University of San Carlos

P. Del Rosario Street

Cebu City

Department of Business Administration

School of Business and Economics

A Book Review on:

Strategic Management: Theory and Practice, 3e
John Parnell

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of

BA-111-A- Strategic Management
10:30-12:00 MW GR462MC 1st Semester AY 2014-2015

Submitted by:
ROZVIC WILVEN C. DELFIN

Submitted to:
GRACE MARIE V. LAPE

September 17, 2014

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BOOK REVIEW PAPER #: _3_

Name of Student: Delfin, Rozvic Wilven ______________________ Date: September 17, 2014_
A. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE BOOK:
Title of the Book: Strategic Management: Theory and Practice____________________________
Name of Author/s: Dr. John A. Parnell_______________________________________________
Place of Publication: 5191 Natorp Blvd., Mason, OH 45040, USA_________________________
Name of Publisher: Cengage Learning_______________________________________________
Copyright Date: 2008____________________________________________________________
Total No. Of Pages: 512 pages_____________________________________________________
B. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOOK:
Preface: Strategic Management: Theory and Practice 3e provides a detailed, yet highly readable
efficient presentation of the strategic management field. Concepts are addressed sequentially,
from external and internal analysis to strategy formulation, strategy execution, and strategic
control. This text draws from all functional areas of business and presents a cohesive strategic
management model from a top-level strategic perspective. It is most useful for students with
backgrounds in related fields such as management, marketing, finance, accounting and
economics.
Authors Background: Dr. John A. Parnell currently serves as the William Henry Belk
Distinguished Professor of Management at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He
completed the BSBA, MBA, and MAEd degree from East Carolina University, EdD degree from
Campbell University, and the PhD degree from the University of Memphis. Dr. Parnell is a
recognized authority in the field, having published more than 200 articles, cases, proceedings,
books, and book chapters in strategic management and related fields.
Table of Contents: The Table of Contents consists of 6 pages. It has 15 chapters, and there are
cases at the end of the book.
List of Figures: The book does not have a List of Figures, but it uses figures on its text.
List of Tables: The book does not have a List of Tables, but it uses tables on its text.
Glossary: The book has a short glossary of 4 pages.
Index: The books has 10 pages of Indexes.
Appendix: The book has an appendix of 185 pages, this contains Case Analysis, Real- time cases,
and Traditional cases.
Bibliography: The book has no bibliography.

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C. SUMMARY:
Chapter 4: External Environment

Four macroenvironmental forces affect every industry:

Political-legal forces include various forms of legislation and judicial rulings, such as the
decisions of various commissions and agencies at all levels of government.
Economic forces include the effects of elements such as GDP, inflation, interest rates, and
exchange rates.
Social forces includes traditions, values societal trends, and a societys expectations of business.
Technological forces include such factors as the Internet, as well as scientific improvements and
innovations that affect firm operations and products and services in a given industry.

Although each industry is affected by all four sets of macroenivronmental forces, the relative
influence of the four forces can vary substantially by industry. Environmental scanning is the
process of researching and analyzing macroenivronmental changes.

Chapter 6: Corporate-Level Strategies

Two key sets of strategic decisions must be made at the corporate level. First, top executives
must identify the corporate profile and determine whether the firm will operate in a single
business, in more than one related business, or in more than one unrelated business. Benefits and
shortcomings are associated with each profile option.

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Second, strategic managers must select a corporate strategy from among these basic choices:
growth, stability, or retrenchment. Additional alternatives associated with growth and
retrenchment strategies must also be addressed. A firm may choose a form of corporate
restructuring to support strategic attempts to revive in competitiveness and performance.

Portfolio frameworks such as the BCG matrix can assist corporate executives in managing the
relationships among the firms business units. In doing so, executives must determine the extent
to which the firm will involve itself in business operations.

Global concerns represent a key consideration at the corporate strategy level. The three broad
options range from conservative to aggressive, each with advantages and disadvantages,
depending on the level of international involvement desired.

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D. REACTION:
This is the 4th Strategic Management book that I have encountered, the first being our Strategic
Management Book, while the other two was the two other book reviews that I did for our
subject. Just like our StratMa Book, this book has cases no cases in the chapters, but instead the
book has a list of cases at the appendix of the book.

Since the book is colored it was fun to read and pleasing to the eyes. The author did a good job in
arranging the contents of a chapter. I like the authors choice of words, it was easy to understand.
Unlike previous Strategic Management books that I have read for my book reviews, this book
contains more words than figures and tables.

The overview of the book found in the preface is helpful for both teachers and students to have
an early grasp to chapters that will be discussed in the future. The authors choice of words were
easy and understandable, not unless if the reader is very foreign to such business terminologies.
The book is very readable. It provides a comprehensive presentation of current strategic
management thinking in a clear format. This approach enables professors to cover the entire
book through one business course. It also said in the preface that the strategic management
model presented in the book remains relatively unchanged, with only minor enhancements.

I chose to summarize Chapter 4 of the book which is about External Environment, since this was
our report, but the approach of the author is different. He focused more on the forces of the
external environment than how the companies adapt these. I also chose to summarize Chapter 6
of the book which is about Corporate-Level Strategy. This is the topic recently discussed by

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Group 9, but in our book the topics covered for me where only the Growth Strategies of
Horizontal and Vertical Integration, etc. Chapter 6 included Stability, and Retrenchment
Strategies. The book discussed Corporate-Level Strategies first before Business Unit Strategies,
and Functional Strategies, unlike our book which it is presented in the reverse order.

I would recommend this book to be used as a text book. Overall it is great and easy to
understand.

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E. REFLECTION:
Have I learned anything new from this book or chapter? Mention it.
I have already encountered some of the terms before, and learned it during our BA111-A classes,
and previous courses that I have taken up. So there isnt that much learning I have encountered
reading the book, since it is a textbook.
In what way may I use this new learning in my life starting today? Please explain how.
It is hard to reflect on textbooks and educational books, since it is mostly terms unlike other
books. But I believe that the business topics that I learned from reading the book are applicable
for future use. But if not, at least I have knowledge on such matter.
Has the author answered some questions I had in the past which I am enlightened after reading
the book? What are they?
Actually, I dont have any questions in the past before I started reading the book, so there are no
questions in need of answering, and no enlightenment happened.

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