Vaughan Evans is an independent strategy consultant with a background in industry economics. He worked at management and technology consultants Arthur D. Little and at investment bank Bankers Trust. Vaughan graduated from Cambridge and has a Sloan Fellowship with distinction from London Business School. He is the author of four previous books, including the best-selling Financial Times Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan.

• About the author
• Publisher's acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Top 10 Dos and Don’ts of Strategy Development
• 1. Identifying key segments: Using it: IBM
• 2. Setting long-term goals: Using it: Virgin Galactic
• 3. Setting SMART objectives: Using it: the BBC
• 4. Core Ideology (Collins and Porras): Using it: Sony
• 5. The HOOF approach to demand forecasting (Evans): Using it: Apps
• 6. The five forces (Porter): Using it: Blockbuster
• 7. Rating competitive position: Using it: Samuel Adams
• 8. The resource and capability strengths/importance matrix (Grant): Using it: Virgin Group
• 9. The value chain (Porter): Using it: Zara
• 10. The product/market matrix (Ansoff): Using it: Virgin Cola
• 11. The attractiveness/advantage matrix (GE/McKinsey): Using it: Extramural Ltd
• 12. The growth/share matrix (BCG): Using it: Extramural Ltd
• 13. Three generic strategies (Porter): Using it: Southwest Airlines
• 14. The experience curve (BCG): Using it: Energy technologies
• 15. Blue ocean strategy (Kim and Mauborgne): Using it: Cirque du Soleil
• 16. Optimising the corporate portfolio: Using it: Extramural Ltd
• 17. Creating value through mergers, acquisitions and alliances: Using it: Lloyds Banking Group
• 18. Creating parenting value (Goold, Campbell and Alexander): Using it: Oil company mineral resources
• 19. Core competences (Hamel and Prahalad): Using it: Red Bull
• 20. Deliberate and Emergent Strategy (Mintzberg): Using it: Facebook
• 21. Profit from the core (Zook): Using it: Marvel Entertainment
• 22. Disruptive technologies (Christensen): Using it: Toyota
• 23. Good strategy, bad strategy (Rumelt): Using it: Wal-Mart
• 24. Innovation hot spots (Gratton): Using it: Linux
• 25. The Suns & Clouds Chart (Evans): Using it: Madonna
• Conclusion
• 10 Useful Strategy Books to Read Next
• Glossary of terms
• References and Further Reading
• Index