AØKA08101U Strategic Management

Volume 2013/2014
Education
BSc in Economics
MSc in Economics
Content

The course start by explaining some central terms, concept, and definition in the area of strategy as for instance the mission, vision and strategy of an organisation, and we will look into some different ways in which a strategy can be developed. In connection to this we will discuss behaviouralisme and the idea of bounded rationality.

Next we will focus on how we can map and analyse the environment of a company and on how Porters Five Forces framework build on the neoclassical theory and the structure of conduct performance paradigm. Further we well determine competitive advantages and how economic value is created through the internal resources, activities, and competencies of the firm. Here we draw on the resource based view and evolutionary economic theory. Further more tools for mapping and analysing the political and cultural context of the company will be presented and in connection to this we will focus on principal/agent theory and behavoralistic theory.

After this we will discuss how corporate strategies, business/competitive strategies, international strategies, growth strategies and strategies on innovation can be developed. We will look into the different roles for the patterning company and the size of the corporation drawing on transaction cost theory. When looking at the competitive strategies of the company we will discuss the importance of long-term commitment, game theory, neo-institutional theory and constitutional theory. Furthermore we will be concerned with entrepreneurship and innovation and some of Schumpeters ideas of value creation. We will also explain what kind of route companies develop through over the long-term view and what kind of classical growth problems they are faces with during this development. Finally, in this section we will look at how we can evaluate different strategies concerning their suitability, acceptability, and feasibility.

In the last section of the course we will exemplify how companies can implement their strategies through organising the company, develop its functional areas and by managing strategic change. Again we will return to the ideas of bounded rationality and the management of stakeholders introduced within behavioralism.

Learning Outcome

The aim of the course is to provide students with an analytical qualitative foundation for evaluating the income and risk potential of specific organizations and industries based on tools within the area of strategic management drawing on different theories of economic value creation. The course is based on the idea that organizations economic value creation is a function of how they position themselves in specific industries and of how they develop, manage and deploy there resources and competences. Further more organizations creation of value is assumed to be a consequence of the corporate-, the competitive and the growth strategies of these organisations as well as the organizations ability to execute these strategies.

This course aims to provide the students with an understanding of some of the challenges facing top managers, when they plan the long-term direction of an organization and its economic value creation and its exposure to business risk. These considerations will very often also be of importance for people who work with organizational budgeting and resource allocation between subsidiary companies. Furthermore people working in the financial sector also have to make evaluation concerning income potential of companies and industries in connection to offering loans or advise on investment in stocks etc.

In order to acquire the mark 12 within the course Strategic Management the student must demonstrate:

  • Knowledge about and understanding of relevant terms, concepts, models, processes and perspectives within the field of strategic management and be able to relate these to different perspectives on economic theory and value creation.
  • An ability to identify and solve strategic problems within organizations and industries by applying relevant terms, concepts, models, processes and perspectives from the discipline of strategic management on either cases or real organizations.
  • An ability to discuss and evaluate the strength and weakness of the applied terms, concepts, models, processes and perspectives within the field of strategic management in relation to the behind economic theories.
  • An ability to within the written exam case to identify and qualify strategic problems, argue for relevant use of models and there practical and theoretical implication, shortly present an organisation or an industry, conduct a couple of strategic analysis and put forward strategic solutions or identify possible strategic developments.
  • An ability to write about organisations and there environment within a clear and accurate language that make use of relevant terms and concept from the field of strategic management and economic theory.

MANDATORY LITERATURE:

Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes & Richard Whittington: ”Exploring Strategy – Text Only – Ninth Edition”, Financial Time/Prentice Hall 2010. (600 pages)

Joseph T. Maghoney: “Economic Foundations of Strategy”, Saga Publications 2005. (200 pages)

Mehmet Barca: “Economic Foundations of Strategic Management”, Ashgate 2003 (selected parts)

In order to follow this course a basic understanding of micro and macro economics is necessary.
3 hours of lectures per week for 14 weeks. Within the classes a combination of lectures, group work, student speeches and plenum discussion are applied. As a consequence students must prepare the text and cases in advanced. Further students must be willing to engage in presentation and discussion of text and cases.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 0,5
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 163,5
  • Total
  • 206,0
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 20 minutes under invigilation
The examination is a 20-minute oral exam with 20 minutes preparation.
Exam registration requirements
In order to go to the oral exam the students must hand in a 3 page individual exam paper.
Aid
Written aids allowed
All written aids is allowed at the preparation but to the examination you may only use a handwritten A4 made during the preparation.
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
100 % censurship
Exam period
Will be updated before the start of the semester
Criteria for exam assesment
The Student must in a satisfactory way demonstrate that he/she has mastered the learning outcome of the course.