Strategic Management


Book Description

Regularly considered to be the cap-stone course on any business or management degree, strategy has developed into a wide-ranging and sometimes overwhelming field of study. However, in recent years the theory of strategy has come under increasing scrutiny for its perceived failures and detachment from real world practice. With an engaging and conversational tone, this new concise textbook offers an accessible and timely review of the theory and practice of strategic management, explored from a more critical perspective. In a refreshing change from much of the literature, Richard Godfrey takes a wider view of strategy, incorporating insights from the worlds of sociology, psychology and history to highlight the complexity and plurality at the heart of the discipline. The book also incorporates a number of extensive case studies on contemporary business strategy from the likes of Apple, Nike, Zara and IKEA. Written for both an undergraduate and postgraduate audience, the book challenges a number of underlying assumption and beliefs about strategy and seeks to add clarity and context to the field.




Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice


Book Description

Now in its second edition, this extended and thoroughly updated handbook introduces researchers and students to the growing range of theoretical and methodological perspectives being developed in the vibrant field of strategy as practice. With new authors and additional chapters, it shows how the strategy as practice approach in strategic management moves away from disembodied and asocial studies of firm assets, technologies and practices to explore and explain the contribution that strategizing makes to people working at all levels of an organization. It breaks down many of the traditional paradigmatic barriers in strategy to investigate who the strategists are, what they do, how they do it, and what the consequences or outcomes of their actions are. This essential work summarizes recent developments in the field while presenting a clear agenda for future research.




Handbook of Research on Strategic Innovation Management for Improved Competitive Advantage


Book Description

Innovation is a vital process for any business to remain competitive in this age. This progress must be coherently and optimally managed, allowing for successful improvement and future growth. The Handbook of Research on Strategic Innovation Management for Improved Competitive Advantage provides emerging research on the use of information and knowledge to promote development in various business agencies. While covering topics such as design thinking, financial analysis, and policy planning, this publication explores the wide and complex relationships that constitute strategic innovation management principals and processes. This publication is an important resource for students, professors, researchers, managers, and entrepreneurs seeking current research on the methods and tools regarding information and knowledge management for business advancement.




The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Business and Management Research Methods


Book Description

The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Business and Management Research Methods provides a state-of–the-art overview of qualitative research methods in the business and management field. The Handbook celebrates the diversity of the field by drawing from a wide range of traditions and by bringing together a number of leading international researchers engaged in studying a variety of topics through multiple qualitative methods. The chapters address the philosophical underpinnings of particular approaches to research, contemporary illustrations, references, and practical guidelines for their use. The two volumes therefore provide a useful resource for Ph.D. students and early career researchers interested in developing and expanding their knowledge and practice of qualitative research. In covering established and emerging methods, it also provides an invaluable source of information for faculty teaching qualitative research methods. The contents of the Handbook are arranged into two volumes covering seven key themes: Volume One: History and Tradition Part One: Influential Traditions: underpinning qualitative research: positivism, interpretivism, pragmatism, constructionism, critical, poststructuralism, hermeneutics, postcolonialism, critical realism, mixed methods, grounded theory, feminist and indigenous approaches. Part Two: Research Designs: ethnography, field research, action research, case studies, process and practice methodologies. Part Three: The Researcher: positionality, reflexivity, ethics, gender and intersectionality, writing from the body, and achieving critical distance. Part Four: Challenges: research design, access and departure, choosing participants, research across boundaries, writing for different audiences, ethics in international research, digital ethics, and publishing qualitative research. Volume Two: Methods and Challenges Part One: Contemporary methods: interviews, archival analysis, autoethnography, rhetoric, historical, stories and narratives, discourse analysis, group methods, sociomateriality, fiction, metaphors, dramaturgy, diary, shadowing and thematic analysis. Part Two: Visual methods: photographs, drawing, video, web images, semiotics and symbols, collages, documentaries. Part Three: Methodological developments: aesthetics and smell, fuzzy set comparative analysis, sewing quilts, netnography, ethnomusicality, software, ANTI-history, emotion, and pattern matching.




Organization Theory Meets Strategy


Book Description

Organization Theory Meets Strategy brings together researchers who work at the intersection of Organization Theory and Strategy to fuel cutting edge discussions around common questions and challenges faced by researchers working in this area.




Ambiguity in Organization Theory


Book Description

This Element presents and discusses the main trajectories in the evolution of the concept of ambiguity and the most relevant theoretical contributions developed around it. It specifically elaborates on both the intrinsic perspectives on ambiguity as an inherent part of organizational decision-making processes and the more recent strategic perspectives on discursively constructed strategic ambiguity. It helps illuminate the path ahead of organizational scholars and offers new avenues for future research. This is important given the ever more pervasive presence of ambiguity in and around organizations and societies.




The SAGE Handbook of Resistance


Book Description

Chosen by Library Journal as one of the best reference texts of 2016. Occupy. Indignados. The Tea Party. The Arab Spring. Anonymous. These and other terms have become part of an emerging lexicon in recent years, signalling an important development that has gripped many parts of the world: millions of people are increasingly involved, whether directly or indirectly, in movements of resistance and protestation. However, resistance and its conceptual "companions", protest, contestation, opposition, disobedience and mobilization, all seem to be still mostly seen in public and private discourses as illegitimate and problematic forms of action. The time is, therefore, ripe to delve into the concerns, themes and legitimacy. The SAGE Handbook of Resistance offers theoretical essays enabling readers to forge their own perspectives of what "is" resistance and emphasizes the empirical and experiential dimension of resistance - making strong choices in terms of how contemporary topics related to resistance help to rethink our societies as "protest societies". The coverage is divided into six key sub-sections: Foundations Sites of Resistance Technologies of Resistance Languages of Resistance Geographies of Resistance Consequences of Resistance




Strategic Portfolio Management


Book Description

This book provides a powerful insight into strategic portfolio management and its central role in the delivery of organisational strategy, maximisation of value creation, and efficient allocation of resources and capabilities to achieve organisational strategic objectives. The book makes a valuable contribution to the development of thinking on the translation of strategy into actionable work. Whether you are a senior manager building a high-performing strategic portfolio for your organisation or an academic searching for new perspectives on strategy execution through portfolio management, you will find great significance in this book. Twenty-eight chapters in four sections provide multiple perspectives on the topic, with in-depth guidance on organisational design for strategic portfolio management and covering all process, capability, and leadership aspects of strategic portfolio management. The book includes several detailed case studies for the effective deployment of strategic portfolios, bringing together theory and practice for strategic portfolio management. This book is particularly valuable for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of project and portfolio management, strategic management, and leadership who are looking to expand their knowledge within the multi-project environment. Highly practical and logical in its structure, it also shows project management professionals how to effectively manage their business portfolios and align this with their business strategy.




The Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations


Book Description

In the last decades diversity and its management has become a feature of modern and postmodern organizations. Different practices have spread around the globe focusing on the organizing and management of inclusion and exclusion of persons and identities based on different genders, sexual orientations, racial and ethnic backgrounds, ages, and (dis)abilities as well as religious beliefs. However, although increasingly recognized as important, the discourses of diversity are multifaceted and not without controversy. Furthermore, diversity management practices have the potential to reproduce both inclusion and exclusion. The book presents the foundations of organizing and managing diversities, offers multidisciplinary, intersectional and critical analyses on key issues, and opens up fresh perspectives in order to advance the diversity debate. It also inspires new debates on diversity by encouraging scholars to broaden their research agendas and assists students and scholars to increase their understanding of the field and its current discussions. The contributors are a team of leading diversity scholars from all over the world.




Leadership with Impact


Book Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially changed the landscape in organizational management and leadership, highlighting the need for stronger relationships and support needed by health and human service workers. In this new edition, the authors introduce the I.D.D.E.A. (Innovation, Design, Diversity, Execution, and Assessment) Leadership Framework through which health and human service practitioners can easily design, implement, and evaluate innovative programs to help vulnerable populations and promote organizational and social change. Chapters are updated throughout and Leadership Profiles have been added to each chapter.