Programme

Corporate strategy

1. Introduction and the concept of strategy
• Overview of the course, introduction to corporate strategy
• Reading:
• Chapter 1 "The concept of strategy"
• Chapter 2 "Goals, values and performance"
• Case study: Madonna
• Questions:
1. On which market does market compete?
2. Why did she succeed when many other potential "stars" have failed?
3. Would a similar strategy work today?
2. Industry analysis and competitive positioning
• Entry barriers and isolating mechanisms, bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, intensity of competition, threat of substitutes, use of industry analysis.
• Reading:
• Chapter 3 "Analyzing the industry"
• Michael Porter "What is Strategy?" Harvard Business Review, November-December 1996
• Case study: United States airline industry in 2004
• Questions:
1. What forces drove de-regulation and were their expectations wrong?
2. Has the turbulence in the competitive environment been atypical
   must their expect more shocks?
3. What can an airline do to smooth out turbulence and avoid cyclical bankruptcies?
4. Why have barriers to exit been such a problem?
3. Intra-industry analysis
• Strategic groups within industries, positioning within industries, core competence, resource-based advantage
• Reading:
• Chapter 4 "Intra-Industry Analysis"
• Case study: Ford and the world automobile industry
• Questions:
1. While a U.S. icon, Ford expanded abroad, which issues did it face in achieving the benefits of globalisation?
2. How have the large manufacturers maneged to maintain their dominance of the industry?
3. What has been the role of cost reduction and how has this been achieved?
4. How might Ford respond to the growth of China?
4. Competitive advantage - 1
• Resources and capabilities, value-chain, core competence
• Reading:
• Chapter 5 "Analyzing resources and capabilities"
• Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad, "The Core Competence of the Corporation" Harvard Business Review May-June 1990.
• Case study: Eastman Kodak
• Questions:
1. Are George Eastman's business principles still valid today?
2. How did the shift from imaging to digital imaging change the business?
3. Is vertical integration applicable to the digital imaging business?
4. What did the Kodak brand stand for 2004?
5. Competitive advantage - 2
• generic strategy, differentiation advantage, cost advantage
• Reading:
• Chapter 7 "The nature and sources of competitive advantage"
• Chapter 9 "Differentiation advantage"
• Case study:  Harley-Davidson
• Questions:
1. Just what is it that is special about a Harley-Davidson?
2. How did it survive as the last American motorbike manufacturer?
3. What was the role of the Harley Owners' Group?
4. How can a company justify the sorts of prices it charges?
6. Focus strategy and cost advantage
• Economies of scale, economies of scope, learning and experience curve, cost and buyer's willingness to pay, dual advantage
• Reading:
• Chapter 8 "Cost advantage"
• Case study: Wal-Mart
• Questions:
1. How has Wal-Mart balanced global economies of scale with local cultural differences in shopping?
2. Is Wal-Mart purchasing more than cost reduction?
3. What is the role of logistics in the Wal-Mart success?
4. Can the success be continued indefinitely?
7. Sustaining competitive advantage
• Imitation, substitution, hold-up, new competitive dynamics, industry evolution, existing and potential rivals
• Reading:
• Chapter 10 "Industry evolution"
• Case study: Royal Dutch Shell
• Questions:
1. Why had Shell been able to avoid change when others had felt that essential?
2. When change was implemented, was it sufficient?
3. Was the new structure "fit for purpose"?
8. Competitive economics, sustainability, globalization
• Reading:
• Case study:  Eni spa - building an international energy major
• Questions:
1. Which forces required it to change strategy?
2. How did Eni develop its global business?
3. How was progress in its strategy measured?
4. How well has Eni coped with external changes?
9. Multi-business firms
• Vertical integration, diversification, synergy, organizational integration, resource specificity, knowledge transfer
• Reading:
• Chapter 13 "Vertical integration"
• Chapter 15 "Diversification strategy"
• Case study:  Birds' eye
• Questions:
  
  1. How was Bird's Eye influenced by downstream possession of refridgerators in shops and homes? How did it try to encourage these?
  2. Why did the market share held by Birds' Eye decline?
  3. What has been the role of "own brand" goods offered by the retailers?
  4. What might be alternatives to vertical integration?
10. Global strategy
• Geographic configuration, coordination, Comparative national advantage, multinational, transnational, and home-based business models
• Reading:
• Chapter 14 "Global strategies and the multinational corporation"
• Case study: Eurodisney
• Questions:
1. Is the Disney truly global?
2. Was the direct involvement of Disney beneficial to the project?
3. To what extent were the problems "cultural" and how were these addressed?
4. What did the change to "Disneyland Paris" signify?
11. Corporate strategy
• Managing the multi-business corporation
• Reading:
• Chapter 16 "Managing the multi-business corporation"
• Case study: Richard Branson and the Virgin Group of Companies in 2004
• Questions:
1. What resources, if any, link the Virgin Group's many businesses together?
2. Which businesses would you invest in, which would you divest or exit, and why?
• a. Which businesses are attractive, which are unattractive?
• b. Which businesses fit well in the portfolio, which do not fit?
3. Where should Branson expand next?
4. What changes, if any, should be made to the group's organizational structure or management processes?:
12. Trends in strategic management
• Reading:
• Henry Mintzberg (1990) "The Design School: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, 11 (3), 171-195.
• David Teece, G. Pisano, and A. Shuen (1997) "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal 18 (7), 509-533.
• Ron Sanchez and Aime Heene (1997) "Reinventing strategic management: New theory and practice for competence-based competition," European Management Journal, 15 (3), 303-317.
13. Student presentations
14. Student presentations