Gives an overview of Japanese productivity management in both manufacturing and service industries. Discusses education and training, as well as corporate attitudes to productivity. Highlights the relationship of productivity to the Japanese economy, looking at both large and small...

Increasing emphasis is being given to corporate measurement systems which integrate customer satisfaction, process quality, innovation and financial performance. Managers are realizing that non‐financial criteria (customer service, process quality, new product development) are as important as...

Underlines that the development of a new European market for a UK company has to be strategically planned. Examines the introduction to the Dutch market of a particular northern UK beer product, suggesting that the use of strategic tools and a traditional marketing plan is essential while the...

Reports how two years ago, Management Decision readers were left in suspense concerning the mystery of two solicitors’ firms facing impending bankruptcy. Explains that the two firms responded to their respective crises by adopting diametrically opposed survival strategies, although both seemed...

Considers the research and writing of strategic management cases which are intended to develop student’s problem‐solving abilities. Identifies a number of benefits associated with the writing of teaching cases. Proposes that the concepts and techniques of strategic management are consistent...

Presents and compares two contrasting managerial attitudes towards strategic decisions. The first attitude is called maximizing behaviour, and it is founded on a set of assumptions that are unattainable in real‐world decision making. The use of this attitude invariably results in a failed...

Strategic decisions represent the most important product of managerial endeavors; and strategic choice is the most critical variable in strategic management. This article advances a set of foundations in which the effectiveness of a total organization may be ascertained from the effectiveness of...

Presents an overview of strategic organizational change (SOC) and its managerial impact on leadership, learning, motivation and productivity. Theoretical and empirical data presented are: the sources and determinants of strategic organizational change; the management implications of SOC;...

Using ethical considerations in strategic decision making will result in the development of the most effective long term and short term strategies. Specifically, ethical criteria must be included as part of the strategic process in before‐profit decisions rather than after‐profit decisions...

The design and implementation of new strategic management initiatives, such as reengineering, have been common since the publication of Hammer and Champy’s (1993) popular book on reengineering. In the process of designing and implementing these new initiatives, however, managers have virtually...