Book Review of Business Policy and Strategy: An Action Guide

Business Policy and Strategy: An Action Guide, by Robert Murdick, R. Carl Moor and Richard H. Eckhouse, attempts to tie together the broad policies and interrelationships that exist among the many functional areas which undergraduate students typically study. The authors intend the text to supplement the typical case book and/or computer simulations used in teaching business strategy (ix). Situational analysis is presented, as is a structure for developing strategy. Practicality and real world experience is combined with educational theory to provide as complete a picture as possible of strategy in business.
The authors have divided the text into 15 chapters with no further subdivisions. It is possible, however, to group the chapters into specific areas of study. For example, the first chapter, 'Business Failure -- Business Success,' examines why businesses fail, and provides the reason for continuing with the remainder of the text. The next two chapters focus on the 'field of action,' including the business environment and the business system. The fourth and fifth chapters introduce strategic management (chapter 4) and the struggle not only to survive, but to prosper using strategic management (chapter 5). Chapters Six through Nine address specific functional areas (marketing, accounting/finance, production, and engineering/research and development). …