Experts Tell Us the Best Books on Strategy Management

Authored by three eminent Product Managers at Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, Swipe to Unlock can be called as a comprehensive guide on the must-know concepts of technology and business strategy. This book was updated in 2020 and about 40 pages of new content were introduced to cover the latest developments in the world of tech. This book should be read by anyone pursuing product management, design, and marketing, consulting or business strategy roles in the tech industry. This book has been read by many people all over the globe and has been translated into 11 languages including Chinese, Korean, & Russian. After reading this book, you will start thinking like a technologist and answer real-world questions

As companies work smarter, it has become essential for every stakeholder to learn more about the strategies they adopt. The work of business strategy experts, this book gives readers a detailed insight into the strategic initiatives of the world’s most successful companies, enabling you to take lessons from the best brands that are not just making headway but even pioneering this new approach. With a valuable peek into the initiatives spearheaded by 200 business leaders who have put these strategies to work and have reaped benefits in terms of revenues and profits, the book proves to be as innovative as the strategic moves it teaches you.

Competing on the edge is an unexpected, and sometimes wasteful, approach, but it is a particularly effective one in a changing world. It entails navigating a path from the edges of society, in which a delicate balance of anarchy and order is struck, to the edge of history, where business is the major emphasis, but actions are affected by previous legacies and future prospects. Managers should avoid continually responding to unceasing change by adeptly maneuvering through chaos and time, instead setting a rhythmic tempo that others must follow, therefore molding the market environment to their own fate. Each chapter is the first book to apply cutting-edge insights from computational complexity into management practice concentrates on a particular management quandary and provides a solution.

As a professor of marketing, the author, Niraj Diwar, brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the topic of how companies can better reach and understand their customers. It helps people understand how to look at their business from the customer’s point of view in order to make better decisions that will lead to more success. This book is a great resource for anyone who wants to learn more about designing strategies that focus on the customer. While ‘upstream’ is the classic domain of strategy, in this book the authors focus on what they call ‘downstream’ strategy – how to align an organisation with the needs of customers. The framework offers a practical way of thinking about strategic problems that will help managers at all levels.

Jim Collins and his team compiled a study of atypical research, which shows that in many situations, the good is the enemy of the great. It often turns out that innovative companies do not become great despite their product. They do so cause they changed management tactics, policies, and mindsets to stand out. “Good to Great” indicates common features of companies that decided to do something and move in the right direction. Mostly without even knowing it. Each chapter contains a summary of the essential theses and non-obvious conclusions. They’re so not evident to intrigue and make you think.

One strategy management book that I like is Good Strategy Bad Strategy. I found the book to be extremely insightful, as it gave me a new way to look at management decisions that I never considered before. I also found it very useful in helping me understand why some management decisions are better than others. Armed with this knowledge, I feel that I have a better understanding of my organization’s mission, its unique situation and industry environment, and the strategy required to successfully lead it to success. The book is divided into two parts – Good Strategy and Bad Strategy – which are essentially framing statements from which the rest of the book is based. A strong framing statement should influence the entire content of a book, and in Good Strategy/Bad Strategy the author does a good job of implementing this principle. The first part is about what constitutes Good Strategy, while the second is about why Bad Strategy is so prevalent and what you can do about it.

It is a general believe that experience is the best teacher and so, Measure What Matters dabbled into lives of successful people like Bill Gates and bring out virtues that can help one to strategize excellently. Measure What Matters will transform your approach to setting goals for yourself and your organization. John Doerr pushes every leader to think deeply about creating a focused, purpose-driven business environment.

Your Next Five Moves by Patrick Bet-David is one of the best pieces of literature on strategic planning. Whether you’ve hit a wall, lost your motivation, or are in need of some new creative strategies to manage your business and take it to the next level, this book does a great job of challenging readers to anticipate chains of events and help them think like master chess players. It emphasizes the importance of planning your next moves in succession, rather than treating each one like a solitary decision. The book also gives advice on how to develop team-building skills, clarify company missions, and also how to effectively gain the upper hand when facing off against powerful players in business.

In an ever-changing disruptive landscape that’s also highly competitive, the tools and tactics you acquire through strategic management solutions allow you to take on the threats of ecosystem disruption and even go on the offensive. In a nutshell, this is what Winning the Right Game is all about. From introducing you to breakthrough perspectives to walking you through the ropes with the help of transformative cases, this book shows you how to stay relevant in your industry, irrespective of the challenges of ecosystem disruption.

In this book, Spender explores the concept of strategy from multiple perspectives and provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of its nuances. Drawing on insights from history, philosophy, and economics, he offers a rigorous yet accessible analysis of how businesses can create and sustain competitive advantage. He also addresses the role of managers in strategy formulation and implementation and provides a framework for understanding the complex interplay between organizations and their environments. With its clear explanations and insights, Business Strategy is an essential resource for anyone interested in this vital topic.

Many equate ‘more’ to successful growth, but that’s exactly what this book contradicts. Sanjay Khosla increased revenue growth at Kraft Foods from $5 billion to $16 billion in a mere 6-year period. This got people curious, which led to Sanjay Khosla disclosing the strategy that made it all happen. He explains his seven-step program called ‘Focus7’ that shows you how you can drive growth by going smaller, simplifying operations, and harnessing the potential of your people. This book is a game-changer that challenges a number of archaic practices and paves the way for more sustainable and practical growth over a short spurt that dies out. Whether you’re a large company or a small business, you will surely have a number of valuable takeaways from this book.

This book addresses the outdated models we use to build and run our business. He introduced fourteen new models and suggested new ways to replace outdated strategies. Here are a few areas: *Action plan and data* Living in an era of huge data, we can get stuck thinking that analyzing data is the only way to understand the world. Martin said, “Creating great choices requires imagination more than data”. The world is full of possibilities that cannot be seen by only looking at data about the past and present. And could only be achieved through query, imagination and inventive action. Instead of a well-structured analysis of actual data, it is far more productive to develop hypotheses. Structured possibilities can guide a company’s future direction. To create such imaginative options, you need a clear plan of what constitutes a possibility. You’ll also need a creative yet grounded team, as well as a solid process for managing debate. *Stakeholders* Managing stakeholder expectations by manipulating stock prices is a short-term game with short-term winnings. And it comes at the expense of managing the company itself. Prioritize inside operations rather than outsider’s operations, so you can avoid sacrificing long term gains in operations-driven value over “temporary gains in expectations-driven value.” Instead of focusing on shareholder value and expectations, identify the customer value and meet their expectations. It will put your business on solid ground in the real economy. Shareholder value should be a happy by-product, not the main focus. *Competition* Many corporate leaders focus on competing at the company level. However, customers choose between products and service businesses (the people they enjoy working with), rather than companies. Big Tech companies have been more successful than most industries, because of the products and services they provide across their platforms. But Martin reminds us, that even though many Mac users like Microsoft’s Office suite, it doesn’t convert them to Windows. We must remember that our ultimate priority is not “above” us. We should support and serve those “below” us in the company ranking, those closest to our customers, and the customers themselves.

These three colleagues present an in-depth and fascinating history of strategic management that tracks its progress through time, focusing on the 10 schools of strategy over the previous four decades. This international bestseller integrates these many schools of thinking to provide an easy-to-follow guide to developing a plan.

The carrot-and-stick strategy is the most effective way to encourage people. He claims that the secret to good performance and satisfaction-at work, school, and at home-is the fundamentally human drive to manage our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our planet in this fascinating and powerful new book. Pink shows the gap between what science knows and what business does—and how this impacts every element of life—drawing on four decades of scientific study on human motivation. In a remarkable book that will change how we think and revolutionise how we live, he investigates the three pillars of real motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and presents clever and startling ways for putting these into action.

Kris Safarova, a Wall Street Best Seller author, took pain to bring the real-time experience of the industry’s best players like McKinsey in strategic management in one book. If one understands every bit of information offered, it’s obvious that you’ll become a problem solver for sure. You can get it from Amazon.

Available on Amazon, this book is a masterpiece and is highly recommended to everyone who wants to learn about the nitty-gritty of strategic management. The writing style is engaging and the authors have used minimum jargon. The real-time examples have made it more practical and preferred.

For those strategic management is just the beginning, this book is the best pick and it clears the basics. It has received 4/5 stars on Amazon and certainly deserves them as the book explains the key concepts in a very simple language. Authors, Jay Barney, and William Hestelry have done a great job.

This is a powerful book that provides both logistical evidence and personal anecdotes to help turn your company into a top competitor. The author, Brandon Bornancin founded two multimillion-dollar companies. What most impressed me about the book is the way that he exposes the individual habits of the CEO and how they can make or break an entire company.

Built to Last looks at the qualities and practices of firms that are both creative and long-lasting. The authors examine the elements that cause businesses to survive and grow in difficult times and competitive environments, based on considerable research. The book contrasts industry titans like Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney, and Marriott with smaller competitors, highlighting the keys to their success and longevity. Built to Last covers topics such as setting goals, building a cult-like culture, and managing change, and lays out a framework for creating enduring enterprises..

Blue Ocean Strategy offers the opposite approach to many company strategy publications, which teach how to conquer crowded markets. The book encourages readers to seek and seize new chances. In other words, taking a less-traveled path is the greatest strategy to avoid competition. The writers show how to discover previously unmet requirements and create new demands. Blue Ocean Strategy puts out a system, complete with frameworks and analytical tools, for realizing this goal.

I love how Michael Hitt explains different business management concepts and strategies for the global marketplace in strong theoretical texts. As an entrepreneur, learning strategic moves on how to create global allies is crucial. This book provides practical advice to successfully leverage competition and globalization through easy-to-digest case analysis. I was inspired to connect and partner with like-minded people and grow my professional connection network to increase my company’s exposure through social media and other digital channels.

This strategic management book is a must-read for business owners and marketers. It provides an on-point and solid reference of functional-level business strategies with illustrations and charts for easier grasp and analysis. I love the integrated concepts and theories intertwined with real-life examples presented in case studies, providing practical tips for startups and seasoned entrepreneurs.