What the CEO Wants You to Know: How Your Company Really Works

I read this book in one sitting, which most of you who read this book will. Being a MBA graduate who has drudged through several business courses and books, I was glad to see something that puts it all in a really simple perspective. The top things I took from this book are: 1. Cash Flow, ROA = M*V, Growth are fundamental to every business 2. Business vs. People - you need others to get the job done, even if you are a street vendor 3. The letters from the CEO to the VPs were very educational - the best part of my education from this book. I am looking for other published "letters from the CEO" - and I am talking not to all employees (like the ones by Dick Brown, I was one of the employees who felt no extra connection from his emails!), but pointed letters saying what needs to be done like the ones from the book.

It is humbling. After B-School and hundreds of business books, it took these 150 or so pages of text lay explain why I spent time learning finance and accounting, marketing, communications and leadership: To build my business acumen. And Mr. Charan makes it clear that business acumen drives all businesses, be they apple carts or multi-nationals. How simple is Charan's exposition on building business acumen? -Finance and operations management are boiled down to one equation (R=M*V). As basic as it gets. -And marketing gets covered just as simply: "Do they like my fruit? If customers cleared me out of bananas but I have apples left, should I abandon apples and specialize in bananas?" - Leadership is getting people to focus on the important drivers of wealth generation: cash, velocity, and margins. The best leaders cut through the complexity of their businesses, and get their employees entirely focused on these fundamentals. But do not be fooled by the brevity. This book is actually quite rigorous. Of course, you will still need spreadsheets and inventory management software and SAS to mine data in this increasingly complex world. Charan does not deny this, but cuts through the complexity so you can see how it all fits together. And that is business acumen, the knowledge and understanding of which will enrich any job you do.

This book is one of the most simple business books to read and I would highly recommend it to those that are looking to understand how businesses operate. I believe this book would be highest valued by those without extensive business backgrounds and by others that are seeking to understand why some companies are great whereas others are average. Mr. Charan explains the most important element of businesses, generating cash. He then talks about numerous business concepts at a very basic level, which I think would help everyone (including MBAs and CEOs). At 150 pages or so it is an easy read and can be read quickly for those seeking information quickly.I personally have a degree in accounting, an MBA in finance and I worked in corporate strategy. I found this book definitely worth the while and ranks up in the top 2 of overall general business books I have read. I am just now starting to put my reviews online.

I have to laugh every time I hear about some CEO or manager that has passed out, to their employees, "Who Moved My Cheese." My money is with the company that passes this book out to their employees.It's nothing we haven't learned in business school or during our MBA studies-basic business fundamentals. Ram, however, pulls all these concepts together, quite elegantly, and reminds us that these fundamental concepts should be our focus if we want a strong viable company. I throughly enjoyed it. An easy 2-Hour read.

Dr. Charan has used his decades of experience with top CEOs to write a book that explains the overall concepts and focus of a successful business using simple metaphors. "The best CEOs . . . are able to take the complexity and mystery out of business by focusing on the fundamentals." "And they make sure everone in the company . . . understands these fundamentals." If you work in a small part of a large organization and don't understand how what you do contributes to the whole, this book will be a revelation to you. If you do not understand how business people think and would like to learn, this book will help you more than any five courses you could take.The book is organized into four parts.In part one, you learn the universal language of business though concepts like inventory, product mix, merchandising, pricing, return on assets, customer focus, product quality, cash generation, growth, and finding out what you need to change from customers. The primary metaphor used here is that of a street vendor who is selling fruit in India and cannot afford to have a bad day. Dr. Charan fleshes out the examples by referring to his family's shoe business, and to decisions taken by leading executives he has worked with (like Jack Welch of General Electric, Jac Nassar of Ford, and Dick Brown at EDS). In part two, he talks about how to use these concepts in the real world. His key point is to take the measurements and create a focus on 3 or 4 key activities that will make the most difference. He also relates this work to expanding the value of the company's share price. In part three, he turns his attention to getting key tasks done. This involves putting the right people in the right jobs, improving group effectiveness (usually by putting in place activities that provide more timely focus), and how to lead change. Dick Brown is the key example in this last area.In part four, you pay attention to what you need to do to aply these concepts to your own situation so you "become a businessperson first" in your approach to everything. This part gives you help with assessing the whole business, cutting through complexity, providing focus, helping others expand their abilities and synchronize with their colleagues to be more effective, and being a leader (regardless of your role now). You are left then with this challenge: "What are you going to do to help your company's money making in the next sixty to ninety days? The book is quite simple and can be read fairly quickly. I think that few will be confused by it. If you have questions, ask someone who has some business education to help you. The book's great strength is its simplicity. It takes business concepts and approaches down to the lowest common denominator. For many people, this will provide a great advance over doing what is best for the way you are measured in your part of the organization. But you will have to get those measurements changed if you want focus and behavior to improve i