Developing Business Strategies,6th Edition

"Unquestionably the most comprehensive treatment available on the subject. I found this book unique in its capacity to benefit executives, planning staff, and students of strategy alike."— Robert L. Joss, Dean of the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

A successful business strategy enables managers to provide organizational vision, monitor and understand a dynamic business environment, generate creative strategic options in response to environmental changes, and base every business effort on sustainable competitive advantages. Developing Business Strategies provides the knowledge and understanding needed to generate and implement such a strategy.

This fully revised and updated edition of David Aaker's highly influential strategic manual offers copious new information on important emerging business topics. Numerous new and revised sections cover such critical areas as the big idea, knowledge management, the customer as an active partner, creative thinking, distinguishing fads from trends, forecasting technologies, alliances, design as strategy, downstream business models, and more. Other important new features of this comprehensive guide include:
* A new chapter on strategic positioning
* Many new illustrative examples from B-to-B, high-tech, and the Internet
* Increased focus on global leadership and global brand management
* Using the Internet to develop and support business strategies

For managers who need to develop and implement effective, responsive business strategies that keep the organization competitive through changing business conditions, Developing Business Strategies, Sixth Edition is the way to go.

This powerful, revised edition of David Aaker's enduring classic helps managers institute long-term business. Presenting a new chapter on strategic positioning, which places a face to the business strategy for customers and for employees, Aaker shows how it can play a powerful role in crystallizing and clarifying strategy, driving strategic initiatives, guiding communication strategy, and supporting the organizational structure.

This book provides a framework for looking outside the business to sense changes, trends, threats, and opportunities, and to analyze these conditions to develop strategic options. A set of agendas helps start the process, which is supported by a summary flow diagram and planning forms. Plus, new and updated sections on topics such as knowledge management, downstream business models, brand extensions, illusionary synergy, global leadership, creative thinking, and more round out the book.

Crucial to the success of any long-term strategy is the development of sustainable competitive advantages built from organizational assets and competencies. Aaker presents methods and concepts for identifying these advantages and making them the centerpiece of successful methods of branding, advertising, distribution, manufacturing, and finance.

This book also helps organizations select investment levels and chart growth directions for existing business areas as well as alternative growth directions, including market penetration, product expansion, market expansion, diversification, and more. Using methods such as strategic uncertainties, portfolio models, and scenario analysis, managers will learn to evaluate numerous investment alternatives.

Aaker explains how an organization's structure, systems, people, and culture contribute to the successful implementation of a strategy. He also describes how to implement a dynamic strategy that responds to changing conditions, how to use alliances to gain strategic advantage, and how to implement strategies when markets are hostile or declining or when competition is global in scope.

Completely revised with new examples from business-to-business to the Internet-related arena, Developing Business Strategies, Sixth Edition is a virtually inexhaustible resource for managers at all levels, as well as small business owners and managers.

DAVID A. AAKER is the Vice Chairman of Prophet Brand Strategy and Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. He is an active speaker and consultant on business and brand strategy throughout the world. His books, including Marketing Research, Fourth Edition (Wiley), Building Strong Brands, and Brand Leadership, have been translated into over a dozen languages.