David Hussey

Strategic management: past experiences and future directions. Part 1

• This is the concluding part of an article exploring ways to improve strategic management. • Five critical components to successful strategic management are suggested: quality of analysis, creative strategic thinking, an appropriate process of strategic management which fits the situation of the organization, an obsession with implementation, and the competence and capabilities of the decision leaders. • Some ways are suggested to increase the prospects for strategic success.

Sources of information for competitor analysis

Why competitor information becomes legitimately available. Four basic causes are: the physical manifestations of activity; the need to communicate with stakeholders; legal obligations; and the (sometimes unwelcome) investigations of individuals and organizations. These causes lead to various types of information becoming available to those who have a continuous and sustained approach to competitor intelligence gathering.

Some thoughts on acquisition and merger

Merger and acquisition activity has a high failure rate, yet is a popular course of action. Some recent research is examined and related to some of the findings of earlier studies. This pinpoints many areas where M & A activity can go wrong, and suggests how things may be improved. Even when M & A activity is generally successful within an organization, improvement in the way that it is handled may release more shareholder value. Copyright

Igor Ansoff's continuing contribution to strategic management

The article is a gesture of thanks for and recognition of the benefits we have all gained from the work of Igor Ansoff. Modern concepts of strategy are built on foundations which he established. The article describes his three greatest contributions: a systematic approach to strategy formulation, the concept of strategic management; his contingency approach which related strategy and management to conditions of environmental turbulence. It includes an extensive bibliography of his works. Copyright

Strategy textbooks: a book review article

Judging by the number of books recently published, the market for MBA-level textbooks in strategy must be expanding at an enormous rate. In this article I should like to discuss three of them. My comments may also reflect my concern that much of what students are taught on many MBA courses does not equip them to apply the theoretical concepts in real situations.