MGT 6890 – Advanced Strategy Shingo
Feb 4 – March 5
Nathan Washburn
[email protected]
480-246-2084
Course:
Dates:
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Course Description and Objectives
The purpose of this course is to enhance your ability to formulate and implement coherent
strategies. Some of the questions we will examine are: Why are some industries and firms more
profitable than others? How do firms create competitive advantage? How does the choice of
strategy drive organizational performance? How do firms create unique and sustainable industry
positions?
Theories and concepts related to strategy will be introduced in a series of articles. These
concepts will then be applied to cases. On completion of the course, you should have an
understanding of strategy and be able to apply the theories and techniques presented in this
course to a variety of strategic challenges that organizations face.
Course Schedule
Date
Feb 4
Topic
External
Analysis
Feb 5
Internal Analysis
Feb 6
Internal/external
Analysis
Mar 3 Bridger
Required Readings
 The 5 Competitive Forces that
Shape Strategy
 Ice-Fili
 What is Strategy
 Starbucks
 Airborne Express
Assignments Due
Article summary
Case question

Articles summaries
External/internal
analysis

Mar 3 Blue Ocean
Mar 4 Global Strategy
Blue Ocean

Does Your Company Seem
Irresponsible
How to be the Next Howard
Schultz
Blue Ocean Strategy
Article summary
Case question
Case questions
Article summary
Team blue ocean
presentation
You will be evaluated on both individual and team assignments. Letter grades are assigned using
a traditional, non-curved scale (e.g., 94%=A, <90%=A-). When assigning final letter grades, I
do not round up (89.9% = B+).
Individual
Article summary (4)
Case questions (3)
30%
20%
Team
External/internal analysis
Blue Ocean presentation
25%
25%
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Teams
Teams need to be formed before our first day of class on February 3. Each team should have 4
members. Non-contributing team members can be removed from a team. Removed members
will complete remaining team assignments alone or with other removed members.
Writing
I expect a high level of skill in writing. For me, this means that your writing is concise,
organized, structured (before you writing, develop an outline), insightful, and has a purpose.
Below are two partial example answers to the following question: “what are the five forces and
how do they impact industry profitability”
The five forces, as described in Porter’s article, impact industry profitability. They can
reduce profit by making it difficult to get new customers or make money. In order to
impact profitability, the forces must be addressed. If the forces are not addressed, then an
industry is less profitable. The forces include buyers (consumers, customers), suppliers,
new entrants, substitutes and competitors. These forces are important because they can
reduce profitability. Customers can help an industry become more profitable if they are
less picky. Also suppliers can help by reducing their costs…
The five forces influence industry profitability by increasing the costs of inputs and
decreasing prices. In general, attractive, more profitable industries will have weaker
forces. 1. Buyers: use their bargaining power to demand lower prices. If it is difficult for
buyers to switch to a new supplier, if buyers are small and fragmented, and if this is an
insignificant purchase for the buyer, then buyers will be weak and unable to demand lower
prices. 2. Suppliers: use their bargaining power to raise prices (charge the industry more
for its inputs)…
The first answer is disorganized and the substance/interesting-content ratio is very low; the
second is more what I am hoping for! Before you start writing, have a plan!
All assignments and should be your original work. I do check for plagiarism. As a rule, if you
copy more than 4 words, they should be cited. All assignments should be submitted
electronically to the assignment submission boxes on the course site.
Course Reading Packet
The reading materials (cases and articles) can be purchased directly from Harvard Business
School Publishing. Use the following link. https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/42051140
Case Questions
Case
Ice-Fili
Starbucks
Airborne
Question
Use the 5 forces to analyze the ice cream industry in Russia.
Use the concepts from the What is Strategy article to assess Starbucks’
strategy at the time of the case.
How has Airborne been able to compete successfully in this industry?
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Description of Assignments
We will use three different learning methods/tools in this course. These include: 1) studying
and summarizing conceptual articles which provide a theoretical base, 2) applying the theoretical
concepts to the cases, and 3) real-life applications including: external/internal analysis and the
blue ocean presentation.
Assignment Description
Article Summaries (Individual)
The assigned articles provide the theoretical concepts that we will use throughout the course. To
help you retain and internalize these concepts, you are required to turn in a 1 page
summary/application (single-spaced) of each article. Think of this assignment as a tool – one
that will help you assimilate and internalize the concepts. In the first ½ page, should be careful
to focus your summary on the tools (ideas and concepts that will help you make strategic
decisions). Do not spend time summarizing the introductory material (this is usually where the
authors make a case for why the ideas are important). Instead get to the meat/heart of the article
and provide specific details on the concepts that are designed for managers to use when making
decisions. Be as specific and detailed as you can in the ½ page you are given (take liberties with
font and margins as needed). Please use formatting to help highlight transitions or important
ideas (this makes it much easier to read!) For the second ½ page, you should provide an
application example. Use the summarized concepts as an analytical tool to assess an
industry/company. Keep your application focused on a single example (don’t use several
different companies). The application should demonstrate that you understand and can utilize
the concepts to help you analyze and make strategic decisions.
Case Questions (Individual)
For each of the 5 assigned cases, there is a case question (see questions listed below). When
answering the case questions, you will need to consider how the concepts from the Articles that
you have already summarized apply to the question. Always look for a way to integrate the
concepts from the theory articles into your answers. In other words, one of the main purposes of
the Cases is to provide you an opportunity to apply concepts. If your answers to the case
question do not incorporate Article concepts, then you have missed this important learning
opportunity. Also, as we go along in the course, look for ways to incorporate theoretical
concepts from prior weeks.
External/Internal Analysis (Team)
This assignment is an opportunity to help you practice using the concepts learned by applying
them to a real industry and company. Each team must select an industry and company that they
want to analyze. In choosing an industry and company for your project, you'll generally want to
pick a company/industry that meets the following criteria: (1) you can find a lot of good
information about it (often this disqualifies private and relatively obscure companies and
industries); (2) a company and industry whose business model you understand and can explain to
others; (3) a company that has established a unique, sustainable position, or a company having
significant problems or is expecting challenges and/or on that must decide a major strategic
issue; and (4) one for which your group feels pretty confident they can come up with really good
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ideas to solve the relevant problem(s)/issue(s). If you choose a diversified firm with multiple
businesses, you will want to limit the scope (iPhone rather than Apple).
The assignment is to conduct an external and internal analysis. This assignment should be no
longer than 3 pages single-spaced and should use the tools introduced in class.
In the 1.5 pages of this assignment, present an external analysis of the industry. Using the 5
forces model the team should identify, explain and assess each of the important external forces in
the company industry. In addition, you should predict how these forces will change in the future.
Indicate which are the most important threats (both now and going forward) for this company
and for the industry as a whole.
The second 1.5 pages of this assignment is dedicated to an internal analysis of the company.
Using the VRIO framework presented in class, assess the internal resources and capabilities of
the firm. In particular, you must explain how the firms capabilities fit together (or how they
don’t fit together), and how these capabilities interact with the external forces. In other words,
the internal analysis needs to incorporate the important insights derived from the external
analysis.
You should also include a brief summarizing section that draw implications and conclusions
based on your analysis.
Blue Ocean Presentation (Team)
Teams will give a 15 minute presentation on a blue ocean idea they have for their industry.
These must be original ideas (you may not use blue ocean strategies that are already in the public
domain) and based on your observation (use techniques from “How to be the Next Howard
Schultz.”) The presentation should include an assessment of the current industry and a
description of how the new idea being proposed differs from what currently exists. Use the Blue
Ocean strategy tools (strategy canvas, ERRC, etc.).
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