Practical Strategy
Canadian Association of Management Consultants

Practical Strategy, Structured Tools and Techniques

Book Review


By Glenn Strange, CMC
Azure Consulting Limited
www.azureconsulting.ca
glennstrange@azureconsulting.ca


Book Title: Practical Strategy, Structured Tools & Techniques
Authors: Geoff Coyle
Publication Information: Published in 2004 by Prentice Hall ISBN 0273 68220 2


Author Profile for Geoff Coyle
Geoff Coyle is visiting Professor of Strategic Analysis at the School of Management, University of Bath, UK. Geoff is a leading academic in this area. A website is available for this book at www.booksites.net/coyle.


Why This Book is of Value to Management Consultants:
Practical Strategy is ideal for both practitioners of Management Consultancy and postgraduate students of strategy and decision science. The book offers coherent guidance behind the theory that combats diverse and complex strategic decisions. The book addresses a broad range of key strategic questions with a pragmatic set of tools and techniques, these demanding logic rather than high level mathematics. The book provides many worked examples and case studies illustrating the practical relevance of the academic theories being advanced. Management Consultants will enjoy the organized methodology for strategic problem solving. This book is widely used in the teaching of MBA students and M.Sc degrees in decision sciences. This book will be a valuable reference source for those consultants embarking on Corporate IS Strategy studies or providing advice on decision support.


Summary:
The book is organized into fifteen chapters. Chapter 1 - Stands alone as it sets the scene for the remainder of the book. Chapter's 2-7 deals with a series of steps for problem solving and decision techniques. Chapter 8 summarizes the ideas of the previous 7 chapters providing checklists for utilizatiion of the toolsets prescribed. Chapter 9 deals with the bridging techniques in technological development. Chapters 10-13 deal with additional strategic toolsets and advancing case study concepts. Chapter 14 describes two case studies for use of strategic toolsets and finally Chapter 15 is a summary of the whole book. This examines the theoretical aspects and examines these in terms of practicality in the business world.


This Book Has Been Designed to Appeal to Four Main Audiences:


  1. MBA Students or final year undergraduates in Business
  2. Management or Business Consultants involved with the formulation of strategy
  3. Postgraduate Students in M.Sc Operational Research or Decision Support
  4. Reference material for academic colleagues involved in teaching strategy

The Book is Best Addressed in the Following Manner:


Chapter 1: The ability to obtain a background in the subject matter and the foundation material for all remaining chapters. It must be read quickly on the first pass and subsequently revisited for the next seven Chapters.


Chapters 2-7: Form pretty much the core of the book in explaining the techniques and concepts behind practical strategy development and the techniques employed. Case studies are used on an evolving basis to reinforce the learning process.


Chapter 8: Consolidates the first seven Chapters integrating method and toolset providing the use of checklists. The reader is challenged with suggested problems for analysis.


Chapter 9: Attempts to bridge more specialized techniques that deal with items such as stimulating technology development.


Chapters 10-13: Deal with additional toolsets. These are effective tools for significant or specialist type of strategic problem solving.


Chapter 14: Provides two case studies of applications of the strategic tool set addressing major problems. Study of these cases provides added insight into the use of tools for practical strategy.


Chapter 15: The summary of the entire book. It discuss the management of practical strategy in the real business world.


The Author has provided an important contribution in advancing theoretical concepts in strategic thinking. He has provided the right blend of theoretical instructional material with practical examples and excellent use of Case Study materials. The work is presented in a very meaningful and organized manner and will become a valuable source of reference material for Management Consultants engaged upon strategy development assignments. The author has not only succeeded in provision of instructional material but challenges the reader to both think and address specific problem sets. The case studies are excellent and instrumental in bringing both theoretical and practical studies into alignment.