Strategic Management Methodology

Strategic planning methodology is the application of strategic management theory to practice. This book is about the process of strategic management in action, and is firmly grounded, unlike many works on the subject, in both strategic management theory and empirical research. This is what planning professionals and strategic management scholars have long sought—a firm methodological connection between strategic management theory and its daily practice in management. This comprehensive reference handbook covers such critical issues as the application of information technology to planning; the roles and responsibilities of various parties, including the board of directors, CEO, COO, line managers, and planning managers; administrative management of the planning process; integration of near and long-term planning; assessment of the firm's external environment; and the planning manager's role in corporate restructuring, including acquisitions, divestments, mergers, alliances, and joint ventures.

The field of strategic management has developed significantly since its birth from "business policy" and "business planning" in the 1960s. Pioneering studies were essentially normative, prescriptive, and often based on in-depth case studies. The evolution of strategic management into a respected field of academic study resulted from the adoption of research methods previously employed in economics. Today, research in strategic management is likely to employ a mixture of methods borrowed from related and unrelated disciplines, such as politcal sciences, psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, which can be confusing to researchers new to the field. This book provides the reader with a broad introduction to the array of qualitative and quantitative research methods required to investigate strategic management. Throughout the book, strong emphasis is placed on practical applications that transcend the mere analysis of the theoretical roots of single research methods. The underlying result is a book that encourages and aids readers to "learn by doing" – in applying the implications of each chapter to their own research. This text is vital reading for postgraduate students and researchers focused on business strategy.

When Fortune Magazine estimated that 70% of all strategies fail, it also noted that most of these strategies were basically sound, but could not be executed. The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called "the Logical Framework" - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.

Research methods present the strategic management field with great opportunities and challenges. This first volume includes three types of chapters aimed at exploiting the opportunities and meeting the challenges. One group of chapters addresses broad issues of science, including the state of strategy research, issues surrounding the age of data, and how to build cumulative knowledge within the strategic management field. A second group of chapters highlight ways to improve specific practices, including the measurement of knowledge, the assessment of limited dependent variables, and designing studies. A final group of chapters describe how strategy researchers can better use particular methods. These methods include social network analysis, longitudinal analysis, qualitative methods, survey research, and structural equation modeling. Collectively, the chapters offer state of the art thinking about research methodology provided by intellectual leaders within the strategic management field.

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.

Strategic management is a field that has diversity in approach and scope, but relative homogeneity in pedagogy. This book, a refreshed edition of its successful predecessor, brings something different to the field, by concisely introducing it with a focus on doing business in the Middle East and North Africa. Supplemented by online case studies and other resources, the reader is exposed to a plethora of concepts, theories, practical implications, and experiential exercises in the strategic management process. The updated text explores key regional issues, including the "Arab Spring", economic recession, corporate social responsibility, the role of women in business and the rise of emerging economies. The reader is encouraged to look at the world in light of the challenges many organizations are facing around the globe. Features like "Stop and Think Critically" and "Focus" points throughout each chapter encourage and inspire a thoughtful reading of the text. This is a book designed to aid undergraduate and graduate students, as well as managers in both for-profit and non-profit sectors. The authors guides the reader through both new and ongoing issues in the field of strategic management, and allow them to foster a greater understanding of this ever-developing field.

Students enjoy the concise and approachable style of Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 4e. Written in an accessible Harvard Business Review style with lots of practical examples and strategy tools, this course engages students with an easy-to-understand learning experience to strategic management concepts that will help students succeed in today's workplace. The newest edition of Strategic Management sparks ideas, fuels creative thinking and discussion, while engaging students via contemporary examples, outstanding author-produced cases, and much more.

Developing future strategies for a company is an important and complex task, and forms the core issue in this book. A company’s strategy defines its future direction, specifying its desired market position and key competitive advantages both at the level of market offers and of resources. This book provides clear, straightforward advice for professionals: after a brief introduction to strategic planning, a heuristic process for determining future strategies is presented. It shows how to analyze a company’s current situation, develop and assess options for the future, and define implementation projects. Throughout the book, detailed recommendations are illustrated with the help of numerous concrete examples. As a result of studying applications of the book in practice, the second edition benefits from a simplified, hands-on analysis and planning process at the business level.