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Fundamentals of Strategic Management 
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What do Circuit City, Washington Mutual, Saab, Blockbuster, and Borders have in common? All of these recognized companies filed for bankruptcy during the past several years. While the situation surrounding each firm is different, all of them failed to meet various strategic challenges. Put another way, organizations typically do not succeed or fail randomly. Some plan, prepare, and execute more effectively than others.
Today’s business world is global, Internet-driven, and obsessed with speed. The challenges it creates for strategic managers are often complex, ambiguous, and unstructured. Add to this the incessant allegations of top management wrongdoings, economic stagnation, and increaing executive compensation, and it is easy to see why firm leaders are under great pressure to respond to strategic problems quickly, decisively, and responsibly. Indeed, the need for effec- tive strategic management has never been more pronounced. This text presents a framework for addressing today’s strategic challenges.
This chapter introduces the notion of strategic management, highlights its importance, and presents a five-step process for strategically analyzing an organization. The remaining chapters expand on the various steps in the process with special emphasis on their application to ongoing enterprises.