Strategy: Theory and Practice

Providing a fresh perspective on strategy from an organizational perspective through a discursive approach featuring key theoretic tenets, this text is also pragmatic and emphasizes the practices of strategy to encourage the reader to be open to a wider set of ideas, with a little more relevance, and with a cooler attitude towards the affordances of the digital world and the possibilities for strategy’s futures.  The key areas of Strategy take a critical stance in the new edition, and also include areas less evident in conventional strategy texts such as not-for-profit organizations, process theories, globalization, organizational politics and decision-making as well as the futures of strategy. 

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Strategy: Theory and Practice - An Introduction Chapter 2: Strategy, Competitive Forces and Positioning Chapter 3: Strategy, Resources and Capabilities Chapter 4: Strategy and Innovation Chapter 5: Strategy: Make or Buy? Chapter 6: Strategy, Inter-organizational Cooperation and Alliances Chapter 7: Strategy: Going Global Chapter 8: Strategy and Corporate Governance Chapter 9: Strategy Processes Chapter 10: Strategy Practice Chapter 11: Strategy and Organizational Politics Chapter 12: Strategy and Strategic Change Chapter 13: Strategy Reconsidered

About the Author :
Stewart Clegg is Professor in the School of Project Management and the John Grill Institute for Leadership at the University of Sydney as well as Emeritus Professor of Management and Organization Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Stavanger, Norway and Universidade Nova School of Business and Economics. He is widely published in the management, organizations and politics literatures in many of the leading journals and is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant contemporary theorists of power relations as well as being one of the most influential contributors to organization studies. He is an EGOS Honorary Member, a Distinguished Fellow of EURAM and ANZAM as well as a Fellow of the Academy of Management and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Jochen Schweitzer is an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Trained as both an engineer and a social scientist, his research on issues of strategy, entrepreneurship and innovation with a particular interest in design thinking and emerging technologies. Jochen also serves as the Faculty Director of UTS’s Executive MBA and Bachelor in Entrepreneurship (Honours) programs. He was Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) School of Design Thinking at Potsdam University. Jochen is a winner of the Strategic Management Societies’ Best Paper Award, and he received Honourable Mention by the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management. Jochen is a passionate educator who has taught at universities in the UK, Japan, China, the US, Germany, Netherlands and New Zealand. Before becoming an academic, Jochen was Principal at PwC’s European Strategy Consulting practice. Andrea Whittle is Professor of Management at Newcastle University Business School. Andrea’s academic interest in strategy started without any plan or intention, like many strategies also emerge. First, in her doctoral research, she became fascinated with the social, political, material and discursive practices through which the group of management consultants she was studying sought to influence the strategic direction of the firm. Since then, she has conducted research on strategic change in a number of organizational settings as well as studying how the strategies of firms are scrutinized by the media and politicians. The common theme in her research is the role of discourse in shaping how people and societies make sense of organizations and the strategies they pursue. Christos Pitelis is Head of Department of International Business, Professor of International Business and Sustainable Competitiveness, University of Leeds and Life Fellow, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge.  He is co-editor of the Cambridge Journal of Economics, a member of the Cambridge Political Economy Society and the literary executor of the collected papers of Edith Penrose. He has also coordinated projects, taught, consulted, trained, and designed policies for international organizations, national governments and regions, NGOs and businesses. He was International Expect of the European Commission Networking for Innovation (NETWIN) program on innovation clusters.  

Review :
"Once again, Clegg, Pitelis, Schweitzer and Whittle provide an exciting and accessible introduction to business strategy that will engage students and provide them with a relevant and insightful understanding of a key topic.” "Strategy: Theory and Practice speaks to me. The book offers an insightful introduction to the key theories and topics of strategic management. Unlike most other textbooks, it is written from a critical perspective, which is very much needed in today’s world of grand challenges and wicked problems."  “This updated and extended third edition of Strategy: Theory and Practice is an excellent textbook that manages to translate the latest strategy knowledge into a form and language that is accessible to students and practitioners alike. A refreshing alternative to the traditional, economics-based strategy textbook!” “This book is a detailed compendium of ideas in the field of strategy, including especially criticisms of core constructs and theoretical linkages.  Full of examples, questions, and study guidance, it deals with the challenges of setting strategies for non-profit organizations and governments as well as for private-sector actors. Students and practitioners interested in the theory and practice of strategy will find this book to be a great resource.” This book offers all the basics that business students need to know about the economic and organizational sides of strategy in an appealing easy-to-read format complete with exercises, and mini-cases while stepping outside the run of the mill by provoking critical reflection on established ideas and placing the tools and concepts in perspective. The chapters on the politics, processes and practices of strategy are particularly valuable. We need more textbooks like this to ensure that future generations of managers become informed yet reflexive consumers of strategic management knowledge and ideas.