Gurus on Business Strategy

Overview

This one-stop guide to the world’s most important writers on business strategy expertly summarises all the key strategic concepts from the work and contribution of each of the leading thinkers in the field of business strategy.

This in-depth guide proves there is much to learn from these important gurus and many valuable strategic concepts to put into practice to help your business succeed. With the clever help of two enlightening case studies, which analyse the pros and cons of the key concepts in practice, the theory is really bought to life.

In addition, a comprehensive series of detailed checklists will help you to develop your own strategy so you can achieve the goals you set out for your business.

Much more than just a summary of the key concepts, this book offers valuable insights into the practical application and value of each guru’s work. It will provide you with an in-depth 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.