How to close the gap between strategy and execution Two-thirds of executives say their organizations don’t have the capabilities to support their strategy. In Strategy That Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi explain why. They identify conventional business practices that unintentionally create a gap between strategy and execution. And they show how some of the best companies in the world consistently leap ahead of their competitors. Based on new research, the authors reveal five practices for connecting strategy and execution used by highly successful enterprises such as IKEA, Natura, Danaher, Haier, and Lego. These companies: • Commit to what they do best instead of chasing multiple opportunities • Build their own unique winning capabilities instead of copying others • Put their culture to work instead of struggling to change it • Invest where it matters instead of going lean across the board • Shape the future instead of reacting to it Packed with tools you can use for building these five practices into your organization and supported by in-depth profiles of companies that are known for making their strategy work, this is your guide for reconnecting strategy to execution.

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy clarifies the muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world. Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to—and approach for—overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” In Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.” He introduces nine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—that are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can easily be put to work on Monday morning, and uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007–08 financial crisis. Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.

Explains how companies must pinpoint business strategies to a few critically important choices, identifying common blunders while outlining simple exercises and questions that can guide day-to-day and long-term decisions.

This volume offers the proceedings of the 2nd UNet conference, held in Casablanca May 30 - June 1, 2016. It presents new trends and findings in hot topics related to ubiquitous computing/networking, covered in three tracks and three special sessions: Main Track 1: Context-Awareness and Autonomy Paradigms Track Main Track 2: Mobile Edge Networking and Virtualization Track Main Track 3: Enablers, Challenges and Applications Special Session 1: Smart Cities and Urban Informatics for Sustainable Development Special Session 2: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles From Theory to Applications Special Session 3: From Data to Knowledge: Big Data applications and solutions

Named one of the best strategy books of 2021 by strategy+business Get to better, more effective strategy. In nearly every business segment and corner of the world economy, the most successful companies dramatically outperform their rivals. What is their secret? In Better, Simpler Strategy, Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee shows how these companies achieve more by doing less. At a time when rapid technological change and global competition conspire to upend traditional ways of doing business, these companies pursue radically simplified strategies. At a time when many managers struggle not to drown in vast seas of projects and initiatives, these businesses follow simple rules that help them select the few ideas that truly make a difference. Better, Simpler Strategy provides readers with a simple tool, the value stick, which every organization can use to make its strategy more effective and easier to execute. Based on proven financial mechanics, the value stick helps executives decide where to focus their attention and how to deepen the competitive advantage of their business. How does the value stick work? It provides a way of measuring the two fundamental forces that lead to value creation and increased financial success—the customer's willingness-to-pay and the employee's willingness-to-sell their services to the business. Companies that win, Oberholzer-Gee shows, create value for customers by raising their willingness-to-pay, and they provide value for talent by lowering their willingness-to-sell. The approach, proven in practice, is entirely data driven and uniquely suited to be cascaded throughout the organization. With many useful visuals and examples across industries and geographies, Better, Simpler Strategy explains how these two key measures enable firms to gauge and improve their strategies and operations. Based on the author's sought-after strategy course, this book is your must-have guide for making better strategic decisions.

This new Edition of Electronic Commerce is a complete update of the leading graduate level/advanced undergraduate level textbook on the subject. Electronic commerce (EC) describes the manner in which transactions take place over electronic networks, mostly the Internet. It is the process of electronically buying and selling goods, services, and information. Certain EC applications, such as buying and selling stocks and airline tickets online, are reaching maturity, some even exceeding non-Internet trades. However, EC is not just about buying and selling; it also is about electronically communicating, collaborating, and discovering information. It is about e-learning, e-government, social networks, and much more. EC is having an impact on a significant portion of the world, affecting businesses, professions, trade, and of course, people. The most important developments in EC since 2014 are the continuous phenomenal growth of social networks, especially Facebook , LinkedIn and Instagram, and the trend toward conducting EC with mobile devices. Other major developments are the expansion of EC globally, especially in China where you can find the world's largest EC company. Much attention is lately being given to smart commerce and the use of AI-based analytics and big data to enhance the field. Finally, some emerging EC business models are changing industries (e.g., the shared economy models of Uber and Airbnb). The 2018 (9th) edition, brings forth the latest trends in e-commerce, including smart commerce, social commerce, social collaboration, shared economy, innovations, and mobility.

Winning in Service Markets: Success through People, Technology, and Strategy is the first practitioner book in the market to cover the key aspects of services marketing and management based on sound academic evidence and knowledge. Derived from the globally leading textbook for Services Marketing by the same author, this book offers a comprehensive overview of extant knowledge on the topic. Accessible and practical, Winning in Service Markets bridges the gap between cutting-edge academic research and industry practitioners, and features best practices and latest trends on services marketing and management from around the world.