Gurus on Business Strategy

Overview

A one-stop guide to the world’s most important writers on business strategy

This book expertly summarises all the key strategic concepts and describes the work and contribution of each of the leading thinkers in the field of business strategy. It cleverly analyses the pros and cons of many of the key theories in practice and offers two enlightening case-studies to bring the theories to life. The third section of the book provides a series of detailed checklists to help you develop your own strategy so you can achieve the goals you set out for your business.

More than just a summary of the key concepts, this book offers valuable insights into their practical application and value; it will provide you with a much broader grasp of the subject against which to develop your own business.

Content

Introduction

ONE: A taster of the gurus

• What is strategy?
• Understanding the external environment
  
• Understanding competitive advantage
  
• Strategic options and decision-making
  
• Implementation
• Learning and control
  

TWO: Key strategic concepts

THREE: The business strategy gurus - a detailed guru-by-guru guide

• Igor Ansoff
  
• Chris Argyris
• Christopher Bartlett and Samantha Ghoshal 
• G Bennett-Stewart
• Blackadder
• Boston Consulting Group
• Cliff Bowman
• Braybrooke and Lindblom
• Campbell A and Goold 
• Alfred Chandler 
• A De Geus
• Eliyahu Goldratt
• Robert Grant
• Tony Grundy (the alternative guru – the author)
• Gary Hamel and S K Prahalad 
• Charles Handy 
• P Haspeslagh and D Jemison
• Gerry Johnson and Kevin Scholes 
• Rosebeth Moss Kanter 
• Kaplan and Norton 
• Kurt Lewin 
• P Lorange and J Roos
• Henry Mintzberg
  
• Ian Mitroff
• Kenichi Ohmae
• R T Pascale
  
• Tom Peters 
• Nigel Piercy
• Michael E Porter 
• J B Quinn Alfred Rappaport
• Peter Senge 
• A Slyvosky
• J C Spender
• E Stalk
• Sun Tzu
• David Ulrich
• P Wack
• Jack Welch
• George Yip

FOUR: Champney’s Health Resort and the business strategy gurus

• Strategic analysis
  
• Strategic choice
  
• Implementation
  
• Champney’s strategic breakthroughs
  
• Implementing the strategic breakthroughs
  
• A summary of Champney’s strategic change breakthroughs
  
• Key lessons from the Champney’s case
  
• Champney’s – Some options for competitive strategy
  
• Organisational strategy – Options
  
• Case postscript
  

FIVE: Marks and Spencer and the business strategy gurus

• Marks & Spencer – The position mid-1990s
  
• Marks & Spencer – Recipes for success
  
• Marks & Spencer – The position 1997 – 2001
  Marks & Spencer – Turning to the future
  

SIX: Checklists for managing strategy

• Organic business development strategies
  
• New product strategies
  
• New market strategies
  
• Selling more to existing customers
  
• New value-creating activities
  
• New distribution channel strategies
• New technologies
  
• Strategic and financial planning processes
  
• Restructuring strategies
  
• Information systems strategy
  
• Management buy-out strategies
  
• Alliance and joint venture strategies
  
• Setting strategy and objectives
  
• Acquisition evaluation
  
• Negotiating the deal
  
• Integration
  
• Operational strategies
  

SEVEN: Conclusion – Gurus and the future

Author

Tony Grundy

Tony Grundy is an independent consultant and Senior Lecturer at Cranfield School of Management. He is the author of several best-selling books, as well as articles on HR strategy in leading management journals.