Published: July 2025
Page Count: 418
ISBN (Digital): 979-8-88794-405-0

Mastering Strategic Management

Version 4.0
By Dave Ketchen and Jeremy Short

Included Supplements

Homework

Manual

Slides

Tests

Key Features

Rich, illustrative examples drawn from companies that are relevant to many students, such as Tesla, Starbucks, Subway, Southwest Airlines, Target, Merck, Kia, Disney, General Electric, and TOMS Shoes
Several graphic displays in each chapter that summarize key concepts in a visually appealing format. Chapter 1, for example, offers graphic displays on (1) the “5 Ps” of strategy; (2) intended, emergent, and realized strategies; (3) strategy in ancient times; (4) military strategy; and (5) the evolution of strategic management as a field of study
Focus on SWOT analysis and market positioning. Treatment of SWOT analysis was lauded as superior in a recent study in the Journal of Management Education.
Supportive learning structure
- Learning Objectives begin each chapter and introduce each main section
- Chapter-opening case examples cover relevant and well-known businesses to pique reader’s interest
- Research Round-Up briefly summarizes cutting-edge research findings and their implications
- Strategy at the Movies uses popular motion-pictures that illuminate key concepts, such as The Social Network to illustrate intended, emergent and realized strategies (Chapter 1) or Thank You for Smoking to provoke critical thinking about corporate ethics and moral reasoning (Chapter 10)
- Small Business Spotlight focuses on entrepreneurs who devised unique and successful strategic solutions
- Top-Shelf Reading highlights a popular-press book based on chapter topics to expand conceptual understanding
- Key Takeaway mirrors and summarizes the immediately preceding Learning Objectives to enhance learning and recall
- Exercises outline individual and group exercises to stimulate critical thinking and collaborative learning that mirrors collegial interactions in the business world. Suggested answer guidelines or outcomes are provided in the instructor’s manual.
- Conclusion provides an overall chapter summary to augment section-by-section Key Takeaways
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Mastering Strategic Management is appropriate for courses called Strategic Management or similar titles at the undergraduate, MBA, or graduate-level courses usually taught in four-year colleges and universities.

Mastering Strategic Management draws on insights from various functional subject matters such as marketing, finance, and accounting to demonstrate how top executives make the strategic decisions that drive whether an organization succeeds or fails. Students are encouraged to engage with the material and concepts through graphic displays, illustrative examples, and unique motion-picture links. This new version was updated to include fresh cases and examples curated to ensure that students have the most current and relevant knowledge about driving an organization’s successful performance by making smart strategic choices.

New in This Version

AI integration in many chapters provides helpful perspectives on how AI is impacting strategy contexts today and might impact others in the future
All opening vignettes either written or rewritten to reflect the most current strategic management topics and contemporary challenges, such as Starbucks’s aggressive international growth plans
Features new businesses and business examples relevant to business school students, such as the Voyage Air guitar that folds for travel
Streamlined to make key points more quickly and powerfully than ever before
Greater focus on application to bring concepts to life for students and stimulate classroom discussions
Greater diversity of examples focusing on significant global change, with supporting Statista charts that capture interesting trends like the most popular Wikipedia article topics
Numerous linked video examples added throughout the book. For example, “The Triple Bottom Line” in Chapter 2
“Short Takes on Strategy” podcast harnesses the power of Notebook LM to add a new way of engaging with the book’s material. Each of these lively discussions centers on key issues and debates from one of the ten chapters. All episodes are available for free.

1.1 Defining Strategic Management and Strategy

1.2 Intended, Emergent, and Realized Strategies

1.3 The History of Strategic Management

1.4 Understanding the Strategic Management Process

1.5 Conclusion

Chapter 2: Leading Strategically

2.1 Vision, Mission, and Goals

2.2 Assessing Organizational Performance

2.3 The CEO as Celebrity

2.4 Entrepreneurial Orientation

2.5 Conclusion

Chapter 3: Evaluating the External Environment

3.1 The Relationship Between an Organization and Its Environment

3.2 Evaluating the General Environment

3.3 Evaluating the Industry

3.4 Mapping Strategic Groups

3.5 Conclusion

Chapter 4: Managing Company Resources

4.1 Resource-Based Theory

4.2 Intellectual Property

4.3 Value Chain

4.4 Beyond Resource-Based Theory: Other Views on Company Performance

4.5 SWOT Analysis

4.6 Conclusion

Chapter 5: Selecting Business-Level Strategies

5.1 Understanding Business-Level Strategy Through “Generic Strategies”

5.2 Cost Leadership

5.3 Differentiation

5.4 Focused Cost Leadership and Focused Differentiation

5.5 Best-Cost Strategy

5.6 Stuck in the Middle

5.7 Conclusion

Chapter 6: Supporting the Business-Level Strategy: Competitive and Cooperative Moves

6.1 Making Competitive Moves

6.2 Responding to Competitors’ Moves

6.3 Making Cooperative Moves

6.4 Conclusion

Chapter 7: Competing in International Markets

7.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Competing in International Markets

7.2 Drivers of Success and Failure When Competing in International Markets

7.3 Types of International Strategies

7.4 Options for Competing in International Markets

7.5 Conclusion

Chapter 8: Selecting Corporate-Level Strategies

8.1 Concentration Strategies

8.2 Vertical Integration Strategies

8.3 Diversification Strategies

8.4 Strategies for Getting Smaller

8.5 Portfolio Planning and Corporate-Level Strategy

8.6 Conclusion

Chapter 9: Executing Strategy Through Organizational Design

9.1 The Basic Building Blocks of Organizational Structure

9.2 Creating an Organizational Structure

9.3 Creating Organizational Control Systems

9.4 Legal Forms of Business

9.5 Conclusion

Chapter 10: Leading an Ethical Organization: Corporate Governance, Corporate Ethics, and Social Responsibility

10.1 Boards of Directors

10.2 Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility

10.3 Understanding Thought Patterns: A Key to Corporate Leadership?

10.4 Conclusion

FlatWorld Homework

FlatWorld Homework includes multi-format questions written specifically for your FlatWorld book, which you can access through our stand-alone interface or integrate with your learning management system.

Instructor’s Manual

The Instructor’s Manual guides you through the main concepts of each chapter and important elements such as learning objectives, key terms, and key takeaways. Can include answers to chapter exercises, group activity suggestions, and discussion questions.

PowerPoint Lecture Notes

A PowerPoint presentation highlighting key learning objectives and the main concepts for each chapter are available for you to use in your classroom. You can either cut and paste sections or use the presentation as a whole.

Test Generator - powered by Cognero

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Test Bank Files for Import to Learning Management Systems

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Test Item File

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Sample Syllabi

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Dave Ketchen

Auburn University

Dave Ketchen serves as Harbert Eminent Scholar and Professor of Management at Auburn University. An award-winning educator, Ketchen has taught Strategic Management, Principles of Management, Franchising, Soft Skills for Business Success, and the Business of Brewing. His research interests include strategic management, entrepreneurship, research methods, and strategic supply-chain management. He has published more than two hundred articles in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, and Strategic Management Journal. He has served on numerous editorial boards, including those of Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of Management Studies. He has served as associate editor for various journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Organizational Research Methods. Ketchen serves on the board of directors for the Why Not Win Institute, has acted as an expert witness, and has assisted a variety of private- and public-sector entities with strategic planning. He is the former chair of the board of directors for Alabama Launchpad (a statewide start-up competition) and served on the Steering Committee for the Michelin Development–East Alabama (an entity that provided low-interest loans to fuel job creation). He has written for the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Conversation, and other leading outlets for business insights. In 2023, he was named a Fellow of the Academy of Management.

Jeremy Short

University of North Texas - Denton

Jeremy Short is the G. Brint Ryan Chair in Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas. His award-winning teaching includes classes on principles of management, strategic management, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and research methods. Dr. Short’s research focuses on the determinants of performance in organizations ranging from start-ups, social ventures, family firms, and large organizations. He has published more than one hundred articles in journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Organization Science, Personnel Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Academy of Management Learning and Education, and Journal of Management Education, among others. He serves on the editorial boards of Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Family Business Review, and Organizational Research Methods. He also coauthored the first Harvard Business School case in graphic novel format as well as other graphic texts such as Atlas Black: The Complete Adventure. Short’s work has been highlighted in outlets such as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, National Public Radio, Morning Brew, Scientific American Mind, and Franchise Times. A recent study highlighting the citation count of scholarly publications placed Jeremy’s scholarly impact among the top 2% of all management scholars in the world.