The Strategy Workout ^{2nd Ed.}

Put your business through the strategy workout.

Every business in every industry needs an effective strategic plan in order to perform and succeed.

But analyzing and devising a company's strategy is only half the task — that plan must then be implemented and sustained

The Strategy Workout 2e, updated with recent case-studies and interactive workouts on CD , is the definitive, practical handbook. This book is now even more accessible, reducing complex theory to simple audit questions, and allowing you to create and test the strength of any new strategy.

• List of Case Studies
• List of Figures
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Part One: "The Warm Up"
1. Introduction and Workout Test of Fitness
• How This Book Works
• A Definition of Strategy
• Methodology and Layout
• What Type of Organization Needs a Strategy?
• Who Should Devise Strategy?
• Who Should Implement Strategy?
• What To Do Now
• Summary
• Part Two: "The Marathon"
2. The Mission Statement, or Why Are We in Business?
• Definition of a Mission Statement
• What is the Vision of the Organization's Leader?
• What Core Competences does the Organization need to achieve the Vision?
• How Does the Organization Treat Its People?
• How Does the Organization Treat Its Customers?
• What Will the Organization Look Like in Five to Ten Years' Time?
• Philosophical Paradox
• Mission versus Vision Statements
• The Mission Workout
3. Examining the External Environment, or What's Going on Out There?
• Start The Strategic Analysis Outside the Organization
• What External Environments Do We Mean?
• International Markets
• National Markets
• Regional Markets
• Economic Trends
• Businesses Which Lead Their Industry
• Availability of Capital
• Where is the Profit in Your Industry?
• The Height of Entry and Exit Barriers
• Is the Industry Different in Each National Market?
• The Politics Affecting Your Interests
• Legal factors Affecting Your Interests
• Influencing Legislators and Legislation
• Demographics in the External Environment
• Expectations, Trends, and Tendencies in an Industry
• The External Environment Workout
4. Studying the Competitors
• Introduction
• Top Industry Performers
• Other Important National Competitors
• The Most Dangerous People in Competing Organizations
• Important regional or Local Competitors
• The Many Sources of Competition
• The Competitor Analysis Workout
• The Individual Competitor Profiles Workout
5. Organizational Self-Analysis
   
• Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses (SNW) Analysis
• Information Technology is a Common Weakness
• Turning Around Weaknesses and Neutrals
• It Takes a Long Time to Make a Difference
• Internal Change Should Be at the Rate of Change of the External Environment
• Your Greatest Strengths Could be the Source of Your Worst Weaknesses
• Choose Internal Strengths that Are Enduringly Useful Rather than Ephemeral
• Not Science but Good Quality Checklists
• The Checklists for Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses Analysis
• A Note on the Profitability of Industries
• The Problem of Objectivity
• Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses Workout
• Summary of SNW Workout
6. Organizational Culture, or How Do We Really Do Things Around Here?
• Culture — What is it?
• The Culture Audit Looks at "What Is" — Culture Change Looks at "What Should Be"
• Components of The Culture Audit
• The Culture Workout
7. Value Chains and How to Analyze Them
• Definition of Value Chains
• The Different Starting points of Value Chains
• Differences Between Value Chain Components
• Stage One: Finding Raw Material
• Stage Two: Manufacture of Components
• Stage Three: Assembly of Components
• Stage Four: Wholesale Distribution
• Stage Five: Retail to Final User
• Profit Margins and Value Chains
• The Vertical Value Links
• The Horizontal Value Links
• Final Warning
• Value Chain Analysis Workout
8. Define the Long-Term Strategy First
• There Is Not a Lot of Choice
• Going for Growth
• Stability Strategy
• Retrenchment or Liquidation Strategy
• Business Level Strategies
• Focus Strategies
• Choosing your Time Horizon
• Integration and Differentiation
• Strategies to Avoid
• A Note on Creativity
• Summary
• Long-Term Strategy Workout
9. Organizational Structure
• Theory versus What Happens in Practice
• The Purposes of Organizational Structure
• Different Bases of Structural Design
• So, What Structures Work If They All Have Weaknesses?
• Informal Structures
• Practical Approaches to Organizational Design
• Conclusion
• Organizational Structure Workout
10. Short-Term Tactics to Build the Long-term Strategy
• The Difference between Tactics and Strategy
• The Rule for Setting Short-Term Tactics
• Tactics Must Be Measurable and Unambiguous
• Criteria for Short-Term Objectives
• Summary
• Short-Term Tactics Workout
• Part Three: "Breaking Through the Pain Barrier"
11. Strategy Is Easy — Implementation Is Hard
• An Hypothesis of Strategy Implementation Failure
• The Beginnings of Strategic Failure
• Stakeholder Concepts
• What Goes Wrong?
• The Special Problems of Different Levels of Leadership
• The Essential Fabric of the Organization Is Based on Loyalty
• The Abnormal Psychologies of Senior Managers
• Conclusions
12. Getting Implementation Right
• The Formula For Success
• The Practicalities of implementation
• Basic Criteria of Skills
• Audit the Skills of the Rest of the Workforce
• The Structure of the Organization
• But If One Has to Restructure?
• Evolution Always Beats Revolution
• How Can You Become a Great Leader?
• Continuous Improvement
• Stay In Touch with All Your Stakeholders
• Communications
• The Value of Stability
• Doubts and Fears
• Beware Hubris
• How to be Lucky
• Last Word on Luck
• Conclusion
• Part Four: Cooling Down Gently
• Test Your New Understanding with a Final Workout
• Additional Reading Materials Mentioned Throughout the Book

Feels cheap, but contains the most important bits about strategy. Could be used as a short-cut if you haven't studied the subject.