Foundations of Corporate Success

John Kay is a visiting Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, a Fellow of St John's College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a member of the Scottish Government's Council of Economic Advisers. He is a director of several public companies and contributes a weekly column to the Financial Times. He is the author of many books, including The Truth about Markets (2003) and The Long and the Short of It: finance and investment for normally intelligent people who are not in the industry (2009) and his latest book, Obliquity was published by Profile Books in March 2010.

• Introduction ; PART I: CORPORATE SUCCESS ; 1. The Structure of Strategy ; 2. Adding Value ; PART II: BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS ; Introduction ; 3. Cooperation and Coordination; ; 4. Relationships and Contracts ; PART III: DISTINCTIVE CAPABILITIES ; Introduction ; 5. Architecture ; 6. Reputation ; 7. Innovation ; 8. Strategic Assets ; PART IV: FROM DISTINCTIVE CAPBILITIES TO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ; Introduction ; 9. Markets ; 10. Mergers ; 11. Sustainability ; 12. Appropriability ; 13. The Value of Competitive Advantage ; Appendix ; Added Value Statements ; PART V: COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES ; Introduction ; 14. Pricing and Positioning 1 ; 15. Pricing and Positioning 2 ; 16. Advertising and Branding ; 17. Vertical Relationships ; PART VI: THE STRATEGIC AUDIT ; Introduction ; 18. The Industry ; 19. The Firm ; 20. The Nation ; PART VII: THE FUTURE OF STRATEGY ; Introduction ; 21. A Brief History of Business Strategy ; 22. Conclusions ; Glossary ; Bibliographic notes

A fresh and insightful approach, blending theory and case studies, to the links between corporate culture, strategy and success.