Product Description

In a global, complex, and competitive world, developing a plan without testing it against market reaction is like walking blind into a minefield.

War gaming is a metal detector for a company. Yet war games run by the large consulting firms are kept secret and cost millions. For the first time, this book makes them accessible to every product and brand manager, every project leader, every marketing professional, and every planner, no matter how small or large the company.

Business War Games will show you in steps and practical detail:
* How to decide if war gaming is right for you
* Which decisions call for war gaming
* How to prepare, organize, and run a realistic and inexpensive war game
* How to predict competitor moves with accuracy and little information
* Why you do not need computers, consultants, software, or a PhD in math to do it well

This book is your bible of how to stay one step ahead of your competitors. Do not leave home without it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #323683 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 223 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781601630308
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
"Ben Gilad is the undisputed master of war gaming."

--Jeff Webster, General Manager, Tyson Renewable Energy Division and Senior Vice President, Strategy, Tyson Foods

"Ben Gilad's war-gaming process not only provides participants with better insights into market dynamics and competitive threats but it reveals a company's internal culture and the political `elephants' that are often the biggest obstacles to a successful outcome."

--Stephen N. Heath, former President, Commercial Engine Division, Pratt & Whitney

"Gilad is the guru of war gaming. He can focus your vision and test your assumptions like no one else can."

--Wayne Rosenkrans, Business Strategy Director, External Scientific Affairs, Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals

About the Author
For more than 25 years, Benjamin Gilad ran war games for market-leading Fortune 500 firms in a variety of industries and on all five continents. He is a former associate professor of strategy at Rutgers University's School of Management and the founder and president of The Academy of Competitive Intelligence. A pioneer of competitive intelligence theory and practice in the United States, he has been called "our CI guru" by the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals. He holds a PhD in economics, an MBA, and BAs' in psychology and philosophy. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Customer Reviews

A must have for CI professionals
Instead of hiring external facilitators to prepare, facilitate, and sum up a war game, this time I decided running the game myself using the framework of this book. I followed the suggested time schedule (adapted to an overnight setting) and the result was a definitive success! All participants gained a deeper understanding of the competitive arena, and walked out with the urge to put their knew knowledge and insights to work. Another difference from previous war games we did was that instead of focusing on senior executives and decision makers, a majority of participants were sales people and their managers, with the rest being from several other areas including finance and marketing. We all had a great time and loads of fun - the nerf balls contributing significantly in the second round :-)

The best "How To" for business competition
Too many people, executives and companies live in a fantasy world. They all feel that if they do "A, B and C", then they will succeed. It doesn't happen that way. Success is not absolute, it doesn't happen in a vacuum and it's not guaranteed. Sorry to bust everyone's bubble, but that's the way it is...

With that said, there are a small number of business books that provide the tools, processes and direction to truly learn how to effectively outmaneuver and outsmart your competition. Dr. Gilad's newest book is one of them. (so is his other book, "Business Blindspots" - get that one too)

In Business War Games, not only will you learn the specific tools necessary to run an effective war game, but you will also learn the reasons for a war game and the methodology for convincing the executive team on why it's necessary. This is critical...the majority of executives engage in "navel gazing" (love that term!) when deciding on strategy. You'll need to know more than the "what and how" to run a war game...you need the "why". Dr Gilad provides that.

For those that have responsibilities in competitive intelligence or strategic planning, this book is one that you truly need.

Or, you can stay in your fantasy world...

Business War Games by Dr. Benjamin Gilad / A review
Dr Gilad's "Business War Games" is the only comprehensive "how-to" book on the market today (that I am aware of). Using the Gilad approach to "realistic" Business War Games that links key elements of business principles and human psychology results in an intense and focused event that gives the host company the best chance of seeing its strategic challenges, opportunities and options clearly. Caution: What you learn may make you uncomfortable! Tom Oglesby, Competitive Intelligence , ExxonMobil