The Road to Organic Growth: How Great Companies Consistently Grow Marketshare from Within

A great book! I loved it. It is broken into nine chapters as follows: 1. Why is organic growth important? 2. Discovering the DNA of organic growth. 3. The organic growth winners: Interesting Facts. 4. An elevator-pitch business model. 5. Instill a "small-company soul" into a "big-company body." 6. Measure everything. 7. Build a people pipeline. 8. Leaders: humble, passionate, focused operators. 9. Be an execution and technology champion. Chapters 4 - 9 are the ingredients to building a company through organic growth. If a biz can be explained in a just a few words while riding up an elevator, then it's leaders/managers can probably focus well on growing the business from within. If a biz is comprised of workers who care about the company instead of just showing up to work and collecting a paycheck, then the business will probably grow from within. The business will probably also have a pipeline of new managers if the employees care about coming to work for reasons other than just collecting a paycheck. These are the types of things discussed in the last six chapters of the book. Generally speaking, companies either grow through "organic growth" or by "mergers and acquisitions." Many companies grow by using both methods, but the author only discusses the organic growth method in this book. There is talk that growth may take place by playing accounting games and engaging in financial manipulations. However, this really is not a method to create growth. Manipulations are just that - shifts of revenues and expenses from one accounting period to another. If there is gain today via manipulation, then there is going to be a loss next week or next month - guaranteed. A small company soul is what this book is about. And I really enjoyed reading it. I liked the list of "Growth Questions" at the end of each chapter. They helped pull the chapters together for me. If you are putting together a business plan for a start up company, then I recommend you read this book. You will want to incorporate many of the ideas and concepts discussed here into your business plan and your implementation of your business plan. I would have liked the book better if the print had not been so large. And since the spine of the book was not all that thick I got the feeling that the book was padded by increasing the font size of the text. The book could have been longer if there had been more examples of real world situations regarding what was being discussed. And I would have liked a chapter comparing organic growth to mergers and acquisitions. To discuss organic growth as the best way to grow a company, and to ignore M & A's as though they were a bad way, just didn't feel right to me. In fact, M & A's are a great way to grow a business. But the book was well-written and informative. 5 stars!

Ed Hess has written a book with strikingly original research, compelling analysis, and real soul. This is an inspiring, challenging, and practical book for executives, consultants, and other business leaders (present and future) who believe that the best, most satisfying, and most sustainable kind of growth comes from within. For the good of their businesses and people--as well as the larger economy and society--organizations would do well to follow Ed Hess' road to organic growth.

Ed Hess has successfully identified the keys to building and growing a successful business: useable business and growth model, owning the customer, obsession with measurement, engaging loyal people, finding leaders for the company, and attention to execution and technological details. This is a must read for those building entrepreneurial businesses. Thomas Kinnear, Chair and President of the Venture Michigan Fund and Executive Director of the Zell Lurie Institute, Ross School of Business

This is a book for leaders who recognize the challenges of growing organically and need practical solutions to meet those challenges. "The Road to Organic Growth" provides tremendous insights about how to transform an organization by combining six characteristics that lead to sustained growth.

Professor Hess' groundbreaking work is a breath of fresh air for those of us who have always been suspicious of the notion that "greed is good". As Professor Hess shows in The Road to Organic Growth, this is clearly not the case. Sustainable results are not built on fancy Wall Street transactions or egomaniacal leadership. They are built by leaders who roll up their sleeves, measure everything, and value the members of their organizations. That is good business. I highly recommend The Road to Organic Growth to business students as well as people suspicious of corporate America. Everyone can learn something from this book.