Strategy Safari

“Henry Mintzberg’s views are a breath of fresh air which can only encourage the good guys.” The Observer http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

“My favourite management book of the last 25 years? No contest. The Rise & Fall of Strategic Planning.” Tom Peters, managment guru http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Strategy is the most prestigious but also the most confusing part of business. Managers are constantly bombarded with new jargon and the latest fads promising the magic bullet for every strategic problem. The world of strategy can seem to be an impenetrable jungle. Strategy Safari presents a powerful antidote to the dilemma of needing to know about strategy and yet not being able to find any comprehensible guidelines. This revised edition is a comprehensive, colourful and illuminating tour through the wilds of strategic management. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

In this provocative, jargon-free and extremely readable guide, top strategy authors Mintzberg, Ahlstrand & Lampel clearly set out and critique each of the ten major schools of strategic management thinking to help you grasp what you really need to know. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Take the strategy safari – your business will thank you for it. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Table of Contents

Contents

• Acknowledgements / ix
• Embarkation / xi
• 1 ‘And over here, ladies and gentlemen: the strategic management beast
• Why ten?
• A field review
• Five Ps for strategy
• Strategies for better and for worse
• Strategic management as an academic discipline
• 2 The design school: strategy formation as a process of conception
• Origins of the design school
• The basic design school model
• Premises of the design school
• Critique of the design school
• The design school: contexts and contributions
• 3 The planning school: strategy formation as a formal process
• The basic strategic planning model
• Sorting out the hierarchies
• Premises of the planning school
• Some more recent developments
• Planning’s unplanned troubles
• The fallacies of strategic planning
• The context and contribution of the planning school
• 4 The positioning school: strategy formation as an analytical process
• Enter Porter
• Premises of the positioning school
• The first wave: origins in the military maxims
• The second wave: the search for consulting imperatives
• The third wave: the development of empirical propositions
• Critique of the positioning school
• Contribution and context of the positioning school
• 5 The entrepreneurial school: strategy formation as a visionary process
• Origins in economics
• The literature of the entrepreneurial school
• Visionary leadership
• Premises of the entrepreneurial school
• Contribution, critique, and context of the entrepreneurial school
• 6 The cognitive school: strategy formation as a mental process
• Cognition as confusion
• Cognition as information processing
• Cognition as mapping
• Cognition as concept attainment
• Cognition as construction
• Premises of the cognitive school
• Critique, contribution, and the context of the cognitive school
• 7 The learning school: strategy formation as an emergent process
• Formation vs formulation
• Emergence of a learning model
• New directions for the learning school
• From organizational learning to the learning organization
• Critique of the learning school
• Contribution and context of the learning school
• 8 The power school: strategy formation as a process of negotiation
• Micro power
• Upper echelons theory: strategic management at the top
• Macro power
• Conclusion
• 9 The cultural school: strategy formation as a collective process
• The nature of culture
• Premises of the cultural school
• Culture and strategy
• The Swedish wing of the cultural school
• Resources as the basis of competitive advantage
• Critique, contribution and context of the cultural school
• 10 The environmental school: strategy formation as a reactive process
• Premises of the environmental school
• The contingency view
• The population ecology view
• Institutional pressures to conform
• Critique, contribution, and context of the environmental school
• 11 The configuration school: strategy formation as a process of transformation
• &nbsonfiguration and transformation
• Splitters and lumpers
• Premises of the configuration school
• Researching configuration
• Transforming organizations
• Critique, context, and contribution of the configuration school
• 12 ‘Hang on, ladies and gentlemen, you have yet to meet the whole beast
• Of tails and tusks, plans and patterns
• Taming the wilds of strategic management
• Toward seeing the whole beast
• The hunt for strategic management
• References
• Index
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