If Your Strategy Is So Terrific, How Come It Doesn't Work?

By William S. Birnbaum

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081445965X
• ISBN13: 9780814459652
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Classic Discussion of Business Strategy

I discovered Birmbaum's book in the 1990s after I moved away from New York and had a heckuva time finding it to purchase. The book was published by Amacom, a division of the American Management Association, where I spent a great deal of time availing myself of its wonderful resources while I was working in Manhattan. Over the years, I've come back to the book numerous times to refresh my knowledge of the strategic planning process. I will say at the outset that this book is the most complete and most easy to read on the subject, including those offered by other strategy gurus like Drucker, Levitt, McKenna, Porter and Robert (all of whose books I have in my extensive personal library). There are three reasons why it's the best: (1) It's comprehensive, covering the entire spectrum of strategic development from analysis to planning to measurement. (2) It's easy to read, because (in the best traditions of Information Mapping) Birnbaum has outlined all topics and covered them in simple, straightforward chunks of prose. And (3) it's components are enlivened by real, practical and down-to-earth examples from his 25 years of business and personal experience. As he says in his Preface, "successful companies focus on a limited number of strategies," and "successful organizations work at building employee commitment to the success of the strategies". He concludes that "the truths about competitive strategies I've discovered over the... years will help you improve your business, steepen your growth curve, brighten your profit picture--or simply increase your fun factor". A special feature of the book is the SWOT system, introduced and trademarked by Birnbaum, which helps a company understand its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Part I (14 chapters) addresses the subject of Thinking Strategically, and Part II (32 chapters), addresses The Strategic Planning Process. In this process, he dissects every common term that is used in business by defining it, comparing it and applying it. So, whether you're new to this process or even a battle-scarred veteran, this wonderful book will let you comfortably learn everything there is to know about strategic planning. It's a rare gem.