Behavioral Strategic Management

This unique text examines strategic management and its implementation in the context of what we know about how individuals and organizations actually make decisions. Through this behavioral approach, students gain a richer, more realistic understanding of how to create coherent strategies that take advantage their strengths and build their capabilities. Integrating analytical tools found in a typical strategy textbook with cognitive and psychological insights into decision making, the book focuses on core issues that will help students understand the complexities inherent in making profitable decisions. Readers will learn about the purpose of organizations; consider how political, technological, and industry environments play into firm capabilities; how these capabilities are used in competition; and how to adapt strategies over time. The authors also cover important topics like managerial cognition, learning, and corporate strategy, which receive scant attention in other texts. Chapter summaries, experiential exercises, and "Food for Thought" boxes featuring plenty of discussion questions provide practical insight into how to utilize a successful strategy and maintain a consistent, long-term direction within a firm. Succinct and well-written, Behavioral Strategic Management offers graduate students of strategy a deeper and broader understanding of the topic.

Table of Contents:
Preface Cognition & Strategy Purpose Environment Generic Strategies and How to Implement Them Firm Capabilities Industry Life Cycles Technology and its impact on industries Vertical Integration & Diversification International Strategies Organization and Strategy Glossary Appendix A

About the Author :
Philip Bromiley is a Dean’s Professor in Strategic Management at the Merage School of Management, University of California at Irvine, USA. Devaki Rau is a Professor specializing in strategic management at the College of Business, Northern Illinois University, USA.

Review :
"It is heartening to find a textbook that emphasizes the importance of managerial cognition in understanding and formulating strategy. This approach, sometimes called 'behavioral strategy', is based on the actual constraints on the time and computational capabilities of real mangers and organizations even supplemented with powerful computers." Rich A. Bettis, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA "This is a much needed and long-awaited textbook. A behavioral approach brings to strategy a fresh new perspective that will definitely enhance scholars’ and managers’ understanding of how individuals, groups, and organizations make decisions, the impact that cognitive biases have on those decisions, and the corresponding performance implications. This theoretically rich and empirically grounded textbook is a first important step in that direction. It will contribute a more realistic description of how organizations behave and manage some of the key trade-offs involved in strategic management." Gino Cattani, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, USA "In this book, Bromiley and Rau provide a good introduction to the core topics in strategic management. By taking an explicitly behavioral perspective, the authors bring to the fore important issues in the actual performance of strategy which are given short shrift in the typical analytical account of strategy making. The concepts are highlighted with several interesting examples and the style of writing is engaging and accessible." Kannan Srikanth, Singapore Management University, Singapore "Although there are many strategy textbooks on the market today, this one represents an especially welcome alternative. Students will appreciate its direct, engaging style and many faculty will appreciate its thoughtful incorporation of insights from behavioral research." Daniel Forbes, University of Minnesota, USA