Those (such as I) who subscribe to the MIT Sloan Management Review have perhaps already read many of these essays. How convenient to have a single volume in which they are gathered; also, to have such a well-written Introduction by the editors and then a section ("The Authors") which suggests additional resources to explore. (I consider Markides' All the Right Moves: A Guide to Crafting Breakthrough Strategy to be one of the most important business books written within recent years.) Some owners/CEOs of smaller companies incorrectly believe that strategic thinking (at least as they understand it) is not of major importance when, in fact, the opposite is true. Go back and examine the origins of what have since become the world's largest corporations and you will learn that each began with one or two basic strategies. For example, when James Cash Penney opened his first store (named "The Golden Rule") in 1902 in Kemmerer (WY), his basic strategies were (a) to treat each customer as a guest and (b) to offer merchandise of the highest possible quality for the lowest possible price. More recently, in 1983, Michael Dell began to re-sell RAM chips and disk drives for IBM PCs (from his dormitory room at the University of Texas) and by April of 1984, his computer component business was grossing about $80,000 a month. His basic strategy then and now: To sell a limited selection of products directly to consumers and then provide superior service. My point, obviously, is that this book can be an invaluable resource for senior-level executives in large companies but can also be every bit as valuable to decision-makers in small-to-mid size companies.
The authors raise almost all of the most important questions to be asked about strategy and then, together, offer thoughtful (at times highly innovative) as well as practical responses to those questions. For example: How to define a company as a value creator rather than a value appropriator? How can a new management framework address the current business environment of complexity and uncertainty by expanding the spectrum of strategic positions? How can successful business strategy emerge from a decision-making process in which executives develop "collective intuition" and accelerate "constructive combat" while maintaining decision pacing and avoiding politics? You may not agree with all of the authors' observations and conclusions. Fair enough. But I am certain that, after having read this book, you will be a much more effective strategic thinker.