- Paperback: 608 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; (Reissue) edition (8 Aug 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006383432
- ISBN-13: 978-0006383437
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 795,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
This is an autobiography-cum-business book by John Sculley, one of the most successful businessmen in America, who became Pepsi's president and CEO at the age of 38. At the height of his success with Pepsi he joined the high-risk young Apple, co-founded by a young genius named Stephen Jobs. This book describes the turbulent relationship between Jobs and Sculley, their break-up over the future of Apple, and the eventual transformation of Apple into one of the most unconventional and dramatic success stories in business history. It offers an insight into the emotions and personal drama of life at the top. John A.Byrne is management editor of "Business Week" magazine. He is also the author of "The Headhunters".
From the Back Cover
THE MOST DRAMATIC MARKETING ADVENTURE IN BUSINESS HISTORY
In 'Odyssey', John Sculley reveals the key events and marketing techniques that catapulted him from being head of Pepsi-Cola Co. to leader of the most innovative company of all – Apple Computer.
As Pepsi's youngest-ever vice president John Sculley launched – and won – the Cola Wars. Then, at what looked like the pinnacle of his career, he astounded the business world by rising to a challenge from Steven Jobs, a brilliant college dropout and founder of the high-risk Apple Computer Company: 'Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?'
'Odyssey' is John Sculley's vividly told account of the series of successes and disasters that marked Apple's transformation from entrepreneurial upstart to one of America's best-run Fortune 500 corporations.
As a leader in both the traditional corporate world and the revolutionary world of Apple, John Sculley embodied a bridge to the future. 'Odyssey' is his clear-sighted vision of the twenty-first century, and required reading for all who wish to prosper in it.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Obviously as an Apple enthusiast it is always interesting to read a book about Apple and its employees. But to hear from one of the ex-CEOs of the company, to hear first hand of his experiences in one of the greatest companies in the world, to hear first hand to opinions of working with Steve Jobs made it worth paying for this book three times over. No matter what you read you will never get this close to the company or its employees.
However, on top of this Sculley uses his vast knoledge to explain several different aspects of business, including managerial structures and unwritten marketing rules.
Buy it, buy it, buy it!
Format:Paperback
Such an interesting big to read. Especially if you already know a little about John and his career at Apple.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
14 of 18 people found the following review helpful
An Interesting Lesson About Incentives
17 Aug 2001
Format:Hardcover
Mr. Sculley describes how Steve Jobs lured him to Apple, and blithely exposes his thought processes behind the decision to go. Among other things, he insisted upon a lucrative compensation/house package, explaining that he simply could not be burdened with any personal financial considerations while dedicating his self-appraised tremendous powers to running Apple. The Apple folks agreed, Sculley got his huge salary and his new house, and under his hand the company tanked down the tubes forthwith.
Sculley presented management lessons as his narrative progressed. He did not directly discuss the matter of incentives, and the complacency which unearned wealth induces so quickly, electing instead to present that lesson by his own example. Perhaps if Mr. Sculley had been more concerned about his own financial condition as a function of the company's success or failure, he would have been more highly motivated to do a better job running the firm.
At least one member of every corporate board of directors should read this book, and keep this lesson about incentives in mind whenever it's time to hire new executives and develop their compensation packages.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Long, Boring and slow
30 Mar 2000
Format:Hardcover
I started with an expectation of something that would be fast paced; however, this was not to be. Sculley's style is repetitive and slow. He makes a point in a couple of paragraphs and then goes on and on about the same thing. He also gives too much importance to his personal life in the book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Interesting, although the author explains only part of the history
8 April 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Well, I read this book after viewing Job's lecture at Stanford [] really fascinating. So I would know what was happening behind the scenes, and what went wrong on the love story of Jobs and Sculley.
The book explains Sculley's East Coast (and Republican) vision of how to manage a big company, which, is, essentially, I may say a "military" way to organize a company, with clear objectives and responsabilities, vs. the West Coast (and Democrat) which is more cooperative and less organized. Of course you cannot manage a multimillion company with the manager deciding on everything, from the profile of the programmers to hire to the marketing budget.
It explains also the big mistake Sculley (and others have done) when trying to emulate the Sosa wars, with IBM-PC vs. Macintosh. A consumer may just pick one Pepsi on the shelves of a supermarket, and test it, and eventually switch brands... An IT Manager simply cannot do that, and its amazing that people as smart as Apple Board of Directors didn't see this. Anyhow, since then Apple has profiled his public and they did not try to compete with PC clones anymore. They aim their sales to a prospective buyer who is not the IT Manager anymore. Probably this is not a decision done by Jobs when returning to Apple.
What the book says is not as important as what the book hides, probably the fact that not all companies are created equal, and there is no such thing as "one size fits all". Probably Sculley was the right man for the job in a certain moment, but sure Apple under his management would have become a "me too" company, as Hewlett-Packard is now. Of course I prefer the panache of DEC trying to convince the world to follow their way - although they did not suceed - to the Compaq-HP deal, manufacturing dull machines with dull O.S.
The book explains Sculley's East Coast (and Republican) vision of how to manage a big company, which, is, essentially, I may say a "military" way to organize a company, with clear objectives and responsabilities, vs. the West Coast (and Democrat) which is more cooperative and less organized. Of course you cannot manage a multimillion company with the manager deciding on everything, from the profile of the programmers to hire to the marketing budget.
It explains also the big mistake Sculley (and others have done) when trying to emulate the Sosa wars, with IBM-PC vs. Macintosh. A consumer may just pick one Pepsi on the shelves of a supermarket, and test it, and eventually switch brands... An IT Manager simply cannot do that, and its amazing that people as smart as Apple Board of Directors didn't see this. Anyhow, since then Apple has profiled his public and they did not try to compete with PC clones anymore. They aim their sales to a prospective buyer who is not the IT Manager anymore. Probably this is not a decision done by Jobs when returning to Apple.
What the book says is not as important as what the book hides, probably the fact that not all companies are created equal, and there is no such thing as "one size fits all". Probably Sculley was the right man for the job in a certain moment, but sure Apple under his management would have become a "me too" company, as Hewlett-Packard is now. Of course I prefer the panache of DEC trying to convince the world to follow their way - although they did not suceed - to the Compaq-HP deal, manufacturing dull machines with dull O.S.
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