GRA 6830 Economic and Organisational Foundations of Strategic Management

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

GRA 6830 Economic and Organisational Foundations of Strategic Management


Responsible for the course
Amir Sasson

Department
Department of Strategy and Logistics

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
This is a theoretical course giving insight into the theoretical approaches mostly applied in strategic management

Learning outcome
The course focuses on a broad representation of differing, and often conflicting, perspectives and theories related to strategy content and strategy context and extend the previous knowledge the students have on strategy and strategy analysis from their undergraduate program. The main objective is to develop critical reflections on strategy and strategy analysis among the students participating in the course. The course builds on the knowledge in strategy analysis achieved in the foundation course of strategy analysis in the 3rd year of the Bachelor in Business and Economics programme, but extends the perspectives presented in the introductory course and also introduces new perspectives on strategy content and context.
By the end of this course a student should be able to

  • Understand the underlying theories/perspectives that have shaped the development of the field of strategic management.
  • Understand how those theories/perspectives contradict or complement one another,
  • Appreciate the value as well as the limitations of various theories/perspectives.

Prerequisites
A bachelor degree qualifying for admission to the MSc Programme + a basic course in strategic management

Compulsory reading

Collection of articles:
Compendium consisting of selected articles from journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, The Economic Journal, The Journal of Finance, American Journal of Sociology, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
The course will introduce, analyze, and evaluate a variety of theories and their application within the strategic management field. These may include the following:
- Industrial Organization Theory
- Strategic Groups
- Industry evolution
- Learning theory
- Resource Dependent strategies
- Network Based Strategies
- Resource Based View
- Activity Based View
- Transaction Based Strategies
- Cognitive Based Strategies
- Institutional Theory

Computer-based tools
Course Homepage, It's learning

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours. The course is structured as a combination of lectures, discussions, in-class activities, case analysis, and student presentations. It requires a substantial amount of preparation by the students and active involvement during class. .

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage or in the required readings.



Examination
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
In-class components count for 40% , and the final individual written exam (3 hours) counts 60%.
To get a final grade in the course, students need to complete and achieve a passing grade in all parts of the evaluation.

In this course class attendence is mandatory. Absences can result in a lower score. Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.


Examination code(s)
GRA 68301 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 6830

Examination support materials
A bilingual dictionary.
Examination support materials at written examinations are explained under examination information in our web-based Student handbook. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on support materials.


Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.


Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.