Mastering Strategy : Insights from the World's Greatest Leaders and Thinkers - Hardcover

Rigsby, Jeffrey; Greco, Guy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071402861 ISBN 13: 9780071402866

Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2003

Synopsis

Up-to-the-minute examples of market-leading companies­­and strategists­­in action

Strategy that is both creative and pragmatic is today's number one competitive edge. It has been the driving force behind the success of firms, such as McDonald's and Microsoft, and executives like Sam Walton and Jack Welch. Mastering Strategy examines best practices and examples from these and other companies, CEOs, and academics, and details how executives can benchmark them to overcome new questions and problems in today's harder-faster-smarter world.

From achieving market leadership to managing change, today's business leaders must not only stay atop the latest trends, but also understand and improve the core issues that drive their organizations. By distilling scores of resources into one powerful volume, authors Jeffrey Rigsby and Guy Greco have produced a guidebook for creating new and exciting corporate strategy. Examples include:

• Strategies of corporations such as Nike and Proctor & Gamble
• Insights of CEOs from Bill Hewlett to Ray Kroc
• Wisdom of thought leaders from Warren Bennis to Robert Kaplan

About this title

About the Authors

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Jeffrey A. Rigsby is co-founder, CEO, and president of business knowledge consultancy Virtual CEO, Inc. An executive advisor to the Creative Technology Degreed Program at the University of California, Irvine, he has been featured in Investor's Business Daily, eCompany, and other local and national publications.

Guy Greco is co-founder and executive vice president of Virtual CEO and has more than two decades of experience in organizational effectiveness. He is a frequent speaker for Fortune 500 companies as well as the Department of Defense, and has consulted with a number of global of organizations focusing on organizational development.

From the Back Cover

Competitive strategies of Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Nike, and more

How Top Global Organizations Use Strategy to Attain Competitive Excellence

To create and maintain a razor-sharp competitive edge, your firm needs strategy that is both creative and practical. The problem is that rapid technological change, increased global competition, and greater customer sophistication have made formulating and executing such strategy more difficult than ever before.

Mastering Strategy shows you how today's most consistently competitive corporations gather, manage, and synthesize strategic information, then transform that information into action. This frontline review of strategic best practices examines today's top case studies, articles, and interviews to provide you with:

• Market-proven strategic approaches of corporations from Dell to Proctor & Gamble
• First-hand insights from Bill Gates, Ray Kroc, Sam Walton, and other top CEOs
• Analyses of thought leaders including Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker, Philip Kotler, and others

Because one person or resource cannot possibly have all the answers to today's most common strategic dilemmas, Mastering Strategy invites everyone to the table. The resulting book goes straight to the source--the companies and decision-makers that are winning the competitive wars today--to synthesize the key strategic factors that are consistently driving breakthrough success in today's harder-faster-smarter marketplace.

"There is no 'perfect' strategic decision. One always has to balance conflicting objectives, conflicting opinions, and conflicting priorities. The best strategic decision is only an approximation--and a risk."--Peter Drucker

All business involves approximation and risk. True success comes only when you minimize those risks by formulating a sound, workable strategy.

In Mastering Strategy, Jeffrey Rigsby and Guy Greco undertake an exhaustive examination of today's most respected and influential management thinking and know-how, concentrating on concepts and concerns that hold the greatest importance for corporate decision-makers. By focusing on the three primary organizational leverage points--strategy, design, and culture--Rigsby and Greco uncover a number of consistently recurring strategies among top global competitors that your organization can adopt and adapt to:

• Develop a top-to-bottom, results-oriented strategic planning process
• Leverage your organization's core competencies--while proactively addressing its faults
• Establish a culture that acts as a catalyst for your strategic initiatives, instead of a roadblock

Mastering Strategy outlines a step-by-step program for monitoring your organization's strategic drivers and evaluating whether they are helping--or hindering--your competitiveness. It then shows you how to rework existing structures, implement entirely new systems, and equip your organization to compete effectively in today's evolving global markets, industries, and environments.

How does McDonald's continue, year in and year out, to fight off competitors and maintain its global dominance? What has Nike done to create and foster its strong Internet presence? Why can FedEx consistently recognize--and implement--the technologies necessary to remain top dog in its hard-fought, no-room-for-error market niche? Mastering Strategy answers these questions and hundreds more, providing you with a hands-on, real-world look at the creation and implementation of today's most effective, results-based corporate strategies--and how you can use them to dramatically improve your firm's market share and competitive position.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071402861
• ISBN 13: 9780071402866
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256