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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "MGT 498"
COURSE NAME: "Strategic Management"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2014
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Silvia Pulino
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 4:30 PM 5:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisites: Senior Standing and completion of all other Business core courses
OFFICE HOURS: Wednesdays 9.30am to 3.00pm or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This “capstone” course focuses on the roles and skills of the General Manager and on diagnosing and finding realistic solutions to complex strategic and organizational problems. Business situations will be analysed from the point of view of the General Manager to identify the particular tasks related to his/her unique role, which calls for leadership, integration across the functional areas, organizational development, strategy formulation and implementation.

The course builds on previous course work by providing an opportunity to integrate various functional areas and by providing a total business perspective. Since the focus is on pragmatic, action-oriented General Management issues, the course will be taught primarily through the case method.

Conceptual background will be provided by reading assigned chapters of the reader and various articles, which the student is expected to read and digest to class discussion.

Study questions will be provided for each case as guidelines for analysis; however class discussion will not necessarily be limited to these specific questions. They are intended to help students gain sufficient understanding of the material to be able to think on their feet in the classroom and deal with the questions that develop from the discussion.

Students would benefit from preliminary discussion in small groups.

Individual written work, group written work and presentations will be assigned, primarily as indicated in the attached schedule.

Pre-requisites: Completion of all Core Business Courses
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Foundation Concepts. Understanding Industry Structure. Creating Competitive Advantage. Dynamic Competition. The Corporate Dimension – Growth by Acquisition, International Strategy, Strategic Alliances, Corporate Governance. Entrepreneurial Strategy. Vision, Misison and Leadership.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students who complete the course successfully should be able to:

 1. Analyse the key competitive forces of an industry

 2. Assess the overall attractiveness of an industry from the perspective of both the existing participants and potential new entrants

 3. Identify key areas that require a strategic response

 4. Assess the skills and capabilities of a firm, including the qualities of its leadership

 5. Evaluate a company’s strategic health

 6. Formulate a sustainable generic strategy

 In addition, the course introduces or reinforces many transferrable skills, including:

 -          Oral presentation

 -          Team work

 -          Project management

 -          Business writing

TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Class participation 10%
Mid-term exam 20%
Final exam 20%
Group Project (paper) 20%
Group Project (Presentation) 10%
Term paper 20%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
No more than 3 absences allowed
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

 

NOTE: This table is merely indicative. The definitive schedule and dates will be those on MOODLE.

 

Class

Date

Topic

Prep

PART I – FOUNDATION CONCEPTS

1

T

9/3

Introduction

2

TH

9/5

What is Strategy?

What is Strategy? (E)[1]

3

T

9/10

Approaching cases

Environmental Analysis (M)[2]

Walmart, 2007 (H)[3]

4

TH

9/12

Assessing Performance

Walmart, 2007 (H)

PART II – UNDERSTANDING INDUSTRY STRUCTURE

5

T

9/17

Understanding Industry Structure

5 Forces (E)

6

TH

9/19

Napster and MP3

Napster (H)

7

F

9/20

The Chinese Fireworks Industry

The Chinese Fireworks Industry (H)

8

T

9/24

Wrap-up

PART III – CREATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

9

Th

9/26

Positioning

CEO as Strategist (E)

Strategy Maps (M)

10

T

10/1

Organizational capabilities

Capabilities Analysis (M)

Philips vs. Matsushita  (H)

11

Th

10/3

Values as a Source of Competitive Advantage

JetBlue Airways: Starting from Scratch (H)

12

T

10/8

Core Competencies

Starbucks (H)

13

Th

10/10

Wrap-up

14

T

10/15

MID-TERM EXAM

PART IV – DYNAMIC COMPETITION

15

Th

10/17

Retaliatory Pricing

Competitive Life-Cycle (M)

Dogfight over Europe: RyanAir (H)

16

T

10/22

Competition for Leadership Position

British Satellite Broadcasting vs. Sky Television (H)

17

Th

10/24

International strategies

KTM – Ready to Race (H)

18

T

10/29

Wrap-up

PART V – THE CORPORATE DIMENSION

19

Th

10/31

Mergers & Acquisitions

From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy (E)

Diversification Matrices (M)

Newell Co (H)

20

T

11/5

Strategic Alliances

Airborne Express (H)

21

Th

11/7

Corporate Governance

Fogdog (H)

22

T

11/12

Wrap-up

PART VI – OTHER STRATEGIC ISSUES

23

Th

11/14

Entrepreneurial Strategy

Blue Ocean (E)

Blue Ocean: From Theory to Practice (E)

24

T

11/19

Vision

Building your company’s vision (E)

Enspire Learning (H)

25

Th

11/21

Leadership

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (H)

26

T

11/26

Wrap-up

Th

11/28

thanksgiving

27

T

12/3

Project

28

Th

12/5

Project

exam

TBD


[1] (E): EBSCO Host (Library resources)

[2] (M) Available in Moodle

[3] HBS Case Pack