First published in 1989, this book is based on detailed comparative case studies of eight firms’ responses to the recession of the early 1980s, the worst crisis for British manufacturing in the post-war period. Following these companies’ progress from 1979 to 1985, Whittington examines the various recession strategies they adopted and the consequences of these for management change and financial performance in the recovery. Drawing on the Realist social theory of Roy Bhaskar, Whittington argues that the class, gender, generation and ethnicity of the decision-makers involved in the eight case studies collectively made an impact on their strategic choices. This is a timely and practical reissue, which will be of value to students, managers and academics concerned with strategic management, developments in organizational theory, and the current economic climate.
First published in 1989, this book is based on detailed comparative case studies of eight firms’ responses to the recession of the early 1980s, the worst crisis for British manufacturing in the post-war period. Following these companies’ progress from 1979 to 1985, Whittington examines the various recession strategies they adopted and the consequences of these for management change and financial performance in the recovery. Drawing on the Realist social theory of Roy Bhaskar, Whittington argues that the class, gender, generation and ethnicity of the decision-makers involved in the eight case studies collectively made an impact on their strategic choices. This is a timely and practical reissue, which will be of value to students, managers and academics concerned with strategic management, developments in organizational theory, and the current economic climate.
As the world is currently in the midst of financial and economic crises, this collection of expert contributions focuses on strategy formation and implementation at various organizational levels to address the challenges ahead. The latest economic turmoil and its ongoing impact on business performance are compelling top managers to develop effective business strategies and redefine the boundaries of their operational and strategic activities. On one hand, tremendous challenges in the competitive business environment have become a source of global threats for many small entrepreneurs. On the other, investors faced with today’s volatile economic conditions demand more gains on their capital investments to counter-balance the growing risk of global threats. This book explores the question as to whether it is possible to efficiently and effectively address these threats and obstacles. Are managers capable of planning and implementing strategic actions? What should the major managerial strategy be in order to overcome fluctuations in a market-oriented society? The strategies and practices recommended here are aimed to design continuous development competencies and contribute to the stability, recovery and sustainability of global business operations under volatile economic conditions. This refreshingly novel book seeks to establish managerial strategies and practices for effectively responding to challenges in the competitive business environment, as global volatility and fluctuations continue to worsen.
Times of crisis are unexpected and they bring diverse challenges and opportunities for companies, financial markets, and the economy. On one hand, more risk and uncertainties appear, yet on the other hand, it is an opportunity to reorganize and reinvent the company. It is important for businesses to understand ways to deal with uncertainty and risk in times of economic downturn and what financial strategies and tools can be used to eliminate or reduce the potential negative effects. These effects can reach the company’s financial performance, capital structure, as well as cause financial debt and the availability of cash-flow to companies. However, different financial instruments can sustain the business and deal with the difficulties of payment when sales reduce and uncertainty increases; thus, research is essential in this critical area. When economic downturn affects the financial markets, the role of banks, country dynamics, the economy, and many other facets of the business world, financial management becomes the key for business recovery. The Handbook of Research on Financial Management During Economic Downturn and Recovery shares relevant knowledge on challenges and opportunities caused by crises, such as the pandemic, and the effects on economic and financial arenas. The chapters cover topics such as business models to understand how companies react to pandemic and crises situations, as well as how they change their management and way of conducting business. Other important topics include sustainable development, international financial markets, capital structure changes, uncertainty and risk, and governance and leadership. This book is ideal for shareholders, directors and managers, economists, researchers, academics, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in knowledge on topics about challenges in the way that companies, financial markets, financial institutions, and governments respond to risk and uncertainty.
Thinkers50 Top 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 A distinguished Harvard Business School professor offers a compelling reassessment and defense of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get purpose right. Few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent years than the notion of corporate purpose, and for good reason. Too many companies deploy purpose, or a reason for being, as a promotional vehicle to make themselves feel virtuous and to look good to the outside world. Some have only foggy ideas about what purpose is and conflate it with strategy and other concepts like “mission,” “vision,” and “values.” Even well-intentioned leaders don’t understand purpose’s full potential and engage half-heartedly and superficially with it. Outsiders spot this and become cynical about companies and the broader capitalist endeavor. Having conducted extensive field research, Ranjay Gulati reveals the fatal mistakes leaders unwittingly make when attempting to implement a reason for being. Moreover, he shows how companies can embed purpose much more deeply than they currently do, delivering impressive performance benefits that reward customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities alike. To get purpose right, leaders must fundamentally change not only how they execute it but also how they conceive of and relate to it. They must practice what Gulati calls deep purpose, furthering each organization’s reason for being more intensely, thoughtfully, and comprehensively than ever before. In this authoritative, accessible, and inspiring guide, Gulati takes readers inside some of the world’s most purposeful companies to understand the secrets to their successes. He explores how leaders can pursue purpose more deeply by navigating the inevitable tradeoffs more deliberately and effectively to balance between short- and long-term value; building purpose more systematically into every key organizational function to mobilize stakeholders and enhance performance; updating organizations to foster more autonomy and collaboration, which in turn allow individual employees to work more purposefully; using powerful storytelling to communicate a reason for being, arousing emotions and building a community of inspired and committed stakeholders; and building cultures that don’t merely support purpose, but also allow employees to link the corporate purpose to their own personal reasons for being. As Gulati argues, a deeper engagement with purpose holds the key not merely to the well-being of individual companies but also to humanity’s future. With capitalism under siege and relatively low levels of trust in business, purpose can serve as a radically new operating system for the enterprise, enhancing performance while also delivering meaningful benefits to society. It’s the kind of inspired thinking that businesses—and the rest of us—urgently need.
When the economy turns rough, many companies sideline their green business initiatives. That's a big mistake. In Green Recovery, Andrew Winston shows that no company can afford to wait for the downturn to ease before going green. Green initiatives ratchet up your company's resource efficiency, creativity, and employee motivation. They save energy, waste, and money, preserving precious capital-and give precise focus to your innovation efforts and strategic priorities. Part manifesto and part how-to guide, this concise and engaging book provides a road map for using green initiatives to deliver short-term gains and position your company for long-term strategic growth. You'll discover how to: -Get lean: Amp up your energy and resource efficiency to survive tough times -Get smart: Use environmental data about products and supply chains for competitive advantage -Get creative: Rejuvenate your innovation efforts by asking heretical questions such as "How might we operate with no fossil fuels?" -Get going: Engage and excite employees to solve the company's, the customer's, and the world's environmental challenges Green Recovery is your guide to establishing your competitive positioning in difficult times and emerging even stronger into a vastly changed economy.
This book examines the reasons for the unprecedented weak recovery following the recent US recession and explores the possibility that government economic policy is the problem. Drawing on empirical research that looks at issues from policy uncertainty to increased regulation, the volume offers a broad-based assessment of how government policies are slowing economic growth and provides a framework for understanding how those policies should change to restore prosperity in America.
Beat the odds with a bold strategy from McKinsey & Company "Every once in a while, a genuinely fresh approach to business strategy appears" —legendary business professor Richard Rumelt, UCLA McKinsey & Company's newest, most definitive, and most irreverent book on strategy—which thousands of executives are already using—is a must-read for all C-suite executives looking to create winning corporate strategies. Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick is spearheading an empirical revolution in the field of strategy. Based on an extensive analysis of the key factors that drove the long-term performance of thousands of global companies, the book offers a ground-breaking formula that enables you to objectively assess your strategy's real odds of future success. "This book is fundamental. The principles laid out here, with compelling data, are a great way around the social pitfalls in strategy development." —Frans Van Houten, CEO, Royal Philips N.V. The authors have discovered that over a 10-year period, just 1 in 12 companies manage to jump from the middle tier of corporate performance—where 60% of companies reside, making very little economic profit—to the top quintile where 90% of global economic profit is made. This movement does not happen by magic—it depends on your company's current position, the trends it faces, and the big moves you make to give it the strongest chance of vaulting over the competition. This is not another strategy framework. Rather, Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick shows, through empirical analysis and the experiences of dozens of companies that have successfully made multiple big moves, that to dramatically improve performance, you have to overcome incrementalism and corporate inertia. "A different kind of book—I couldn't put it down. Inspiring new insights on the facts of what it takes to move a company's performance, combined with practical advice on how to deal with real-life dynamics in management teams." —Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup Latin America
After healing her own unhealthy relationship with money, and transforming her financial disaster into prosperity and security, Karen McCall created a recovery program she has now used for more than twenty years to help individuals, couples, and businesses large and small. In the midst of her money troubles, she saw a need for something other than financial planners, accountants, and credit counselors. These experts could tell her what she should be doing differently, but she needed someone to help her understand the underlying causes of chronic, self-defeating overspending and credit card debt, underearning, and low or no savings. To save herself, she created practical, holistic tools that address these sources of pain and shame. McCall’s program supports people as they uncover their deep-seated attitudes about money; provides simple, step-by-step tools for healing areas of physical, emotional, and spiritual deprivation; and teaches skills and strategies for experiencing lasting personal and financial fulfillment even in the midst of economic challenges and reversals.
Supermaker is a guide to business and career development by Jaime Schmidt: acclaimed entrepreneur, founder of Schmidt's Naturals, and icon of the Maker Movement. In Supermaker, she shares how you too can start or grow your own business with advice on branding, product development, social media marketing, scaling, PR, and customer engagement, all based on her own hard-won mastery. In just seven years, Jaime Schmidt went from making natural products in her Portland, Oregon, kitchen to turning her brand into a household name and selling her company to Unilever—without sacrificing the integrity of her product or her creative vision. • Readers learn how to get ahead on their own terms and while maintaining their commitment to fair and sustainable principles. • A valuable resource to the ever-growing community of business owners and entrepreneurs who want to go from maker to magnate. • Candid advice from an industry disruptor. Following her growth from farmers' market stand to international brand, Jaime's book is a riveting mix of inspiration, the honest airing of mistakes, and indispensable instruction. Supermaker empowers and unites the next generation of entrepreneurs. • A go-to guide for the passion-to-profit journey. • The perfect read for aspiring entrepreneurs, makers, creatives, and anyone with an interest in natural products, selling your products online, retail strategy, and digital marketing. • Great for anyone who enjoyed Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie, Craft, Inc: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco, and The Girls' Guide to Starting Your Own Business: Candid Advice, Frank Talk, and True Stories for the Successful Entrepreneur by Caitlin Friedman.
