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Description of this book: Cydcor knows Michael Porter has long been considered a top business expert and leader, and this book is his signature piece of work. Competitive Advantage is a model for creating and managing an enterprise successfully. Porter offers tools for analysis that are taught in MBA programs around the country. Michael Porter is a professor at Harvard Business School, and lectures and writes prolifically on managing a business.
Cydcor recommends this book to leaders because: Tactics such as the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis teaches critical thinking that is crucial to successfully leading a company. Porter also discusses strategy at length, and helps businesses to either produce a scale economy or define a niche that will keep them profitable. The danger for companies is to get stuck in the middle- trying to hard to please everybody, not sticking to the chosen strategy one hundred percent can lead to high costs and low or no profits. The book is filled with many real life examples of businesses either failing or executing a strong strategy based on “market signals”, which indicate the way an industry is moving and allows good executives to anticipate opportunities.
Our favorite part: Porter stresses over and over that businesses need to focus on goals and strategy in order to be successful. Business does not have to follow every trend of what is popular. Shoe makers do not have expand into technology. Strong business strategy and profits is not always about having the biggest or best idea, but rather identifying its place in a market and doing things different from the competition.
Cydcor is a leading sales company that specializes in face-to-face relationships and professional development. Follow Cydcor on LinkedIn or Twitter for more professional development advice.
Cydcor Reviews The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
Author: Brad Stone
Description of this book: This book details the history of online retailer Amazon, which started as an Internet book delivery store and later became a corporation that sells everything from high-definition televisions to fresh vegetables. Written by Brad Stone, senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, the book details over 300 interviews with former employees of Amazon as well as family members of Bezos. Stone details Bezos’ thirst for exploring new markets, such as e-readers and cloud computer storage, as well as the future of the company. Amazon changed everything we know about online shopping, and also the way we read and shop today.
Why people should read this book: Not many people know the history of Amazon, and how it started in Jeff Bezos’ garage in Bellevue, WA. Bezos, a former vice-president at a Wall Street firm, studied what products would do well selling on the Internet, and decided that books were the way to go. From there, the book spills the secrets of how Amazon turned into the world’s largest online retailer, selling electronic media, toys, furniture, and jewelry. Stone’s thorough reporting is presented well, as well as his notion of belief in the company’s success.
My favorite part: Although Amazon is known for their success, I enjoyed learning its shortcomings as well. Amazon did not do well with their implementation of an auction system that failed to compete with eBay. The company will not even be profitable for years, due to their increase spending and growing. However, Bezos’s hunger has allowed Amazon to become a true American built company, one that allows other merchants to sell along with it, even without a president or chief operating officer. The story behind Bezos and his website is inspirational for any entrepreneur, and also interesting to say the least.
Cydcor is a leading sales company that specializes in face to face relationships and professional development. Follow Cydcor on LinkedIn for more professional development advice.
Cydcor has named Jim Siegrist Senior Vice President of Business Development. In this new role, Siegrist will create and execute business development strategies, oversee the Business Development team, and nurture and extend relationships with Cydcor clients, including leaders from the telecom and retail energy industries to financial institutions and office product suppliers.
Siegrist will work directly with Cydcor’s President, Jim Majeski, and other senior executives to identify new business opportunities globally and enhance the management of current business accounts through market research, financial feasibility studies, operational effectiveness and capacity utilization.
Siegrist brings more than 14 years of experience in investment banking, business development and corporate finance to Cydcor. Prior to joining Cydcor, Siegrist served as a principal at Hadley Partners, Inc., a Los Angeles-based investment banking firm, where he was responsible for business development and deal execution. Previously, Siegrist was an investment banker at Deutsche Banc Alex Brown where he was responsible for structuring and financing leveraged buyouts for top-tier private equity clients and leveraged recapitalizations for large corporate clients. At Deutsche Bank, Siegrist was also involved in cultivating and managing relationships with private equity clients and identifying merger and acquisition candidates for clients’ portfolio companies. His career has covered a broad range of industries, including business services, media and entertainment, manufacturing, healthcare, technology and gaming.
“Cydcor’s unique ability to deliver fast and measurable results allows us to help a diverse and distinguished client base achieve success in a rapidly evolving business environment,” Siegrist said. “I look forward to continuing to ensure and enhance quality service while also cultivating innovative business strategies that offer new value to existing and new clients.”
“Jim’s experience and deep understanding of our business is invaluable to Cydcor and we are thrilled to announce that he has joined our Senior Executive team,” said Jim Majeski, president of Cydcor. “With Jim on board, we anticipate increasing the momentum we have already achieved in expanding our customer base and pursuing strategic opportunities in new markets and industries.”
About Cydcor Inc.
Cydcor Inc., is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy and financial services. Cydcor works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee sales offices providing clients with access to more than 3,000 sales professionals and 200+ offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, Calif.
Cydcor
Gail Michalak
818-706-9500