Practising Strategy - A Southern African Context (Paperback, 2nd Edition)

Given the common acknowledgement that strategy implementation is the greatest challenge to managers in the 21st century and the greatest reason for strategy failure we decided to focus on strategy implementation. Rather than promoting the unrealistic idea of strategy as a purely rational and deliberate outcome, this book acknowledges and explores the idea that strategy is often emergent, messy and experimental.

The 2nd edition of this book offers five key approaches:

• It focuses on strategy implementation and not just on the thinking and analytical aspects of strategic management.
• It explores the idea that strategy is often emergent, messy and experimental, unlike other strategic management books, which unrealistically portray it as a neat, analytical and rational process.
• It unpacks the recent concept that other strategists, not only just senior management, influence strategic direction.
• It recognises strategy as something people do rather than something an organisation possesses. Since people are building blocks of strategy, it is a cognitive and political activity.
• It uses primary research conducted among southern African top and middle managers and draws on these managerial perspectives to enrich the text with first-hand accounts of strategy experience.

The second edition features a number of new chapters, focusing on strategy implementation and change management, resource allocation and responsible leadership. It also includes a more detailed coverage of managing strategic risk.