Summary

This work aims to provide a working guide to developing strategies for individual business and groups of companies, with a particular focus on the role of the accountant. The first part of the book sets out the survey sent to members of the Board of Chartered Accountants in Business and offers an insight into current practices in strategic planning. The second part of the book describes the process of strategy formulation through the story of a finance director at a subsidiary of a public company. Following a hostile takeover bid, the company is forced to take a serious look at strategic planning. This is reviewed from two perspectives, business strategy - the strategy of a single business, and corporate strategy - the strategy of a collection of businesses.