'This excellent volume brings together some of the most influential readings in business strategy and explores the content and process of business strategy from a variety of different theoretical stances. It will serve as a comprehensive introduction to the literature and will become required reading for students of economics, organisational behavior and business' - Costas Markides, London Business School Strategy for Business provides a comprehensive selection of essential readings, covering six key areas in business strategy: What is Strategy? Competition and Industry Effects Resources, Capabilities and Core Competencies Strategic Innovation and Firm Size Organisational Structures, Learning and Knowledge Management the Global Information Economy It contains dynamic chapters on strategy and includes classics in the field of strategy which continue to provide the theoretical background of more recent innovative work. Strategy for Business will be essential reading for those seeking an understanding of the changing nature of organizations and the world of business.It is particularly intended for students taking courses in strategy, organizational change and more general management courses at undergraduate level; it will also be an excellent resource for masters and postgraduate students. This text is a course Reader, in a series of three (alongside Decision Making for Business, and Policy Issues for Business), which make up the main teaching texts of The Open University undergraduate course Business Behaviour in a Changing World (B300).
SECTION ONE: DIFFERENT VIEWS OF STRATEGY What Is Strategy? - Michael E Porter Theories of Strategy - Richard Whittington Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent - Henry Mintzberg and James A Waters SECTION TWO: INDUSTRY EFFECTS Analyzing the Industry Environment - Robert M Grant Industry Evolution - Robert M Grant The Firm Matters More Than the Industry - Charles Baden-Fuller and John Stopford SECTION THREE: FIRM EFFECTS: RESOURCES, CAPABILITIES AND CORE COMPETENCIES The Firm as an Administrative Organization - Edith T Penrose Looking Inside for Competitive Advantages - Jay B Barney Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management - David J Teece, Gary Pisano and Amy Shuen SECTION FOUR: STRATEGIC INNOVATION AND FIRM SIZE Limits to the Learning Curve - William J Abernathy and Kenneth Wayne Architectural Innovation - Rebecca M Henderson and Kim B Clark The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms Strategic Innovation in Established Companies - Constantinos Markides SECTION FIVE: ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES, LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism - David J Teece Perspectives on Alfred Chandler's Scale and Scope Absorptive Capacity - Wesley M Cohen and Daniel A Levinthal A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation Strategic Thinking and Knowledge Management - Ysanne Carlisle SECTION SIX: CHANGING CONTEXTS: THE GLOBAL INFORMATION ECONOMY Global Strategy - Sumantra Ghoshal An Organizing Framework Increasing Returns and the New World of Business - W Brian Arthur Global Strategy in the Twenty-First Century - George S Yip
'This excellent volume brings together some of the most influential readings in business strategy and explores the content and process of business strategy from a variety of different theoretical stances. It will serve as a comprehensive introduction to the literature and will become required reading for students of economics, organisational behavior and business' - Costas Markides, London Business School
