Think about strategy and sharpen judgment in an unpredictable environment Carl von Clausewitz is widely acknowledged as one of the most important of the major strategic theorists; he's been read by Eisenhower, Kissinger, Patton, Chairman Mao, and numerous other leaders. In Clausewitz on Strategy, the Boston Consulting Group's Strategy Institute has excerpted those passages most relevant to business strategy from Clausewitz's classic text On War, the most general, applicable, and enduring work of strategy in the modern West and a source of insight into the nature of conflict, whether on the battlefield or in the boardroom. This book offers Clausewitz's framework for self-education--a way to train the reader's thinking. Clausewitz speaks the mind of the executive, revealing logic that those interested in strategic thinking and practice will find invaluable. He presents unique ideas, such as the idea that friction--unexpected interference--is an intrinsic part of strategy. The Boston Consulting Group is one of the world's leading management consulting firms whose clients include many of the world's industry leaders. Tiha von Ghyczy (Charlottesville, VA) has been a faculty member and Director of Business Projects at the Darden School of Business since 1996. While with The Boston Consulting Group, he assumed responsibility for the practice groups in manufacturing/time-based competition and high technology. He has published numerous articles and books on vision and strategy. Bolko von Oetinger (Munich, Germany) is a Senior Vice President of BCG. Christopher Bassford (Washington, DC) is presently a Professor of Strategy at the National War College in Washington, DC, and the author of several books, including Clausewitz in English: The Reception of Clausewitz in Britain and America, 1815-1945.

Written for business executives and MBA students, Kellogg on Strategy is a practical guide to choosing the right strategy for your business and applying it correctly. Rather than covering the basics of strategy, this expert guide shows you how to use strategy effectively so your business can succeed. You'll learn to analyze your current competitive position, develop the perfect strategy to match your goals, and apply that strategy thoughtfully and effectively. Inside, you'll find expert guidance on: * Measuring your firm's competitive advantage * Analyzing opportunities and threats in your industry * Responding to a competitor's strategy and pricing * Coping with entry into new markets * Positioning your firm against the competition * Developing a sustainable, long-term competitive advantage * And much more

The purpose of this book is to focus on the contribution of one of the most prominent scholars in the strategy field, Michael Porter, from both a practitioner, that is Chief Executive Officer (CEO), perspective, and from a research perspective. Using such a dual perspective may improve the relevance of strategy research for the business community. Four leading chief executives, two from European multinationals (Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Unilever N.V.) and two from important Dutch public organizations (the Port of Rotterdam and the Ministry of Economic Affairs), were invited to reflect on Porter's contributions to four levels of analysis: (1) business level strategy, (2) corporate level strategy, (3) regional competitiveness and finally (4) national competitiveness. Against this background, the book is structured as follows: Chapters 2 to 8 deal with the four mentioned levels of analysis from a dual perspective - theoretical and managerial. The two final chapters aim to find out how Porter's theories are related to each other and whether and how the different levels of analysis can be connected.

Spans a broad horizon of strategic topics: the use of sanctions, the relationship with the U.N., and the more subtle changes and responsibilities facing our Operational Commanders. Contents: failed U.S. China Policy, America's Asia Policy, U.S. Post-Cold War Policy, U.S. Security in the 21st Century, Deficits: Restructuring the Military, Planning for War Termination, Planning for CNN Wars, expanding our vision of jointness, military theory and peace operations, the U.S. dilemma in peace operations and change and the operation commander.

Masterfully crafted and surprisingly modern, "History of the Peloponnesian War" has long been celebrated as an insightful, eloquent, and exhaustively detailed work of classical Greek history. The text is also remarkable for its deep political and military dimensions, and scholars have begun to place the work alongside Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Clausewitz's On War as one of the great treatises on strategy. The perfect companion to Thucydides' impressive History, this volume details the specific strategic concepts at work within the History of the Peloponnesian War and demonstrates, through case studies of recent conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the continuing relevance of Thucydidean thought to an analysis and planning of strategic operations. Some have even credited Thucydides with founding the discipline of international relations. Written by two scholars with extensive experience in this and related fields, Thucydides on Strategy situates the classical historian solidly in the modern world of war.

Business.

This important Handbook explores and evaluates dynamic environments and the appropriate strategic responses to them in the 21st century. Drawing together a collection of 29 original chapters, the Handbook makes an invaluable contribution to theory and practice by stimulating disciplined, rigorous and imaginative enquiry into the relationship between strategy and foresight. Leading scholars in the field of strategic management are brought together to offer innovative and multi-disciplinary perspectives on the past, present and future of strategy formation and foresight. In so doing, they challenge research in four key areas: strategy and foresight processes; strategy innovation for the future; understanding the future; and strategically responding to the future. The Handbook of Research on Strategy and Foresight is a comprehensive resource that will be invaluable for academics, students and practitioners interested in this important phenomenon.

Prepare for an uncertain future with a solid vision and innovative practices. Is your healthcare organization spending too much time on strategy--with too little to show for it? If you read nothing else on strategy, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones for healthcare professionals to help you catalyze your organization’s strategy development and execution. Leading strategy experts, such as Michael E. Porter, Jim Collins, W. Chan Kim, and Renee Mauborgne, provide the insights and advice you need to: Understand how the rules of corporate competition translate to the healthcare sector Craft a vision for an uncertain future Segment your market to better serve diverse patient populations Achieve the best health outcomes--at the lowest cost Learn what disruptive innovation means for healthcare Use the Balanced Scorecard to measure your progress This collection of articles includes "What Is Strategy?" by Michael E. Porter; "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," by Michael E. Porter; "Health Care Needs Real Competition," by Leemore S. Dafny and Thomas H. Lee; "Building Your Company's Vision," by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras; "Reinventing Your Business Model," by Mark W. Johnson, Clayton M. Christensen, and Henning Kagermann; "Will Disruptive Innovations Cure Health Care?" by Clayton M. Christensen, Richard Bohmer, and John Kenagy; "Blue Ocean Strategy," by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne; "Rediscovering Market Segmentation," by Daniel Yankelovich and David Meer; "The Office of Strategy Management," by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton; and "The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care," by Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee.

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO STRATEGY. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. The Financial Times Guide to Strategy is your unbeatable reference on strategy. It offers an incisive overview of both corporate level and business unit level strategy, an A to Z of the world’s leading strategic thinkers and introduces the key strategic tools and techniques you need to develop your own strategy. Based on long experience and on conversations with leading strategists around the world, Richard Koch helps you discover each critical step in creating, delivering and understanding successful strategy. The fifth edition of this bestselling book is your easy-to-read, jargon-free guide to the strategic models and thinkers you really need to know about. Updated with new tools and examples, The Financial Times Guide to Strategy shows you which questions to ask, how to go about answering them, and then what action to take. This is the smartest and most readable strategy guide available anywhere.