Strategic Thinking


Book Description

The purpose of proper strategic thinking is to eliminate top-down only communication that leads to the wishful thinking way of organizational strategy. Strategic thinking is necessary at every level of an organization. This book uses actual histories of business successes and failures to illustrate theoretical concepts in strategic thinking.




The Power of Strategic Thinking: Lock In Markets, Lock Out Competitors


Book Description

Here's a startling concept for anyone who knows anything about business: "For successful companies, competition is irrelevant." Flying in the face of the conventional wisdom of most senior management today, the internationally noted business consultant Michel Robert explains why gigantically successful businesses ignore their competitors...and reap huge profits! How does it work?A number of CEOs who have used Robert's unique strategic thinking process--and are now true believers--recall in these pages how he enabled them to choose the right strategy for success in today's changing business environment. Unlike most other consultants, Robert and his staff go to corporate "war rooms"--not the business school library--to develop and hone the strategic thinking process. In more than 400 frank, intensive working sessions with CEOs and their management teams, Robert has tested and validated his methods. THE POWER OF STRATEGIC THINKING sums up his original and effective strategy of making anyone's competitors irrelevant: Obsession with your competitors leads to "imitation strategy," the common and disastrous mistake of letting the other side set the rules. Result: The house always wins! Imitators lose. The answer: Learn from major companies like Intel, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs--corporate success stories that Robert explains in fascinating detail--how to develop your own "distinctive strategy" and race ahead of the competition. Learn from the mistakes of copycat companies like Chrysler, Officemax, and all three original TV networks: Robert shows you how imitation strategies will put companies in virtually any field on a suicidal path. From military history, as Robert points out, comes the idea of "ultimate strategy," a proactive, offensive strategy that continually keeps the competition off-balance even as they become more and more irrelevant. Ultimate strategy is achieved when a company controls and/or influences the terms of play for an industry. Learn from THE POWER OF STRATEGIC THINKING how to set the rules for your own sandbox...or how to find another sandbox where you can! In THE POWER OF STRATEGIC THINKING you can learn how to become a winning company by formulating and implementing a proactive, offensive strategy that will have your own company signature. You will also find out how to widen your competitive advantages. Best of all, your ultimate strategy for success will develop from the power of your own strategic thinking!




Mastering Business Planning and Strategy


Book Description

This is the ideal book for anyone seeking an introduction to business planning and strategic thinking that is both comprehensive and accessible. Paul Elkin explains all the key concepts, skills, and techniques for developing successful business plans and strategies in a way that will leave you fully prepared to apply them in practice. The book is designed for executives who have recently taken on a strategic role in the organization; entrepreneurs running their own business; marketing, finance, or production managers who need a proper grasp of the subject; and business and management students. Leading businesses tend to concentrate on three areas: how to ensure they satisfy customer needs, how to achieve and maintain competitive advantage, and how to develop and build on the company's strengths. Directed at meeting these objectives, the book provides valuable techniques for profiling your business, powerful strategic thinking, focused option appraisal, effective decision making, as well as analyzing the market and your competitors.




Strategic Thinking in 3D


Book Description

Effective strategic thinking requires a clear understanding of one's external environment. Each organization has a unique environment, but as Ross Harrison explains in Strategic Thinking in 3D, any environment-whether in the fields of national security, foreign policy, or business-has three dimensions: systems, opponents, and groups.




Think to Win: Unleashing the Power of Strategic Thinking


Book Description

The proven plan for making strategic thinking part of any organization’s DNA to drive sustainable growth In today’s ultra-competitive business world, the difference between success and failure lies in the ability to get every employee to think and behave like a strategist. Think to Win helps business leaders expand strategic thinking out of the purview of “the elite few” and into the company culture as whole. It offers a simple, proven approach to analyzing and solving old or new challenges and provides a common language anyone at any level in the organization can understand.




Strategic Thinking


Book Description

Strategic Thinking Leadership and the Management of Change Edited by John Hendry University of Cambridge, UK and Gerry Johnson Cranfield School of Management, UK with Julia Newton Cranfield School of Management, UK Published in association with the Strategic Management Society, The Wiley Strategic Management Series aims to illustrate the 'best in global strategic management' for academics, business practitioners and consultants. This book, the first volume in the series, is concerned with the process of strategic management and change. It places emphasis on the way people think about strategy and make sense of their organisational worlds; on organisational learning and adaption; and on the part played in this by leadership. Contributors Chris Bennett R. Thomas Lenz Mary M. Crossan Michael Levenhagen Yves Doz Martha L. Maznevski Jane E. Dutton Lief Melin Tony Eccles Julia Newton Colin Eden Wendy J. Penner Ewan Ferlie Andrew Pettigrew Charles M. Hampden-Turner Joseph F. Porac Kees Van Der Heijden James C. Rush Bo Hellgren Heinz Thanheiser John Hendry Howard Thomas Terry Hildebrand Richard Whipp Gerry Johnson Rod E. White Henry W. Lane Richard Whittington




Learning to Think Strategically


Book Description

In Learning to Think Strategically, author Julia Sloan presents a previously unexamined account of the relationship between strategic thinking and the learning process involved — taking learning from the academic to the everyday. This book is an original primer on how successful strategists learn to think strategically. This authoritative book traces the history of strategy, differentiates strategic thinking from planning, describes the influence of culture, streamlines the roles of rationality and intuition, and identifies five key attributes for learning to think strategically. Learning to Think Strategically asserts that learning is the critical link to strategic thinking. Learning is a "conversion tool" that can transform thinking strategically into a sustainable competitive advantage.




Strategic Thinking and the New Science


Book Description

The future is happening today, and the most successful organizations will be those that understand the dynamics of the "big picture" in which their decisions are being made. This book describes how to understand and influence that picture. Irene Sanders pioneered the application of chaos theory and complexity to strategic thinking -- the most essential skill in today's fast-paced business environment. Now, in this straightforward, easy-to-read book, she shows how the most up-to-date strategic thinking is done, and how you can begin using it in your enterprise. Sanders' original and practical approach moves far beyond traditional forecasting, futuring and scenario-building. The new science of chaos and complexity has shown scientists and business professionals alike the importance of looking at the world as a whole system, rather than as a collection of deterministic principles. Consequently, the human mind -- through the integration of intuition and intellect -- is now recognized as the only information processor capable of understanding the level of complexity in today's global business environment. By engaging the mind's eye through the use of visual thinking, Sanders shows you how to develop insight about the present and foresight about the future, thereby allowing you to see and influence the future as it is emerging. The new planning paradigm presented in Strategic Thinking and the New Science is nothing less than a transformation of the science of business. For the first time in history, we have the knowledge, tools and techniques to develop visual thinking as the essential insight/foresight skill of the future. In addition to breakthroughs neuroscientists have made about brain-mind interactions, artists and psychologists are revealing the role of imagery in the creative process. And now, the new field of scientific visualization brings all of this information together with computer graphics to demonstrate how visual images can be used to engage our imaginations, enhance learning -- and stimulate our deeper levels of awareness. In this groundbreaking book, Sanders is the first to define the new model of strategic thinking -- a model that is bound to revolutionize organizations of all types as they begin to see and influence their futures -- today.




Strategy for You


Book Description

Most people have spent their lives randomly bouncing around like bumper cars, never arriving at the life they want. If fact, new research shows that only 15 percent of adults have a plan for their life. But what if there was a way, a proven way, to experience more of what life has to offer?In "Strategy for You," world-renowned strategist Rich Horwath provides a proven plan for building the bridge to an exceptional life. Based on Horwath's ground-breaking work in the field of strategic thinking, the book helps readers apply the time-tested principles of business strategy to their lives. The author incorporates GOST (goals, objectives, strategies, tactics_, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), and other business tools into a five-step plan that enables readers toDISCOVER the purpose in their lives




Leading with Strategic Thinking


Book Description

Be a more effective leader with strategic thinking Leading with Strategic Thinking reveals what effective leaders do differently. Eschewing the one-size-fits-all leadership model, this helpful guide outlines four general leadership types and demonstrates how each type achieves success – whether through personal vision, structured process, collaboration, or by empowering others. The authors identify the actions and skills that distinguish strategic leadership, drawn from interviews and focus groups with over three hundred leaders from around the world. Examples and case studies illustrate these concepts in action, and the provided reference materials steer readers toward more advanced information on this important topic. The disruptive forces of technology and globalization raise new challenges for leaders. This book is a manual that will help executives and aspiring leaders harness these forces and address the two central questions of strategic leadership: How do the best leaders develop their strategy? How do effective leaders drive strategic change? Becoming a strategic leader isn’t about mimicking an icon. The most effective leaders seize opportunity in a way that consciously integrates environmental requirements, stakeholder expectations, and personal ability. Leading with Strategic Thinking shows what these leaders do, and gives anyone the tools to be a more strategic leader.