Meeting of the Minds: Creating the Market-based Enterprise

Despite much talk of being "market oriented, " few companies have harnessed the full range of their capabilities to serve the customer. In fact, the traditional organization of corporate activities into separate functions with marketing controlling primary access to the customer has widened the gulf of knowledge and understanding between the enterprise and its markets, and within the firm itself. This book provides a practical blueprint for creating dynamic, market-based decision-making mechanisms that lead to competitive advantage. Drawing on his thirty years of executive experience at Eastman Kodak, Xerox, General Motors, and in the public sector, Vincent P. Barabba demonstrates that when companies use systems thinking to view customers and the market as an extension of the firm, they achieve a meeting of the minds--creating value for customer, community, and enterprise. Barabba rejects the path of organizational restructuring and instead presents a unique framework for creating unity of knowledge and purpose across functions and for linking them with the markets they serve. "This book elimintes the need for any other books on marketing for a long time to come."-Russell L. Ackoff, Chairman, INTERACT, The Institute for Interactive Management