‘How to Think Strategically: Your Roadmap toInnovation and Results’  by ESCP Business School Professors Dr Davide Sola and Dr Jerome Couturier, has been shortlisted for this year’s Management Book of the Year prize, announced on 19th November 2014 by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the British Library.

The 24-strong shortlist for the overall £5,000 prize, which is sponsored by Henley Business School, shows that managers are wrestling with big questions about the role of business in a changing world and the nature of leadership needed for 21st century success.

‘How to Think Strategically: Your Roadmap toInnovation and Results’, published by Pearson (Financial Times Publishing), has been shortlisted in the ‘Practical Manager’ category.

Co-authors Davide Sola and Jerome Couturier, professors of strategy and management at ESCP Business School, have assisted large and small businesses in sharpening their strategies in their capacity as strategy consultants for McKinsey, A. T. Kearney and 3H Partners, a company that advises multinationals and governments about entrepreneurial solutions.

They say that although everyone has an innate ability to strategise, and do so quickly, most fail to take strategic thinking beyond intuition and vague notions of ‘goals’, ‘situation analyses’ or to-do lists. While helpful, none of these alone constitutes a strategy.

Their book equips professionals with a clear framework of “the strategy roundabout”, methods such as “lean testing” and tools that will enable the reader to develop a strategic mind-set and devise a winning business strategy time and again.

www.howtothinkstrategically.org

Commenting on the shortlist announcement, Sola and Couturier, in a joint statement said: “We are proud to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award. As business school academics, we aimed to produce a very practical book. We hope that this recognition will lead to more business people taking a rigorous approach to strategic planning, especially younger entrepreneurs and those who have not had the opportunity to study business.”

Ann Francke, CMI Chief Executive, said: “The Management Book of the Year exists to help managers find the brightest nuggets of Management Gold’, and with this year’s shortlist we’ve hit a rich vein of writing focused on the big challenges that managers face day to day. Congratulations to all the authors.”

A record 160 books were entered into this year’s competition across five categories: Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Practical Manager, The Commuter’s Read, the Management and Leadership Textbook, and a new category, Management Futures. The five categories winner and an overall winner will be announced at an awards evening at the British Library on 9 February 2015 – with the winning author taking home a £5,000 prize.

Phil Spence, Chief Operating Officer at the British Library and Companion of the CMI said: “At the British Library we’re committed to supporting managers to be the best that they can be. The high number of entries to this year’s CMI Management Book of the Year Award is evidence of the consistently strong interest in this area of research and we look forward to welcoming the shortlisted authors to the British Library in February next year.”

A full listing of the shortlisted books and more details on the expert judging panel are available via the competition website. Follow the hashtag #managementgold on Twitter to get tips, advice and information on the books in this year’s competition.

-ENDS-

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About ESCP Business School

Established in 1819, ESCP Business School is the world’s oldest business school and has educated generations of leaders and entrepreneurs. With its five urban campuses in Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid and Torino, ESCP Business School ‘s true European Identity enables the provision of a unique style of cross-cultural business education and a Global Perspective on international management issues.  ESCP Business School’s network of around 100 partner universities extends the School’s reach from European to worldwide.

Triple-crown accredited (EQUIS, AMBA, AACSB), ESCP Business School welcomes4,000 students and 5,000 executives from 90 different nations every year, offering them a wide range of general management and specialised programmes (Master, MBA, PhD and Executive Education).The School’s alumni network counts 45,000 members in 150 countries and from 200 nationalities. Together with its long-standing relationships with national and multinational companies, this network allows ESCP Business School to provide unique career opportunities on an international scale. www.escp.eu.

About the Authors

Davide Sola is a professor of strategy and management at ESCP Business School and a visiting faculty at Business School in Finland, India and Italy. He is also a partner and co-founder of 3H Partners, the leading Entrepreneurial Solution Provider developing innovative solutions for multinational organisations and governments in Europe, the US and Africa.

Jerome Couturier is an associate professor of strategy and management at ESCP Business School. He is the author of several articles, policy papers, book chapters, case studies and papers presented at international management conferences.  He is also co-founder and president of 3H Partners.

About the competition

The Management Book of the Year competition, which is now in its fifth year, was created to uncover the best books on management and leadership, and help raise the profile of the great management writing published in the UK.
The winners of the five categories and the overall winner – who will scoop a £5,000 prize – will be announced at an awards evening at the British Library on 9 February 2015.

A full listing of the shortlisted books and more details on the expert judging panel are available via the  competition website. Follow the hashtag  #managementgold on Twitter to get tips, advice and information on the books in this year’s competition.

Last year’s overall winner was The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences by Matt Watkinson. Previous overall and section winners include The Management Book by Richard Newton, Christopher Bones, Henry Mintzberg, Clayton M. Christensen and Philip Kotler.

About CMI

The Chartered Management Institute – is the only chartered professional body for management and leadership, dedicated to improving managers’ skills and growing the number of qualified managers. Our professional management qualifications span GCSE to PhD equivalent levels, including the unique Chartered Manager award which increases earnings potential and improves workplace performance.

We provide employers and individual managers with access to the latest management thinking and with practical online support which helps them embrace change, create high performing teams and keep ahead of the curve.

With a member community of 100,000 managers and leaders, we promote high standards of ethical practice through our Professional Code of Conduct, and help managers build their expertise through online networks, regional events and mentoring opportunities.
www.managers.org.uk

About the British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library’s collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation and includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Up to 10 million people visit the British Library website –  www.bl.uk  – every year where they can view up to 4 million digitised collection items and over 40 million pages.

About Henley Business School

Henley Business School is one of the oldest business schools in the UK, having been established in 1945. It is one of only 53 business schools in the world to hold triple-accredited status from the leading UK, European and US accrediting bodies – AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB. It is known for empowering individuals to become great professionals and outstanding business leaders who think with clarity and act with confidence and conviction. Its distinctive approach is proven to deliver results for individuals and businesses alike.

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