Essentials of strategic management : the quest for competitive advantage / John E. Gamble, Margaret Ann Peteraf and Arthur A. Thompson, Jr.

Includes index.

Part One Concepts and Techniques For Crafting and Executing Strategy -- Section A: Introduction and Overview -- 1. Strategy, Business Models, and Competitive Advantage -- 2. Strategy Formulation, Execution, and Governance -- Section B: Core Concepts and Analytical Tools -- 3. Evaluating a Company's External Environment -- 4. Evaluating a Company's Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness -- Section C: Crafting a Strategy -- 5. The Five Generic Competitive Strategies -- 6. Strengthening a Company's Competitive Position: Strategic Moves, Timing, and Scope of Operations -- 7. Strategies for Competing in International Markets -- 8. Corporate Strategy: Diversification and the Multi-business Company -- 9. Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, and Strategy -- Section D: Executing the Strategy -- 10. Superior Strategy Execution-Another Path to Competitive Advantage -- Appendix Key Financial Ratios: How to Calculate Them and What They Mean -- Part Two Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy -- Case 1 BillCutterz.com: Business Model, Strategy, and the Challenges of Exponential Growth -- Case 2 Whole Foods Market in 2014: Vision, Core Values, and Strategy -- Case 3 Apple Inc. in 2015 -- Case 4 Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Inc. in 2014: On Track to Succeed After a Near-Death Experience? -- Case 5 Panera Bread Company in 2015-What to Do to Rejuvenate the Company's Growth? -- Case 6 Vera Bradley in 2015: Can Its Turnaround Strategy Reverse Its Continuing Decline? -- Case 7 Tesla Motors' Strategy to Revolutionize the Global Automotive Industry -- Case 8 Deere & Company in 2015: Striving for Growth in a Weakening Global Agricultural Sector -- Case 9 PepsiCo's Diversification Strategy in 2015 -- Case 10 Robin Hood -- Case 11 Southwest Airlines in 2014: Culture, Values, and Operating Practices -- Case 12 TOMS Shoes: A Dedication to Social Responsibility.

Presents a conceptually strong treatment of strategic management principles and analytic approaches that features straight-to-the-point discussions, and examples. This text mirrors both the penetrating insight of academic thought and the pragmatism of real-world strategic management.