A former lawyer, investment banker, and strategy consultant, and a current professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business, Edward D. Hess proposes a new model of growth rooted in solid research and proven risk management strategies. With case studies of SYSCO, Best Buy, UPS, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, McDonalds, P&G, American Eagle Outfitters, Room and Board, Starbucks, and Tiffany & Co., Hess describes the mechanics of real growth, and he consults fifty-four high growth private companies to show how they have generated substantial value over the long term. Hess ultimately introduces three key management tools: a growth decision template, a growth risks audit, and a seven-step growth model, teaching business leaders, directors, managers, and students the best way to assess a company's assets, manage its risks, and discover a good way to grow.

Smart Growth: Building an Enduring Company by Managing the Risks of Growth
1. Defining the Growth Mental Model
2. Smooth and Continuous Company Growth: The Exception Not the Rule
3. Economics: Theories of Growth
4. Organizational Design and Strategy: Theories of Growth
5. Biology: Theories of Growth
6. Smart Growth: Authentic Growth
7. Managing the Risks of Growth: Public Companies
8. Managing the Risks of Growth: Private Companies
9. It Is Time for Smart Growth
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

Edward D. Hess is professor of business administration and Batten Executive-in-Residence at The Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. He founded both the Center for Entrepreneurship and Corporate Growth and the Values-Based Leadership Institute at Goizueta Business School at Emory University.