More than motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson

Book Reviews
More Than a Motorcycle:
The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson

If you've looked at our definition of 'marketing' you'll see that it includes the idea of 'identifying and creating sustainable competitive advantage'.

In our rapidly changing times this is the responsibility of all management, and in this entertaining book Rich Teerlink and Lee Ozley look back on how they and many others transformed the competitive position of Harley-Davidson.

Through a transformation of their leadership role from 'command and control' to 'a process of creating and sustaining an environment in which people work together towards the achievement of common goals' they took the company from the brink of financial ruin to become a 'marketing powerhouse'.

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It took over 15 years, and a series of failures as well as successes. It is the authors' reflections on both failure and success, and their clear descriptions of the process they used and insights learnt, that make this book a great read. The first half of the book is perhaps the most entertaining, dealing as it does with the personalities involved and the early challenges of creating a recognition of the need for change and some momentum in the right direction. The later chapters are still a good read, and perhaps more insightful, in that they deal with the processes and outcomes in more detail. A great read for anyone who believes that good marketing starts from within.