Book Review (Essay Sample)

Book Review - Small giants: Companies that choose to be great instead of big Name Institution Course Professor Date Book Review - Small giants: Companies that choose to be great instead of big Introduction The paper shall delve into strategic management, its purpose, and how it works in organizations. The aim shall be to showcase the impact of strategic management in an organization and how small companies have become considerable giants over time due to the extent to which strategic management has been able to assist these companies in making great economic strides in the recent past and growing exponentially. The activities of an organization are multi-faceted, and numerous components eventually lead to their success. However, the predominant feature for all these companies is that they predominantly rely on strategy as a driving force for business success. Therefore, it explores the intentional strategy of organizations to remain small despite their potential to grow astronomically. Summary of the Book As long as there are businesses, there is a basic premise that for businesses to succeed, they must expand. However, there are other facets through which companies can do well, which are predominantly not centered on growth (Burlingham, 2018). Companies can choose to explore quality as part of their predominant feature as compared to growth. The book looks at organizations such as Zingerman’s Deli and Anchor Brewing, focused on having good quality ales and sandwiches (Burlingham, 2018). Organizations go to great lengths to memorize their staff members and ensure they know them by their name to create a cohesive business environment. Small businesses focus on their ideals entrenched in their strategy at commencement and not necessarily on growth and profits (Burlingham, 2018). Companies are passionate about what they do and, as such, focus immensely on doing it exceptionally well, and following in this quest has consequently made them very successful. Companies are built to sell and form some of the critical strategies for not only growing a small service company and equally preparing businesses for future sales (Burlingham, 2018). The distinct difference between managers of small companies and large companies is that larger companies are predominantly centered on growth (Burlingham, 2018). This is essentially why they grow and become big, to begin with. However, other companies exist, typically referred to as small giants. These are privately-owned organizations that have faced periods whereby they had to decide whether or not to grow. Often, they rejected expanding in that it would compromise their mission. Companies such as Butler Construction expanded extensively in the 1980s, and the owner found that he had ammersed over $20 million in yearly sales and had over 129 employees (Burlingham, 2018). This did not ogre well with the CEO in that he did not want the organization to grow exponentially as he wanted to know the name and details of each staff member. Therefore, the CEO narrowed down the focus of the business and reduced the clientele from twenty-five to ten (Burlingham, 2018). This translated into the organization letting go of its largest client to remain extensively small. However, staying small has real benefits. The small workforce fosters better relationships for all, and equally, the employees take pride in their jobs and are more accountable to see the impact of their extended efforts immediately. One of the many concerns of owners is in retaining control of the organization. It is this main reason that many organizations prefer keeping the organization's activities to a few individuals. Through this minimal level of control, organizations can retain the passion and drive of the company (Burlingham, 2018). Passion drives innovation, and as such, companies in a close-knit association are easy to foster growth and prosperity by driving passion and having the control to do so. Companies are equally able to engage in business by having local roots (Burlingham, 2018). Thus, local communities play a pivotal role in shaping organizations. Large companies do not have to consider such components, but small companies do and, in turn, use this to ensure that consumers get high-quality products at all times. Lessons Learnt from the Book Quality is a Key Component of Strategy The size of the organization is not as big a priority as the quality of products and services. However, it should be one of the main features of the strategy of any organization, big or small. The book also gives great insights on how quality can propel growth, but it is through it that organizations remain sustainable irrespective of size. Companies in the past have been able to remain profitable and successful irrespective of being small due to their extensive knowledge of their consumers and providing excellent quality products and services to their consumers that make them remain loyal. The book equally brought to light the need to let go of some of a company’s customers is, at times, imperative. For example, an organization such...