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Analysis Without Paralysis

10 Tools to Make Better Strategic Decisions

Babette E. Bensoussan and Craig S. Fleisher

FT Press, 2008

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Developing a good corporate strategy requires rigorous analysis. You don’t need to become a quant or a statistics expert, but you should understand how worthwhile analytics abet planning. Strategic analysis expert Babette E. Bensoussan and management professor Craig S. Fleisher explain, in simple terms, 10 classic, tried-and-true diagnostic techniques in this introduction to strategic development. This isn’t a book for nerds, but for business executives and managers who need to know the basics of analysis so they can develop better corporate strategies. This guide is easy to use, with concise but thorough introductions to major analytical tools, their pros and cons, and step-by-step instructions for how to implement each one. getAbstract recommends this useful primer on corporate analytics to any managers who need grounding in this important discipline.

Summary

Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

Executives must develop solid, sustainable, original corporate strategies tailored to give their companies a competitive advantage. But strategies don’t blossom out of the ether; they usually start with sharp analytics. Thorough analysis of your strategy, your industry, your rivals and your business setting should provide an “early warning” of upcoming challenges and “an objective, arm’s-length assessment” of your competitive position. Cogent analysis will enhance your capacity to respond rapidly to environmental changes, give you assurance that your decisions are based on “systematically derived” data and provide the tools you need to transform your ideas into concrete plans.

Relying on your “intuition” or “experience” to drive your business is no longer enough. Today’s competition is global, and you’re working in a “knowledge economy” that increasingly puts a premium on synthesizing data in new, creative ways. Keeping rivals from co-opting your products and processes is harder now, so you need to work faster and smarter. You don’t have to be an expert in statistics or a quantitative analyst, but you do want a basic grasp of the advantages...

About the Authors

Babette E. Bensoussan is managing director of the MindShifts Group, a strategic planning consultancy. Craig S. Fleisher is a management professor at the University of Windsor, Canada.

Analysis Without Paralysis

10 Tools to Make Better Strategic Decisions

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Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

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