Synopsis
In this edition, Hill and Jones maintain the focus on their trademark, up-to-date scholarship and "hands-on" applications. This leading strategy text integrates current research of developing trends with updated cases and increased coverage of technology. Highlights from this revision include new material on the link between performance and competitive advantage in Chapter 1; analyzing sources of competitive advantage and profitability in Chapter 3; and business strategy and game theory in Chapter 5. Plus, Chapter 6 covers how competition and strategy change as industries pass through different growth stages, and Chapter 9 addresses horizontal integration and strategic outsourcing. All chapter-opening and chapter-closing cases are new and the authors have either replaced or substantially revised all Strategy in Action boxes. This edition also contains a new ongoing case on Dell, introducing relevant aspects of the company's strategy and performance to reinforce the practical application of key concepts and also illustrate how successive chapter topics tie together. Each chapter retains popular features from previous editions, including a chapter summary, discussion questions, and a Practicing Strategic Management section with four different exercises—Small-Group Exercise, Strategic Management Project, Article File, and Exploring the Web. New! Chapter 7, Strategy in High-Technology Industries, covers rapid technological change in relation to industry standards, network economics, cost structure, managing intellectual property rights, and strategies for capturing "first mover" advantage. New! Chapter 11, Corporate Performance, Governance, and Business Ethics, examines ethical business issues in light of recent events involving corporate managers at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Computer Associates. The chapter covers both the negative impact on corporate performance and the implementation of new governmental safeguards as a result of these cases. New! This edition features 27 new and 16 thoroughly revised case studies—forming a total of 43 high-quality cases covering small, medium, and large companies (domestic and international). These companies include Napster, Nike, The Body Shop, Toyota, Treo/Handspring, The Video Game Industry, SAP, Wal-Mart, Kmart, AOL Time Warner, and Viacom. Some cases are from Harvard Business School, Thunderbird, and Ivey—other cases have been researched and written by the authors or well-known case writers. New! A new full-color design of the section on theory helps to enhance students' interest. In addition, the section on cases features a new complementary two-color design.