I am fascinated by two emerging ares in business scholarship -- NeuroLeadership (David Rock, Sharon Begley, and Jeffrey Schwartz) and The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business initiative, Positive Organizational Scholarship (Wayne Baker, Jane Dutton, and Kim Cameron). While rightly characterized as "soft" in traditional management theory, I am convincd that it will be (and is) critical for managers to be able to inspire discretionary effort from employees in the coming Free Agent Era. Understanding employees better will be the critical managemnt skill of the 21st century.

I am a big fan of Phil McKinney, VP and CTO of HP's Personal Systems Group and the author of the Killer Innovations podcast and blog at  http://www.killerinnovations.com

Phil talks about innovation as an art and science, and I'd argue that driving management by creating a culture of innovation culture is a great approach to management.

For the sake of full disclosure, I have been worked closely with Phil since he joined HP.  On one hand I might be biased, but on the other hand I have witnessed how effective he is in real life.

I confess that the phrase "new business thinkers" sets me off. The older I get the less I find that much is truly new except for the publicity programs of the various "thinkers." For me, two things seem to be happening. First, I return more now than twenty years ago to the few people who constantly help me understand the world. Second, I find that I'm more likely to seek out the work of reporters (like Sharon Begley) and less likely to seek the work of academics. That goes on for a while and then something hits, usually because of a book review I need to do. This year I found Michael Lee Stallard's Fired Up or Burned Out to be an excellent review of what we know about what makes productive groups with excellent examples and good use of research. I also discovered Charles Koch (CEO of Koch Industries) and his book The Science of Success. Despite the fact that the title sounds like some motivational mush, the book is actually the result of a lifetime of serious study by an intelligent, in-the-trenches, executive and his effort to take what we know about economics and human beings and use it to make companies work better.

I really like Penelope Trunk's advice.  From what I have read, her ideas could definitley fall in the new category.

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/

During the last couple of years, Rebecca Ryan of Next Generation Consutling has made a big splash in the CPA management world.  She is an excellent speaker and seems to have the research to back up what she says.  She focuses on helping cities (and arts organizations) attract and keep the "next" beneration.  She has also been working with more and more accounting firms to help them keep younger people at accounting firms (which is no simple task in light of the increased workload due to Sarbannes Oxley and other factors.
http://www.nextgenerationconsulting.com

If you're interested in a new perspective on strategy and execution, be sure to investigate Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines Corp. 

Check out his book Six Disciplines for Excellence.  And look for his new book in 2008 - Execution Revolution.

Following new strategies is always important for a successful business so that you do not leave behind in the rat race that the whole world in into.