Crafting and executing strategy : the quest for competitive advantage: concepts and cases / Arthur A. Thompson, University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Margaret A. Peteraf, Dartmouth College, John E. Gamble, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, A.J. Strickland III, University of Alabama.

Arthur A. Thompson, Jr., earned his B.S and Ph.D. degrees in economics from The University of Tennessee, spent three years on the economics faculty at Virginia Tech, and served on the faculty of The University of Alabama's College of Commerce and Business Administration for 24 years. In 1974 and again in 1982, Dr. Thompson spent semester-long sabbaticals as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School.
His areas of specialization are business strategy, competition and market analysis, and the economics of business enterprises. In addition to publishing over 30 articles in some 25 different professional and trade publications, he has authored or co-authored five textbooks and six computer-based simulation exercises. His textbooks and strategy simulations have been used at well over 1,000 college and university campuses worldwide.
Dr. Thompson spends much of his off-campus time giving presentations, putting on management development programs, working with companies, and helping operate a business simulation enterprise in which he is a major partner.
Dr.Thompson and his wife of 56 years have two daughters, two grandchildren, and a Yorkshire terrier.

Margaret A. Peteraf is the Leon E. Williams Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She is an internationally recognized scholar of strategic management, with a long list of publications in top management journals. She has earned myriad honors and prizes for her contributions, including the 1999 Strategic Management Society Best Paper Award recognizing the deep influence of her work on the field of Strategic Management. Professor Peteraf is a fellow of the Strategy Management Society and the Academy of Management. She served previously as a member of the Board of Governors of both the Society and the Academy of Management and as Chair of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy. She has also served in various editorial roles on numerous editorial boards, including the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Review, and Organization Science. She has taught in Executive Education programs in various programs around the world and has won teaching awards at the MBA and Executive level.
Professor Peteraf earned her Ph.D., M.A., and M.Phil. at Yale University and held previous faculty appointments at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management and at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

John E. Gamble is currently Associate Dean and Professor of Management in the Mitchell College of Business at the University of South Alabama. His teaching specialty at USA is strategic management and he also conducts a course in strategic management in Germany, which is sponsored by the University of Applied Sciences in Worms. Dr. Gamble's research interests center on strategic issues in entrepreneurial, health care, and manufacturing settings. His work has been published in various scholarly journals and he is the author or co-author of more than 50 case studies published in an assortment of strategic management and strategic marketing texts. He has done consulting on industry and market analysis for clients in a diverse mix of industries. Professor Gamble received his Ph.D. in management from the University of Alabama in 1995. Dr. Gamble also has a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Alabama.

A.J. (Lonnie) Strickland received a BS in Math and Physics from the University of Georgia, an MS in Industrial Management from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a PhD from Georgia State university. He currently holds the rank of Professor of Strategic Management in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Alabama. He has done extensive consulting and research work. In recent years, he was honored with the Outstanding Professor Award for the Graduate School of Business, and was the recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award for the University of Alabama.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1 : Concepts and Techniques for Crafting and Executing Strategy
Section A: Introduction and Overview
Chapter 1: What is Strategy and Why Is It Important?
Chapter 2: Charting a Company's Direction: Its Vision, Mission, Objectives, and Strategy
Section B: Core Concepts and Analytical Tools
Chapter 3: Evaluating a Company's External Environment
Chapter 4: Evaluating a Company's Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness
Section C: Crafting a Strategy
Chapter 5: The Five Generic Competitive Strategies
Chapter 6: Strengthening a Company's Competitive Position: Strategic Moves, Timing, and Scope of Operations
Chapter 7: Strategies for Competing in International Markets
Chapter 8: Corporate Strategy: Diversification and the Multibusiness Company
Chapter 9: Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, and Strategy
Section D: Executing the Strategy
Chapter 10: Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution: People, Capabilities, and Structure
Chapter 11: Managing Internal Operations: Actions That Promote Good Strategy Execution
Chapter 12: Corporate Culture and Leadership: Keys to Good Strategy Execution

Part 2: Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

Section A: Crafting Strategy in Single-Business Companies

Case 1: Mystic Monk Coffee

Case 2: Airbnb in 2016: A Business Model for Sharing Economy

Case3: Amazon.com's Business Model and Its Evolution

Case 4: Costco Wholesale in 2016: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy

Case5: Competition in the Craft Beer Industry

Case 6: TOMS Shoes in 2016: An Ongoing Dedication to Social Responsibility

Case 7: Fitbit, Inc.: Has the Company Outgrown Its Strategy?

Case 8: Under Armour's Strategy in 2016-How Big a Factor Can the Company Become in the $250 Billion Global Market for Sports Apparel and Footwear?

Case 9: Lululemon Athletica, Inc. in 2016: Can the Company Get Back on Track?

Case 10: Etsy, Inc.: Reimagining Innovation

Case 11: Gap, Inc.: Can It Develop a Strategy to Connect with Consumers in 2016?

Case 12: Uber in 2016: Can It Remain the Dominant Leader of the World's Fast Emerging Ride-Sharing Industry?

Case 13: Panera Bread Company in 2016: Is the Company's Strategy to Rejuvenate the Company's Growth Working?

Case 14: Chipotle Mexican Grill in 2016: Can the Company Recover from Its E. Coli Disaster and Grow Customer Traffic Again?

Case 15: GoPro's Struggle for Survival in 2016

Case 16: Tesla Motors in 2016: Will Its Strategy Be Defeated by Low Gasoline Prices and Mounting Competition?

Case 17: The South African Win Industry in 2016: Where Does It Go from Here?

Case 18: Ford Motor Company: New Strategies for International Growth

Case 19: The Green Music Center at Sonoma State University

Case 20: Ricoh Canada Inc.

Section B: Crafting Strategy in Diversified Companies

Case 21: Mondelez International: Has Corporate Restructuring Produced Shareholder Value?

Case 22: LVMH in 2016: Its Diversification into Luxury Goods

Section C: Implementing and Executing Strategy

Case 23: Robin Hood

Case 24: Dilemma at Devil's Den

Case 25: Southwest Airlines in 2016: Culture, Values, and Operating Practices

Case 26: Rosen Hotels & Resorts: Delivering Superior Customer Service

Case 27: Nucor Corporation in 2016: Contending with the Challenges of Low-Cost Foreign Imports and Weak Demand for Steel Products

Case 28: Tim Cook's Leadership and Management Style: Building His Own Legacy at Apple

Section D: Strategy, Ethics, and Social Responsibility

Case 29: NCAA Football: Is It Worth It?

Case 30: Rhino Poaching in South Africa: Do National Parks Have Sufficient Resources to Fight Wildlife Crime?

Case 31: Conflict Palm Oil and PepsiCo's Ethical Dilemma

600-699