Are you responsible for devising the strategy for your business unit? Want to make sure you have a smart, achievable and effective strategy but not sure where to start? This book gives you strategy in a nutshell. Everything you need to know to assess your business unit and build an effective strategy for future profitability is here. The core of the book is a step-by-step guide to strategy that coaches the reader through key questions such as:

* How do you increase profits quickly?

* Who are we and what do we do?

* How good is your competitive position?

* Is this a good industry to be in?

* What do your customers think?

* How do you organize and realize your new strategy?

There is no wallowing around in abstract theory: this is a highly practical guide to developing real strategy. Two business cases, with all the complicated nitty gritty of the real world, are threaded through the text to bring the concepts and techniques discussed to life. The first follows the voyage of strategy development and discovery taken by a large American tea company; the second describes a globally operating manufacturing business which carries out a so-called 'bottom-up' business analysis.

To further enhance the book's application potential, it can be used in conjunction with a specially-developed and customisable software that allows you to generate information and graphs from your own business data - samples of this are available free to readers on the book's companion website.