MBA 2430 Business Strategy
MBA 2430 Business Strategy
The essence of strategy is the creation of sustainable competitive advantage. This means developing products and services that the customers perceive as valuable and unique. The field of strategic management provides a range of models that is useful in the attempts to develop sustainable competitive advantage. In this module the students will get acquainted with several of these models, both through lectures and case applications. On the level of the business unit, we study both external, environmental conditions and internal resources and activities. External conditions include markets, economic parameters and competitive arenas with players and conditions that together give the conditions that the firm must position within. Internal analysis is a method to understand what resources and activities the firm possesses to take strategic action. On the corporate level, we will study the benefits of organizing several firms under the same corporate leadership. Strategic expansion, and different forms of organizations like alliances and mergers and acquisition will be given specific attention. We will also discuss firms operating across borders, and the specific challenges met by internationalisation. Finally, we will look at challenges related to execution of strategy.
Having finished this course the students have gained knowledge in:
- a range of different strategy perspectives and their underlying assumptions. This knowledge enables students to conduct a strategy analysis, identify a strategic solution, and execute it.
- knowledge on the various types, stages, and requirements of strategy processes.
- knowledge on strategic responsibilities of strategic decisionmakers in different types of organizations, such as corporations, business units and entrepreneurs.
- Insight into theoretical models addressing different assumptions and approaches in decision-making.
In this course students learn how to:
- gather relevant information needed to perform, and present strategic analysis.
- combine analytic insight into strategic choices, initiate and run strategy processes, and measure the value of strategies.
- organize teams and benefit from a variety of team members input to the strategy process.
- present strategies to different audiences such as employees and investors. Presentation formats include short executive. summaries, oral presentations to audiences such as investors, and power point summaries.
Upon completion, the students will be able to reflect on the competitive position and value proposition of a company and the sources of this value through activities, resources and positioning. The students will be able to perform deeper and more coherent strategic processes combining insight from many different sources, and lead the strategy process from problem statement to organizational execution.
DAY 1
An introduction to strategy. The field of strategy and its developments
Core concepts and approaches
Strategy levels.
External Analysis: The competitive arena and key strategic actors, strategic groups
DAY 2
Internal analysis: Activities and Resources, Strategic Choices
DAY 3
Global and Corporate Strategies
DAY 4
Implementation Strategies, 40 % Course group exam and 60% multiple choice exam
Two of the teaching hours in this course are dedicated to CSR, ethics, social and environmental issues.
The course is conducted as a teaching module, where students have classes all day for four subsequent days, a total of 32 hours.
Candidates may be called in for an oral hearing as a verification/control of written assignments.
Specific Information regarding any aspect of student evaluation will be provided in class. It is the student's responsibility to obtain this information. Please note that whilst attendance is not compulsory, it is the student's responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/it's learning or text book. Homepages and/or it's learning are not designed for the purpose of students who choose not to attend class.
The course is a part of a full MBA and examination in all courses in the MBA programme must be passed in order to obtain a certificate for the MBA degree.
In all BI Executive courses and programmes, there is a mutual requirement for the student and the course responsible regarding the involvement of the student's experience in the planning and implementation of courses, modules and programmes. This means that the student has the right and duty to get involved with their own knowledge and practice relevance, through the active sharing of their relevant experience and knowledge.
Granted admission to the BI-Fudan programme. Please consult our student regulations.
Disclaimer
Changes in exam type can be made until the course starts. In addition, unforeseen events or external conditions may call for deviations in teaching and exams.
| Mandatory coursework | Courseworks given | Courseworks required | Comment coursework |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voluntary | Hand-ins during the course |
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission other than PDF Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 40 Grouping: Group (4 - 7) Duration: 5 Day(s) Comment: Group hand-in, count 40% of the total grade. Exam code: MBA 24307 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: School Exam Form of assessment: Structured Test Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 60 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 1 Hour(s) Comment: Multiple choice conducted in class, count 60% of the total grade. Exam code: MBA 24308 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Prepare for teaching | 30 Hour(s) | Reading four cases, books and articles, and preparing hand-ins |
Group work / Assignments | 30 Hour(s) | Group discussions and hand-ins before, during and after the course |
Teaching | 40 Hour(s) | |
Examination | 3 Hour(s) | Multiple choice exam |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 4 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 110 hours.
