Corporate Strategy ^{2nd Ed.}

Successful entrepreneurs rise above the urgent day-to-day problems and seize opportunities by planning strategically

How can a firm make the most of its present market position? How and when should it diversify? Such vital questions, which determine the overall direction and character of the firm, need to be faced head-on by top managers. Professor Ansoff's famous book offers sophisticated but eminently practical methods of analysis for just this purpose. Not content with mere descriptition or anecdote, Ansoff sets out a complete, tried and tested system for decision-making, which is applicable to every kind of business. His incisive ideas will help anyone engaged in what Sir John Harvey-Jones sees as 'the task of leadership' — to obtain 'extraordinary results from ordinary people'.

• Introduction by J. H. Harvey-Jones
• Author's Preface to the Revised Edition
• Author's Preface to the Original 1965 Edition
• Acknowledgements
• Part 1: Strategy Formulation
1. Structure of Business Decisions
• Operating, administrative and strategic decisions
• Interactions and conflicts among classes
• Organizational environment for strategic decisions
• Balance between strategic and operating decisions
2. A Model for Strategic Decisions
• Capital investment theory
• Steps in general problem-solving
• Shortcomings of capital investment theory
• Conditions for a new theory
• Historical background
• Outline of adaptive-search theory for strategy formulation
3. Objectives
• Conflicting philosophies of business objectives
• Effect of structural changes within the firm
• Economists' objectives
• Managerialist objectives
• Behavioural theory of the firm
• Basis for a practical system of objectives: interaction of economic and behavioural elements
• The basic objective of the firm
4. A Practical System of Objectives
• Problems posed by partial ignorance and uncertainty
• The planning and the long-term horizons
• Threshold-goals for the firm
• Conflict between proximate and long-term profitability
• Hierarchy of the long-term objectives
• Unforeseeable contingencies
• Internal and external flexibility
• Non-economic objectives and constraints
• Objectives of individuals
• Overall hierarchy of objectives
• Setting of objectives as an open-ended process
5. Synergy and Capability Profiles
• Concept of synergy and the 2 + 2 = 5 effect
• Start-up synergy and operating synergy
• Symmetry and joint effects
• A framework for evaluation of synergy
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Competetence and competitive profiles
• Uses of profiles
6. Concept of Strategy
• The common thread and the concept of the firm's business
• Concept of strategy
• When to formulate strategy
• Implanting strategy formulation
• Portfolio strategy
• Competitive strategy
• Strategy needs for different types of firms
• Strategy, policy and operating procedures
7. Diversification and Internationalization
• Incremental vs. discontinuous change
• The trigger signal
• Reasons for diversification
• Typology of portfolio changes
• Conglomerate vs. synergistic diversification
• The internationalization alternative
8. Competitive Analysis
• Two approaches to strategic analysis
• The logic of competitive analysis
• The concept of the SBA
• The portfolio gap
• The competitive gap
9. Portfolio Analysis
• Problems in portfolio analysis
• Logic of portfolio analysis
• Synergy and management style
• The diversification/internationalization decision
10. Choice of Portfolio and Competitive Strategy
• Strategic business portfolios
• Choosing the preferred portfolio
• Allowing for risk and uncertainty
• Acquisition vs. internal growth — the make-or-buy decision
• Rules for decision
• The competitive posture
• Competitive posture decisions
11. Use of Strategy
• The strategic plan
• Project evaluation
• The family of plans
• Organization for planning
• Part 2: General Management Capability
12. The Need for Entrepreneurial Capability
• The problem
• Re-emergence of enterpreneurial behaviour
13. Diagnosing General Management Capability
• Aggressiveness of behaviour
• Aggressivness and capability
• Environmental diagnosis
• Capability diagnosis
14. Planning Strategic Posture Transformation
• Capability transformation
• Phasing strategy and capability transformation
15. Assuring Coexistance of Competitive and Entrepreneurial Activities
• Dual budgeting
• The cross-walk
• Project management (dual) system
• Strategic control and enterpreneurial rewards
• The SBU substructure
• The dual structure
• Choosing among the alternatives
16. Resistance to Change
• The phenomen of resistance
• Resistance defined
• Resistance and the rate of change
• Resistance by individuals
• Group resistance
17. Four Approaches to Managing Discontinuous Change
• Coercive change management
• Adaptive change
• Crisis management
• Managed resistance — the 'acordion' method
• Choosing an approach
18. The Accordion Method for Managing Change
• Building a launching platform
• Behavioural management of the process
• Resistance and power
• Check-list for managing change
19. Overview of Strategic Behaviours
• Modes of strategic behaviour
• Which mode to use
• Key hypotheses of strategic management
• The difference between strategic planning and strategic management

A classical text, it is well worth reading today.