Modulbeschreibung

Students will reflect on and discuss key issues in today’s International Management. The module
focuses especially on key strategic issues that an international organization is confronted with, and
they will take in a helicopter perspective in doing so. Students will be capable of anticipating, evaluating,
and integrating crucial, dynamic environmental developments into their decision-making to
impact their specific organization. They will learn fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge
that enables them to develop creative strategic moves to position their specific organization in a certain
environment, ranging from rather stable to ever-changing.

Students will learn that the key to organizational success is the creation of sustainable competitive
advantages. The course takes in the perspective of a model of strategic management of several
distinct phases that developed in history. Each phase brought about management tools that are
suitable for the discussion and solution of specific challenges. Students will learn to put questions of
international / strategic management into a time-specific context. Working in internationally composed
teams the students will discuss challenges and situations of selected case studies of international
companies that are facing typical challenges of today’s management situations in these companies
(e.g. Starbucks, Patagonia, Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers or alternative selected cases).

The module is for international incoming students only.

Prior knowledge from home Universities of the participating students. No further specific knowledge
is required.

• Schriftliche Gruppenarbeit
• Präsentation in Gruppen

• Case study assignment (term paper, 12-15 pages (max. 40’000 characters) + presentation,
  25% of rating; presentation & discussion, 25% of rating), to be worked on teamwise.
• Industry & competitive analysis (presentation & discussion, 50% of rating), to be submitted
  teamwise.

Professional competences:

• Be familiar with typical challenges of international companies today as well as with the fundamental
  aims and issues of strategic management.
• know and critically reflect on management tools that have been developed in different
  phases over time that help us structure the internal and external situation of international
  companies.
• be able to discuss and critically reflect on various possibilities and limitations of the generation
  and protection of competitive advantages in an international context.
• be able to discuss typical case studies of international companies and their today’s challenges
  and to reflect upon possible solutions for these organizations.

Methodological competences:

• Apply strategic management instruments to discuss and solve strategic and management
  issues in different kinds of international organizations.
• develop and evaluate creative and sustainable solutions of firms to appropriately respond to
  internal and external challenges.

Self-competences:

• Deal with uncertainty, ambiguity and time pressure that is always bound to managerial and
  strategic questions in an international context.
• develop an awareness of the great complexity of strategic and management issues
  international context, for which there are often many possible solutions.
• learn to deal with this complexity and understand the consequences of managerial activities
  in an international context.

Social competences:

• Work successfully in an internationally composed team and be able to constructively take
  up differences in the participants’ backgrounds, their languages, and mindsets.
• work out solutions for complex issues in a team.
• understand the team as an extension of one's own competencies, which only works if all
  team members contribute to the joint solution.
• present their own work in a plenary session and argue constructively why the team came
  up with a certain solution.
• get to know the method of "peer review", learn to judge other students constructively and in
  a reflexive way.

Topic area I: Organization & Introduction

• Class organization & team building
• Fundamentals of strategic management in an international context
• Strategic thinking and acting
• Competitive dynamics
• Strategic management model

Topic area II: Model & tools for Strategic Management in an international context

Market-based view of the firm

• Macro-economical analysis / PESTEL
• Industry- and competitive analysis
• Competitive strategy

Resource-based view of the firm

• Resources and competences
• Core competences
• Sustainable competitive advantage
• Value chain analysis

Strategic innovation

• Sustainability and business ethics
• Dilemmas
• Case study

Topic area III: Presentations & Discussion

• Team presentations & discussion
• Case study & industry / competitive analysis

Lectures, class discussion, teamwork assignments for case discussion, multimedia case studies
and examples, guided self study.

Mandatory:

• OST - Reader: Collection of Strategic Management Articles (Moodle platform).
• Case studies (Moodle platform)

Supplementary:

• Text books (Moodle platform)