In Will and Vision, the authors refute the theory that first-movers have an overwhelming advantage, and replace it with the idea that seven factors, that can be summarized as will and vision (hence the title of the book) are instead the factors that permit companies to dominate markets.

First, the author performed an in depth empirical study that included 43 different industries at different times in order to show that the original entrants in many markets were not in fact the current leaders. Instead, the authors offer the following seven factors as the main ones in determining whether firms became leaders in their markets:

•Envisioning the Mass Market - Examples include P&G with Pampers disposable diapers for everyone instead of for travelers only and Kodak with photographs for the non-professional.
•Uniqueness of Vision - Examples include Tim Berners-Lee and the development of the WorldWideWeb and King Gillette's view of the razor market.
•Persisting Against All Odds - Examples include Bill Gates' persistence that landed him the operating system contract with IBM and Haloid's persistence over a decade that created Xerox.
•The Need for Relentless Innovation - Examples include Moore and Noyce leaving Fairchild Semiconductor to found Intel and the relentless pace of innovation there, and Gillette's close brush for lack of innovation in the 1960s and its ensuing fast pace since.
•Organizing for Innovation - Examples include HP's organization beating Xerox and IBM at the laser printer market, and Netscape beating Mosaic by taking talent and rewarding it.
•Raising and Committing Financial Resources - Examples include Fred Smith's almost bankruptcy to keep FedEx alive and Amazon sacrificing profits for a long period in order to achieve its envisioned mass market level of service.
•Leveraging Assets Despite Uncertainty - Examples include IBM losing the PC battle because it did not want to hurt its mainframe sales, and Charles Schwab's leadership in web trading after it chose to focus on it and sacrifice off line higher margins.

Overall, I found it a very good entertaining book, with anecdotes that help support the ideas the authors suggest. I strongly recommend it.

This book comes out with a hypothesis challenging conventional thinking which assumes that pioneers dominate markets. Collecting and analyzing historical data from over 66 industry segments the conclusions by the authors is baffling. This is not a case where statistics is used conveniently to support untested theories using available tools to prove a point. The approach to understanding market dominance and the role of pioneers and followers is path breaking. Contrary to common belief, data shows that in many cases the pioneers have as little as 9 % market share. The ingredients for success are therefore not being there first, but doing the right things.

Five factors that emerge as key to ensuring long term success and market dominance are Vision, Persistence, Financial Commitment, Innovation and Asset leverage- factors that are structurally related in a causal chain starting with a clear vision for a mass market. There are innumerable examples and detailed cases where the inability to see a mass market for innovative products has resulted in late comers grabbing the market from incumbents. Fear of cannibalization of existing products, bureaucracy, complacency, are some other causes that stifle growth.

After explaining the hypothesis, a good and crisp summary of the conclusions from the historical data, every chapter proceeds sequentially to substantiate the findings. This is a rare combination of business history, statistical analysis and strategy. It is this unique combination and the unconventional wisdom that is bound to make this book a classic in its own right. The range of products covered varies from diapers to couriers and computers. IBM, Microsoft, Fed Ex, Xerox, Gillette are some companies that are discussed in detail.

Comparing it with other books on similar research, my prescription for business would be:

Innovators Dilemma + Will and Vision + Built to Last + Good to Great = Road to Market dominance.

Highly recommended.

Gerard J. Tellis and Peter N. Golder methodically and empirically demonstrate that pioneers are rarely rewarded for their efforts at the end of the day. The confusion between pioneers and current market leaders lies in the exclusion of failures (survival bias), tendency for managers to refer to their own firm as the pioneer (social desirability or self-reports bias), and self-serving market definitions (self-serving bias). For example, the Gillette Company is the oldest surviving firm in the disposable razor market. However, the Gillette Company was not the firm that first commercialized the razor. Similarly, Intel was not the firm that first brought the microprocessor or CPU to the market, even it has been perceived as the pioneer in that industry.

Tellis and Golder brilliantly build on over a decade of in-depth research to show that vision, persistence, relentless innovation, financial commitment, and asset leverage are the real factors that drive the superior performance of enduring leaders like the Gillette Company and Intel.

1. In their examination of "Vision", Tellis and Golder take their distance from the traditional definition of that much abused business term. Often, vision is indeed synonymous with broad mission statements used to excite and inspire stakeholders of an organization. In Counter-intuitive Marketing, Kevin J. Clancy and Peter C. Krieg concurred that most companies do not have much of a vision (See especially pg. 74 - 86). Vision has two key components according to Tellis and Golder: 1. A focus on the often-decried mass market with its dynamic and evolving needs and 2. A unique perspective of serving that mass market. For example, in contrast to its top competitors, AOL has stressed from the beginning convenience, ease to use, community, and ubiquity. Similarly, McDonald's has stressed from the onset quality, service, cleanliness, and value to build a worldwide network of mainly franchisees for bringing fast food to the masses. In Product Strategy for High Technology Companies, Michael E. McGrath gives a good complement to Tellis and Golder's definition of vision by explaining it as an answer to three key questions: 1.Where does a firm want to go? 2. How will the firm get there? And most critical 3. Why will the firm be successful? (See especially pg. 12, 306, and 317).

2. In their analysis of "Persistence", Tellis and Golder debunk the myth that enduring market leaders usually achieve their success through luck or sudden breakthroughs. In fact, visionaries have the will to persist in their efforts through seemingly insurmountable obstacles, slow progress, and long time efforts. The origin, early struggles, and ultimate success of Federal Express showed how important the vision and persistence of Fred Smith, its founder, made the difference at the end of the day. Similarly, the ultimate success of xerography after 13 years of research was due to the unwavering faith of former Xerox (Haloid)'s CEO, Joseph Watson in the underlying technology.

3. In their approach to "Relentless Innovation", Tellis and Golder remind their audience about the importance of firms not resting on their laurels. Technology and consumer tastes constantly change. Tellis and Golder rightly identify complacency with past successes, bureaucracy, managerial occupation with current customers and competitors, and fear of cannibalizing existing products as the four enemies of the relentless pursuit of innovation. For example, the earlier history of the Gillette Company clearly indicated that its success led to complacency and arrogance detrimental to its market leadership several times. Quoting Andy Grove, one of the founders of Intel, "Only the paranoid survives." In Product Strategy for High Technology Companies, Michael E. McGrath gives a good complement to Tellis and Golder's examination of both time-based and cannibalization strategies (See especially pg. 219 - 234 and 257 - 271).

4. In their study of "Financial Commitment", Tellis and Golder demonstrate that visionaries show persistence in their ability and willingness to raise and commit financial resources whatever the obstacles in their way. For example, Federal Express was on the brink of bankruptcy for years before it finally took off. Similarly, King C. Gillette, one of the co-founders of the Gillette Company, struggled not only to launch the eponymous company but also to raise the capital necessary to commercialize his disposable razor for years.

5. In their dissection of "Asset Leverage", Tellis and Golder look at how generalized and specialized assets can be mobilized for dominating a product category. Tellis and Golder rightly identify the extent to which the new product category does or appears to threaten the old product category, a strict focus on costs, myopic view of markets, and bureaucracy as the four major hindrances to leveraging assets. Xerox squandered more than one opportunity to leverage its assets to adopt and commercialize the revolutionary discoveries of its Palo Alto Research Center for years. In contrast, Microsoft showed sacrificing several products in development as the way to catch up with the competition after it had initially misjudged the potential of the Internet revolution.

Tellis and Golder also remind their audience that the relative importance of the five factors mentioned above varies by firm and market characteristics: new firms, established firms competing in established markets, and established firms entering new, yet unrelated markets (See pg. 265 and 266).

To summarize, Will and Vision by Gerard J. Tellis and Peter N. Golder is like The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen a major contribution to a better understanding of how markets really work.

In an attempt to save "Leave It To Beaver" from going off the air in 1963, famous authors submit scripts hoping their influence will persuade the network from dumping the show. Scripts include "Lady Cleaver's Beaver" by D. H. Lawrence, "Beavermorphosis" by Franz Kafka (where Theodore actually transforms into a giant beaver), and my personal favorite "And Thus Spake Beaver" by Nietzche ... "And Beaver descended alone from the house encountering no one, and all at once there stood before him Larry Mondello who bit into an apple. And thus spake Beaver unto Larry Mondello, 'Shared cookies make a friend, not getting in trouble together', and he punched Larry Mondello in the stomach." If you love the Beave and love Literary Parodies, you'll love this book.

Wow -- it's nice to see that there are other people out there who have read this book and loved it as much as I did. I bought the book when it first came out in 1985 and I was in college. I almost peed my pants reading it in the bookstore, so I figured I'd better buy it before they threw me out. I still have it on my shelf, and it's provided countless hours of amusement ever since. About the only books I would consider funnier than this one are George Ade's "Fables in Slang" and "More Fables in Slang", which are sadly almost unknown today. They should really reprint this, because it's as hilarious today as it was almost 15 years ago.

When I first read the Dostoevsky episode ("Hey, Wally, do you think it's OK to kill an old lady?" "I don't know, Beav. We haven't gotten that far in civics."), I was in convulsions. This is the funniest book in the history of Western Civilization, even funnier than "The Lazlo Letters," and that's saying something. That it is out of print is some kind of culture crime.

This book is truly fascinating. I had bought the 1997-1998 edition back in late 1997 because it just stood out from all the other books which I saw. It was just so comprehensive, everything that any aviation enthusiast could want. Without any delay I snapped up this edition when it became available. I find it readable and never boring, even if I pick it up to review something small. An excellent book.

This is easily the best civil aircraft book in the world, it lists specifications and tells the history of the model, from a Cessna 152 to the Boeing 777 they are here! Great book and a must have for all aviation enthusiasts!

Hi, this is 99% very good. Greetings from Europe. Ingol

This book has a great Old West feel without the stereotypes. That's a refreshing change! I particularly enjoyed the use of real historical personages rubbing elbows with our hero and heroine. They add a reality to the book but don't overpower the story. Great read!

The suspense holds you to every word

Fast-paced novel. Interesting character developments. Kept me wanting more!

Gerard t'Hooft is a surprisingly rare example of a rational physicist who is not-so-willing to support all those main-stream paradoxical and irrational claims which often saturate works of some celebrated theoretical physicists. Consequently, Dr. t'Hooft is not so popular among the fashionable camp of string mystics, but rather remains an idependently thinking theorist of Einstein's or Jaynes' scientific ethics.

In my opinion, Dr. 't Hooft wrote a very honest, competent, sincere, and yet highly readable book. In comparison with those popular but misleading books in the style of "The Elegant Universe" (B. Greene) or "The First Three Minutes" (S. Weinberg), this book is a much better example of a fair popularizing book on fundamental particle physics and its recent history, from a perspective of a personal scientific advanture.

Dr. 't Hooft is evidently well aware about some fundamental intrinsic difficulties in modern theoretical physics, which many other physicists either ignore, or simply cannot recognize. Just one typical quote from t'Hooft's book which many quantum, statistical and string physicists should read as a mantra every morning:

"Probabilities and statistics are mistreated a great deal, even by physicists." (p. 14)

Yes, here is the root of many "paradoxes" of modern physics. As a theoretical physicist (and independently from my personal preferences), I think that Gerard 't Hooft is right also on many other sensitive issues of modern physics and that he wrote a very honest popularizing book. This book is fair to a layman and interesting even to an advanced physicist. (As a rare exception to this rule, I cannot fully support his section on Planck's radiation law (p. 9) where I found some common physical misperceptions and some traces of a historical myth.)

Gerard 't Hooft is one of the best and most thoughtful physicists in the world; there are many who think he should have received the Nobel Prize long before he finally did (in 1999). This short book is a marvel. It can be read with almost no prior knowledge of mathematics or physics, and it gives an extremely clear and well-balanced view of the well-established state of knowledge in particle physics and field theory as of 1997; little has changed in the intervening four years.

't Hooft has his own prejudices and enthusiams, but in this book he tried scrupulously to stick with the mainstream concensus in the first 21 of 28 chapters. In the last seven chapters, he describes some of the current and more speculative work being done by various people all over the world who are attempting to create a "Grand Theory of Everything". This discussion is cautious and somewhat skeptical, as I believe it should be, but the underlying ideas of the various approaches are clearly described.

I consider 't Hooft to be one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, and I consider this to be one of the half-dozen best books for laymen on any aspect of modern physics that I have come across. I believe that's because 't Hooft himself thinks so clearly.

Anyone that has slogged their way through BPHZ, LZT, proof of renormalizability of Yang Mills fields or singularity theorems deserves to read this book, because this book is what *it* is all about. The book details `t Hooft's career and opinion of what IT's all made of. Both topics are fascinating for a graduate student with similar interests. The writing is breezy and insightful and makes for a perfect afternoon.

And why does she look so familiar? Yoiko is a perky little girl who introduces herself as Ryoga's little sister. Her story is somewhat plausible, given that he finds her living in his house. As for how he could have not known about her--his whole family has the weird direction disability, and since he's been away so long, he might not have known about her. Or it could be something else.

Everyone knows that Ranma has more fiancees than any five men, but now it is Ukyo's turn to get an admirer--and it is not Ranma. Tsubasa Kurenai likes to play dress-up; a tree, a mailbox, even a one-eyed mushroom!

And how will Ranma react to getting another admirer?

In the last book, Ranma disguised herself as Ryoga's fiancee--now, she's his little sister Yoiko. Both times she did this to come between Ryoga and Akane. Maybe Ranma has feelings for Akane after all...

And we get to meet a very interesting person who has a connection to Ukyo. Who--or what--is this Tsubasa Kurenai? And what is the connection to the okonomiyaki chef?

I liked this book, but I found the story with Tsubasa hard to understand. I can't explain why I was confused without giving away vital secrets..

But don't let my easily confused tendencies keep you from enjoying anotehr fun installment of the Ranmaverse!

This is one of the funniest books out of the series, next to #21. In this, we meet a hopeful suitor of Ukyo's from her past, Tsubasa Kurenei, who is different from most people you meet. Lets just say that Tsubasa is quite fickle and has unique taste.
Ranma also goes to Ryoga's house under odd situation and pretends to be Ryoga's kid sister. Don't ask, just read it!

Ranman 1/2, Volume four is an AWESOME addition to the Ranma series! It is great! It has more excitement, romance, and cool guys!! (Yup, two new male characters who are awesome....plus there's Ryoga and Ranma......) In this book, you also learn Ranma's "weak spot." It's really interesting. You will know what it is if...you read the book!^^The only thing is, Ryoga isn't in this book as much as I'd like...but this book developes more of Ranma's personality, so I won't be mad. Volume four is probably my favorite Ranma 1/2 volume so far (I've read Volumes 1-4). It ends at a cliff-hanger, though. Well, Ranma 1/2, Vol. 4 (actually all Ranma 1/2 books) is really great! I highly reccomend it! Read it!

Shampoo is one of my favorite characters, and this continues her entrance. I love Shampoo!

volume 4 was great! there is 3 new characters, hikaru gosunkugi(creepy akane stalker), colonge(shampoo's grama), and mousse(guy that weapons come out of his sleeves) I liked this one alot becuse shampoo can turn into ranma's worst fear which is...

In a perfect world, this book would be less necessary than it is. Because "The Comic Book Heroes" is one of very few serious works of comics history - and certainly one of the most detailed I've seen - it's forced to bear a weight that Jones and Jacob's writing isn't completely up to. Not that it's bad, by any means, and it's clearly a labor of love for its authors, but it's weirdly partisan, especially as it begins to cover more recent comics, and Jones's experiences as a comics writer, and his opinions of his peers, come into the foreground. If this were a "my life in comics" sort of work, then that'd be okay, but given that the book's presented as an objective history, the opinionated (and occasionally bitchy) tone feels odd and out of place. Still, for all its problems, it's a serious study of a subject that is sadly underrecognized, and, as such, essential reading for any student or reader of comics.

This is a lively and insightful history of the men who created the Silver Age Super Hero comics at Marvel and DC. It also features some material on the more important post-Silver Age creators such as Frank Miller, Alan Moore and Scott McCloud. The narrative contains history, inside information and analysis of the work. It flows well and reveals a lot of the history of both the industry and the characters. The comic book heroes of the title are the creators. While it does not offer a comprehensive history of comic books, or even super heroes comics as the Golden Age is not covered, for what it is, it is the best book available and strong enough that one need not wish for more.

Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs have written a wonderful history of comic book heroes from the silver age (late 50's) to the present (mid-90's). It is an important book in providing the background details of the industry and also in its portraits of the creators of the various comic books. For one such as myself, who grew up in the middle part of this period, it combines a delightful mix of nostalgia with a healthy mix of cynicism for the business side of this industry. I was surprised that the twists and turns within the industry could often match for interest the myriad of confusing sub-plots that were being developed within the pages of the comics themselves. I was also pleased at the examination the authors provided of the fictional heroes themselves, even including the authors, at times, strong opinions. The book felt like a dialogue late at night with another expert fan of comics with often heated disagreements but always with a lot of fun and much insight. A highly recommended read.

Inuyasha is the bet manga i have ever read!! Inuyasha is a hanyou or an half-demon. This manga is about a girl from present times that falls into a well and get transported to the past, her name is Kagome. Kagome is the reincarnation of a dread priestess named Kikyou. Personally i think Kikyou is the best female character and Inuyasha is of course the best male character! I' won't give too much away or i'll spoil the WHOLE story...hehe...INUAYSHA IS THE BEST!!!!!! ^.^

We all know of the Half-demon Inu-Yasha, the girl from the futrue, Kagome, The Monk, Miroku, And the cute little fox-demon, Shippo. Well, Inu-Yasha severed his half brother's, Sheshomaru's, arm. He has been looking for a new limb sence. Naraku shows up and the trouble begins. An over-all great read!! INU-YASHA, RAH RAH RAH!!!

The Mermaid series was good, Ranma was better, Maison Ikkoku was great, and now we have come to Inu-Yasha. I'll tell you, I've read many a manga, but this series is by far my favorite. I'll admit to you I don't know any more of the story besides what happens in the first nine volumes, but as more keeps coming my love of them only grows. out of all of these books, though, only two I can call my favorites: seven and eight. If you haven't read the books I highly recomend you start with one,(no really), but if you're having second thoughts about buying this, STOP. Buy it, and buy it now. I assure you it's worth having.

This is good manga because it's Rumiko Takahashi. But I think that this is one the mose boring and repetive of the "Ranma 1/2" Series. All I'm saying is that it could be better

Ranma is my favorite manga series of all time, even though I have only read a couple of the 21 books. This is one of my personal favorites. The principal of Furinkan High comes back, and he's not what he seems. He implements a new haircut rule that has the students scrambling to find a very special coconut, and his tardy plan is designed to make you late, not keep you from being late! Akane gets a powerup, and Xian Pu tries once again to try and get Ranma for her own. A great book, and well worth your time.

RANMA 1/2 IS THE BEST JAPANESE ANIME EVER!! I HAVE VOLUMES 1-9 AND I LAUGH AT EVERY JOKE EVERY TIME I READ THEM!! THIS IS A MUST BUY FOR ANY FAN OF ANIME!