Simply Strategy: The shortest route to the best strategy

Simply Strategy: The shortest route to the best strategy

by Richard Koch, Peter Nieuwenhuizen
Released January 2009
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780131370166

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Book description

"Simply Strategy takes the hype out of business strategy and provides a user-friendly tool to identify and manage the most important activities that impact the bottom line. It's a ‘must read’ for business units that operate in multiple product/market combinations while relying on a common set of manufacturing assets.”

 --- Ram Sriram, General Manager, Fort Amanda Specialties LLC, USA

"Simply Strategy gives business units an easy to understand, simply structured approach to developing a robust strategy. Supplementing the book is a computer program that makes the strategy developing experience pain-free."

  --- Jeff Simmonds, Business Manager, General Manager, Akcros Chemicals, USA

"Save on consultants, buy this book! Simply Strategyhas helped me greatly to build strategic business focus in all layers of the organization. It was an extremely rewarding exercise".

  --- Valentin van den Boogaard, Director, Sales & Markting, Supresta, The Netherlands

A step-by-step guide to a business strategy that works for you

You’ve got customers to please, products to make, services to deliver. You need a strategy and you need it quick. But how do you devise the right strategy for your business? You've got no time for theory or jargon, you need practical results that deliver straight to the bottom line, now. This book tells you everything you need to know to develop an effective strategy for your business, using real information from your company.

This straightforward, step-by-step guide coaches you through the key questions such as:

* Where do you really earn your money?

* How good is your competitive position?

* Is this a good industry to be in?

* What do your customers think?

* How do you increase profits quickly?

To make the application of the lessons you learn from Simply Strategy even easier, specially-written software to analyse your company date is available. For more information and free sample activities, see the website at www.pearson-books.com/simplystrategy

Simply a better way to develop strategy for any business manager

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Financial Times Prentice Hall
  3. Foreword
    1. Business Unit Strategy – The Success Story
    2. How to Use This Book
    3. What’s Different and Better About This Book?
    4. Our Software Can Help
    5. Let Us Know
  4. Authors’ Acknowledgements
  5. Publisher’s Acknowledgements
  6. One. Introduction
    1. Introduction
      1. The Joy of Strategy
      2. But What is Strategy?
      3. A Fresh View of Business Strategy
      4. Who Should Develop Strategy?
      5. Business Strategy in Ten Easy Steps
  7. Two. Business Strategy
    1. 1. Overview
    2. 2. What Businesses are You in?
      1. Identifying Potential Business Segments
      2. Exercise 1: Identify your Potential Business Segments
      3. Exercise 2: Are the Segments Really Separate?
        1. Test A: Quick-and-Dirty
        2. Test B: Segmentation Mincer
      4. Summary
    3. 3. Where Do You Make the Money?
      1. Path A: Top-Down Estimate
      2. Path B: Bottom-Up or Profitability Fingerprinting
      3. Summary
    4. 4. How Good are Your Competitive Positions?
      1. Summary
    5. 5. What Skills and Capabilities Underpin Your Success?
      1. Summary
    6. 6. Is this a Good Business to be in?
      1. Summary
        1. Industry attractiveness
          1. Interpreting the scores
      2. Summary
    7. 7. What Do the Customers Think?
      1. Summary
    8. 8. What about the Competitors?
      1. Summary
    9. 9. Should You Do Something Else?
    10. 10. Who are We? What will We Do?
      1. Summary
    11. 11. How to Raise Profits Quickly
      1. Summary
    12. 12. Conclusion
  8. Three. Hints on Managing the Strategy Process
    1. 13. Selling the Need for a New Strategy
      1. Managing the Project
      2. ‘Progressive Approximation’
      3. Strategy Realization
      4. Now Start Your Own Adventure ...
  9. One. Strategy and Its History
    1. A Brief History of Strategy
    2. Swings in Strategic Thinking – Six Phases
      1. Phase 1: Planning for Large, Multi-Product Firms (1950s–1960s)
      2. Phase 2: Portfolio Management (1965–1975)
      3. Phase 3: ‘Strategy Planning’ Retreat (early 1970s)
      4. Phase 4: The Creative Aspects (from mid–1970s)
      5. Phase 5: Rigorous Micro-Economic Analysis (from 1980s)
      6. Phase 6: Skills, Learning and Purpose (from 1990s)
  10. Two. Glossary of Strategy Terms
    1.  

Product information

  • Title: Simply Strategy: The shortest route to the best strategy
  • Author(s): Richard Koch, Peter Nieuwenhuizen
  • Release date: January 2009
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780131370166