Aligning for Advantage: Competitive Strategies for the Political and Social Arenas

ISBN-13: 9780199604753 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 256 str.

Thomas C. Lawton; Jonathan P. Doh; Tazeeb Rajwani

Opis

Aligning for Advantage argues that to build and sustain business success, companies must synchronize competitive strategies with extant strategies for social engagement and political and regulatory activism. Moreover, to be credible and realizable, these external market and nonmarket strategies need to be equally attuned with, and informed by, the internal corporate vision, values, and culture. The ability to align with and across both the market and the nonmarket is a key determinant of competitive advantage in a multipolar world economy.
The book advances a managerial process and conceptual framework for aligning a company's business objectives and market positions with its political requirements and social obligations. Strategic alignment is a pragmatic and proactive approach for modern enterprises to engage with the forces and events that impact on their business choices and actions, both at home and abroad. Companies must strive for a balanced and mutually reinforcing approach to corporate strategy, political activity, and social responsibility. In some cases alignment may mean deep, strategically embedded partnerships with governments, NGOs, or other stakeholders. In others, alignment may take the form of looser, more ad hoc collaborations with outside organizations and institutions. No matter what the approach, however, the relationship between nonmarket and market strategies should be conscious and deliberate, not accidental nor artificially constructed. Truly aligned strategies seek to reconcile and modulate the sometimes conflicting external demands that a company encounters. This is done in a way that is appropriate for the firm's geographic and market positions while at the same time leveraging the overall nonmarket strategy as a source of competitive advantage.

Recenzje

The authors convey in a practical way how to link political and social strategies to business objectives and market performance. A great book, not only for business and opinion leaders but also for regulators and legislators, educated citizens, and demanding consumers.

O autorze

Thomas C. Lawton is Professor of Strategy and International Management and Director of the Centre for International Management Practice at the Open University Business School and Visiting Professor of Business Administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is the author or co-author of more than 40 referred articles and book chapters and author or editor of 8 books. His most recent books are Breakout Strategy: Meeting the Challenge of Double-Digit Growth (with Sydney Finkelstein and Charles Harvey, McGraw-Hill) and The Routledge Companion to Non-Market Strategy (with Tazeeb Rajwani, Routledge). Jonathan P. Doh holds the Rammrath Chair in International Business, serves as Faculty Director for the Centre for Global Leadership, and is Professor of Management at Villanova School of Business. He is author or co-author of more than 70 refereed articles, 30 chapters in scholarly edited volumes, more than 80 conference papers, and 8 books. His most recent books are NGOs and Corporations: Conflict and Collaboration (with Michael Yaziji, Cambridge University Press) and International Management: Culture, Strategy and Behavior (with Fred Luthans, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 9th edition), the best-selling international management text. Tazeeb Rajwani is a Lecturer in Strategic Management at Cranfield School of Management. Previously he has been a Director of Strategy at a high-tech start-up, where he still holds an advisory position. He has also held a management position at KPMG Corporate Finance, where he was an Innovation Champion and member of the Thought Leadership group at KMPG Europe. He works with corporate clients globally to develop their competitive strategies and corporate political activities. His research focuses mainly on competitive advantage, nonmarket strategy and corporate political activity in global firms. He has published many academic papers, book chapters, reports and white papers on these themes in a variety of reputable outlets. His research has been reported in the commercial press, including the Irish Times, The Times and Financial Times. He received his Ph.D. from Imperial College London in strategic management.