Developing Business Strategies, 6th Edition [Hardcover]

David A. Aaker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2001

"Unquestionably the most comprehensive treatment available on the subject. I found this book unique in its capacity to benefit executives, planning staff, and students of strategy alike."-- Robert L. Joss, Dean of the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
A successful business strategy enables managers to provide organizational vision, monitor and understand a dynamic business environment, generate creative strategic options in response to environmental changes, and base every business effort on sustainable competitive advantages. Developing Business Strategies provides the knowledge and understanding needed to generate and implement such a strategy.
This fully revised and updated edition of David Aaker's highly influential strategic manual offers copious new information on important emerging business topics. Numerous new and revised sections cover such critical areas as the big idea, knowledge management, the customer as an active partner, creative thinking, distinguishing fads from trends, forecasting technologies, alliances, design as strategy, downstream business models, and more. Other important new features of this comprehensive guide include:
* A new chapter on strategic positioning
* Many new illustrative examples from B-to-B, high-tech, and the Internet
* Increased focus on global leadership and global brand management
* Using the Internet to develop and support business strategies
For managers who need to develop and implement effective, responsive business strategies that keep the organization competitive through changing business conditions, Developing Business Strategies, Sixth Edition is the way to go.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This powerful, revised edition of David Aaker's enduring classic helps managers institute long-term business. Presenting a new chapter on strategic positioning, which places a face to the business strategy for customers and for employees, Aaker shows how it can play a powerful role in crystallizing and clarifying strategy, driving strategic initiatives, guiding communication strategy, and supporting the organizational structure.

This book provides a framework for looking outside the business to sense changes, trends, threats, and opportunities, and to analyze these conditions to develop strategic options. A set of agendas helps start the process, which is supported by a summary flow diagram and planning forms. Plus, new and updated sections on topics such as knowledge management, downstream business models, brand extensions, illusionary synergy, global leadership, creative thinking, and more round out the book.

Crucial to the success of any long-term strategy is the development of sustainable competitive advantages built from organizational assets and competencies. Aaker presents methods and concepts for identifying these advantages and making them the centerpiece of successful methods of branding, advertising, distribution, manufacturing, and finance.

This book also helps organizations select investment levels and chart growth directions for existing business areas as well as alternative growth directions, including market penetration, product expansion, market expansion, diversification, and more. Using methods such as strategic uncertainties, portfolio models, and scenario analysis, managers will learn to evaluate numerous investment alternatives.

Aaker explains how an organization's structure, systems, people, and culture contribute to the successful implementation of a strategy. He also describes how to implement a dynamic strategy that responds to changing conditions, how to use alliances to gain strategic advantage, and how to implement strategies when markets are hostile or declining or when competition is global in scope.

Completely revised with new examples from business-to-business to the Internet-related arena, Developing Business Strategies, Sixth Edition is a virtually inexhaustible resource for managers at all levels, as well as small business owners and managers.

From the Back Cover

"Unquestionably the most comprehensive treatment available on the subject. I found this book unique in its capacity to benefit executives, planning staff, and students of strategy alike."-- Robert L. Joss, Dean of the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

A successful business strategy enables managers to provide organizational vision, monitor and understand a dynamic business environment, generate creative strategic options in response to environmental changes, and base every business effort on sustainable competitive advantages. Developing Business Strategies provides the knowledge and understanding needed to generate and implement such a strategy.

This fully revised and updated edition of David Aaker's highly influential strategic manual offers copious new information on important emerging business topics. Numerous new and revised sections cover such critical areas as the big idea, knowledge management, the customer as an active partner, creative thinking, distinguishing fads from trends, forecasting technologies, alliances, design as strategy, downstream business models, and more. Other important new features of this comprehensive guide include:
* A new chapter on strategic positioning
* Many new illustrative examples from B-to-B, high-tech, and the Internet
* Increased focus on global leadership and global brand management
* Using the Internet to develop and support business strategies

For managers who need to develop and implement effective, responsive business strategies that keep the organization competitive through changing business conditions, Developing Business Strategies, Sixth Edition is the way to go.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 6 edition (August 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471064114
• ISBN-13: 978-0471064114
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Strategy & Competition

More About the Author

My passion is understanding brands and helping firms build brands and brand portfolios. My first brand book, Managing Brand Equity defined brand equity and set forth its value to a firm and its customers. The second, Building Strong Brands, described the "brand identity" model that many firms use to manage their brands and also introduced the Brand Equity Ten measurement structure. The third, Brand Leadership extended the brand identity model and adding material on brand building programs. The fourth, Brand Portfolio Strategy, introduces models and concepts that allow a firm to sort out the complexities of brand portfolios and the priorities and relationships that define them. The fifth, Spanning Silos presents research showing the problems that product and country silos organizations pose to those who would build brands and create effective marketing and what some firms have done to create cooperation and communication to break down the silo barriers.

My latest book, not counting my autobiography, is Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant that shows success in dynamic markets involves creating offerings so innovative that they create new categories or subcategories making competitors irrelevant.

I am a part of Prophet, a global brand and marketing consulting company that is on the forefront of branding issues, professor emeritus of the Haas School at UC Berkeley, and an advisor to Denstu. I also blog on Aaker on Brands (http://www.davidaaker.com). I live in Orinda, California near my three daughters and seven grandchildren and try to do a lot of biking and just enough golfing.


There follows the formal career summary.


David A. Aaker is the Vice-Chairman of Prophet Brand Strategy, Professor Emeritus of Marketing Strategy at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley and an advisor to Dentsu Inc. The winner of three career awards for contributions to the science of marketing (the Paul D. Converse Award), marketing strategy (the Vijay Mahajan Award) and the theory and practice of marketing (the Buck Weaver Award), he has published over 100 articles and 14 books including Strategic Market Management, Managing Brand Equity, Building Strong Brands, Brand Leadership (co-authored with Erich Joachimsthaler) Brand Portfolio Strategy, From Fargo to the World of Brands, Spanning Silos and his latest book, Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant. His books have been translated into eighteen languages with sales well over one million. Named as one of the top five most important marketing/business gurus in 2007, Professor Aaker has won awards for the best article in the California Management Review and (twice) in the Journal of Marketing. A recognized authority on brand equity and brand strategy, he has been an active consultant and speaker throughout the world and is on the Board of Directors of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic and comprehensive guide to strategic planning, January 12, 2000

By 

Azlan Adnan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Business Strategies (Hardcover)

Unless you know where your company is going, chances are it won't get very far in today's global marketplace. That's why every business needs the strong vision and keen sense of direction that come from the development, evaluation, and implementation of business strategies-and why every business owner or manager should have Developing Business Strategies, David A. Aaker's classic and comprehensive guide to strategic planning, now in its fifth edition.

Using vivid case studies, Developing Business Strategies helps you to move beyond reactive problem solving toward the development and realization of sound strategic objectives for your company. Providing both the framework and the tools necessary to make strategy development and strategy review efforts effective, this book shows you how to:

* Conduct a structured external and internal analysis of a business with confidence * Develop sustainable competitive advantages by creating assets, competencies, and strategies * Make strategic investment decisions to generate growth * Organize to support strategies * Compete strategically in hostile, growth, and global contexts.

As compact and easy to use as ever, this new Fifth Edition offers new or revised sections on current topics such as strategic uncertainty, buyer hot buttons, shifting customer priorities, strategy as options, paradigm shifts, organizational stubbornness, and brand equity. You'll also find up-to-date research and fresh examples on economic value analysis, competitor image, total quality management, reengineering, the virtual corporation, and more-plus a set of useful sample planning forms to help guide you through the strategy development process.

Whether you're a business owner, manager, or planning executive, the key to your company's success is in Developing Business Strategies.

David A. Aaker is the E. T. Grether Professor of Marketing Strategy at the Haas School of Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of numerous articles and ten books on strategy, including Marketing Research, Fifth Edition (Wiley) and Managing Brand Equity. His books have been translated into eight languages. Professor Aaker is an active consultant and speaker in the United States, Europe and South America.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly Business Development Manager with KPMG, Azlan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School in London.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading, February 7, 2000

By 

Simantini Chakraborty - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Business Strategies (Hardcover)

This book is one of the best for strategy framework and methodology formulation. It is also very useful for case interviews. I believe that every management consultant and related professionals should own a copy, and hope that it would be incorporated into the MBA curriculum of the top B-Schools for strategic management.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book, October 15, 2007

By 

Elijah Chingosho "Dr Elijah Chingosho" (Nairobi, Kenya) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Developing Business Strategies, 6th Edition (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading this book which I found to be fascinating and enlightening. The book describes strategy and its role in ensuring that organisations achieve their mission. It is a comprehensive book on various aspects of strategy including the need to focus on customer needs, environmental analysis, knowledge management, strategy formulation, strategic positioning, strategy implementation, forecasting technologies, alliances, creative thinking, design as strategy, downstream business models, global leadership, among other informative topics.

The book is well written, well presented and easy to follow and understand. It is very practical and with many good examples and case studies. I would strongly recommend managers at all levels to read this interesting, practical and insightful book on strategy. The book is also useful and handy for strategy consultants and students doing an MBA or other postgraduate studies in business.