GRA 8169 Strategy Process

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

GRA 8169 Strategy Process

Responsible for the course
Mark Kriger

Department
Department of Strategy and Logistics

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
4

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The subject of strategy process is evolving rapidly, due to globalization and increasingly rapid changes in the competitive environment in virtually all industries. This course is designed to address strategy execution and strategy process in such rapidly changing environments.

Learning outcome
The intent of the Strategy Process course is to give students an understanding of how to engage in strategy implement and execution over time, building on the knowledge and competence gained from the Strategy Analysis course.

Acquired knowledge:
· To understand the role of the strategic leader and the top management team in setting and implementing the strategic process.
· To understand the links between strategy formulation and implementation and how they are linked to the leadership, culture, organization design, competitive dynamics and larger political, social, economic, technological, environmental and legal environments of the firm. .
· To understand how strategies actually get implemented in organizations
· To be able to design action programs for strategy implementation and process based on sound strategic analysis.

Acquired skills:
· To be able to formulate a strategy for a firm that is linked to strategy implementation and execution.
· To be able to create a complex strategic action plan with detailed steps and timing for the implementation of a strategy.
· To understand the trade-offs between the differing strategy models, theories and frameworks and when to use them in a strategy process.

Reflection:
· To apply the contingency approach to strategic leadership, formation and change
· To apply economic, psychological, and social psychological models, theories and perspectives to the implementation of strategy processes
· To understand the dynamic and recursive nature of strategy process.
· To understand the role of time and timing in strategy execution.

Prerequisites
Granted admission to the EMBA programme and passed GRA xxxx Strategy Analysis.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Strategy - Process, Content, Context. 2010. Strategy - Process, Content, Context. 4th Edition or 5th edition when available

Articles:
Assorted relevant academic journal articles and practitioner publications from Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review.

Recommended reading

Course outline
  • Strategic Thinking and Organizational Effectiveness
  • The Dynamic Tensions and Complexities involved in Strategy Process
  • Strategic Change Processes
  • Strategy Transformation and Renewal
  • Exploration-Exploitation Trade-offs
  • Strategy in Businesses with Alternative Logics’ and in International Contexts
  • Strategies and Strategic Leadership in Turbulent Environments


Computer-based tools
It's Learning

Learning process and workload
The course will be organised around selected topics per the course outline and use in-depth discussion of business cases and the professional experience of participants to ground relevant theories and frameworks which must be explicitly used in the write-ups. The workload will involve intensive group and individual work that is aimed at integrating strategy theory and practice..

1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours.

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 20% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials



Examination
The course evaluation will be based on:
1. One complex case analysis to be written and presented in triads or pairs 1/3
2. One complex case analysis report to be written and presented in groups 1/3
3. Individual oral class contribution 1/3

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.

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


Examination code(s)
GRA 81691 - Continuous assessment; accounts for 100 % to pass the course GRA 8169, 4 ECTS credits

The course is a part of a full Executive Master of Business Administration Program and all evaluations must be passed to obtain a certificate for the degree.


Examination support materials



Re-sit examination
Re-takes are only possible at the next time a course will be held. When course evaluation consists of class participation or continuous assessment, the whole course must be re-evaluated when a student wants to retake a exam. Retake examinations entail an extra examination fee.

Additional information