Modulbeschreibung

The module Strategic Management equips students with the concepts, frameworks, and techniques needed for strategy analysis, development, and implementation on a business unit and corporate level. The course covers the fundamental themes and questions in the strategic management field and takes account of strategy issues that companies face today. The module is accessible to students from different backgrounds and with varying levels of experience.

Fundamentals of Strategic Management (Module SYMG)

Professional competences:

Participants can:

• Explain the impact and contribution of effective strategic management
• Identify and describe the strategy of a firm on a business unit and corporate level
• Understand the strategy process and how a strategy is made within organizations
• Outline how a firm can achieve and sustain competitive advantage
• Understand the process of organizational evolution and the challenges of technological change
• Explain key aspects of corporate strategy such as vertical integration, internationalization, and diversification

Methodological competences:

Participants can:

• Apply relevant methods needed for strategy analysis, development, and implementation
• Develop effective strategic initiatives on business unit and corporate level
• Formulate strategies using both the market-based view (external environment) and resource-based approach (internal perspective)
• Use cost and differentiation analysis and develop strategies that create cost or differentiation advantage
• Select and apply appropriate tools to manage strategic change and exploit innovation
• Make sound strategic choices regarding the level of vertical integration, internationalization, and diversification

Self-competences:

Participants can:

• Process, summarize and prioritize an extensive body of information
• Recognize individual (knowledge) gaps and close them in a systematic way
• Notice the wide variety of possible strategic approaches for a specific initial situation
• Evaluate different scenarios, draw comprehensible conclusions, and derive appropriate recommendations
• Appreciate the basic idea of strategizing as a useful concept that can be applied on a personal level for formulating and achieving long-term goals
  
  

Social competences:

Participants can:

• Formulate their own point of view objectively and accept dissenting opinions
• Recognize the value and limits of teamwork in developing and implementing strategies
• Develop a concept in teams and present the results to the class

Topic area I: Introduction / The Tools of Strategy Analysis

• The Concept of Strategy
• Goals, Values, and Performance
• Industry Analysis: The Fundamentals
• Further Topics in Industry and Competitive Analysis
• Analyzing Resources and Capabilities

Topic area II: Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage

• The Sources and Dimensions of Competitive Advantage
• Industry Evolution and Strategic Change
• Technology-Based Industries and the Management of Innovation

Topic area III: Corporate Strategy

• Vertical Integration and the Scope of the Firm
• Global Strategy and the Multinational Corporation
• Diversification Strategy
• Implementing Corporate Strategy
• Current Trends in Strategic Management

Lecture, discussion, guided self-study, examples and case studies.
The course is primarily designed as a lecture.

Mandatory:

• Slide decks and additional materials on the learning platform
• Textbook: Grant, Robert M. (2021). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Wiley: 11th Edition, ISBN-13: 978-1119815235

Optional:

• Supplementary articles, examples, and materials on the learning platform