Bruce Greenwald's Competitive Demystified: A Clear and Concise Guide to Business Strategy

Guilherme Quadros dos Santos: Great for value investing and checking on different kind of competitive advantages

Brazil on Jan 26, 2023

Martin Zhong: Overall the book does have some useful points and case studies but the way it is written is overly complicated and hard to understand. Keep it simple and have short sentences. Don't try to be too verbose - just makes it a headache to read.

Australia on Jan 10, 2021

Sukethu Lalwani: This book changes the entire perception about competitive strategy and case studies are well articulated. This book is a must read for investors, analysts as well as anyone who wants to understand competitive advantages.

India on Aug 02, 2020

Kiran B.: This book is a revelation for everyone seriously involved in any part of the business world. I usually do not write reviews, but this book deserves appraisal and much more attention from stakeholders in business.

Based on his extensive knowledge gained through his career in investment academia, Bruce Greenwald authored a brilliant book which provides a general framework for analyzing competitive situations and their possible outcomes and impact on the involved firms. Beginning with a general introduction to strategy and tactics, Greenwald first pays tribute to Michael E. Porter's 5-Forces-Model and explains his approach to strategy by building on the groundwork of the Porter's model. However, a serious disadvantage of Porter's model is its complexity, which results in a difficulty of applying the model on competitve situations due to the exhaustive analysis required, i.e. keeping an eye on every force at all times during the analysis will inevitably confuse the analyst. Greenwald solves this dilemma by solely focusing on one force: Barriers to Entry. These barriers form the basis for every other force and define the market, in which the firm operates. Without barriers to...

Germany on May 12, 2020

Aliza Hausman: This is the best book on marketing I have ever read. It completely broadens one's thinking beyond the basics of brand recognition and product advertising. With numerous case studies ranging from the PC industry to the creation of CDs to Rupert Murdoch's decision to Create the Fox Television Network, the book presents thorough leasons in business alchemy in a highly readable fashion.

United States on Jan 13, 2017

brendan: Carefully read the first half of this book a couple times and you can expect to deeply internalize the most general, enduring principles of analyzing competitive advantage and entry barriers.

This book's value is its simplicity. There's nothing groundbreaking here. Greenwald's got no axe to grind, no TED-talk tailored concept to (over) sell. The ratio of insight to fluff is very high, so you'll actually remember what you read.

Non-practitioner's won't grasp how valuable a simple, deeply internalized analysis framework is. Researching a company you know nothing about- cracking open a fresh 10-K - can be overwhelming. A simple framework focuses your attention, let's you filter out the noise, and zoom in on the pertinent.

Porter's five forces isn't wrong, it's just excessive and distracting. Sure, it's nice for an MBA assignment: go analyze company X on these five dimensions. But if the lesson learned is that equal effort should be expended analyzing "supplier power" as "entry barriers", then the student has been deceived.

Scholars love excessive complication. I recall the corporate finance section of the CFA exam, wherein project go/no-go decisions depend...

United States on Apr 16, 2014

German Loewe: Me parece un muy buen libro de estrategia, porque se desarrollan las razones económicas que hay detrás de las famosas ventajas competitivas.

Spain on Feb 27, 2014

Chris Mannina: This book delves into competitive advantages, specifically looking at barriers to entry. Although the author acknowledges Michael Porter's work on competition as being invaluable, the author isolates barriers to entry as the single most important driver of an industry's competitive structure. There are numerous case studies which are very instructive and informative.

The only thing I would say that would give more insight would be to provide some framework for doing this analysis yourself. While I can fully grasp his analysis and conclusions, I don't believe there is sufficient information to help the reader to any of their own industry analysis (although that was not likely the scope of the book anyway).

United States on Apr 24, 2013

rene rosenthal: one of the best book I've read about competition, an easy-to-follow method for understanding the competitive structure of your industry and developing an appropriate strategy for your specific position. A simplified approach to strategy that cuts through much of the fog that has surrounded the subject.

United States on Mar 04, 2013

Kaihan Krippendorff: My two key takeaways from reading Greenwald's well-argued and counterintuitive premise are:

1. There are but a few fundamental sources of competitive advantage

2. Most companies can tap these sources at a local level (not a national or international level)

These show that the front-line manager - the regional coordinator of retail chain or the country manager of service firm - has the power (and the obligation) to pursue local competitive advantages. Greenwald provides a simple, intuitive method for helping such "front-line strategists" seek out a competitive edge.

I recommend this highly for anyone who aspires to be a strategist.

United States on Mar 09, 2006