated approach. Since the book connects well to all types of people, it introduces a common language that allows any board to discuss overall Business Agility, regardless of the background or orientation of individual board members. It connects beyond a board's or team's diversity.Although one could argue if I succeeded in renewing Office Depot’s overall agility, I have applied the principles multiple times at both corporate organisations as SME companies. These companies include Philips, Unilever and HAL Investments. The principles that Mr. Hugos explains are universal and practical. This is a must for anybody that realizes that organisations have a life cycle. In current environment it’s important to maintain operational efficiency whilst simultaneously organizing market driven innovations that have a relevant impact at corporate level. This is where Business Agility makes the difference and adds on to existing literature. I have applied the concept of Mr. Hugos in both big and small companies, ranging from 20 FTE to 90.000 FTE.Business Agility is a must for any modern self-conscious business leader or any person that wants to contribute to the overall organisational agility. This book is the missing link between a lot of the existing literature and allows you to accelerate your company in multiple ways. It connects well across functional disciplines and allows you to create an overall agility agenda for your company. Business Agility by Mr. Michael Hugos has made it to my personal top 5 of favourite business books. Feel free to just buy the book, or connect with me at Linked-in if you have any further questions.Kind regards,Sjef de Corte

We have been historically conditioned to believe that he who brings the lowest price to the market will have the greatest success because the lowest price has always implied the one with the greatest efficiency. Mr. Hugos provides a compelling argument that this age-old notion is not sustainable when low cost services and commodities are readily available in a globally connected market. He sums it up succinctly and poignantly when he declares "responsiveness trumps efficiency" and after reading his book, it is clear that the sustainability of an organization in this modern era depends on its ability to become agile and foster a culture of continuous innovation.John M. Phillips, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Briggs

As a software developer who has been implementing the principles of Agile software development for over 8 years, I have become increasingly interested in exploring how to employ these concepts in to broader business context. I stumbled across this book, by a referal from a contact on linkedin. I found this book most enlightening, and my only regret is that I have never read it earlier. I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone who is exploring how to use IT in order to improve a businesses business agility, by better employing it's existing IT capability.