A practical workbook and accompanying CD-ROM which take the user through logical stages in strategic thinking. The CD-ROM contains worked examples and blank templates.

Bestselling author Michel Robert gives you his trademark pure and simple rules for developing solid business strategies In this anticipated follow-up to his previous bestsellers, management expert Michel Robert unveils his practical and proven methodology for you to plan and implement effective corporate strategies. Featuring a detailed explanation of how Robert used his approach to turn around Caterpillar as well as case studies of leading companies that utilize Robert’s method, The New Strategic Thinking shows you how to assemble a strategy team, identify your company’s driving force, determine the focus of the strategy (product, customer, or market), and launch initiatives company wide.

The future is happening today, and the most successful organizations will be those that understand the dynamics of the "big picture" in which their decisions are being made. This book describes how to understand and influence that picture. Irene Sanders pioneered the application of chaos theory and complexity to strategic thinking -- the most essential skill in today's fast-paced business environment. Now, in this straightforward, easy-to-read book, she shows how the most up-to-date strategic thinking is done, and how you can begin using it in your enterprise. Sanders' original and practical approach moves far beyond traditional forecasting, futuring and scenario-building. The new science of chaos and complexity has shown scientists and business professionals alike the importance of looking at the world as a whole system, rather than as a collection of deterministic principles. Consequently, the human mind -- through the integration of intuition and intellect -- is now recognized as the only information processor capable of understanding the level of complexity in today's global business environment. By engaging the mind's eye through the use of visual thinking, Sanders shows you how to develop insight about the present and foresight about the future, thereby allowing you to see and influence the future as it is emerging. The new planning paradigm presented in Strategic Thinking and the New Science is nothing less than a transformation of the science of business. For the first time in history, we have the knowledge, tools and techniques to develop visual thinking as the essential insight/foresight skill of the future. In addition to breakthroughs neuroscientists have made about brain-mind interactions, artists and psychologists are revealing the role of imagery in the creative process. And now, the new field of scientific visualization brings all of this information together with computer graphics to demonstrate how visual images can be used to engage our imaginations, enhance learning -- and stimulate our deeper levels of awareness. In this groundbreaking book, Sanders is the first to define the new model of strategic thinking -- a model that is bound to revolutionize organizations of all types as they begin to see and influence their futures -- today.

From the acclaimed MIT Sloan Management Review comes a compendium of cutting-edge thinking about corporate strategy. Focusing on strategic imperatives of the new economy, leading thinkers in the field present their views in four general areas: strategy and value creation; flexibility in a volatile world; strategy making in uncertain times; and strategies for growth in fast-paced markets. Strategic Thinking for the New Economy shows that designing a successful strategy is a never-ending quest-and that effective strategic thinking is a process of continuously asking questions and thinking through issues in a creative way. The book's expert contributions include: * Sumantra Ghoshal, Christopher A. Bartlett, and Peter Moran on managers creating values * Henry Mintzberg and Joseph Lampel on the history of the strategy process * Arnoldo C. Hax and Dean L. Wilde II on adaptive management * Kathleen M. Eisenhardt on strategic decision making * Richard T. Pascale on treating organizations as complex adaptive systems * Eric D. Beinhocker on lessons learned from complexity theory and evolution * Peter J. Williamson on creating a portfolio of options for the future * Gary Hamel on strategy innovation and the quest for value * W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne on expanding markets * Constantinos C. Markides on dynamic strategy * C. K. Prahalad and Jan P. Oosterveld on transforming internal governance * Georg von Krogh and Michael A. Cusumano on managing for fast growth The Editors Michael A. Cusumano is the Sloan Management Review Distinguished Professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management and a noted competitive strategy specialist. Constantinos C. Markides is professor of strategic and international management and chairman of the strategy department at the London Business School.

There are many strategy books available in the marketplace for today’s student or business professional; most of them view strategy from the 10,000 foot level, while Strategic Thinking looks at this important business topic through a different lens. Written from the perspective of a manager, this book builds on theories of managerial and organizational cognition that have had a powerful influence on many business fields over the last two decades. As other books on business policy and strategy cover a broad range of topics, models, frameworks, and theories, the unique feature of this book is that it covers all this, but also focuses on how managers of business firms understand their business environments, assess and marshal their firms’ resources, and strive for advantage in the competitive marketplace. It examines the economic, structural, and managerial explanations for firm performance. Offering professors and business people who are intrigued by the ideas introduced in Peter Senge’s books ways to apply those ideas and principles in the classroom and in the companies in which they work, the book puts managers front and center.

Effective strategic thinking requires a clear understanding of one's external environment. Each organization has a unique environment, but as Ross Harrison explains in Strategic Thinking in 3D, any environment-whether in the fields of national security, foreign policy, or business-has three dimensions: systems, opponents, and groups.

Adopted internationally by business schools and MBA programmes, this book is the ultimate resource for senior strategists, positioning professionals and postgraduate students to understand and overcome the challenges of brand management and strategy today, written by the leading international expert of branding, Jean-Noël Kapferer. The New Strategic Brand Management is simply the reference source for branding professionals and postgraduate students. Over the years it has not only established a reputation as one of the leading works on brand strategy, but also has become synonymous with the topic itself. Using an array of international case studies, this book covers all the leading issues faced by brand strategists today, with both gravitas and intelligent insight. It reveals new thinking on topics such as putting culture and content into brands, the impact of private labels and the comeback of local brands. This updated fifth edition builds on the book's already impressive reputation, including new content that will help students and practitioners stay up to date with targeting, with relevant research and market knowledge to support the discipline. With dedicated sections for specific types of brands (luxury, corporate and retail), international examples and case studies from companies such as Audi, Nivea, Toyota and Absolut Vodka; plus models and frameworks such as the Brand Identity Prism; The New Strategic Brand Management remains at the forefront of strategic brand thinking.