Book excerpt: This text was assembled to provide students with a comprehensive set of readings useful in understanding and designing successful marketing strategies. It reflects the thinking of its authors, who believe that strategic marketing is taking a new direction in the 1990's. While strategic marketing continues to build on the solid foundations of customer and competitor analysis, it now must also integrate all the functions of a business into a unified market-led perspective. 30 of the 38 readings in this text are new to this edition.