Strategic Management
Business Administration and Management
MBA Session 2016-2017, Module 10
GSEM University of Geneva
SYLLABUS
Faculty: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Raisch, University of Geneva
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +41 22 379 8801
Course Overview:
This course deals with the craft of strategy – that is, how to analyze a company’s external environment and
internal capabilities, how to select the right strategy, and how to design the leadership and organizational
systems to execute the chosen strategy. We will explore conceptual frameworks and models developed by
leading strategy scholars to analyze competitive situations and strategic options. Several real-life company cases
are used to acquire practical experience in dealing with strategic issues. We start from the analysis of the
external competitive environment and assess how a firm can select the best position within this environment.
We then move to the analysis of internal firm resources and capabilities, and also look at the firm’s value chain
that underpins corporate success. Next, we turn our attention to strategy making both at the business-unit and
corporate levels. We analyze business portfolios and discuss corporate growth. The course concludes with the
challenges of strategy execution including the management of strategic initiatives.
We will address the following main topics:
•
Strategic Analysis: How to analyze industries and their attractiveness for conducting business? How to
analyze firms and their competitive advantage?
•
Competitive Strategy: What are the alternative strategies to successfully compete with rivals? How can
firms develop strategies that help avoid the competition?
•
Corporate Strategy: How can firms grow successfully and manage its portfolio of businesses? What are
the related challenges?
•
Strategy Execution: How to ensure successful implementation of firm strategies? What are the key
leadership challenges in implementing strategies?
As an outcome of this course, participants are expected to acquire knowledge and skills that will help them
manage effectively in a business environment. Since virtually all organizations deal with strategic management
in one form or another, this course is intended for students interested in pursuing general management
positions in almost any type of organization.
1
Course Schedule:
The lessons draw on the case studies and readings indicated below. Prior reading of all mandatory material
(especially the cases) is indispensable for following this course.
Fri 13 May 2016
14:15 – 16:00
16:15 – 18:00
Introduction / Competitive Strategy
Defining Strategy:
An Introduction
Analyzing Industries
18:00 – 18:30
Dinner Break
18:30 – 19:30
Analyzing Firms
Theory & Cases (Dell and Apple)
19:45 – 20:45
Competing with Rivals
Theory
Sat 14 May 2016
08:15 – 09:30
Competitive Strategy / Corporate Strategy
Competing with Rivals
Cases (Dell and Apple)
10:00 – 11:30
Managing the Portfolio
Theory & Class Exercise (P&G)
11:45 – 13:00
Managing the Portfolio
Class Exercise (P&G)
Fri 27 May 2016
14:15 – 16:00
Corporate Strategy
Growing the Firm
Theory & Class Discussion
16:15 – 18:00
Growing the Firm
Theory & Group Work
18:00 – 18:30
Dinner Break
18:30 – 19:30
Meet the Growth Champions
Guest Speaker
19:30 – 20:45
Meet the Growth Champions
Guest Speaker
Sat 28 May 2016
08:15 – 09:45
Corporate Strategy / Strategy Execution / Résumé
Growing the Firm
Theory & Group Work
10:15 – 11:45
Providing Leadership
Theory & Class Discussion
12:00 – 13:00
Summary & Exam Info
Theory
2
Theory & Class Discussion
Theory & Case (PC Industry)
Course Readings:
Some readings (*) are mandatory material to be studied prior to the course, while the lecture of other texts is
voluntary and only meant to support the students' understanding of the course materials (all cases & texts
provided on CHAMILO):
13 May 2016
▪
The Personal Computer Industry in 2003 (Case Summary, 2013)*
▪
Dell Computer in 2003 (Case Summary, 2013)*
▪
Apple Inc. in 2012 (Case Summary, 2013)*
▪
M. E. Porter, "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," Harvard Business Review 86 (1), pp. 7893, 2008
▪
W. C. Kim & R. Mauborgne, 2004. "Blue Ocean Strategy," Harvard Business Review, October 76-85
14 May 2016
▪
Fact File P&G* (to be screened prior to class)
▪
A. Campbell, M. Goold, & M. Alexander, 1995. “Corporate Strategy: The Quest for Parenting Advantage,”
Harvard Business Review, 73 (3): 120-132*
27 May 2016
▪
Koeppen, B. & Raisch, S. 2015, "Phoenix Rising: Kempinski’s Rebirth as a Luxury Hospitality Group,"
University of Geneva Case Study*
▪
C. Zook and J. Allen, "Growth Outside the Core," Harvard Business Review, 81, 12, pp. 66-73, 2003.
28 May 2016
▪
D. Goleman, & R. Boyatzis, 2008. "Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership, " Harvard Business
Review, 86 (8): 874-81
Further non-mandatory (but potentially helpful) readings:
▪
J. B. Barney, 1995. "Looking Inside for Competitive Advantage," Academy of Management Executive, 9 (4):
49-61.
▪
C. Christensen, "The Innovator’s Dilemma: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth," Cambridge: Harvard
Business School Press, 1997.
▪
J. Duncan, P. M. Ginter, & L. E. Swayne, 1998. "Competitive Advantage and Internal Organizational
Assessment," Academy of Management Executive, 12 (3): 6-16.
3
▪
R. Grant, "Contemporary Strategic Analysis," Oxford: Blackwell (latest edition – revised irregularly every
couple of years).
▪
G. Hamel and C. K. Prahalad, "Strategy as Stretch and Lever," Harvard Business Review, 72 (4), pp. 75-84,
1994.
▪
M. T. Hansen & J. Birkinshaw, 2007. "The Innovation Value Chain," Harvard Business Review, 85 (5): 121130.
▪
M. A. Hitt, R. D. Ireland, and R. E. Hoskisson, "Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization,"
Mason: Thomson (latest edition – revised on a yearly basis).
▪
G. Johnson, K. Scholes, and R. Whittington, "Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases," New York:
Prentice Hall (latest edition – revised on a yearly basis).
▪
W. C. Kim and R. Mauborgne, "Value Innovation: The Strategic Logic of High Growth," Harvard Business
Review, 75 (1), pp. 103-112, 1997.
▪
M. E. Porter, "What is Strategy?" Harvard Business Review, 74 (6), pp. 61-78, 1996.
▪
M. E. Porter, "Competitive Strategies: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors," New York:
Free Press, 1980.
▪
C.K. Prahalad and G. Hamel, "The core competence of the corporation," Harvard Business Review, 68 (3),
pp. 68-93, 1990.
Additional readings as well as the solutions to the group work and case discussion session will be made available
to participants during / after the course.
Course Evaluation:
The final grade will be based on an individual take-home assignment. The take-home exam will involve the
application of class concepts and constructs to a case we have not discussed. The case will be made available in
class. Together with the case, participants will receive a number of concrete assignment questions. They are
supposed to respond to these questions in the form of a maximum three-page executive summary (Word, 12pt,
1.5-spaced).
Participants should submit the summary electronically (to the
[email protected]) by no later than 1:00 PM on Monday, 13 June 2016.
following
email
account:
A good summary will identify the main issues, outline key analytical points, identify options, and if necessary,
make recommendations. The preparation, analysis, and written work done in respect of the final exam are to
represent individual effort based on the course material made available to participants. It is not acceptable for
members of the study group to submit essentially similar analyses of the same case as individual work. The
individual case analysis that participants submit must clearly represent their own thinking. Written and
personalized feedback on every participant’s exam will be provided together with the grades.
Strategic Management is an interactive, case-based class. Active participation in class discussion is absolutely
necessary if learning is to take place. More generally, effective case discussions require widespread and active
participation on the part of the class. Class participation helps to develop an understanding of the actual
situation faced by decision makers and to develop insights, alternative courses of action, and analyses that are
4
not inherently obvious. Case discussions also present an opportunity to apply course frameworks to business
situations. Effective participation requires a thorough reading of the cases and assigned materials and a good
deal of thought about the case situation before coming to class. To be clear, I expect the participants to both
attend class and participate actively in the discussions.
Course Faculty:
Sebastian Raisch is Professor of Strategy, Vice Dean, and Director of the MBA program at GSEM, University of
Geneva. He earned a PhD from the University of Geneva and a Habilitation from the University of St. Gallen.
Previously, he held faculty positions at the University of St. Gallen and the Harvard Business School. Prior to life
in academia, he was a strategy consultant, working in different European countries.
Sebastian’s current research concerns corporate growth, innovation, organization design, and leadership within
multinational firms. His research has been published in leading journals including the Academy of Management
Journal, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, and Organization
Science. He has won the Academy of Management Executive Best Paper Award, the Strategic Management
Society (SMS) Best Paper Award for Practice Implications, the SMS Best PhD Paper Prize, the Journal of
Management Scholarly Impact Award, and other awards for excellence in research and teaching. Sebastian has
conducted research and consulted top managers in companies such as BMW, Deutsche Bank, General Electric,
Nestlé, Siemens, Volkswagen, and UBS.
Jonathan Schad is a PhD student and a teaching assistant at GSEM under the supervision of Professor Raisch
since 2011. In addition, he is a research associate at the Center for Organizational Excellence (CORE), a
collaboration between GSEM and the University of St. Gallen. Before joining the team he has been working and
studying in Europe and Asia.
Jonathan’s current research concerns corporate growth, organization theory, and organization design within
multinational firms.
Contacts:
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Raisch
Email: [email protected]
Office: 3329
Jonathan Schad
Email: [email protected]
Office: 3336
5