Research in strategic management is advancing so that it can now be helpful to the practicing manager [5]. As few as 15 years ago , much of what was known about strategic management was based on single case studies or anecdotal evidence. The last few years have seen an explosion of research. We try to cite much of this evidence in support of the taken in the book. The references [5] for this section cite some of the recent summaries of research. And in 1977, the Business Policy and Planning Division of the Academy of Management held a conference summarizing the research in the area [Hofer and Schendel,1979]. In general, we know more about effective strategic management than we did, and this makes its study more worthwhile.