Crafting & Executing Strategy: Text and Readings

Thompson, Strickland and Gambles’, CRAFTING AND EXECUTING STRATEGY, 17e presents the latest research findings from the literature and cutting-edge strategic practices of companies have been incorporated to keep step with both theory and practice. The chapter content continues to be solidly mainstream and balanced, mirroring both the best academic thinking and the pragmatism of real-world strategic management. An attractive collection of 20 readings that amplify important topics in managing a company’s strategy-making, strategy-executing process is included in this Text and Readings version to provide students with a taste of the literature of strategic management before tackling cases or simulation projects.

Table of Contents:
Part I: Concepts and Techniques for Crafting and Executing StrategySection A: Introduction and OverviewChapter 1: What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important?Chapter 2: Leading the Process of Crafting and Executing StrategySection B: Core Concepts and Analytical ToolsChapter 3: Evaluating a Company’s External EnvironmentChapter 4: Evaluating a Company’s Resources and Competitive PositionSection C: Crafting a StrategyChapter 5: Five Generic Competitive Strategies--Which One to Employ?Chapter 6: Supplementing the Chosen Competitive Strategy: Other Important Strategy ChoicesChapter 7: Strategies for Competing in Foreign MarketsChapter 8: Diversification: Strategies for Managing a Group of BusinessesChapter 9: Ethical Business Strategies, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Sustainability Section D: Executing the StrategyChapter 10: Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy ExecutionChapter 11: Managing Internal Operations: Actions That Promote Good Strategy ExecutionChapter 12: Corporate Culture and Leadership: Keys to Good Strategy Execution Readings 1.Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?2.Enabling Bold Visions3.Location, Location: The Geography of Industry Clusters4.Identifying Valuable Resources5.The Battle of the Value Chains: New Specialized versus Old Hybrids6.Playing Hardball: Why Strategy Still Matters7.Hitting Back: Strategic Responses to Low-Cost Rivals8.Limited Potential Niche or Prospective Market Foothold? Five Tests9.Value Innovation: A Leap into the Blue Ocean10.Racing to Be 2nd: Conquering the Industries of the Future11.Globalization Is an Option, Not an Imperative. Or, Why the World Is Not Flat12.The Challenge for Multinational Corporations in China: Think Local, Act Global13.How to Win in Emerging Markets14.Why Is Synergy So Difficult in Mergers of Related Businesses?15.Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Good People Behave Badly in Organizations16.Competing Responsibly17.The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution18.Some Pros and Cons of Six Sigma: An Academic Perspective19.Linking Goals to Monetary Incentives20.The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives

About the Author :
Arthur A. Thompson, Jr., earned his B.S and Ph.D. degrees in economics from The University of Tennessee, spent three years on the economics faculty at Virginia Tech, and served on the faculty of The University of Alabama's College of Commerce and Business Administration for 24 years. In 1974 and again in 1982, Dr. Thompson spent semester-long sabbaticals as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School.His areas of specialization are business strategy, competition and market analysis, and the economics of business enterprises. In addition to publishing over 30 articles in some 25 different professional and trade publications, he has authored or co-authored five textbooks and six computer-based simulation exercises. His textbooks and strategy simulations have been used at well over 1,000 college and university campuses worldwide. Dr. Thompson spends much of his off-campus time giving presentations, putting on management development programs, working with companies, and helping operate a business simulation enterprise in which he is a major partner. Dr.Thompson and his wife of 56 years have two daughters, two grandchildren, and a Yorkshire terrier.  A.J. (Lonnie) Strickland received a BS in Math and Physics from the University of Georgia, an MS in Industrial Management from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a PhD from Georgia State university. He currently holds the rank of Professor of Strategic Management in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Alabama. He has done extensive consulting and research work. In recent years, he was honored with the Outstanding Professor Award for the Graduate School of Business, and was the recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award for the University of Alabama. John E. Gamble is currently Associate Dean and Professor of Management in the Mitchell College of Business at the University of South Alabama. His teaching specialty at USA is strategic management and he also conducts a course in strategic management in Germany, which is sponsored by the University of Applied Sciences in Worms. Dr. Gamble's research interests center on strategic issues in entrepreneurial, health care, and manufacturing settings. His work has been published in various scholarly journals and he is the author or co-author of more than 50 case studies published in an assortment of strategic management and strategic marketing texts. He has done consulting on industry and market analysis for clients in a diverse mix of industries. Professor Gamble received his Ph.D. in management from the University of Alabama in 1995. Dr. Gamble also has a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Alabama.