GRA 6852 Global Strategic Management
GRA 6852 Global Strategic Management
Global Strategic Management takes an integrated perspective on firm level, corporate and inter-organizational strategies. It is designed to provide an economic and organizational theoretical foundation, which is applied to key strategy decisions, such as scale, scope, and localization, as well as inter and intra-organizational governance such as entry modes, JVs and alliances, and the management of multi-unit, multi-local organizations like multinational enterprises. The course aims to equip students with both the theoretical knowledge and the practical skills necessary to identify and address strategic choices for firms in a global context.
Students will:
- get an understanding of the fundamental strategic decisions in both local and global contexts, including the theoretical foundations related to where and how to invest, and how to compete.
- learn about foundational theories underlying firm performance as well as new insights from the academic literature and how these can be used to craft a firm’s global strategy.
- learn to identify the specific challenges associated with operating across borders and devise strategies to address these.
- learn how to coordinate and integrate activities across countries and how global dispersion can both aid and hinder a firm’s ability to compete internationally.
- understand how new technological, geopolitical, and environmental developments can influence global strategic management.
- develop an understanding of the relationship between global and local strategy development.
Students should be able to:
- use core strategy theories and frameworks to inform a firm’s strategy.
- apply theoretical insights in global strategy to practice and reflect on the relevance and applicability of these insights.
- successfully identify the role of firm-, industry-, and country effects in global strategic management and adapt a firm’s strategy accordingly.
- assess the challenges associated with international operations and devise strategies to overcome these challenges.
- formulate strategies for the process of internationalization, including the location choice and governance mode.
Students should be able to:
- use their understanding of core strategy concepts and theories, the internationalization process, and global strategic management to devise solutions to the local and global strategic challenges organizations may encounter.
- assess the relevance of academic articles to practical challenges encountered in organizations and use the insights from the academic literature to address these challenges.
- develop their analytical skills, public speaking and presentation skills, and their ability to work in diverse groups through case analysis and discussion.
- reflect on the relevance of global strategic management in a diverse range of contexts, including a purely local one.
The course will consist of two main parts:
- The foundations of global strategy. This part will focus on the key decisions firms will need to make to be able to operate locally and internationally, including how to invest and where, to devise an overall strategy.
- Challenges of operating across borders. This part will focus on identifying the additional challenges associated with global strategic management, including risk, cultural and institutional differences, employment and industrial relations, CSR, knowledge and innovation in multinational enterprises and the role of the changing global landscape.
Topics to be covered may include many of, but are not limited to, the following:
- Value creation
- Resources and capabilities
- Economies of scale and scope
- Market attractiveness
- Cultural and institutional differences
- Liability of foreignness
- Market entry
- Governance modes and choices (transaction cost economics and agency theory)
- Knowledge sharing and protection
- Global integration vs local responsiveness
- The role of technological, geopolitical, and environmental changes in the global strategic landscape
- CSR
- How to leverage theoretical insights and practical applications of global strategy in the domestic context.
Throughout the course, there will be a focus on understanding both the theoretical foundations that drive strategic decision making and firm performance, and the application of these theoretical frameworks in a global context and in practice at large.
This is a highly interactive course where preparation is necessary in order to participate in the class.
The course will consist of 2-hour interactive workshops that will be a combination of theory, practice, and skill development. During these workshops students are expected to actively participate in class discussion and activities. Case discussion will be used in most of the classes.
In addition to the case discussion, students will submit two written assignments: an individual essay and a term paper written in groups of up to three students. More information about these assignments will be provided at the beginning of the semester.
Guest lectures will be scheduled where possible. More information will be provided in class.
It is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
Both exams must be passed to receive a final grade in the course.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission PDF Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 30 Grouping: Individual Duration: 2 Month(s) Comment: Individual Essay Exam code: GRA 68521 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission PDF Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 70 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Term Paper Exam code: GRA 68522 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 30 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 70 Hour(s) | |
Group work / Assignments | 15 Hour(s) | Individual Essay |
Group work / Assignments | 45 Hour(s) | Group term paper |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.