Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage

Arthur A. Thompson Jr. earned his BS and PhD degrees in economics from the University of Tennessee, spent three years on the economics faculty at Virginia Tech, and served on the faculty of the University of Alabama’s College of Commerce and Business Administration for 25 years. In 1974 and again in 1982, Dr. Thompson spent semester-long sabbaticals as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School. His areas of specialization are business strategy, competition and market analysis, and the economics of business enterprises. In addition to publishing over 30 articles in some 25 different professional and trade publications, he has authored or coauthored five textbooks and six computer-based simulation exercises that are used in colleges and universities worldwide. Dr. Thompson spends much of his off-campus time giving presentations, putting on management development programs, working with companies, and helping operate a business simulation enterprise in which he is a major partner. Dr. Thompson and his wife of 60 years have two daughters, two grandchildren, and a Yorkshire terrier.

 A.J. (Lonnie) Strickland received a BS in Math and Physics from the University of Georgia, an MS in Industrial Management from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a PhD from Georgia State university. He currently holds the rank of Professor of Strategic Management in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Alabama. He has done extensive consulting and research work. In recent years, he was honored with the Outstanding Professor Award for the Graduate School of Business, and was the recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award for the University of Alabama.

John E. Gamble is the Mary & Jeff Bell Endowed Distinguished Professor of Business and former Dean of the College of Business at Texas A&M University―Corpus Christi. His teaching and research have focused on strategic management and entrepreneurship at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has conducted courses in strategic management in Germany since 2001, which have been sponsored by the University of Applied Sciences in Worms. 

Dr. Gamble’s research has been published in various scholarly journals, and he is the author or coauthor of more than 100 case studies published in an assortment of strategic management and strategic marketing texts. He has done consulting on industry and market analysis for clients in a diverse mix of industries. 

Professor Gamble received his PhD, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Alabama and was a faculty member in the Mitchell College of Business at the University of South Alabama before his appointment to the faculty at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.