to nashbramhall: good answer :) !
to Dinesh Divekar: finally we found the book, thx; I've read many, but never felt I have found THE answer.
to samaresh.das: only the awareness has become important, and not just 'today'; the importance of strategy was 'always' there. It evolved in the last 50 years maybe. It has just changed the perspective, as any other models of the world. It used to be the 'cost supremacy', then 'growth supremacy', then 'differentiation' etc, but used to boil down to 'sustained comparative & competitive advantage'. Now, with the globalisation, no one direction can fit the classical theories. You fight one front on cost, one front on quality, one front on distribution channels etc, depending on where your competitors 'attack' you. (sorry for the high school summary :)). If you want the definition, use wikipedia. If you need help with strategy, hire a consultant (or call Simhan; or me :) ) ...
Lucian