This book is based on several years research into how companies can gain and maintain customers by adding value through first class services. Tin soldiers - companies, structures and people who produce internally efficient 'things' (products or services); and Russian dolls - companies, structures and people who produce solutions for customers, of which value added services are increasingly the prime component. Sandra Vandermerwe's book examines the key strategic question of the 1990s - how will companies gain market dominance now that the emphasis has shifted from products to customer service? It examines what is happening to corporate strategy and attitudes. At the same time the author suggests what manufacturers and service companies can do to adapt their structures, skills and strategies to compete profitably in the long term, by adding value through services.