Economics of Strategy - Hardcover

David Besanko

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471448974 ISBN 13: 9780471448976

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2003

Synopsis

Covering the broad sweep of modern economics and strategy research, this comprehensive book broke new ground in its original edition by applying modern economic principles to study the firm's strategic position. Completely updated and revised, this new edition integrates recent insights from the theory of the firm, industrial organization, and strategy research, while building upon a strong theoretical and empirical foundation familiar to academics working in economics and strategy. New co-author Scott Schaefer adds his expertise on organizational economics New chapters on performance evaluation and strategic fit Hundreds of examples ground theory in the everyday activities of the firm and show how the economic principles of strategy actually work A unique, modern treatment of topics

About this title

From the Publisher:

Designed to engage and challenge students, this comprehensive book applies modern economic principles to study a firm's strategic position. The first section focuses on a company's boundaries, economics, transactions costs, economies of scale and scope and diversification. The second part deals with industrial organization economics such as market structure and dynamic price competition and concludes with four detailed industry analyses. The third segment covers strategic positioning and dynamics. The final section offers topics associated with internal organization. Contains hundreds of examples to illustrate how the economic principles of strategy apply to the actual business world.

From the Back Cover:

Discover the art of strategic thinking

Revised and updated to reflect the cutting edge of academic thinking about business strategy, the Fourth Edition of Besanko, Dranove, Shanley, and Schaefer’s highly acclaimed text offers a solid economic foundation for strategic analysis. By presenting basic concepts of economic theory with ideas in modern strategy literature, the book provides an economic lens for viewing the broad sweep of the strategic activities of the firm.

The book begins by focusing on the boundaries of the firm and examines competitive strategy from the perspective of industrial organization (IO) economics, particularly Porter’s Five Forces. It then explores strategic positioning and dynamics as well as topics associated with internal organization, including personnel economics, organization structure, and strategic fit.

Features of the Fourth Edition

Chapters on human resources management, entry, positioning, dynamics, technological change, and organizational structure are substantially revised.
An updated chapter on business history covers the recent dot-com bubble.
Presents economic principles without overemphasizing the math.
Rigorous treatment of organizational topics such as structure and culture enables you to experience the full scope of strategic thinking.
The authors use Porter’s Five Forces as a tool for organizing industry analysis, building on the coverage of industrial organization and game theory. The text also considers the Value Net, another tool for organizing industry analysis.
Includes coverage of make or buy decisions (Chapters 2-4) and benefit and cost advantage and sustaining advantage (Chapters 11-13).
Fascinating examples, including many new to this edition, bring the economic models to life. Many of the examples involve businesses outside of the United States.

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0471448974
• ISBN 13: 9780471448976
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 632