Strategy and Strategists

Too often accounts of strategy are divorced from organizational realities and provide little detail on how practitioners can apply ideas to their own organizations. Strategy and Strategists provides an illuminating exploration of strategy and its implications for business. Blending theory and practice, the authors guide you through the complexities of strategy, clearly presenting conflicting viewpoints and arguments in this exciting and fast-moving field.

Importantly, this stimulating text:

Contains 25 readings, ranging from classic seminal pieces to contemporary contributions, providing a thorough grounding in strategy theory.

Emphasizes strategists and implementation as critical to successful strategy, and employs practitioner reflections, contributed by executives from leading companies, to explain how strategy is applied in the real world.

Encourages a critical and reflective viewpoint through discussion questions and a chapter dedicated to considering strategy from a critical perspective, enabling you to develop your own conclusions, and understand the challenges of strategy.

Considers the role of strategy agents and strategy in the context of not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and small firms.

Presents a novel way of structuring the field.

Features ten long cases and 14 mini cases, which explore strategy in real business situations. Cases feature organizations such as Hyundai, Zara, Fairtrade. Philips, and Macquarie Bank.

Linking literature to contemporary developments, this engaging textbook marries the rigours of strategy theory with the relevance of practice. It is essential reading for your advanced undergraduate, postgraduate, or executive-level strategy module.

James Cunningham is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Brian Harney is a Lecturer at Dublin City University Business School and Deputy Director of the Leadership, Innovation, and Knowledge (LInK) research centre.