Prime Movers

Firmly grounded in conceptual principles, this volume deals with the value-linking frameworks between customers and suppliers. The authors show value creation to be a dynamic process and explore the different roles that can exist within these frameworks. They explore how forging links between the two strains of management thinking – competence-based strategy and customer value creation – can lead to better products appearing on the market and ultimately improve bottom-line results. Major case studies of “value constellations” in action include Microsoft, Nike, Benetton and Netscape.

Author Biography

Rafael Ramírez is currently Professor of Management at HEC, the leading French business school. Dr Ramírez, who holds a PhD from the Wharton School, has extensive consulting experience, working with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Nissan Europe, Shell International, Rockwool, Telespazio, Wärtsilä -NSD, and Sonera. He was the Managing Director of SMG France prior to joining HEC. Dr. Ramírez co-authored the Harvard Business Review lead article From Value Chain to Value Constellation, which was elected one of the ten most requested strategy reprints by the Review’s readers. The follow-up book on value constellations, Designing Interactive Strategy, which he wrote with Richard Normann, has been widely translated. In 1998 he was elected ‘individual member’ of the Global Business Network.

Johan Wallin is managing partner of SMG Consulting, one of three divisions of Sifo Group, a leading Nordic professional organization with activities in media intelligence, market research and management consulting. He had extensive international managerial experience prior to joining SMG. His consulting clients include companies such as ABB, Canon, Cultor, Merita-Nordbanken, Metsä-Serla, Nat West, Nokia, Scandinavian Airlines, Sonera, Tamrock, Telespazio, Telia, Tetra Pak and TietoEnator. In helping corporations implement new business models he has pioneered several initiatives to bridge the strategy and IT communities. He founded The Data Warehousing Institute Europe in 1997. Wallin has a masters degree from the Swedish School of Economics in Helsinki and has a doctorate from the Helsinki University of Technology.