In the preface, author Louise Kelly expresses her hope that “the dictionary is full of information and provides a nice balance of theory and example”. The greatest strategy decision ever, Kelly and co‐author Booth believe, was made by General Motors. Simply, the strategy ran: build a car for every pocketbook, change the model every year. In 1962, an analysis of this decision informed the now famous book by Alfred Chandler, Strategy and Structure. This work asked the question, which came first, the strategy or the structure required to implement the strategy. This dictionary aims to decode the language of strategy since the publication of that first seminal text. Strategy is a difficult and fairly recent subject area within the world of business, although in a military sense it is as old as war itself.
The dictionary begins with an A‐Z of strategic management, and ends with the zone of indifference. The text is clearly laid out, with headings in bold and clear line spacing between each entry. Although there are some cross‐references, e.g. “Acquisitions and mergers – see also Mergers and acquisitions”, these are not defined clearly by typeface or font style. The dictionary includes many military terms, now incorporated into the language of the business. Terms such as Black Hawk Down Syndrome, Boot Camp, Catastrophic Success, D‐Day and the OODA Loop all appear. Even war gaming has an entry, as does industrial espionage. However separate entries do not appear for bargaining theory or prisoner's dilemma, both of which are referred to in the game theory entry.
One of the strengths of the dictionary lies in the concise entries explaining the strategic thinking of leaders such as Igor Ansoff and Peter Drucker. There is also a good list of 50 worldwide business gurus, ranging from Bill Gates to Nelson Mandela. Other strong entries describe the knowledge economy, knowledge workers and knowledge management, and corporate affairs in general. There are some good explanations of schools of management, and the various entries on strategy are also detailed.
The dictionary suffers, however, from some very uneven entries. Balanced Scorecard, for example, does not actually state what the Balanced Scorecard is, simply stating “Actually a top‐down approach to implementing strategic change that is currently used by numerous companies to assess their position in the marketplace”. Similarly, the entry for Communication does not explain what communication is, but concentrates instead on strategic vision and why it should be communicated. There are also some rather flippant entries, such as Matrix Organization “Keanu Reeves does not work there”. As well as being a less than helpful definition, this reference precludes non‐science fiction or movie fans from understanding the reference, and will date extremely quickly. Other somewhat strange entries are the inclusion of Grass Ceiling but not glass ceiling (the former is the barrier that women in business reach as so many business deals are concluded on the golf course). Perhaps one of the weakest entries is that for MBA which is described as a “Not prepared to manage” badge. Other examples of somewhat fatuous definitions include factoids, downsizing, and corporation.
Conversely, there are good, basic descriptions of some strategic concepts, such as Just in Time, metrosexual, gatekeeper, Internet Year (three months in real time) and Generation X. There are also some curious omissions. The learning cycle, for example, is missing. SWOT analysis is mentioned, but PEST does not rate an entry. Similarly, some entries appear in one place but not in others where they might be expected. The 80‐20 rule, for example, does not appear under Pareto analysis. There are some endnotes throughout with suggestions for further reading, and a very short bibliography at the end. The strongest endnote section may be found at the end of the “S” entries.
It is difficult to assess the target audience of this work. If it is aimed at new entrants to the world of management, or college level students enrolling on management courses, then some of the entries are questionable. In the effort to be approachable and jocular there are some incomplete and not entirely helpful entries. As long as the readership is an informed one, however, this dictionary would have several applications. The list of management expressions on page 101 would be an excellent starting point for buzzword bingo. This dictionary might also be of use to those in the fields of personnel, management and jobseekers – although for some of the entries they might wish to get a second definition from elsewhere.
