Thinking Inside the Box: The 12 Timeless Rules for Managing a Successful Business

For the past decade and more, everyone in business was told that success in a rapidly changing world required constant thinking outside the box. The result has often been financially and ethically disastrous. Now, in a radical reassessment of what really works, this book shows that the business world lost its way when it forgot how to think inside the box. Challenging the prevailing wisdom and trend-of-the-minute management advice, award-winning journalist and international businessman Kirk Cheyfitz lays out a set of historically proven principles he calls The Box -- the 12 unchanging rules for building, expanding, and maintaining a strong business. Everyone with an interest in business -- whether students, entrepreneurs, corporate managers, consultants, or CEOs -- will benefit from the brilliant and fundamental insights of Thinking Inside The Box: . Learn to tell the difference between what can and cannot be controlled by management, and focus on the areas that will make the most difference. . Understand the economic principles that never change so you can devote your attention to the things that are changing all the time. . Rediscover the critical discipline of planning for profit. . Understand why some acquisitions work and most don't. . And much more... The book draws on in-depth research, Cheyfitz's long personal experience as an entrepreneur and corporate manager, and revealing interviews with business leaders such as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Prudential Securities CEO John Strangfeld. Combining these elements, Cheyfitz presents a compelling, reliable, and well-documented account of successful business practices that have met the challenges of the ages.