GRA 6240 Strategic Management for Business Control
GRA 6240 Strategic Management for Business Control
The course aims to develop the students’ managerial skills and abilities, enabling them to formulate, evaluate and understand different strategies for companies in pursuit of sustainable success in contexts characterized by increasing change and digitalization. The course emphasizes the application of strategic management theory in strategy analysis, formulation and implementation. The course will do so with a focus on different business models and contexts. The course presumes that the students have taken an introductory course in strategic management, and that the students are familiar with fundamental strategic management theories and analytical frameworks.
The student has
- knowledge of relevant strategic management theory applications in contexts characterized by increasing change and digitalization.
- knowledge of relevant strategic management process applications to real world problems facing companies
- knowledge of how strategic management theories and processes inform the formulation, evaluation and choice of strategic courses of action.
The student can
- analyze and manage the resource and activity configuration of companies
- analyze and manage the change drivers, industry structure and stakeholders of companies and well as identifying positioning opportunities
- select and apply appropriate strategy formulation processes for companies
- develop relevant strategic options for companies
- evaluate strategic options
- identify and deal with challenges associated with leading and implementing processes of strategic change.
The student can
- apply knowledge of strategic management to the analysis and management of business cases
- apply knowledge of strategic management to carry out strategy projects
- communicate key strategic challenges, insights, and possible solutions in a concise and clear way
- use knowledge of strategic management to identify alternative courses of action and innovative approaches.
The course is a mixture of strategy analysis and strategy process. Course topics will typically include, but are not limited to, the following themes:
* Assessing the influence of external environments
* Assessing the firm's resource and activity configuration
* Stakeholder management and co-operative strategy
* Strategic cognition and sensemaking
* Scenario planning
* Strategy development processes
* Strategy as practice
* Strategy implementation
* Strategy execution using management control systems
The course distributes over 10 sessions. Some sessions will consist of lecturing, class exercises, case study analyses, and class discussions. Students are expected to attend every class and participate fully in the exercises and case discussions. It is therefore imperative that students read the assigned material and case studies before class. Mini-cases and exercises may also be assigned in-class.
A collection of articles, assigned cases, hand outs, and online material.
All the reading material as well as issues covered during the lectures are examinable. Strategy is a field which is closely tied to current events. Students are strongly encouraged to follow business news in the media to enrich their experience and skill development.
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.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course starts.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled 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 spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Covid-19
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.
Teaching
Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation and discussion Weight: 25 Grouping: Group/Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Class activities Exam code: GRA62401 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 35 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Term paper Exam code: GRA62401 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 40 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 2 Hour(s) Comment: Written examination under supervision Exam code: GRA62401 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
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.