This work offers a summary of the book "BEYOND THE CORE: Expand Your Market Without Abandoning Your Roots" by Chris Zook.
Chris Zook has worked for over 20 years at Bain & Company, a management consulting firm.
In Beyond The Core, he argues that exploiting the full potential of the core business is one growth strategy, but at some point that won't be enough. Eventually, most organizations seek more growth by entering into a new, adjacent area which surrounds the core business. If executed well, this can deliver significant growth but the danger is the reckless pursuit of lofty growth objectives has also generated some of the most costly business disasters in history. Statistical data suggests only a quarter of all beyond-the-core-business growth initiatives will succeed, yet those that do will deliver growth rates that are three times as high as other companies.
At the end of the day, growth is always achieved by hitting a delicate balance between focusing more on what you already do well and moving into new but closely aligned markets. Beyond The Core is good guidance on how to get that balance right.
