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Using a diverse array of rich case studies - from pop culture, TV, movies, sports, politics and history - the author shows how nearly every business and personal interaction has a game-theory component to it.

In the resource-based view of strategy and in evolutionary economics, complementary assets play a crucial role in explaining sustainable competitive advantages and innovations. Despite the apparent importance of complementary assets for the understanding of corporate strategy, their creation and the associated managerial problems have been much less discussed. We believe this to be a major weakness in the strategic theory of the firm. Interestingly, problems of coordination and cooperation are center stage in the contract-based theories of the firm, and we try to integrate some of their insights into a resource-based perspective. Specifically, we show how complementary assets raise the need for strategic direction by a firm's top management. Moreover, complementary assets magnify internal incentive problems, and their management has an impact on the innovativeness of a firm. Lastly, complementary assets play a crucial role in the internal appropriation of innovative rents. We demonstrate the fruitfulness of our integrated framework by relating some of our findings to the literature on corporate strategy, industry evolution, and organizational structures.

\"An international security expert shows how competitive organizations can get--and stay--ahead by thinking like their adversaries\"-- Provided by publisher.

The United States-Australia alliance has been an important component of the US-led system of alliances that has underpinned regional security in the Indo-Pacific since 1945. However, recent geostrategic developments, in particular the rise of the People's Republic of China, have posed significant challenges to this US-led regional order. In turn, the growing strategic competition between these two great powers has generated challenges to the longstanding US-Australia alliance. Both the US and Australia are confronting a changing strategic environment, and, as a result, the alliance needs to respond to the challenges that they face. The US needs to understand the challenges and risks to this vital relationship, which is growing in importance, and take steps to manage it. On its part, Australia must clearly identify its core common interests with the US and start exploring what more it needs to do to attain its stated policy preferences. This book consists of chapters exploring US and Australian perspectives of the Indo-Pacific, the evolution of Australia-US strategic and defence cooperation, and the future of the relationship. Written by a joint US-Australia team, the volume is aimed at academics, analysts, students, and the security and business communities.

\"For over a decade, British foreign policy has been criticised for lacking strategic thinking. Academics describe a 'strategy gap' and note that old ideas about Britain's role in the world continue to be recycled even today. This collection aims to address this issue by re-examining the ideas of Britain's national interest and their impact on strategy, to challenge current thinking and practice in the making of foreign policy. Applying interdisciplinary approaches to British foreign policy, this volume analyses a range of issues asking: Whose interests does British foreign policy serve? Is the national interest a useful explanatory tool for foreign policy analysts? How can policymakers reconnect with this idea to devise better strategies to cope with the complex policy environment of the twenty-first century? Drawing on links between academics, policymakers and other stakeholders, it provides a practical discussion of theories on global change, globalization, ethics, and security to enliven debate about how to forge a foreign policy that advances the interests of the UK whilst also holding policy-makers and officials to account for their actions\"-- Provided by publisher.

Purpose – Empirical research provides evidence that green supply chain management (SCM) practices positively impact firm performance. Yet, questions remain regarding how firms configure their organizations and design green practices to achieve improved performance, especially in light of a constantly changing business environment. This research uses the resource-based and strategic choice theories to better understand the antecedent roles of two strategic orientations, supply chain orientation (SCO) and environmental orientation (EO), on both the implementation and outcomes of green SCM practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Survey responses from 367 supply chain managers are tested through structural equation modeling. Findings – Findings suggest that a combination of SCO and EO capabilities positively influence the implementation of green SCM practices, and positively impact firm performance. Results also suggest that the capability bundle of SCO, EO, and green SCM should be adaptable to the changing business environment. Originality/value – This research contributes through the combination of the resource-based theory, supported by strategic choice theory, to better understand how managers configure and re-configure valuable green-related capabilities to adapt to the constantly changing business environment.

\"The understanding of the national will in war needs to move beyond untested maxims that the nation is averse to conflicts which are not costless and quick. To better understand the true American will, one must ask the following: What variables shape the durability of American policy of war once initiated, and what makes the American political will vulnerable? Central to understanding national will in war is the role played by the war narrative - the rhetorical legitimation of the war policy. Using thorough case studies examining the construction of, and the elite debate on, the war narratives of the Vietnam War, US involvement in Somalia, and Iraq War, Kubiak generates valuable insights into the dynamics of the national will. Constructing both the desirability and feasibility of war policy, the war narrative plays an important role in determining the strength of the national will in conflict. \"-- Provided by publisher.

PurposeThe agricultural supply chain is susceptible to disruptive geopolitical events. Therefore, agri-food firms must devise robust resilience strategies to hasten recovery and mitigate global food security effects. Hence, the central aim of this paper is to investigate how supply chains could leverage digital technologies to design resilience strategies to manage uncertainty stemming from the external environment disrupted by a geopolitical event. The context of the study is the African agri-food supply chain during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ strategic contingency and dynamic capabilities theory arguments to explore the scenario and conditions under which African agri-food firms could leverage digital technologies to formulate contingency strategies and devise mitigation countermeasures. Then, the authors used a multi-case-study analysis of 14 African firms of different sizes and tiers within three main agri-food sectors (i.e. livestock farming, food-crop and fisheries-aquaculture) to explore, interpret and present data and their findings.FindingsDownstream firms (wholesalers and retailers) of the African agri-food supply chain are found to extensively use digital seizing and transforming capabilities to formulate worst-case assumptions amid geopolitical disruption, followed by proactive mitigation actions. These capabilities are mainly supported by advanced technologies such as blockchain and additive manufacturing. On the other hand, smaller upstream partners (SMEs, cooperatives and smallholders) are found to leverage less advanced technologies, such as mobile apps and cloud-based data analytics, to develop sensing capabilities necessary to formulate a “wait-and-see” strategy, allowing them to reduce perceptions of heightened supply chain uncertainty and take mainly reactive mitigation strategies. Finally, the authors integrate their findings into a conceptual framework that advances the research agenda on managing supply chain uncertainty in vulnerable areas.Originality/valueThis study is the first that sought to understand the contextual conditions (supply chain characteristics and firm characteristics) under which companies in the African agri-food supply chain could leverage digital technologies to manage uncertainty. The study advances contingency and dynamic capability theories by providing a new way of interacting in one specific context. In practice, this study assists managers in developing suitable strategies to manage uncertainty during geopolitical disruptions.

Since the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the takeover by the Taliban regime more than one year ago, the new regime has been struggling to get legitimacy from the members of the United Nations. The past year has also exposed the complex network of various militant groups in Afghanistan that supported the Taliban against the U.S. but have now started pursuing their own interests. India and Pakistan face several militancy challenges that emanate from Afghan soil. In turn, India and Pakistan counterbalance each other by supporting different groups in Afghanistan. This article addresses the Taliban’s rise to power, the complexity of engagement with the new rulers, and the security implications for India and Pakistan in relation to Afghanistan. It suggests that zero-sum behavior and strategic theory can be windows through which Pakistan's and India’s engagement may best be viewed.

PurposeThis conceptual work examines how, in times of post-COVID-19 paradigm shift, the employee performance management (PM) process can help multinational corporations (MNCs) strengthen their talent management and, at the same time, meet their future needs.Design/methodology/approachWe take a conceptual approach and present our perspective on what we see as the most critical trends shaping PM and talent management. Contingency theory and Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) theory provide a sound theoretical framework for understanding and responding to the complex and rapidly changing business context post-COVID-19.FindingsDrawing on these theories, we create a framework providing a means of understanding why and how MNCs can maintain talent and, at the same time, develop new talent through the PM process.Practical implicationsImportantly, our study emphasizes the critical role that project management and talent management techniques play for both practitioners and scholars. In order to gain and sustain a competitive edge in the ever-changing VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) landscape, these processes necessitate ongoing reassessment and adaptation. As Plato eloquently stated, “Our Need Will Be the Real Creator,” encapsulating our vision for the proactive and dynamic nature of effective project management and talent management practices.Originality/valueThe study establishes the benefits of an agile and flexible PM approach to help develop talent and pave the way for future research in this increasingly critical area