Monopoly Rules: How to Find Capture and Control the Most Lucrative Markets in Any Business

Entrepreneurial Roundtable

January 16, 2006, 6:30 PM - 8:45 PM

In his new book Monopoly Rules, Milind Lele shows how some companies have used creativity to dominate and control their most profitable markets. Learn more.

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Where

Illinois Institute of Technology -- Wheaton, IL Campus
First Floor
East Loop Road (north of Butterfield Road)
Wheaton, Illinois

Driving Directions: Take I-88 to Naperville Road - Take Naperville Rd. North — 1.5 miles. At Butterfield Rd. (Rte. 56), turn right. Go 0.4 mile to first light (East Loop Road). Turn left onto East Loop Road & go 1 block - IIT on right and Linens 'N' Things on left.

Who

Milind M. Lele
Managing Director of SLC Consultants

Cost

$4.00 for pizza and soda

Program

6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Networking & Pizza
7:15 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Program

Registration

Register via Email
Register by Phone:630-527-8552, ext. 303 (Mary Brown)
Please register by 4:00 p.m. on day of event

Questions

Bill Wentz (XP-57), '88
630-527-8552, ext. 304

Event Details

In his new book Monopoly Rules, Milind Lele argues that every company should be striving to be a monopoly. He cites numerous examples of companies (such as Wal-Mart, Campbell's soups, Southwest airlines, Hewlett-Packard printers, Starbucks coffee, Dell computers, Enterprise car rental) that have established dominance in niche markets through pure creativity. It is this dominance that enabled the companies to avoid the need to match their rivals' lower prices, allowing them to sustain high profits.

Lele offers a new explanation of why many companies have become successful, an explanation that challenges Michael Porter's notion of "sustainable competitive advantage" through a combination of scale, scope, service quality, product uniqueness and efficiency. Lele believes that these qualities are not often the primary reason that the companies are highly profitable. Lele's idea is that a competitive advantage helps you to compete. But, if you want to make real money, strive to be a monopoly.

Lele offers not only a theory but a practical guide to building and protecting your own monopoly. He recommends that all companies study market trends and markets adjacent to their own, looking for monopolizing opportunities. Then, when one is found, a company should move rapidly to pre-empt rivals and gain the monopoly.

Speaker Profiles

Milind M. Lele
Managing Director of SLC Consultants,

Professor Lele is the managing director of SLC Consultants, a strategy consulting firm in Chicago and is on the faculty at the University of Chicago GSB. He has his Ph.D. from Harvard and is published widely, including articles in The Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. Monopoly Rules is his third book.