Strategic Management of the Firm

INTRODUCTION

The main objective of this course is to equip students with current knowledge and practical skills in strategic management. This is especially important in order to provide up-to-date applied knowledge of fundamental strategic issues, their pitfalls, and how to  “read between-the-lines” of strategic management. This will be very useful for your career as a consultant, business analyst, corporate director, etc. We will discuss up-to-date and “hot” topics that companies face today.

The course has the following main learning objectives:
     - Understand the concept of strategy and the factors that impact on strategic decision making, implementation and evaluation.
     - Understand the relationship between strategic planning and business performance.
     - Conduct in-depth organizational, industrial and environmental analysis.
     - Understand how the differences in the economic, socio-cultural, political and legal environments among countries affect the decision making process and strategic paths.
     - Develop strategies for domestic and international operations.
     - Apply the information received during theoretical sessions to current situations involving companies internationally and/or globally active.

REQUIREMENTS
     - Fluent in English

CONTENTS

Classes will be conducted in seminar format promoting student’s participation. Attendance is not compulsory, but it is crucial to attain a satisfactory grade. It is important to remark that most of the theoretical material is needed to undertake the case studies and the presentations. Fundamental theoretical notions and special issues in strategic management will be discussed in class and applied on case studies. Although there is a theoretical base, the class is mainly case study based.

The outline of the course follows:
     1. Course Introduction, Overview of course requirements, Group assignments, etc.
     2. The Scope And Challenge of Strategic Management
     3. The Cultural Environment of Global Markets
     4. Organizational Structure and its Impact on Firm Performance
     5. Industry Analysis
     6. Internal Analysis
     7. Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage
     8. Matching Strategies According to the Industry and the Firm’s characteristics