Lillian,
If you are looking for a book which helps your students understand how competitive advantages are built, then a traditional textbook may not do it. These books have been essentially saying the same for almost three decades now, and if companies were to follow the books' formula they will always achieve the same results. When I teach strategy I use the traditional SWOT analysis as a source of information (not as a source a strategy); then I go to Porter's 1996 HBR article "What is Strategy?" (I want the students to understand that strategy is about a unique position for the company); and then I would use a book such as Hamel's 2000 "Leading the Revolution," which helps students understand that interconnected of all the major components (integration) into a business model that makes some sense; finally, the students must apply all of these notion to a live case (an actual company on as much real time as possible - I don't particularly like textbook cases).
By the way, I make an extra effort to make my students understand that the SWOT analysis only provides a picture of the business in the present, and that most executives of a company should have that picture in their minds at all times - that one of the reasons they make so much money is to know their business and industry better than anyone else.
Thanks,
Ivan
D <https://synergy.txstate.edu/exchange/rb39/Inbox/Teaching/Ecuador%202007/RE:%20Gracias%20e%20informacion-6.EML/1_multipart/1_multipart/image001.jpg?Security=2> r. R. Ivan Blanco
Department of Management
McCoy College of Business Administration
Texas State University - San Marcos
San Marcos, TX 78666
Phone (512) 245-1842
Fax (512) 245-2850
rb39@txstate.edu
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The trouble with other cultures is that the people don't behave the way they're supposed to, that is, like us. The solution to this difficulty is not to expect them to." Craig Storti, The Art of Crossing Cultures (1990).
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Las naciones marchan al termino de su grandeza con el mismo paso que camina su educacion.
Nations march toward their greatness at the same pace as their educational systems evolve. Simon Bolivar
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________________________________
From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv on behalf of Schumacher, Lillian
Sent: Mon 10/1/2007 4:33 PM
To:
OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
Subject: Business Policy & Strategy
Greetings colleagues,
I am in need of your advice and suggestions for a solid textbook for a MBA Business Policy class as I am not completely satisfied with the one I am using. This capstone MBA class focuses on integrative strategic policy and concepts. As a result, I am looking for a more traditional text that includes internal/external environmental analysis, building competitive advantage, corporate strategy and governance, etc., but also hope for case study inclusion as well. Any help and/or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dr. Lillian Schumacher
Director of Graduate Programs & Assistant Professor, Keith Busse School of Business & Entrepreneurial Leadership
University of Saint Francis
2701 Spring Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46808
(260) 399-7700, ext. 8305 (P)
(260) 399-8174 (F)
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child." Dr. Forest E. Witcraft