Motivation
There is more vacuity about strategy than about any other topic in business today. John Kay, Financial Times in Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, and Lampel (2005)
General remarks
This course will be taught using traditional synchronous lectures.
The focus of the classes is to discuss—not introduce—major concepts, tools and methods of strategic management.
The classes will be characterized by group work, discussions and short presentations.
The greatest amount of work is in preparing for and following up lectures in order to become sufficiently familiar with and understand the content.
It is necessary to prepare for each session, usually by reading a paper, details (see Table 1).
Please prepare your schedule accordingly.
Effort
For this course you will receive 5 ECTS. This corresponds to approx. 150 hours of work required by an average student to pass the course.
- Classes (approx. 30 hours)
- Paper reading (approx. 25 hours; approx. 2.5 hours per paper)
- Follow-up and exam preparation (do the math yourself)
Contents
In this course, we will have a look at following topics
- Concepts and taxonomy of strategy
- Functions of strategic management
- Development, analysis and implementation of strategies
- Strategic role of corporate social responsibility
- Performance measurement
- IT strategy, innovation and alignment
Learning objectives
During this course, you should advance your skills in the following areas:
- Understanding of concepts and taxonomies of strategy
- Basic knowledge of underlying theories of strategic management and decision-making
- Understanding of tools and frameworks for the development, analysis and implementation of strategies
- Knowledge of key concepts and frameworks for decision making under uncertainty
- Understanding of the role of IT strategy and its relationship with business strategy
- Ability to work independently with literature to derive key-insights
- Application of concepts, tools, and framework in real-life cases
Exam
There will we a written exam at the end of the semester.
The exam will
- take place during the examination weeks,
- will last 90 minutes,
- cover all contents discussed in lecture,
- focus on the application of the knowledge gained in the course.
Schedule
Date | Topic | Guiding Question | Preparation |
---|---|---|---|
10.10.24 |
Introduction | Why so much fuss about strategy? | — |
17.10.24 |
Definition | What is strategy, what strategic management? | Mintzberg (1987) |
24.10.24 |
Strategy Types | What are generic strategies and what are they good for? | Galbraith, Craig, and Schendel (1983) |
31.10.24 |
Environment | What external forces need to be considered? | Hallegatte (2009) |
07.11.24 |
Capabilities | What leads to competitive advantage? | Ambrosini and Bowman (2009) (Peteraf (1993)) |
12.11.24 |
Strategy Formation | What to consider when ‘crafting’ strategies? | Mintzberg (1978) |
21.11.24 |
Ethics and Values | Does it pay off to be really good? | Barnett and Salomon (2012) |
28.11.24 |
Structure | How to match a firm’s structure with its strategy? | Lorenz and Buchwald (2023) |
05.12.24 |
OKR & Q&A session1 | How to measure strategic progress? | Exercises |
12.12.24 |
Strategy in Action | Guest Speech | — |
19.12.24 |
Performance Management | How to effectively evaluate strategic performance? | Chakravarthy (1986) |
09.01.25 |
IT Strategy | What about IS/IT and strategy? | Chen et al. (2010) |
16.01.25 |
Case Study | Sea Limited — sustain or expand? | Read case study (Moodle) |
23.01.25 |
Exam Preparation | What needs to be discussed or explained again? | Questions |
Q&A
Literature
Footnotes
Room change: we will meet in B.1.32 (small rooom, first come, first serve)↩︎