Strategy and Performance: Competing through Competences

In a world where customers are fickle and markets change overnight, you need to be ready to move rapidly when opportunities or threats arise. This book helps you to understand your organization's potential, its capabilities and limitations, so when new challenges appear, you'll know how to manage your resources effectively to take advantage of them. It will show you how to build a more sustainable competitive advantage by revealing the techniques that underlie your firm's strategy, and explaining how to improve and manage these resources to reinforce your strengths and ameliorate your weaknesses. Written for managers of small to medium sized businesses and industry consultants, this book also forms part of a three-volume set covering business strategy, performance, and competencies.

Dr Mike Bourne joined the faculty at Cranfield School of Management in October 2000 and works on a number of projects involving assisting a number of blue chip companies with the development of their use of data and performance measures. Mike's career includes a research post at the Institute for Manufacturing, Cambridge and a wide variety of positions in industry, including periods in production management, business systems, strategy and acquisitions.

John Mills spent 20 years with Shell International and Philips Electronics, initially in consultancy roles and then in factory, development and business management, especially in electronics and mobile communications industries. He joined Cambridge University in 1992 and is based at the Institute for Manufacturing in Cambridge.

Andy Neely is Director of the Centre for Business Performance at Cranfield School of Management and Professor of Operations Strategy and Performance. He has consulted to and worked with numerous organisations including 3M, Andersen Consulting, Aventis, British Aerospace, British Airways, British Telecom, DHL, Diageo, KPMG, NatWest Bank, Pilkington, Reckitt and Colman, and Rolls Royce Aerospace.

Dr Ken Platts spent the first part of his career working in manufacturing engineering and manufacturing management with companies making shoe machinery, ac generators, bicycles and cranes. Following an 18 month Fellowship in Manufacturing Management at Cranfield University, he went on to head the Computer Aided Manufacturing Group at TI Research labs before joining the University of Cambridge where he has just completed a three year term as the Director of the Manufacturing Engineering Tripos BA and MEng programmes.