Which are the top five authors and books about business strategy implementation?
I am looking for the names of the most respected people and their best books/papers
in this particular field. I wanted to learn about the best practises
and pitfalls to avoid including case studies and examples. If the book
is entertaining it is fine; as long as it is full of substance.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 28 Jul 2004 16:12 PDT

imple-ga,

There are so many different ways to approach this question -- and so
many interpretations business strategy "implementation" -- that it's
hard to know how to move forward with an answer.

Some bestselling books, well-respected books that come to mind are:

How To Start And Run Your Own Corporation: S-Corporations For Small
Business Owners
by Peter I. Hupalo

"How To Start And Run Your Own Corporation: S-Corporations For Small
Business Owners by experienced entrepreneur Peter I. Hupalo is a
straightforward, "user friendly", instructional and resource guide
covering everything from choosing the most appropriate business
structure; to issuing shares of stock to attracting investors; to the
role of bylaws; to minimizing taxes; and much, much more. How To Start
And Run Your Own Corporation is a solid, accurate, informed and
informative primer which is especially recommended for anyone looking
to quickly pick up the basics and put themselves into business."

==========


Business Start-Up Kit 
by Steven D. Strauss

"An easy to read compendium of everything an aspiring entrepreneur
needs to start and succeed in business. Strauss explains what works,
and what doesn't, while giving entrepreneurs scores of tips and
hints."

==========

 
Small Business for Dummies, Second Edition 
by Eric Tyson, Jim Schell

"You?re not alone if the thought of running your own business has
crossed your mind. Even if your vision of a small business differs
from your neighbor?s, you probably dream of being your own boss and of
providing a needed service or creating a cool new product...But your
very first small-business decision may be to admit that you?re not
ready for this career ? at least not yet. If you?re straddling the
fence, Small Business For Dummies will uncover whether this career
works for you. You?ll also gain insight into getting your personal
finances in order before exposing yourself to the risk of a new
business, and discover how to draw a roadmap to reach your career
destination."


==========

Do these seem like the type of books you're looking for?  If so, let
me know, and I'll post some additional titles as an answer to your
question.

pafalafa-ga

When you use the term "top five", I believe, the top five are
different depending upon your circumstances.  In other words, I think
the best strategy implementation books for a company of less than 100
people is very different that for a company with more than 1,000 or
even 500 people.

That said, if you are looking to implement a strategy for a company
with more than several hundred people, I would start with The Balanced
Scorecard by Dave Norton and Robert Kaplan.  Norton and Kaplan have at
least 3 and maybe 4 or 5 books on strategy implementation as well as
various Harvard Business Review case studies/papers.

Norton and Kaplan's client list, credentials and publishing history
speak themselves.  I personally like the logic to their approach and
have found most of the published material (including some of the
material published by other authors writing about The Balanced
Scorecard approach) to be useful as a implementation guide.

Norton and Kaplan run an organization called the Balanced Scorecard
Collaborative that promotes the "correct" use of their strategy
implementation approach - The Balanced Scorecard.  The website is
www.bscol.com and under the Education tab select Bookstore to review a
comprehensive list of reading material directed at strategy execution.

If you have a smaller business, less than 50-75 people, I would start
with a booked called The E-Myth Revised by Michael Gerber.  Gerber
also has a business and website www.e-myth.com.

Good luck....

Check out this site,
http://www.performancesoft.com/resources/books.asp for a listing of
books that may help.  They also have articles and a magazine available
to download.