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This author reminds us that strategic thinking is a critical part of every manager's job. Because strategy implies competing and outwitting competitors, so it follows that strategic thinking is the process of finding alternative ways of competing and providing customer value.

Describes how to systematically conduct the search for appropriate alternative strategies. Suggests that this “strategic thinking” should be a continuous process rather than only an annual strategic‐planning process. Explains why coming up with the “right” strategy for a company that might increase stakeholder value, make it a stronger competitor, or find a competitive arena it can dominate can be done only through strategic thinking.

Whether a company has one person, a group, or everyone doing strategic thinking, the important things are that it is being done continuously and that the opportunities, alternative strategies, or different business models are periodically shared with other key people in the company. Only then is the company in a position to take appropriate action and only then can it reap the immense benefits of strategic thinking.

A case study of a strategic thinking initiative, its pitfalls, and its affect on corporate results would be valuable.

Shows how managers can stretch company thinking about different and better ways of competing, delivering customer value, and growing, top managers by exploring five approaches: Being successfully different; Emulating entrepreneurs; Finding new opportunities; Being future‐oriented; Being collaborative

Up‐to‐date overview for top managers who want to encourage their direct reports to practice strategic thinking.

To present the highlights of The Association for Strategic Planning's 2004 conference, “Strategy in a Turbulent World”.

S&L Contributing Editor Stan Abraham attended the conference and selected the most interesting presentations for his report.

Highlights include: Dwight Allen, “Globalization at risk,” David La Piana, “Nonprofit organizations,” Peter Bershatsky, “Managing innovation,” and Doug Randall, “Imagine the future.”

These are conference presentations with various research methodologies.

In his presentation, Dwight Allen suggests that great uncertainty exists as to how international or global trade might develop. Faced with such uncertainty, strategists should undertake scenario planning to develop flexible strategies that can be implemented in a variety of futures.

To find out, from the perspective of the authors of a well‐known textbook on strategic management, in what ways they think the field is changing.

Strategy & Leadership interviewed Arthur A. Thompson, Jr, A.J. Strickland III and John E. Gamble, the authors of the widely used textbook Crafting and Executing Strategy: Text and Readings, 15th edition (McGraw‐Hill/Irwin, 2006), to learn how they adapted the book to keep up with developments in the field.

Changes include:new analytical tools and ways of looking at strategy issues; new concepts and terms appear in the literature; companies encounter new or different kinds of strategic issues; and each new edition has to include the latest and best examples of “strategy in action.”

Sample practical suggestions: “A case can be made that a disproportionate amount of the research being published in today's “top tier” journals makes little difference to the practice of strategic management.” “To restore relevancy, business‐school deans and faculty must begin to place far higher scholarly value on research that truly advances the practice of management.” “I think we are now seeing a new trend, where more and more of the younger faculty lack training in the case method and are uncomfortable using it.”

The authors have watched strategic management literature develop and have a unique perspective on how the teaching of strategy has evolved.

Strategy & Leadership contributing editors interviewed researcher Jim Collins. Collins is author of two influential books: Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies co‐authored with Jerry Porras, and Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t. Some key points Collins makes are: The transition from good to great all began with a Level 5 leader. The essence of Level 5 leadership is having an ambition for the cause of the work‐the outcome, the company, the organization‐above the self; also, at the same time, having the ferocious, frightening, terrifying willfulness to act upon that ambition. Most Level 5 leaders understand that their report card only comes in when their successor succeeds. In most cases, but not all, their successors were even more successful than they were. That’s different from the comparison cases, where a number of the executives defined their success in terms of their successor failing. All the good‐to‐great CEOs said “I am not going to answer the ‘What to do’ question until I’ve got the right people. And we will not determine where to drive this bus until we decide who should be on the bus, who should be off the bus, and who should be in what seat.” In the comparison companies, you have leaders who often came in with “the what” and then tried to get everybody to go there, whereas the good‐to‐great companies had leaders who began with the “who” and then figured it out from there. The idea that you first get the right team and only later figure out where to drive the bus is absolutely contrary to what everyone learned in business school. The great companies understood what they could absolutely be the best in the world at. And also, “If we can’t be the best in the world at it then we shouldn’t be doing it.” They wanted to have a profound understanding of their economics and how to fundamentally change them. And they put a high premium on things that they were very passionate about.