The Strategy Pathfinder is arranged into 11 pathways and a final maverick strategy section. Each pathway focuses on a set of core concepts followed by five “live cases” that readers can use to test their ability to use those concepts. A dashed line around a live case's title square indicates that it focuses on a not-for-profit (NFP) organisation. In addition, efforts have been made to select cases that cover a broad geographic area – see The Strategy Pathfinder World Map on page xiii.

Introduction: Pathways to Strategy

Strategy is about winning → Many paths towards strategy → Why The Strategy Pathfinder is a different kind of strategy textbook

1. Strategic Purpose

Strategic purpose → vision → mission → core values → objectives → strategy statements → the CEO as strategist → principal/agent → agency problem → corporate governance → chain of ownership → external dependent stakeholders → internal dependent stakeholders → non-dependent stakeholders → social influencers → CSR → stakeholder analysis → using management consultants → government influences → power/interest matrix → lobbying

Part I: The Strategic Environment

2. Macro-Shocks

Open systems thinking → bounded rationality → Icarus paradox → determinism → scanning/monitoring/forecasting/assessing → scenarios → PEST/ESTEMPLE analysis → inflexion points → mega trends → Temporal Impact matrix → SWOT/TOWS analysis → strategic agility → fitness

3. Industry Forces

Industry performance (ROIC)  → margins → perfect and imperfect competition → market imperfections → industry life cycle → critical success factors (CSFs) → S-curves/dolphin curves → industry structure → the Five Forces of industry → entry barriers → exit barriers → strategic groups → the value net → complementors → co-opetition

Part II: Strategic Advantage

4. Competitive Advantage

Strategic advantage → competitive advantage → sustainable competitive advantage → positioning → cost advantage → differentiation advantage → focus advantage → generic strategy matrix → scope strategies → competing in strategic groups → mobility barriers → strategy clock → differentiation strategies → game theory → red oceans → blue ocean strategy → value innovation  → the value chain → outsourcing → value chimera

5. Resource-Based Advantage

Organisational culture → seven Ss → cultural web → national culture → regional culture → cultural dimensions → Porter Diamond → resource-based view of firm → resources → capabilities → VRIO analysis → dynamic capabilities → sensing/seizing/transforming

6. Business Model Advantage

Unicorns → disruptive innovation → business model definitions → one-sided business models → franchising → cutting out the middleman → bricks and clicks → low cost → just-in-time → razor-blade → freemium → sponsorship → pyramid scheme → multi-sided/platform models → network effect → social business models → collective business models → creating business models → effectuation → barriers to innovation → is it strategy?

7. Corporate Advantage

Strategic Business Units (SBUs) → the multi-business (M-form) organisation → corporate strategy → forms of diversification → portfolio management → growth-share (or BCG) matrix → synergy → dominant logic → parenting advantage → restructuring → sharing activities → transferring skills → centralisation versus decentralisation

Part III: Strategic Growth

8. New Ventures

Innovation→ accelerators → incubators → innovation radar → entrepreneurship → internal new ventures → skunk works → external new ventures → strategic alliances → equity alliances → non-equity alliances → joint ventures → strategic fit → capabilities fit → cultural fit → organisational fit → Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) → M&A strategies → post-acquisition integration strategies → strategic innovation risk and return matrix

9. Crossing Borders

Internationalisation and globalisation → theories of absolute and comparative advantage → expansion strategies → M&A strategies → divestment and retrenchment → eclectic theory → country clusters → leveraging national advantage → international business structures → national culture and context → the Porter Diamond

10. Leading Strategic Change

Increasing pace of change → eight steps of change → different levels of change → evolutionary versus revolutionary change → different change needs → styles of managing change → instigators of change → communities of practice → barriers to change → managing resistance to change → leadership and strategic change → systems thinking-strategic stories → Strategy Directors (CSOs)

11. Evaluating Strategic Performance

Accounting-based measures of performance → stock market performance measures → strategy assessment → strategic option grid → ethics → deontic and aretaic → sustainability → triple bottom line → Balanced Score Card → risk assessment matrix

Part IV: Maverick Strategies

12. The Maverick: Six Senses of Strategy

New ways of detecting strategic coherence → sensography → sensographic strategic analysis → ‘visual' strategy → ‘audio' strategy → ‘taste' strategy → ‘olfactory' strategy → ‘kinetic' strategy → the ‘heart' of strategy

Appendix: Practice Cases for Job Interviews