"Hardball takes leaders deep inside the world of hardball competition - a world where the players are zealously committed to winning and relentlessly driven to strengthen their competitive positions, creating a virtuous cycle that puts them far out of competitors' reach. Based on twenty-five years of experience advising and observing a range of companies, Stalk and Lachenauer reveal how hardball competitors achieve decisive victories - without bending the law and without compromising their obligations to customers and stakeholders. These companies often play rough, and they don't apologize for it. Yet they are also extraordinarily adept at the "soft" side of management - rallying talent and building culture through a laserlike focus on the few issues most critical to success." "Using detailed and engaging stories from many industries, Hardball outlines seven classic hardball strategies: unleash massive and overwhelming force, exploit anomalies, threaten competitors' profit sanctuaries, take it and make it your own, entice competitors' into retreat, break industry compromises, and hardball M&A. The authors reveal who uses hardball strategies, under what circumstances each strategy is most effective, and how to orchestrate the attack."--BOOK JACKET.