The Complexity Crisis

Why Too Many Products, Markets & Customers Are Crippling Your Company-And What To Do About It.
ŠJohn L. Mariotti 2008

Table Of Contents

Introduction:

Part One: The Problem

  1. What Is The Complexity Crisis?
    The Dangers Of Chasing High Growth In Low/No-Growth Markets
  2. Why Is It A Crisis Now?
    An Old Problem In New Clothing
  3. The Bottom Line-Where Complexity Hurts?
    An Example That Will Hit Close To Home
  4. Unintended Consequences
    Complexity-The Enemy Of Quality, Service And Branding
  5. What Makes It Worse?
    Globalization And Latent Over-Capacity Makes It Worse
  6. Two Essential Steps?
    Define The Problem First, Solve It Second
  7. How To Recognize It, Measure It & Begin To "Fix It"
    Remember: "You Can't Manage What You Can't Measure"
  8. A New Metric For Tracking Complexity
    Figuring Out "The Complexity Factor" For Your Business

Part Two: The Examples

  1. Subs & Sundaes
    Subway And Dairy Queen Compete Managing Complexity
  2. Cars
    How Many Models Is Just Enough?
  3. Planes & Computers
    Examples Of Complexity Controlled-And Gone Wild
  4. Fast Food
    "Cheeburger, Cheeburger, Pepsi, Chips": The Advantages Of Simplicity
  5. Too Many Of Everything?
    Brand Proliferation And Line-Extension Can Be Deadly
  6. Same, But Different
    When "Close" Isn't Good Enough-Two Decades Of Evidence
  7. Science Versus Business
    The Scientific Version Of Complexity

Part Three: The Solutions

  1. Strategies And Solutions
    What To Do About Complexity
  2. A Five-Step Framework For Thought
    Organized Thinking Reaches Valid Conclusions
  3. Complexity's Impact On Organizations
    How It Can Drive Them Crazy
  4. New Methods Of Costing
    When Old Measures Are Inadequate, Create New Ones
  5. The Big Picture
    Tying It All Together

Conclusion
What Will You Do Differently, And Better?

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