Strategic planning
books abound. Some are academic; others are practical.
Some are shallow; others are deep. Look at a few of the following
to determine which ones might best guide your own planning efforts.
Click any hyperlinked title to read a full book review.
NOTE: To suggest
another book, send us
an e-mail. We'll be glad to add it to the list.
| Bryan
W. Barry, Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations,
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, St. Paul (1986).
Straightforward primer,
with worksheets.
For convenience,
you may order this book from:
amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Patrick
J. Below, George L. Morrisey & Betty L. Acomb, The
Executive Guide to Strategic Planning,
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco (1990).
Short, action-oriented guide. One of
the best.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| William
S. Birnbaum, If Your Strategy Is So Terrific, How Come
It Doesn’t Work?, American
Management Association, New York (1990).
Clear guiding principles to making your
plan work.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
 |
| Arie
de Geus, The
Living Company,
Nicholas Brealy, London (1997).
Arie de Geus has written a thoughtful
book that will forever change the way you look at your business.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Leonard
Goodstein, Timothy Nolan & J. William Pfeiffer, Applied
Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan Than Really Works,
McGraw-Hill (1993).
Comprehensive guide.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| David
E. Gumpert, How to Really Create a Successful Business
Plan, Inc. Publishing, Boston
(1990).
Nice example on putting together a for
profit business plan.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
 |
| Gary
Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, Competing for the Future,
Harvard Business School Press, Boston (1994).
A seminal work by two of the world’s
leading strategy consultants.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Richard
G. Hamermesh (Ed.), Strategic Management,
John Wiley, New York (1983).
Compendium of 33 articles published
over a quarter century in Harvard Business Review. Most
of the great strategic thinkers are represented here.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Karsten
G. Hellebust & Joseph C. Krallinger, Strategic Planning
Workbook, John Wiley, New
York (1989).
Comprehensive, with alternative planning
tools outlined. Book applies all aspects of planning to
a hypothetical company.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Roger
E. Herman and Joyce L. Gioia, How
to Become an Employer of Choice,
Oakhill Press, Winchester, VA (2000).
At a time of intense and increasing
competition for talented workers, the authors give us their
insights into the advantages of being an employer of choice
and how to become one.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Paul
Kennedy, Preparing for the Twenty-first Century,
Random House, New York (1993).
A comprehensive, engaging guide to the
interactions of population growth, new technologies, economics,
and political/societal impacts and reactions.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Spyros
G. Makridakis, Forecasting, Planning, and Strategy for
the 21st Century, Free Press,
New York (1990).
Not a how-to book, but a thought provoker
of what might lie ahead.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Tony
Manning, Radical Strategy: How South African companies
can win against global competition,
Zebra Press, Sandton, RSA (1997).
Not so much strategic planning, as a
pot pourri of ideas aimed at South African managers.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Bonita
H. Melcher & Harold Kerzner, Strategic Planning: Development
and Implementation, TAB
Professional and Reference Books, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania
(1988).
Thorough guide. Half the book is devoted
to research and development and to manufacturing.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Henry
Mintzberg, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning,
Free Press, New York (1994)
All you ever really wanted to know about
the history of the topic.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Henry
Mintzberg & James B. Quinn, The Strategy Process: Concepts
and Contexts, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1992).
Collection of articles from three dozen
strategic planning denizens. Comprehensive, but somewhat
academic oriented.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| J.I.
Moore, Writers on Strategy and Strategic Management,
Penguin, London (1992).
A survey of the strategic thoughts of
more than two dozen writers and practitioners.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| George
L. Morrisey, Creating Your Future: Personal Strategic Planning
for Professionals,
Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco (1992).
Aimed at individuals,
but couples your plans with the organization's. Wonderful
annotated bibliography.
For convenience,
you may order this book from:
amazon.com
|
|
| George
L. Morrisey, Morrisey on Planning: A Guide to Strategic
Thinking, Jossey-Bass, San
Francisco (1996).
A beautiful set of three short, tightly
linked volumes taking one step by step through the planning
process, illustrated with examples from Morrisey’s own consulting
practice. Annotated bibliographies.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| George
L. Morrisey, Morrisey on Planning: A Guide to Long-Range
Planning, Jossey-Bass, San
Francisco (1996).
A beautiful set of three short, tightly
linked volumes taking one step by step through the planning
process, illustrated with examples from Morrisey’s own consulting
practice. Annotated bibliographies.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| George
L. Morrisey, Morrisey on Planning: A Guide to Tactical
Planning, Jossey-Bass, San
Francisco (1996).
A beautiful set of three short, tightly
linked volumes taking one step by step through the planning
process, illustrated with examples from Morrisey’s own consulting
practice. Annotated bibliographies.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Paul
C. Nutt & Robert W. Backoff, Strategic Management of
Public and Third Sector Organizations: A handbook for Leaders,
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco (1992).
Comprehensive treatise.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Kenichi
Ohmae, The Mind of the Strategist: The Art of Japanese
Business, McGraw-Hill, New
York (1982).
A classic from one of the world’s great
management strategists.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Lee
Tom Perry, Randall G. Stott & W. Norman Smallwood, Real-Time
Strategy: Improvising Team-Based Planning for a Fast-Changing
World, John Wiley, New York
(1993).
Less how-to and more philosophy.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Joseph
C. Picken & Gregory G. Dess, Mission Critical: The
7 Strategic Traps That Derail Even the Smartest Companies,
Irwin, Chicago (1997).
Focuses on what can go wrong with strategies
aimed at the future.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Cuno
Pümpin, The Essence of Corporate Strategy,
Gower, Aldershot, England (1987).
An original, thought provoking description
of strategic excellence positions from a European consultant.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Joseph
V. Quigley, Vision: How Leaders Develop It, Share It, and
Sustain It, McGraw-Hill,
New York (1993).
Focusses on developing a corporate vision
and translating it into practice.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Craig
S. Rice, Strategic Planning for the Small Business: Situations,
Weapons, Objectives & Tactics,
Bob Adams Publishers, Holbrook, Massachusetts (1990).
Clear and "close to the ground."
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Michel
Robert, Strategy Pure and Simple: How Winning CEO's Outthink
Their Competition, McGraw-Hill,
New York (1993).
Exactly what the title implies, stressing
strategic thinking (rather than planning).
For convenience, you may order this
book from: Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Franklin
R. Root & Kanoknart Visudtibhan (Ed.), International
Strategic Management: Challenges and Opportunities,
Taylor & Francis, Washington (1992).
Aimed at multinational companies.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Peter
Schwartz, The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future
in an Uncertain World, Doubleday
Currency, New York (1991).
Encourages flexible planning through
scenario building.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Richard
S. Sloma, No-Nonsense Planning,
Free Press, New York (1984).
Pithy, practical, motivational advice.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| George
A. Steiner, Strategic Planning: What Every Manager Must
Know, Free Press, New York
(1979).
The classic text.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Peter
A. Stursberg, One-Day Business Planning and Everyday Follow-Up,
Chilton, Radnor, Pennsylvania (1988).
Emphasizes coupling strategies to budgets,
plans, and consistent follow-up.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Benjamin
B. Tregoe & John W. Zimmerman, Top Management Strategy:
What It Is and How to Make It Work,
Simon & Schuster (1980).
First rate stimulator of your thinking.
Postulates nine basic strategic areas for any organization
and stresses the selection of one as the Driving Force.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Benjamin
B. Tregoe, John W. Zimmerman, Ronald A. Smith & Peter
M. Tobia, Vision in Action: Putting a Winning Strategy
to Work, Simon & Schuster,
New York (1989).
Not a how-to book, but a reminder of
why some things work and others don't when planning, using
observations and discussions with a score of businesses
and nonprofits. Updates 9 driving forces to 8.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
|
|
| Stephen
C. Tweed, Strategic Focus: A Gameplan for Developing Your
Competitive Advantage, Fell
Publishers, Hollywood, Florida (1990).
Focus is the name of the game. Lots
of good management hints too.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
| Bob
Wall, Robert S. Solum & Mark R. Sobol, The Visionary
Leader, Prima, Rocklin,
CA (1992).
Starts with the vision statement and
expands it into corporate action.
For convenience, you may order this
book from: amazon.com
Barnes
& Noble
|
|
|
