Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage (2nd Edition)

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Summary: Required @ Chicago GSM
Review: A very good introduction to both business-level and corporate-level strategy, approached from the perspective of the resource-based firm.  Written at a slightly lower level than Sharon Oster's book, but contains a more extensive discussion of corporate strategy issues.

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Summary: It is a good book.
Review: I am using it for my class at the University. My professor recommended the students to read. I bought two of this book. One for myself and another for my friend.

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Summary: How To Frame Corporate Strategy Methodically
Review: Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student. Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process. Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally. Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances. The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary. Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time. He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization. Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.

Rating:
Summary: How To Frame Corporate Strategy Methodically
Review: Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student. Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process. Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally. Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances. The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary. Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time. He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization. Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.

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Summary: I have used this book as a text. It is Excellent!
Review: This book is much better and clearer to use than any of Porter's. Both students and myself delighted ourselves through the book. Congratulations Doctor barney!

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Summary: It's a good book to read to get your concepts right
Review: This is a good book to get your concepts right & there are good examples that clarify these concepts. It's then up to you to apply these concepts to your own unique situation. I had this book as a text for my Strategy course in the MBA program at The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University. I really enjoyed using this book for the course. I think I got a good grasp of some of the fundamentals of strategy. You can use this book for light reading too, unlike Porter's books which are more for the serious reader only.

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Summary: PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING
Review: This is a great book - more for what it organises than what it adds as new ideas.

Barney sets a model for Competitive Advantage (VIRO) and them compares strategic models as potential sources. It places many of the modern attempts in perspective. Without this starting understanding, the modern gurus (Hamel) are almost impossible to apply as their ideas lack the perspective on the role of strategy within an organisation and within all of the other management tools.

It places Michael Porter within a framework where his work can be better used.

For managers and post graduates, this book sets out the fundamentals of strategy and where it can take you.

Not cheap (by a long way) but a fair price for the knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING
Review: This is a great book - more for what it organises than what it adds as new ideas.

Barney sets a model for Competitive Advantage (VIRO) and them compares strategic models as potential sources. It places many of the modern attempts in perspective. Without this starting understanding, the modern gurus (Hamel) are almost impossible to apply as their ideas lack the perspective on the role of strategy within an organisation and within all of the other management tools.

It places Michael Porter within a framework where his work can be better used.

For managers and post graduates, this book sets out the fundamentals of strategy and where it can take you.

Not cheap (by a long way) but a fair price for the knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Strategy is not that difficult!
Review: This is a very concise and interesting book on competitive and corporate strategies. It compiles all the main issues regarding studies on competitive advantage withouth losing focus on the specifics of each different kind of strategy.

I would recommend using the book only after a review of microeconomic concepts. This will allow graduate business students coming from other areas (like engineering) to grasp the strategy concepts more easily.

One suggestion: it would be nice if the authors included cases at the end of each chapter. Since the book presents the theory from a basic up to a more advanced level, this would let students to quickly fix the concepts by applying them in real world situations.