Selected as a Financial Times Best Book of 2013 In Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's leading authorities on war and international politics, captures the vast history of strategic thinking, in a consistently engaging and insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of our lives. The range of Freedman's narrative is extraordinary, moving from the surprisingly advanced strategy practiced in primate groups, to the opposing strategies of Achilles and Odysseus in The Iliad, the strategic advice of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, the great military innovations of Baron Henri de Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz, the grounding of revolutionary strategy in class struggles by Marx, the insights into corporate strategy found in Peter Drucker and Alfred Sloan, and the contributions of the leading social scientists working on strategy today. The core issue at the heart of strategy, the author notes, is whether it is possible to manipulate and shape our environment rather than simply become the victim of forces beyond one's control. Time and again, Freedman demonstrates that the inherent unpredictability of this environment-subject to chance events, the efforts of opponents, the missteps of friends-provides strategy with its challenge and its drama. Armies or corporations or nations rarely move from one predictable state of affairs to another, but instead feel their way through a series of states, each one not quite what was anticipated, requiring a reappraisal of the original strategy, including its ultimate objective. Thus the picture of strategy that emerges in this book is one that is fluid and flexible, governed by the starting point, not the end point. A brilliant overview of the most prominent strategic theories in history, from David's use of deception against Goliath, to the modern use of game theory in economics, this masterful volume sums up a lifetime of reflection on strategy.

Strategic Management (2020) is a 325-page open educational resource designed as an introduction to the key topics and themes of strategic management. The open textbook is intended for a senior capstone course in an undergraduate business program and suitable for a wide range of undergraduate business students including those majoring in marketing, management, business administration, accounting, finance, real estate, business information technology, and hospitality and tourism. The text presents examples of familiar companies and personalities to illustrate the different strategies used by today's firms and how they go about implementing those strategies. It includes case studies, end of section key takeaways, exercises, and links to external videos, and an end-of-book glossary. The text is ideal for courses which focus on how organizations operate at the strategic level to be successful. Students will learn how to conduct case analyses, measure organizational performance, and conduct external and internal analyses.

Rapid technological advancements have the ability to positively or negatively impact corporate growth and success. Professional leaders and decision makers must consider such advancements when designing and implementing new policies in preparation for the sustainable future of the business environment. Developing Strategic Business Models and Competitive Advantage in the Digital Sector focuses on the application of preemptive planning in the media and entertainment industries to combat an increasingly uncertain future of innovation and competition. With research-based examples and analysis, this book is an essential reference source for academicians, researchers, and professionals interested in learning more about the impact of technology on industry success, including the changes and challenges created by the Internet and electronic media.

This collection of readings, representing the historical evolution of the subject of strategic management, covers two volumes. The first provides an introduction to the roots of modern thought and proceeds to dissect more recent contributions into four schools. The discussion on the first two of these, the Planning and Practice school and the Learning school, are contained in volume one. Discussions on the latter two, the Positioning school and the Resource-Based school, are featured in volume two. It is essential that the two volumes are read in conjunction as the study is continuous and the dissection made for purely printing purposes.

This book shows how the seventy largest corporations in America have dealt with a single economic problem: the effective administration of an expanding business. The author summarizes the history of the expansion of the nation's largest industries during the past hundred years and then examines in depth the modern decentralized corporate structure as it was developed independently by four companies—du Pont, General Motors, Standard Oil (New Jersey), and Sears, Roebuck. This 1990 reprint includes a new introduction by the author.

Strategy is an essential part of business, but strategizing often gets ignored or left behind. In this exciting new work, Eric J. Bolland introduces strategizing as a key component of strategy development and execution, showing strategizing as a way to aid organizations with their futures.

Managing major or strategic change now demands the ability to visualise the future, to see what might happen, and to estimate how the organization might respond. Through a selection of key articles on strategic change from authors such as Senge, Handy, Argyris and Prahalad and Doz, Carnall examines how we can understand the process of change and how we can use this knowledge to create the future. These articles look at: *networked organizations *market induced changes for internal and external markets *culture change *learning organization *globalisation This book also includes new material on how to create programmes of change to maximise learning as well as topical approaches such as process re-engineering, time-based management and corporate bench-marking. Students on MBA and other post-graduate business courses, and practitioners in the field of strategic change will find this book essential reading. Colin Carnall is Professor of Management Studies and Director of Programmes at Henley Management College. Top-flight editor from one of the best British Business Schools Includes articles from leading authors -Senge, Handy, Argyris and Prahalad and Doz to name a few Includes new material on how to create programmes of change to maximise learning