GRA 6830 Economic and Organisational Foundations of Strategic Management

GRA 6830 Economic and Organisational Foundations of Strategic Management

Course code: 
GRA 6830
Department: 
Strategy and Entrepreneurship
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Øystein D. Fjeldstad
Course name in Norwegian: 
Economic and Organisational Foundations of Strategic Management
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
MSc in Business - Strategy
Semester: 
2023 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

This is a theoretical course giving insight into the theoretical approaches mostly applied in strategic management. Where applicable the course relates the theoretical perspectives covered to sustainability.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

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.

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.
  • Understand how sustainability and digitization relates to the theoretical perspectives covered. 
Learning outcomes - Skills
  • Be able to compare and contrast contributions from the literature
  • Present one or more articles by in a video.
  • Discuss literature in seminar setting, and in a written discourse
General Competence
  • That the literature contains diverse, often conflicting, explanations of a phenomenon
  • That methods and explanations are linked
  • That strategy analysis tools reflect different theoretical perspectives
Course content

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 and platform ecosystems for sustainability
  • Strategic Groups theory
  • Learning theory
  • Resource Dependency theory
  • Network Theory
  • Resource Based View
  • Activity Based View, including circular value creation
  • Transaction Cost Economics
  • Institutional Theory, including sustainable Ecological Systems

Theories and their implied strategies will be discussed.

Teaching and learning activities

-

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Additional information

The exam for this course has been changed starting academic year 2023/2024. The course now has two exam codes instead of one. It is not possible to retake the old version of the exam. Please note new exam codes in the Exam section of the course description. 

It is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.

Qualifications

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
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
60
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
3 Hour(s)
Comment: 
Written exam under supervision
Exam code: 
GRA 68302
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Handin - all file types
Weight: 
40
Grouping: 
Group/Individual (1 - 4)
Duration: 
1 Semester(s)
Comment: 
Portfolio submission. Video presentation (groups 1-4) + plus individual written discussions on videos and class material. Links to the written discussion will be provided by course responsible.
Exam code: 
GRA 68303
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

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.