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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "MGT 498"
COURSE NAME: "Strategic Management"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2016
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Silvia Pulino
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 11:30 AM 12:45 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:
Focuses on the role and responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer, which call for leadership, integration across functional areas, organizational development, and strategy formulation and implementation.
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, Mission 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 transferable 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 participationThe class participation grade will reflect preparation, attendance and quality and frequency of participation. Class preparation will require students to read all the assigned material and to explore the guiding questions provided in Moodle. Class participation will help students understand the material better and build confidence in public speaking. In each class, I will ask a student to make a brief presentation of the material s/he prepared, but all students are encouraged to participate in almost every class at least once and if possible more than once, actively engaging in the debate. The instructor may also indicate university open lectures that are relevant to the course; students are expected to attend such lectures (unless there is a scheduling clash with another course) as part of their class participation activities. Participation to these activities will enhance the class participation grade. Assignments and deadlines will be posted on Moodle. Students are required to sign up and keep up to date with all Moodle postings for the course. 20%
Group Project (paper)Students will organize themselves into groups and conduct an in-depth analysis of a real company, providing a description of the company’s strategy and achievements and an assessment of how suitable the current strategy is to meet future challenges. Students are required to submit a written paper (15-20 pages plus Bibliography and Attachments) and to make a brief (15 minutes) presentation of their findings. Specific Guidelines for the report will be provided on Moodle.30%
Group Project (Presentation)Students will present their work in lieu of a final exam. Presentations will be graded on the basis of style, delivery, research, content and visual aids. While the grade for the presentation is individual, it will inevitably be enhanced by strong team work in the preparation of the report and the presentation visuals. Specific Guidelines for the presentation will be posted on Moodle.20%
Term paperStudents will submit a term paper (7-10 pages plus Bibliography and Attachments) that will test their understanding and mastery of industry analysis. Guidelines for the Term Paper will be provided on Moodle.30%
Writing LabUse of proper and correct English is deemed essential in today’s business world. For this reason, work where the thought process behind calculations is not explained in clear and precise language will be penalised, even if the calculations themselves are correct. Students may avail themselves of the JCU Writing Centre ([email protected]) to review their work before a submission. This programme is designed to enhance students’ writing skills, with particular attention to grammar, spelling, vocabulary, language register, and organisation of ideas. Historically, participating students have shown marked improvement in their writing skills, which has also reflected upon their course grades. Poorly written work will be heavily penalized. 

-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 cours
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:

Students are expected to come to class and to arrive on time.

Absences: students are allowed up to 3 absences during the semester.

Tardiness: students arriving more than 5 minutes late for class will be marked as absence (though they may stay and follow the lesson).

Persistent absence or tardiness usually precludes satisfactory performance in the course, and will result in a lower class participation grade. In any case, students are responsible for all material covered by the syllabus and/or discussed in class, whether or not they are actually present.

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 is the one on MOODLE.

 

Class

 

Date

Topic

Material / Preparation

PART I – FOUNDATION CONCEPTS

1

Introduction

Mission Statements

The Strategic Management Process

The Wheel of Competitive Strategy

2

What is Strategy?

What is Strategy? (H)[1]

How to Read, Discuss and Write Persuasively about Cases

3

Approaching cases

Assessing Performance

CS[2], Introduction, pp. xiii-xx

Wal-Mart, 2007 (H)

4

Environmental Analysis and Strategy Identification

Wal-Mart, 2007 (H)

Environmental Analysis (M)[3]

What is Your Strategy? (H)

PART II – UNDERSTANDING INDUSTRY STRUCTURE

5

Understanding Industry Structure

The Five Forces that Shape Competitive Strategy (E)[4]

6

The Chinese Fireworks Industry

The Chinese Fireworks Industry (H)

 

7

Competitive Strategies in Mature Industries

The Transition to Industry Maturity (CS, ch. 11)

8

Napster and MP3

Napster (H)

9

Competitive Strategies in Emerging Industries

Competitive Strategy in Emerging Industries (CS, ch. 10)

PART III – CREATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

10

Role of the CEO

Competitive Strategies

Positioning

CEO as Strategist (E)

Generic Competitive Strategies (CS, ch. 2)

Strategy Maps (M)

11

Organizational Capabilities

Capabilities Analysis (M)

Competing on Capabilities (E)

Term Paper due

12

Core Competencies

Starbucks (H)

13

Values as a Source of Competitive Advantage

JetBlue Airways: Starting from Scratch (H)

14

Value Chain and Capabilities Analysis – the JCU Case

Value Chain Framework and Support System for Higher Education (M)

Group Composition Memorandum due

15

Value Chain (continued)

 

PART IV – DYNAMIC COMPETITION

16

Competition

Creating Competitive Advantage (H)

17

Retaliatory Pricing

Dogfight over Europe: Ryan Air (H)

18

International strategies

KTM – Ready to Race (H)

PART V – THE CORPORATE DIMENSION

19

Mergers & Acquisitions

From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy (E)

Diversification Matrices (M)

Newell Co (H)

20

Strategic Alliances

Airborne Express (H)

21

Strategic Alliances

Airborne Express (H) (continued)

22

Corporate Governance

Fogdog (H)

PART VI – OTHER STRATEGIC ISSUES

23

Entrepreneurial Strategy

Blue Ocean (E)

Blue Ocean: From Theory to Practice (E)

24

Vision

Building your company’s vision (E)

Enspire Learning (H)

25

Leadership

Enspire Learning (H) (continued

26

Project

 

 

THANKSGIVING

 

27

Project

 

28

Project

Group Project due

Presentation due

exam

 

TBD

FINAL PRESENTATIONS

 

 




 

[2] (CS) Competitive Strategy, Michael E. Porter, on Reserve in Library

 

[3] (M) Available in Moodle

 

[4] (E) Available online through EBSCO