Smart Growth

In Smart Growth, Edward D. Hess challenges commonly held business beliefs that businesses must grow or die, growth is always good, public companies should grow smoothly and continuously, and quarterly earnings should be a primary measure of a public company’s success. Through his research, he concludes that there is no scientific or business basis for such beliefs in the real world. In fact, only a handful of companies have been able to sustain this kind of growth over time. Hess proposes that businesses learn to leverage “Smart Growth,” which focuses on authentic earnings and growing “better, not bigger.”