The Corporate Warriors

By Douglas K. Ramsey

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395354870
• ISBN13: 9780395354872
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Business is a combination of war and sport. - Andre Maurois

In The Corporate Warriors Doug Ramsey focuses on six prominent business battles of the 1980s: 1) Ted Turner vs. The Networks, 2) Coke vs. Pepsi, 3) Penthouse vs. Playboy, 4) People Express vs. The Airlines, 5) General Motors vs. The Japanese, and 6) MCI vs. AT & T. The cases show that building a great business requires a series of good choices, not just one brilliant idea. Ramsey does a great job of making the important people in these battles "come alive." Ramsey enjoys writing about upstarts who challenge the establishment. Hence, his best two chapters focus on Ted Turner and Penthouse's Bob Guccione. Neither man is a saint, but each is interesting. The book has a few drawbacks. Of course, 20+ years later it is dated, though that isn't the author's fault. The firms in the book often used tactics (such as unrelated acquisitions) that today's investors disdain. A bigger problem is that Ramsey includes a number of quotes on the nature of competition but he does not integrate those quotes into the text. Also, at the end of the last profile (MCI vs. AT & T) the book just comes to a "dead stop." Ramsey should have taken a page or two to wrap up. Finally, the People Express chapter did not hold my interest. The Corporate Warriors is an entertaining look at "life at the top" in Corporate America. It's easy reading and it teaches a lot about just how difficult it is to succeed.

A great page-turner

Story of the most interesting brand wars in US. Lucidly written packed with the wisdom to be learned from the history. A must read.

Above average book.

Well written stories of business. I could not put the book down. I would not rank it as one of the best books I've ever read but I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the business scene.