1 Business 189 Spring 2012 Dr. Mark Fruin Tuesdays 6-8:45 p.m. Course term: January 31 – May 15, 2012 Boccardo Business Center 130 COURSE OVERVIEW This course covers the basics of strategic management in large corporations and entrepreneurial firms. Today, with the globalization of business and the rapidity and complexity of economic, social, cultural, technological and political change, a serious re-examination of the determinants and methods of strategic planning is required. Strategy can be viewed as a problem-solving process in which both the goals and the means by which goals are obtained are determined. Since goals and means are indeterminate, there is arguably no “best” way of defining a firm’s strategy. But there are logical, well-supported and contextually relevant diagnoses, analytics, and proposals from which an optimal approach may be selected. An optimal approach is one which, when properly carried out, is most likely to promote firm objectives at a minimum cost given resource, market, and capability constraints. Management’s objectives are to plan, develop, understand, and evaluate a firm’s current strategy, isolate problems and potential problems, and develop alternative courses of action that will ensure both the attainment of immediate objectives and the ongoing viability of the enterprise. In doing this, the following factors must be considered: 1. External conditions and trends including the competitive, social, economic, technological, political and natural environments. 2. Organizational and “internal” resources, structures and processes – at the corporate and operational levels. 3. The values, aspirations and histories of key firm strategies and stakeholders, as well as the values and precedents embedded in the organization’s history, systems and culture. To capture the complexity and uncertainty inherent in deciding and implementing strategy, the course is taught through lectures, class discussion, case study methods and exercises. All are intended to provide a range of opportunities to develop skills in formulating and analyzing organizational strategy.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Understand the concept of strategy: how it is created, how it is used in managing an organization and driving business success. 2. Recognize the interrelationships among corporate strategy, business strategy, and functional area strategy. 3. Understand the organizational environment, how that environment may be analyzed, how it shapes strategy, how it influences organizational success. 4. Develop skills for appraising how organizational structure and systems relate to strategy. 5. Comprehend why some organizations succeed while others fail. 6. Identify the ways in which corporate strategies create value and, most importantly, economic value. 7. Be able to analyze how corporate leadership, control systems, and culture influence strategy choices at the business level. 8. Understand the complexities and tradeoffs inherent in launching and operating a business unit or firm. 9. Develop the ability to present strategy-related information and essential concepts quickly and effectively. 10. Analyze the performance and impact of corporate social responsibility in firms and assess business strategies in relation to the social, economic, environmental and technical conditions of the markets in which they are being developed and applied. COURSE MATERIALS - Charles W. L. Hill and Gareth R. Jones, Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, Houghton Mifflin Press, 9th edition, 2010 (including both text and cases) - Additional readings as indicated by the instructor Recommended supplemental business publications with a strategic orientation: - Academic and professional business and economic journals - Financial Times (http://news.ft.com/home/us/) - Harvard Business Review (www.hbsp.harvard.edu)3 - Fortune (www.fortune.com) - Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) - The Economist (www.economist.com) COURSE FORMAT, ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING Course format This course will employ a collaborative, seminar format in order to bring out the professional and academic knowledge of the entire group and to make collective sense of the information. The format calls for commitments on the parts of both students and instructor. The instructor… - Guides review of relevant topics to facilitate comprehension of the subject matter. - Prepares lectures, organize classes, grades exams and papers, and is available to answer students’ questions and provide guidance outside of class. - Structures individual and group learning projects to foster understanding from multiple perspectives. Students are expected to… - Adhere to class schedules and requirements as to assignments, start-times, and breaks. - Complete readings prior to class, and complete papers/assignments on time and according to format. - Contribute actively to class discussion, being polite to the instructor and fellow students. - ENGAGE with the subject matter: think about ideas, imagine how they apply in current and future professional roles, how they correspond or conflict with prior understandings. Class Attendance & Participation Class attendance is assumed because active, “face-to-face” participation is essential to learning within the seminar format. Participation is encouraged through the granting of all-or-nothing extra credit (see “grading” below) for perfect attendance. In addition to being available for scheduled class sessions, the seminar format demands that students commit themselves fully to the learning process by taking an active role in group4 discussions and projects, dedicating time and effort to completing the readings and preparing assignments, etc. Participation has both qualitative and quantitative components. Finally, and importantly, students are expected to exhibit respect for their peers by supporting them in attaining their individual leaning objectives. Case Analyses Hill & Jones’ Strategic Management contains 30 recent business cases as well as brief “mini-case” summaries. Students are to prepare, for in-class discussion, the case/s assigned for each session. Cases have been chosen by the instructor to exemplify specific elements of strategic economic analysis and provide students with opportunities to employ creative thinking, indivi-dually and in teams. The process of preparing case analyses is addressed