How should firms’ control systems be designed and used to formulate and implement strategies that will contribute to competitive advantage and sustained high performance? This book offers some thought-provoking suggestions. It contains empirical studies of such diverse manufacturing enterprises as Atlas Copco, Electrolux, Saab, Scania, SCA Packing and Volvo, as well as an insurance company and two chamber orchestras. All firms and organizations presented offer interesting and exciting insights, each in a specific way and each with a fascinating history. The book presents research on the relationship between strategy, control and competitive advantage over extended periods and at several strategic levels, while also taking into account the existence of multiple control systems in a single firm or other organization. Readers are offered an in-depth look into how changes in the environment lead to adjustments in strategies and control systems. It is shown, in addition, how difficult and challenging it can be to implement these changes, and why such efforts are not always successful. But perhaps most importantly, the book conveys an in-depth understanding of how strategies and control systems affect competitive advantage and performance. In both its coverage and focus, the book is unique. Not only does it provide valuable contributions to the research field of strategy and management control; it also represents a substantial commitment in terms of resources and involvement over an extended period. The book is highly recommended to researchers, practitioners, graduate students and all others interested in this area.

This book is about competitive advantage and how it is created at the company level. It is based on the premise that the alignment of strategies and control systems affects the firm`s chances of successfully positioning itself in its chosen arena of competition. The firm is in a better position to concentrate on activities that create value for the customer if its strategies and control systems are mutually consistent and adapted to expected external demands. The authors believe that the co-ordination and integration of strategies and control systems will provide a necessary, and long-overdue, expansion of knowledge in the area.

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.

The articles in this collection highlight the importance of strategy control and implementation in maintaining a competitive advantage. Partial contents: The eclectic roots of strategy implementation research ; Transformational leadership.

Strategy as Action presents an action plan for how firms can build, improve, and defend their competitive advantage at every stage of their life cycle. For start-up firms entering a market, it provides a model for exploiting competitive uncertainty and blind spots; for growth firms who have established some market advantages, it provides an action plan for exploiting relative resources; for mature firms, it explains how to exploit market position; finally, for firms that have no decisive resource advantage, it provides an action plan based on firm co-operative reactions.