BUSI42115: Strategy

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• Strategy seeks to explain firms' success or lack of success. Strategy is concerned with matching a firm's resources and capabilities to the opportunities that arise in the external environment. The emphasis of the module is on two themes: 1) the interface between strategy and the external environment, and 2) the interface between strategy and the internal environment of the firm - more specifically, with the resources and capabilities of the firm.

• Concepts of strategy.
• Strategic purpose.
• Environmental and industry analysis.
• Analysing resources and capabilities.
• Sustainable Competitive Advantage - including sources of advantage (cost and differentiation) and sustainability.
• Corporate strategy - including vertical, horizontal and international scope, methods of development and managing synergy.
• Corporate culture and strategy.
• Strategic management processes.
• Managing strategic change.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of this module students will:
• Have a critical appreciation of the contribution strategy can make to successful performance;
• Be able to recognise the multiple roles that strategic management plays within organisations;
• Be able to identify structural features of an industry that influence competition and profitability, but also critically analyse competition in order to identify opportunities for competitive advantage within an industry;
• Have a critical appreciation of the role of resources and capabilities as a basis for competitive advantage;
• Be able to distinguish and analyse the primary types of competitive advantage;
• Be able to understand the challenges of managing complex, multi-business organisations, including the relative merits of linking businesses and the alternative approaches available to the corporate centre;
• Have a critical appreciation of the challenge of managing strategic change.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of this module students will:
• Be able to apply a range of relevant strategic analysis tools to assess complex business cases;
• Be able to evaluate differing strategic options.

Key Skills:

• Written communication;
• Planning, organising and time management;
• Problem solving and analysis;
• Using initiative;
• Computer literacy.

• The learning outcomes will be met through a combination of lectures, guided reading, individual exercises and seminars.
• The assessment of the module, by individual written assignment, is designed to test students' knowledge and understanding of the subject-matter and their ability to apply academic knowledge to real-world case-based business problems.

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