Focus on your core: it's the mantra at the heart of every big business success story
The Times 2/9/2010
by Angela Jameson
The idea that businesses should focus on their core is so well entrenched in corporate culture that it seems surprising that it can be traced back to a book published less than ten years ago. The book summing up the philosophy - Profit From The Core - was written at the height of the internet bubble by two of Mr Ringer's colleagues at Bain & Company, Chris Zook and James Allen. Times have changed dramatically since then, so Bain is reissuing the book for a new era and a new generation of business managers.
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February 2003

One book that CEO recommends: Profit from the Core
CEO Magazine February 2/1/2003
by Jung Tae Kim, CEO of Kookmin Bank
According to Jung Tae Kim, CEO of Kookmin Bank, 'Profit From the Core' provides various solutions to the leaders. This book stresses the concept of 'core business'.

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Best Business Books of 2001
Soundview - Executive Book Summaries 11/1/2001
"Loyalty Rules!" by Frederick Reichheld and "Profit From the Core" by Chris Zook and James Allen have been chosen by Soundview's editors from among the over 1200 business books published each year.


June 2001

Without proper growing, companies feel the pains
Sunday Business  6/10/2001
Should companies focus solely on their core business or expand? "How companies answer that question is very important," says Chris Zook, head of global strategy at Bain & Company and author of a new book on growth strategy, Profit from the Core. Zook's theory is that the correct answer for many managers is to concentrate of the key business.

Les meilleures ventes anglo-saxonnes d'ouvrages de gestion
Résumés 6/1/2001
Profit from the Core is listed as number 5 among business books in English in France.


May 2001

Stock Focus: One-Track Companies
Forbes 5/25/2001
by Edita Raslova
A new study conducted by Bain  substantiates conventional wisdom about the pitfalls of diversification. This work forms the basis for Profit from the Core: Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence. The conclusion: Of more than 2,000 companies surveyed, only about 10% achieved a basic level of sustained, profitable growth over the past ten years. Nearly 90% of these successful companies had only one or two strong businesses.
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Management: Sudden Economic Downturn Tests Chief Executives
The New York Times 5/16/2001
by Reed Abelson
The combination of a widening gap between the performance that investors expect and what companies can deliver, combined with the high level of turnover among chief executives, is creating what Bain's Chris Zook describes as the management equivalent of "the perfect storm." Executives are also being forced to rethink what they tell Wall Street and the kind of promises they can make, according to executives and consultants. "Companies have been in a trap of false enthusiasm in the last six to eight years," Mr. Zook said.

Keeping an eye on profits: It takes focus
The Mercury News  5/13/2001
by David A. Sylvester
If you expect the company you work for to grow successfully and profitably over a long time, here's some unwelcome news: Your company has a 90 percent chance of failing. That might not reflect the skill of management as much as the difficulties presented by growth itself, especially over time. These results come from an exhaustive study by two Bain & Co. management consultants who looked into what makes the most successful companies win over a decade.

Profit from the Core: Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence
Financial Executive 5/1/2001
by Jeffrey Marshall
Well-crafted and lucidly written, Profit from the Core is evidence that a book doesn't have to be a tome tc carry weight. The authors, both from consulting experts Bain & Co. (though Allen has since left to head a venture capital firm), argue that fully 90 percent of companies around the world failed to deliver sustained, profitable growth during the 1990s. The chief problem, they argue, was that companies diversified from their core businesses.


April 2001

Financial Post: Canada - Business Books
National Post 4/26/2001
Profit From The Core ranks number 8 in The National Post's Top selling books on managment.