Strategic Management of International Companies

2019/2020

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

5

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Магистерская программа "Международный бизнес", направление подготовки "Менеджмент"

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

1 year, 3, 4 module

Instructor

Kratko, Irina

Course Syllabus

Abstract

To succeed in the future, managers must develop the resources and capabilities needed to gain and sustain advantage in competitive markets—traditional and emerging. The way in which organizations attempt to develop such competitive advantage constitutes the essence of their strategy. This course introduces the concept of strategic management through readings, discussion and case analyses, and considers the basic direction and goals of an organization, the environment (social, political, technological, economic and global factors), industry and market structure, and organizational strengths and weaknesses. The emphasis is on the development and successful implementation of strategy in different types of firms across industries.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the nature of strategic competitiveness and develop the ability to analyze the com-petitive environment facing a firm, assess the attractiveness of the industry and isolate potential sources of competitive advantage and disadvantage.
• Develop business level strategies by defining the type of advantage sought, scope of operations and activities required to deliver the chosen strategy. Assess the likely sustainability of firm strategies and competitive positions.
• Discriminate among the types of data that general managers need to evaluate alternative scenar-ios. Make quantitative assessments of strategic alternatives and develop logical, coherent and persuasive analyses for a desired course of action.
• Consider the actions of competitors and how that impacts your ability to reach your strategic goals. Develop courses of actions that incorporate the actions of multiple players in the marketplace.
• Integrate knowledge and apply analytical techniques from various disciplines, including finance, accounting, marketing, operations, organization theory and organizational behavior, and particularly economics. The goal is to identify and analyze strategic issues and develop solu-tions in the form of actionable plans with the purpose of developing and sustaining competitive advantage.
• Consider how to effectively implement plans within the constraints imposed by the complex behavior of individuals within organizations. Each student should be able to effectively communicate his or her conclusions in both oral and written form.
• Assess differing styles of management and leadership and consider the essential role of person-al values in leading an organization.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• know the strategic management process: the role of strategy and management, main steps and main pitfalls
• get introduced to coherent framework of value creation and value capture
• be able to formulate but also to critically analyze various business strategies
• develop related concepts that are used to analyze the competitive environment of a firm and its internal strengths and weaknesses
• get familiar with the current frontier knowledge of academic research in strategy

Course Contents

• Introduction. The Strategic Management Process
  The role of the strategy in organizations. Strategic role of managers at different levels in an organization. Main steps in a strategic planning process. Main pitfalls of the strategic planning
• Environmental & Industry Analysis
  Show how industry & environmental analysis is critical to a firm's strategy. Explain how to perform industry analysis using a powerful framework. Explore the different applications of industry analysis. Address the criticisms and limitations
• Capabilities Analysis: Building Competitive Advantage. Competitive Dynamics
  Source of competitive advantage. Nature of capabilities and their development. Value chain analysis. The importance of preventing core competencies from becoming core rigidities
• Business-Level Strategy
  The nature of competitive positioning in reference to the main factors that underlie the choice of a successful business-level strategy. Differentiate between the principal kinds of generic business-level strategies and appreciate their advantages and disadvantages. Appreciate the competitive positioning issues involved in fragmented and growing, mature, and declining industry environments.
• Setting Aspirations: Mission, Vision, and Values
  The components of a corporate mission statement. Importance of stakeholders claims. Hi-erarchy of corporate goals. The concept of social responsibility
• Corporate-Level Strategy
  Main corporate strategies and their special characteristics. Arguments for and against con-centrating in just one industry. Conditions under which a company is likely to pursue vertical integration as a means to strengthen its position in its core industry. The main alternatives to vertical integration. Different levels and types of diversification. Value creation through related and unrelated diversification strategy.
• International Strategy
  Main motives for firm to go abroad. Different strategies that companies can pursue in the global arena. Basic entry decisions a company faces then going international. Main modes for entering foreign markets. Global strategic alliances.
• Blue Ocean Strategy. Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
• Strategy Development and Implementation
  Organizational strategy implementation through organization structure. Building blocks of organization structure. Analyzing a Company as a Portfolio of Core Competences. Distinguish between vertical and horizontal differentiation. The nature and functions of strategic control systems

Assessment Elements

• Online Class Participation
• Class Quizzes
• Case Write-Ups
• Group Member Evaluation
• Online Course Project Presentations in Google Hangouts

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.2 * Case Write-Ups + 0.1 * Class Quizzes + 0.05 * Group Member Evaluation + 0.2 * Online Class Participation + 0.45 * Online Course Project Presentations in Google Hangouts

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Collis, D. J., & Montgomery, C. A. (2008). Competing on Resources. Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8), 140–150. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=32709010
• Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary Strategy Analysis (Vol. Text, Ninth edition). Chichester: Wiley. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1639480
• Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1994). Competing for the Future (Vol. [Academic Subscription]). Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1798853
• Hendrikse, G. W. J. (George). (1995). Fundamental Issues in Strategy. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.94E1DB93
• John H. Dunning, & Sarianna M. Lundan. (2008). Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy, Second Edition. Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.b.elg.eebook.3215
• Porter, M. E. (1996). What Is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 61–78. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=9611187954
• Porter, M. E. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78–93. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=28000138

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive Strategy : Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (Vol. [New ed.]). New York: Free Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1964532
• Shahzad, K., Ullah Bajwa, S., & Zia, S. A. (2013). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries & Competitors. South Asian Journal of Management, 20(3), 194–199. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=91873180