Strategy and Planning: A Manager's Guide (CBI Series in Practical Strategy) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

DAVID HUSSEY is a well-known international authority on strategic management, with experience as both a practitioner in and a consultant to major companies from many industries, including 18 years spent with Harbridge House. He is author or editor of over 25 books on strategy or management development. One of the founders of the Strategic Planning Society, and a director of the Japan Strategic Management Institue, he is currently visiting professor in strategic management in Nottingham Business School. He is also editor of Croner's Journal of Professional HRM and former editor of the Journal of Strategic Change.

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One of the manager's most critical tasks is to develop strategy, and although thinking on strategy is constantly shifting, the underlying issues remain the same. Strategic planning is a task that occurs in organizations of all sizes, and at various levels of responsibility.
This exceptionally useful and concise book provides essential information for managers and practitioners of strategic management, particularly those requiring a birds-eye view of the whole subject, who have neither the time nor the inclination to read the encyclopaedic tomes that are available. The style is practical, without sacrificing integrity, and references are made to the important sources in the literature.
The book provides a framework for thinking about strategy, which can be used as the basis for a written plan, should this be needed. However, it is not assumed that the end product of the strategic thinking is always a written plan, although this is often the case. Whether the plan is written or memorised, the steps and methods outlined in this book will help managers to develop a sound strategy.
After taking the reader through a number of issues and steps in the development of corporate strategy, the book explores strategic thinking in the context of marketing, manufacturing, finance and human resources. The final chapter is optional, for those who are interested in an ongoing process of strategic planning.

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Series Foreword

The aim of this series is to provide managers with books on strategy, strategic management and strategic change, which are helpful, practical, and provide guidance for the practical application of sound concepts in real situations. It is thus very welcome that a number of the books in the series should be selected for publication under the logo of the CBI, whose member organisations are very much concerned with the topics covered in the series.

In the mid 1960s when the subject of planning began to emerge, the whole literature could have been listed on one or two sheets of paper. It was easy to decide which books to read, because so few were available. This state of affairs changed rapidly, and the scope of the subject has moved from a focus on formal planning to a broader view which merges with the literature of leadership, change management, strategic analysis, and organisation. Modern writing sees the organisation and its strategies in an integrated way, and there are many, often conflicting, theories about the "right" way to formulate strategies and practice strategic management.

Management usually does not take an academic interest in theories, but is concerned about what works best in the situation in which it operates. Hence this series. Each book is conceptually sound, and gives proper acknowledgement to the originators of concepts and ideas, but the emphasis is on using the concepts or methods, rather than academic argument. Hence, too, the choice of the six subjects initially offered under the auspices of the CBI. There are two books which offer complementary overviews of strategic management. MeNamee's Strategic Market Planning follows the author's belief that enduringly successful firms are those that understand most clearly, and then serve most effectively, the markets they address, and offers a blue print for this. Hussey (Strategy & Planning) provides essential, up to date, information for managers and practitioners of strategic management who require a practical view of the whole subject.

Segey writes on business unit strategy, and its emphasis is on analytical method for businesses that focus on one industry or product/market grouping. The remaining three books deal with specific aspects of strategy which are topical concerns for many organisations. They cover the subjects of virtual organisations (Hedberg et al), the related but different subject of multinational strategic alliances (Mockler), and competitor analysis, (Hussey & Jenster).

The emphasis of all the books is on practical application. The aim is to give the reader clear guidance on how to make the subject of the book work in his or her own situation, while at the same time taking care to ensure that the books do not over-simplify situations. Cheek lists and questionnaires are included when they aid the aims of the book, and examples are given. The experience of the author in actually applying the concepts, rather than just knowing about them, is intended to show through the writing.

The books are written by authors from Denmark, Israel, Sweden, the UK and the USA, which brings an international flavour, as well as helping to make complex matters understandable. We hope that it will become a catalyst that helps managers make a difference to the strategic performance of their organisations.

David Hussey, Series Editor Visiting, Professor in Strategic Management, Nottingham Trent University Managing Director, David Hussey & Associates Series

Other titles in the series;

0471499951 Virtual Organizations and Beyond: Discovering Imaginary Systems 0471499935 Business Unit Strategy 0471499919 Competitive Analysis: Turning Intelligence into Success 0471499978 Strategic Market Planning: A Blueprint for Success 0471499994 Multinational Strategic Alliances

Preface

The first edition of this book came out in 1971, and was based on my experiences in strategic planning inside various organisations. It was written more than a year earlier, and was lucky it came out at all, as it was a period before easy access to fast copiers, and certainly before PCs and word processing, and the manuscript only just survived a fire in the publisher's office. I eventually received one copy of the typescript back from the publisher, scorched and singed. But the book eventually appeared, and has gone through several editions. There is a family resemblance in this new edition to its predecessors, but like any child it is not identical to its parent.

The changes have been made because the whole subject has changed, and because my experiences have enlarged. The topic has gone through the change of name sequence which sometimes passes for evolution. I was very modern in the first edition, as I used the stage 2 name instead of the original long range planning. Stage 3 was strategic planning, stage 4 became strategic management, which we all seem to like because we have used it for some 25 years. The explosion of the literature has been enormous, and I suppose we could claim to have arrived, as it is now no longer possible for any one person to read every book and every article that comes out. But with that explosion has come a development of methods, tools and techniques, which are intended to help make sense of strategy in an increasingly complex and fast changing environment.

I have changed because in 1976 I gave up my claim to be the only person in the world who wrote about corporate planning and actually was a planning manager (the rest were consultants and academics), and moved into management consultancy myself. This gave me access to many more opportunities for experience, although I should stress that the style of consulting was usually in a skills transfer mode, where I would help managers to apply the appropriate methods and draw conclusions for themselves. So the practical application concern of the book continued, reinforced by my day-to-day work.

This new edition has a change of focus from the original. The priorities are strategic thinking, strategic planning, and as an option, the strategic management process. Although part of the scope is...