Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Study of corporate strategy. In this text, the author identifies four basic theories of action in strategy - the classical planning approach; the efficiency-driven evolutionary approach; the craft-like processural approach; and the internationally-sensitive, systemic approach.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This book will be one of the most important pieces of literature for proponents of systemic perspectives of strategy. The author concludes that the systemic approach to strategy is superior to classical, evolutionary, and processual approaches. Consequently, the text is devoted mostly to describing the systemic philosophy of strategic management. One of the best features of the book is the ease in finding refreshingly insightful ideas on strategic topics such as visionary leadership, strategic investment decisions, diversification, integration, and takeovers. Each topic is presented and reviewed in light of the four schools of thought. In each case the author concludes that the systemic perspective challenges the universality of any single model of strategy. The objectives of strategy and the modes of strategy making depend on the strategists' social characteristics and the social context within which they operate. The main message of the systemic perspective, then, is that strategy must be sociologically sensitive. Best suited for graduate management or marketing collections. D. C. Kimball Elms College