As ever students are provided with the guidance they need to strategic planning, analysis of the health services environment (internal and external) and lessons on implementation; with additional discussionssion of organizational capability, deeper treatment of sustainability and corporate social responsibility and more coverageof the sources of organizational inertia and competency traps.

This edition is rich in new examples from real-world health care organizations. Chapters are brought to life by the 'Introductory Incidents', 'Learning Objectives', 'Perspectives', 'Strategy Capsules', useful chapter summaries; and questions for class discussion. All cases and examples have been updated or replaced. In this edition the teaching materials and web supplements have been greatly enhanced, with power-point slides, to give lecturers a unique resource.

W. Jack Duncan is Professor and Univeristy Scholar in Management in the Graduate School of Management and Professor of Health Care Organization& Policy and Senior Scholar in the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy at the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Linda E Swayne is Professor and Chair, Department of Marketing in the Belk College of Business Administratioinand Co-Director of the Physicians' Management Institute at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations 6th Edition.

Chapter.

Proposed Changes.

Chapter 1 The Nature of Strategic Management.

Move Exhibit 1-1 to Chapter 2. Remove Exhibit 1-2. Shorten sections on Strategic Thinking, Strategic Planning, and Strategic Momentum. Substantially improve artwork in Exhibit 1-3. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section. Include 5 Perspectives per chapter plus one Managers Bookshelf. Focus on making perspectives as time independent as possible.

Chapter 2 Understanding and Analyzing the General and Health Care Environment.

Better focus chapter on environmental analysis of two of the three environments. Substantially shorten section on the Components of the General and Health Environments. Move Perspective 2-1 to Chapter 1. Move Stakeholder section to Chapter 3. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section. Shorten discussion of methods pp. 78-80. Exhibit 2-10 essentially summarizes much of this discussion.

Chapter 3 Service Area Competitor Analysis.

Better clarify Service Area Profile section. Add Stakeholder Analysis to process for service area analysis. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section.

Chapter 4 Internal Environmental Analysis and Competitive Advantage.

No major revisions. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section. Update American Healthways example relative to current characteristics of company or replace example entirely.

Chapter 5 Directional Strategies.

No major revisions. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section. Attempt to develop a better, more efficient way of illustrating the multiple components of mission, vision, and value statements. Redo discussion of Board of Directors in view of recent discussions in health care such the HealthSouth scandal and the nature of Board involvement/noninvolvement. This would liven up the section considerably.

Chapter 6 Developing Strategic Alternatives.

Eliminate Exhibit 6-20. No major revisions. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section.

Chapter 7 Evaluation of Strategic Alternatives and Strategic Choice.

No major revisions. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section.

Chapter 8 Value Adding Service Delivery Strategies.

Shorten and tighten up entire chapter. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section. Shorten discussion of health care customer, branding [pp. 341-348].

Chapter 9 Value Adding Support Strategies.

No major revisions. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section.

Chapter 10 Communicating the Strategy and Developing Action Plans.

No major revisions. Update or change Introductory Incident, Perspectives, and in-chapter examples. Add one Health Care Managers Book Self book review. Update literature/Notes. Remove Additional Readings section..

Cases section (20 cases) - 400pp