Strategic Dynamics: Concepts and Cases [Hardcover]

Robert A. Burgelman (Author), Andrew S. Grove (Author), Philip E. Meza (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0073122653 | ISBN-13: 978-0073122656 | Publication Date: July 15, 2005 | Edition: 1

Strategic Dynamics: Concepts and Cases, by Burgelman, Grove, and Meza offers unique and valuable insight into strategy making for companies in information technology-driven industries. It is the product of over twelve years of teaching and research based on a unique combination of academic (Stanford’s Robert Burgelman) and industry (Intel’s Andy Grove) experience. The key themes and conceptual frameworks discussed in this book, along with its case studies and industry notes, provide instructors and students with a more complete viewpoint on the dynamic interactions of companies within industries and between industries than is typically found in books on strategy and technology strategy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 1 edition (July 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0073122653
• ISBN-13: 978-0073122656
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,047,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare: insightful and useful, August 29, 2005

By 

K. Leigh - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strategic Dynamics: Concepts and Cases (Hardcover)

As a consultant working with companies forging the next wave of information driven businesses, this book offered me truly relevant insights, and strategies on 'how to' as well as 'how not to' make the most of my clients' business opportunities. It focuses on "information-driven" industries, covering not only computer-related companies but also any industry that seeks to leverage information. Cases such as those on H.P. and the VOIP space offered fresh frameworks for thinking about the challenges and opportunties available for companies in similar business lines. It details how various forces act on and shape these different industries, what managers can do to try to understand these forces and therfore, how to optimize their environments instead of reacting to the actions of others. Do not be daunted by the 'textbook' like structure of the book. The information provided is invaluable and the cases are easily read and enjoyable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The need for transformation during an on-going process of natural selection, May 20, 2007

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strategic Dynamics: Concepts and Cases (Hardcover)

According to Robert A. Burgelman and Andrew S. Grove, their primary objective when writing this book (with Philip E. Meza) was to find a way "to integrate action-based but reflective experience [Grove's] with theory-based but grounded academic research [Burgelman's] for the purpose of providing a novel learning experience for MBA students." Although I do not have an MBA degree, I have read and reviewed a number of books which have examined one or more dimensions of the general subject, strategic dynamics, and am especially interesting more about the evolution of information technology-driven companies (e.g. Intel, Microsoft, and IBM) as well as companies that heavily depend on digital technologies (e.g. Disney, Universal Music Group, and AT@T). Burgelman and Grove offer a wealth of information and insights about three interrelated conceptual themes: strategy and strategic dynamics (i.e. "the role of strategy in a company's evolution and the dynamic interplay between strategy and environment), strategy versus action (i.e. the reality of a given company's strategy resides in its execution rather than in its articulation), and industry change and corporate transformation (i.e. a company's adaptive capability depends critically on its strategy-making process).

When there are "divergences between a given company's stated strategy and strategic action and/or between its distinctive competencies and the basis of competition," Burgelman and Grove suggest, those divergences may indicate what they characterize as a "strategic inception point." Some of the most interesting material in one of Grove's other books, Only the Paranoid Survive, focuses on how Intel dealt with one. Here is a brief excerpt from his Preface to that book:

All other worries "pale in comparison to how I feel about what I call strategic inflection points. I'll describe what a strategic inflection point is a bit later in this book. For now, let me just say that a strategic inflection point is a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change. That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights. But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end.

"Strategic inflection points can be caused by technological change but they are more than technological change. They can be caused by competitors but they are more than just competition. They are full-scale changes in the way business is conducted, so that simply adopting new technology or fighting the competition as you used to may be insufficient. They build up force so insidiously that you may have a hard time even putting a finger on what has changed, yet you know that something has. Let's not mince words: A strategic inflection point can be deadly when unattended to. Companies that begin a decline as a result of its changes rarely recover their previous greatness.

"But strategic inflection points do not always lead to disaster. When the way business is being conducted changes, it creates opportunities for players who are adept at operating in the new way. This can apply to newcomers or to incumbents, for whom a strategic inflection point may mean an opportunity for a new period of growth.

"You can be the subject of a strategic inflection point but you can also be the cause of one. Intel, where I work, has been both. In the mid-eighties, the Japanese memory producers brought upon us an inflection point so overwhelming that it forced us out of memory chips and into the relatively new field of microprocessors. The microprocessor business that we have dedicated ourselves to has since gone on to cause the mother of all inflection points for other companies, bringing very difficult times to the classical mainframe computer industry. Having both been affected by strategic inflection points and having caused them, I can safely say that the former is tougher. I've grown up in a technological industry. Most of my experiences are rooted there. I think in terms of technological concepts and metaphors, and a lot of my examples in this book come from what I know. But strategic inflection points, while often brought about by the workings of technology, are not restricted to technological industries."

In Strategic Dynamics, Burgelman and Grove provide a number of case studies (e.g. of AOL, Amazon, Intel, Nokia, Samsung, and Electronic Arts), some of whose contextual material may now be somewhat dated but nonetheless offer a wealth of insights concerning the strategic dynamics when the aforementioned divergences occur. Of special interest to me is the material that suggests how to prepare for them, and, how such preparations can enable decision-makers to respond effectively to them.

This is a longer review than I normally offer. However, given the cost of the book and - more to the point - given the demands it creates for readers such as I who have had little (if any) formal business education, I thought it would be helpful to suggest the nature and extent of the authors' coverage of both the perils and the opportunities unique to information technology-driven industries as their evolution continues.