Growth is the number one strategic concern of virtually every company and executive today. Following the recent years of heavy cost-cutting, companies everywhere are now lean and mean, and desperate for growth. Based upon a major study of 40 of the world's greatest growth companies of recent times (including Disney, Bertelsmann, Gillette, Lotus, Coca-Cola, Nokia) by the world's leading management consultancy, McKinsey & Co, this book provides the most powerful and practical methodology for growth and profitability so far. In examining these leading growth companies, and finding out how they approach and (more important) implement their growth strategies, the authors have discovered that high growth is achieved not by bold leaps but by a series of measured steps. Each of these successful companies share a distinctive pattern in their growth strategy in the form of a 'staircase' of manageable steps. Few if any single steps are dramatic - but when linked together as a staircase of sequential growth, the results are dramatic. This book contains detailed case studies of the main growth companies, and extracts from them the key lessons and methods for corporate growth in today's complex business environment.