The world's greatest business consultant takes the business book down to a whole new level

Not to take anything away from E.F. Hutton, but when Stephen Michael Peter Thomas(r) talks, people really listen. (Or at least they turn their heads in his general direction). And what they hear astounds them. The ideas are so simple. The wisdom so pure. And the concepts as familiar as they are obvious. Stephen Michael Peter Thomas is one of the rare thinkers who can make timeless half-truths sound refreshingly new. (Or maybe it's just that he charges so much that clients have deluded...

Great companies stumble and fall when they lose it. Highfliers crash when a competitor notices they don't have it. Start-ups shut down if they can't develop it. "It" is a strategy so powerful and an execution-driven mindset so relentless that companies use it to gain more than just competitive advantage--they achieve an industry dominance that is virtually unassailable and that competitors often try to explain away as unfair. In their "hardball manifesto," authors George Stalk and Rob Lachenauer of the leading strategy consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group show how hardball competitors...

Trading up isn't just for the wealthy anymore. These days no one is shocked when an administrative assistant buys silk pajamas at Victoria's Secret. Or a young professional buys only Kendall-Jackson premium wines. Or a construction worker splurges on a $3,000 set of Callaway golf clubs.
In dozens of categories, these new luxury brands now sell at huge premiums over conventional goods, and in much larger volumes than traditional old luxury goods. Trading Up has become the definitive book about this growing trend.