Exploring Corporate Strategy ^{7th Ed.}

Exploring Corporate Strategy has established a reputation as a pre-eminent textbook in its field, based upon the expertise of authorship, range of cases, depth of commentary and wealth of supporting resources.

The seventh edition builds on these strengths with the introduction of a new author, Richard Whittington. The enhanced coverage of international strategy and the resource-based view, as well as improved visual presentation, ensure that this book continues to lead the way in exploring strategic management.

• Part I: Introduction
1. Introducing Strategy
1. What is strategy?
1. The characteristics of strategic decisions
2. Levels of strategy
3. The vocabulary of strategy
2. Strategic management
1. The strategic position
2. Strategic choices
3. Strategy into action
4. Strategy development processes
3. Strategy as a subject of study
4. Strategic management in different contexts
1. The small business context
2. The multinational corporation
3. Manufacturing and service organisations
4. Strategy in the public sector
5. The voluntary and not-for-profit sectors
5. The challenges of strategic management
1. Strategic drift
2. Contemporary themes affecting strategy development
3. The strategy lenses
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Electrolux
• Commentary on Part I: Strategy Lenses
• Part II: The Strategic Position
2. The Environment
1. Introduction
2. The macro-environment
1. The PESTEL framework
2. Key drivers of change
3. Porter's diamond
4. Building scenarios
3. Industries and sectors
1. Sources of competition  — the five forces framework
2. The dynamics of competition
4. Competitors and markets
1. Strategic groups
2. Market segments
3. Identifying the strategic customer
4. Understanding what customers value  — critical success factors
5. Opportunities and threats
1. Strategic gaps
2. SWOT
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Global forces and the European brewing industry
3. Strategic Capability
1. Introduction
2. Foundations of strategic capability
1. Resources and competences
2. Threshold capabilities
3. Unique resources and core competences
3. Cost efficiency
4. Capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage
1. Value of strategic capabilities
2. Rarity of strategic capabilities
3. Robustness of strategic capabilities
4. Non-substitutability
5. Dynamic capabilities
5. Organisational knowledge
6. Diagnosing strategic capability
1. The value chain and value network
2. Activity maps
3. Benchmarking
4. Strengths and weaknesses
7. Managing strategic capability
1. The limitations of managing strategic capabilities
2. Stretching and adding capabilities
3. Managing people for capability development
4. Building dynamic capabilities
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Listening at eBay
4. Expectation and Purposes
1. Introduction
2. Corporate governance
1. The governance chain
2. Corporate governance reforms
3. The role of the governing bodies
4. Rights of creditors and lenders
5. Relationship with customers and clients
6. Forms of ownership
7. Mergers and acquisitions
3. Stakeholder expectations
1. Stakeholder mapping
2. Power
4. Business ethics and social responsibility
1. The ethical stance
2. Corporate social responsibility
3. The role of individuals and managers
5. The cultural context
1. National and regional cultures
2. The organisational field
3. Organisational culture
4. Functional and divisional subcultures
5. The cultural web
6. Communicating organisational purposes
1. Corporate values
2. Mission statements
3. Objectives
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Manchester United, brand of hope and glory
• Commentary on Part II: Coping with Complexity: The 'Business Idea'
• Part III: Strategic Choices
5. Business-Level Strategy
1. Introduction
2. Identifying strategic business units
3. Bases of competitive advantage: the 'strategy clock'
1. Price-based strategies (routes 1 and 2)
2. Differentiation strategies (route 4)
3. The hybrid strategy (route 3)
4. Focused differentiation (route 5)
5. Failure strategies (routes 6, 7, and 8)
4. Sustaining competitive advantage
1. Sustaining price-based advantage
2. Sustaining differentiation-based advantage
3. The delta model and lock-in
5. Competitive strategy in hypercompetitive conditions
1. Repositioning
2. Overcoming competitors' market-based moves
3. Overcoming competitors' barriers
4. Ingredients of successful hypercompetitive strategies
6. Competition and collaboration
7. Game theory
1. Simultaneous games
2. Sequential games
3. Repeated games
4. Changing the rules of the game
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Madonna: still the reigning queen of pop?
6. Corporate-Level and International Strategy
1. Introduction
2. Product/market diversity
1. Related diversification
2. Unrelated diversification
3. Diversification and performance
3. International diversity and international strategy
1. Reasons for international diversity
2. Market selection and entry
3. The international value network
4. International strategies
5. International diversity and performance
4. Value creation and the corporate parent
1. Value-adding and value-destroying activities of corporate parents
2. The portfolio manager
3. The synergy manager
4. The parental developer
5. Managing the corporate portfolio
1. The growth share (or BCG) matrix
2. Balance in a public sector portfolio
3. The directional policy matrix
4. The parenting matrix
5. Roles in an international portfolio
6. Trends in portfolio management
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: The Virgin Group
7. Directions and Methods of Development
1. Introduction
2. Directions for strategy development
1. Protect and build on current position
2. Product development
3. Market development
4. Diversification
5. The TOWS matrix
3. Methods of strategy development
1. Internal development
2. Mergers and acquisitions
3. Strategic alliances
4. Success criteria
1. Suitability
2. Acceptability
3. Feasability
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Tesco plots to make even more dough
• Commentary on Part III: Strategy Selection
• Part IV: Strategy Into Action
8. Organising for Success
   
1. Introduction
2. Structural types
1. The functional structure
2. The multidivisional structure
3. The holding company structure
4. The matrix structure
5. The transnational structure
6. Team-based structures
7. Project-based structures
8. Choosing structures
3. Processes
1. Direct supervision
2. Planning processes
3. Self-control and personal motivation
4. Cultural processes
5. Performance targeting processes
6. Market processes
4. Relationships
1. Relating internally
2. Relating externally
5. Configurations
1. Stereotypical configurations
2. Reinforcing cycles
3. Configuration dilemmas
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Building One BBC
9. Enabling Success
   
1. Introduction
2. Managing people
1. People as a resource
2. People and behaviour
3. Organising people
4. Implications for managers
3. Managing information
1. Information and strategic capability
2. Information and changing business models
3. Information and structuring
4. Implications for managers
4. Managing finance
1. Managing for value
2. Funding strategy development
3. The financial expectations of stakeholders
5. Managing technology
1. Technology and the competitive situation
2. The diffusion of innovation
3. Technology and strategic capability
4. Organising technology development
6. Integrating resources
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case Example: NHS Direct — a fast moving and developing service
10. Managing Strategic Change
1. Introduction
2. Diagnosing the change situation
1. Types of strategic change
2. The importance of context
3. Using the cultural web to diagnose organisational context
4. Forcefield analysis
3. Change management: styles and roles
1. Styles of managing change
2. Roles in managing change
4. Levers for managing strategic change
1. Turnaround: managing rapid strategic reconstruction
2. Challenging the taken for granted
3. Changing organisational routines
4. Symbolic processes
5. Power and political processes
6. Communicating and monitoring change
7. Change tactics
5. Potential pitfalls of change programmes
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: The Compagnie des Services Pétroliers (CSP)
• Commentary on Part IV: Strategy into Action
  
• Part V: How Strategy Develops
11. Understanding Strategy Development
1. Introduction
2. Intended and emergent strategies
3. Intended strategy development
1. Strategic planning systems
2. Strategy workshops and project groups
3. Strategy consultants
4. Externally imposed strategy
4. Emergent strategy development
1. Logical incrementalism
2. Resource allocation routines
3. Cultural processes
4. Organisational politics
5. Multiple processes of strategy development
6. Challenges and implications for strategy development
1. The challenge of strategic drift
2. The learning organisation
3. Strategy development in uncertain and complex conditions
4. Managing strategy development processes
• Summary
• Recommended key readings
• References
• Work assignments
• Case example: Strategy development at Intel
• Commentary on Part V: Strategy Development in Organisations

Well, it is hard to improve an outstanding book (the fifth edition), but they managed to promote it to excellent by adding an additional author and adding a lot of new research into the book.

This is a book that should be on every prospective MBAs reading list and in the bookshelf of every senior manager. Can't recommend this enough!