Exploring Corporate Strategy by Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes

Well, you may or may not know that I am half way through my MBA with the Open University and what that entails is an exhausting three year course which drains your resources, although it is great fun and challenging too. Anyway, it was my husband that bought me this book, on a recommendation from his MD, who has just completed his MBA with Paisley University.

I am in my second year of my MBA, and my current course is imaginatively ...
...were up all night thinking of that. Anyway, you get the relevance of this book and my studies.



This book is marketed as Europe's best selling Strategy textbook and is published by FT Prentice Hall. What is also unique about this book is that the organisation Pearson Education also have a website www.booksites.net/johnsonscholes on which the student of strategy can search, to assist them in their strategic thinking and ... more

Well, you may or may not know that I am half way through my MBA with the Open University and what that entails is an exhausting three year course which drains your resources, although it is great fun and challenging too. Anyway, it was my husband that bought me this book, on a recommendation from his MD, who has just completed his MBA with Paisley University.

I am in my second year of my MBA, and my current course is imaginatively labelled B820 Strategy, obviously those folks at OU Milton Keynes were up all night thinking of that. Anyway, you get the relevance of this book and my studies.

This book is marketed as Europe's best selling Strategy textbook and is published by FT Prentice Hall. What is also unique about this book is that the organisation Pearson Education also have a website www.booksites.net/johnsonscholes on which the student of strategy can search, to assist them in their strategic thinking and practice using the models and frameworks that are taught. You can also attend a one day workshop which is taught by the two authors in the UK and complements the book. It is unfortunate that I missed this, as getting your head around this topic can be difficult at first, and so many managers in business do not truly understand Strategy (myself included ..lol).

Anyway, I bought the book by internet mail order from Pearson Education and it cost £32.99, so not cheap either.

The sixth edition, which is the latest just came out in 2002, eighteen years after the first edition came out, and of course there have been massive changes in the strategies that companies and governments pursue in that time.

The book is written by senior professors. Gerry Johnson is a Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business (which was actually my other choice of business school before I plumped for the OU). Prior to this, Johnson was at Cranfield. He also works as a consultant within many UK and International Firms.

Kevan Scholes is Visiting Professor of Strategic Management at Sheffield Hallam University and has his own consulting firm.

Now you certainly get your money's worth with this book, as it is over 1000 pages thick, and even though it is softback, it weighs a tonne, especially in your case with all your other OU books! But enough of that, let me give you a bit of an overview of the book itself.

The book is divided into four main Parts. Part 1, which is the smallest section is basically concerned with introducing the subject of strategy to the reader and understanding strategy development in organisations. This is the shortest Part, at about 93 pages. This Part eases you in gradually with discussion about what strategy and strategic decisions are; the levels of strategy within an organisation, some of the vocabulary, and an insight into the difference between operational management and strategic management. It then moves on to discuss the concepts of intended and realised strategies and strategic drift.

The book is absolutely littered with useful case studies and illustrations of businesses, both in the UK and internationally. Even in the first 50 pages, the reader has had an opportunity to review AOL/Time Warner, and Microsoft/Netscape. There are also plenty of questions dotted through the text, and Work Assignments, based on your readings, and your experiences in your own organisation.

Part 2 The Strategic Position introduces old favourites for the business student in the form of Environmental Analysis using frameworks such as PESTEL and Porter's Five Forces as well as an overview of markets, opportunities and threats. The European Brewing Industry in Europe is the basis for a case study. Also in this section we look at defining Critical Success Factors, delivering value and Stakeholder Analysis. Manchester United is studied in this section.

Part 3 - Strategic Choices looks at the Virgin Group and discusses matters such as Diversity and the organisations Portfolio, using the Boston Consulting Group framework. Each section of the book does point the student to further reading, i.e. other textbooks, or internet resources such as university papers. Each section is also summarised, in a few key Pink pages, which is useful for revision.

Part 4 Strategy into Action, is probably the area where most managers are more comfortable. This looks at how organisations need to organise themselves to accomplish their goals, looking at the key resources of people, information, finance and technology. It finishes off with tools for accomplishing Strategic Change.

What I particularly like about this book, is that there are about 400 pages of Pink Case studies on all manner of organisations, at the back of the book. These are very useful when trying to apply concepts and frameworks which I am learning on my course with the Open University. Like any University Course, the basic reading which I must do really only skims the surface, and for that learning to become locked in the best way is to practice those newly learned thinking skills. The course is very much to do with conceptual thinking, which can be a difficult topic to master. The case studies are summarised with a table of the key concepts that they cover, to make it easier for the student to hone in on a particular idea or framework.

Overall, I would say that this book is a fantastic comprehensive approach to strategy, written by two very credible Professors of the topic, in Johnson and Scholes. For the Senior Manager, it is likely that this book is going to be too heavy and intense to study alone, but if you can only afford one additional book as a student of Strategy, then may I recommend this one to you.

 

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