10 Strategy Books of Successful Companies
These 10 Strategy Books of Successful Companies are the best strategic management books to illustrate how these companies leveraged strategy to succeed.
1. The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon
by Steve Anderson
Jeff Bezos has created one of the largest and most profitable businesses in the world and has become the world’s richest person through the process. Amazon did not build itself, and Bezos used strategy and skill to create the overwhelming success he has had. Anderson examines this rise to the top and outlines the principles that all businesses can draw from when looking to dramatically grow their success. Anderson writes this book for business owners, executives, and leaders on how to use Bezos’s practices to grow their business through efficiency and productivity. Reading this book may help one grow their success further and faster than imaginable.
The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon is available from Amazon.
2. Sam Walton: Made In America
by Sam Walton, John Huey
Do you ever wonder how retail giants came about? Sam Walton, along with John Huey, outline Walton’s path to success as he grew a small store into the retail giant Wal-Mart. Walton tells of needing to push past naysayers and fight for what he knew he was capable of to create the success he has today. Walton is humble, but his pride in what he has created shows through in his advice as he outlines what it took for him to make it. If learning about success through the story of a real-world success is appealing, this book may help create some of your strategies moving forward.
Sam Walton: Made In America is available from Amazon.
3. No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
by Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
When Netflix began, it was a revolutionary business model, unlike anything the world had seen before. It grew into one of the most successful companies and revolutionized the way the world thinks about entertainment. Reed Hastings, the company’s founder, did all of this while straying away from the traditional model of business to one that values responsibility and flexibility. In doing so, Hasting redefined what business can be. Netflix was the first of its kind in many unconventional ways, and it was the key to its success both initially and continuously. Hastings joins with Erin Meyer to outline the counterculture that is Netflix and examine the ways that it contributed to its success.
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention is available from Amazon.
4. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer
by Jeffrey K. Liker
Toyota is known for reliability and quality, but earning this reputation did not come without hard work and strategy from the people creating this brand. Setting the industry standards and continuously raising them, Toyota has made a name for itself in the automobile industry. Dr. Liker draws from his extensive research of Toyota’s practices to analyze the principles of their culture and create a model that others can follow to attempt to achieve the success that Toyota has. Readers will learn how Toyota keeps employees actively involved in the process every step of the way, creates success through their “Lean Improvement,” and executes the lean method more successfully than others.
The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer is available from Amazon.
5. University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting
by Daniel Pecaut, Corey Wrenn
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger created the empire known as Berkshire Hathaway. Throughout the years, they have shared many lessons and investment strategies with their shareholders in closed-door meetings. Only now through the release of the University of Berkshire Hathaway is the general public able to access these strategies and wisdom. This book moves through the years of the company, encouraging revolutionary investment strategies and sound advice on how to continue growth. The hilarious and timeless advice given out through these pages is worth well more than one can buy these pages. Investors and others will learn about business and opportunity from the front row of one of the greatest wealth-building empires of all time.
University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting is available from Amazon.
6. Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth With Commentary by David Clark
by David Clark
Charlie Munger’s wisdom in business and investment strategy is demonstrated by the number of books that have focused on his life and strategy on this list, not including the countless others that are not included here. Munger began his career as a real estate attorney and methodically became one of America’s top investors. Warren Buffett’s right-hand man expands the Buffettology series through this collection of small and memorable quotes on investments, business, success, and life. These quotes, drawn from speeches, interviews, and meetings, offer insight into one of the best minds in the business world and help readers mimic his rise to the top.
Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth With Commentary by David Clark is available from Amazon.
7. How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
by Felix Dennis
Many people shy away from entrepreneurship and business because the market can seem saturated. Felix Dennis became one of the best entrepreneurs in the world when he created his publishing empire and dominated the market as he rose to the top. In this book, Dennis shares his story of success and avoids the common pitfalls of books on the subject, such as relying on investment tips or self-help traps. Dennis hopes that readers find the joy he does in entrepreneurship and shares his advice for breaking out of the mold and into the world of success. Dennis’s style of business enjoys the process and hopes others will do the same.
How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets is available from Amazon.
8. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
by Phil Knight
Nike is a brand recognized worldwide as a leading shoe and athletic wear company. However, Phil Knight, the man behind the brand, did not start out hoping for success. Instead, he wanted to build a company that was different in both the product it sold and the way it operated. And Knight did just that. Knight takes readers through his journey, touching on the important stops along the way that created the powerhouse that is Nike today. As much as the story is about Knight, it is also about the people alongside him that made Nike into Nike, finding a way to revolutionize the sports world, one pair of shoes at a time.
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike is available from Amazon.
9. Michael Jordan: The Life
by Roland Lazenby
Michael Jordan is one of the most recognizable basketball players in the world, and one of the greatest athletes in recent history. His greatness is recognized by his style both on and off the court. Yet few people have truly experienced Jordan’s drive and love of competition that colors his life in many ways and pushed him toward success. Drawing from interviews with Jordan’s coaches, friends, teammates, and even Jordan himself, longtime basketball reporter Roland Lazenby paints a full picture of the man at the center of sports stardom. Readers will learn more about Jordan and find out why so many people, athletes, and business people alike want to be just like Mike.
Michael Jordan: The Life is available from Amazon.
10. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
by Ashlee Vance
Ashlee Vance started this look at Elon Musk’s life with the question of whether the United States, the country of inventors and revolutionaries, can continue to compete on a global scale that has caught up and surpassed American ideas in some ways. Elon Musk’s list of achievements certainly proves that he is leading the charge to keep American inventors at the front of the race for new ideas. Vance believes that Musk is a collection of the inventors of the past, showcasing the way that Musk not only invents himself but then uses the fortune that he has amassed to continue to encourage new inventors. Looking at Musk’s life can help other entrepreneurs find new ways to move forward.
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future is available from Amazon.