Developing and Executing Strategy

The aim of this module is to provide students with an overview of strategic management as an academic discipline and a field of practice, provide an outline of the different aspects of strategy that will be covered during the course and demonstrate how the key management disciplines that make up the MBA core can be integrated into a strategic decision-making framework.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Explain the development of strategic management theory and practice over time
• Evaluate the role of different management disciplines such as economics, finance, marketing,
• people management and leadership in developing their strategic intelligence
• Understand the role of strategy in organizations and the difference between strategic and
• operational issues

Topics covered are as follows.

• Studying Strategic Management
• Strategy in relation to the other MBA core courses
• Defining Strategy
• The evolution of theory and practice in Strategic Management
• Strategy in different settings
• Course framework for Developing and Executing Strategy

The aim of this module is to examine the development of strategic intent, identify the required

components of strategy statements and examine contemporary issues such as ethics and corporate social responsibility.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Identify the key required components of a strategy statement
• Critically evaluate organizational strategies in terms of their stated intent, intended outcomes and
• logical consistency
• Understand the role of ethics and social responsibility in framing organizational purpose

Topics covered are as follows.

• Identifying and articulating an organization's purpose
• Mission, vision and values
• Articulating strategic intent
• Corporate social responsibility
• Sustainability and ethics

The aim of this module is to introduce strategic analysis by addressing common strategic issues in

organizations and providing tools and frameworks for diagnosing them.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Identify a number of common strategic issues in organizations
• Use and select from a number of strategy tools and frameworks to diagnose strategic issues and
• predict likely outcomes
• Propose and justify short and medium term solutions to common strategic issues

Topics covered are as follows.

• Business Issues
• Industry life cycles
• Organization life cycles
• Cultural Issues
• The cultural web
• Culture classifications
• Governance and Political Issues
• Ownership vs Control
• Shareholders vs Stakeholders

The aim of this module is to demonstrate how the environment external to an organization can be

conceptualized, scanned and analyzed in order to identify opportunities and threats, and inform both

strategic and operational decision-making.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Understand a variety of approaches to identifying and conceptualizing issues in in the external environment
• Conduct analysis of external issues and evaluate opportunities and threats in the environment

Topics covered are as follows.

• The environment – objects vs attributes vs perception
• Scanning and sources of information
• Scenario development and planning
• PEST analysis
• Strategic groups
• Segmentation
• Structural analysis of industries

The aim of this module is provide tools and techniques that can be used to look inside organizations and identify strengths, weaknesses and sources of competitive advantage.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Analyze the internal environment of an organization using a variety of multidisciplinary tools to identify sources of competitive advantage
• Propose solutions to internal structural, financial or cultural issues that take advantage of an organization's resources and capabilities

Topics covered are as follows.

• The value chain
• Value systems
• Economies of scale and scope
• Generating synergy
• Financial analysis
• Resources and capabilities analysis
• Dynamic capabilities
• SWOT analysis

This module provides students with a taxonomy of strategy options that can be used to generate and sustain competitive advantage and a variety of methods for selection and evaluation of strategic choices.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Describe the hierarchy of strategic options in terms of corporate and business decisions, strategic directions and methods
• Analyse and evaluate existing company strategies, identify and rectify misalignment
• Propose structured and clearly justified strategic roadmaps for the future and evaluate their eventual outcomes

Topics covered are as follows.

• Aims and tactics
• Strategic Directions
• Strategy directions
• Strategy methods
• Strategy evaluation

The aim of this module is to examine how strategy is delivered in practice. Research shows that many strategies are well-formulated but poorly implemented. This module demonstrates the challenges of implementation and reviews issues that need to be considered when moving from developing the logic of strategy to making things happen.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• Identify implementation challenges in organizations
• Analyze and evaluate strategies for their viability and propose methods of implementation appropriate for different organizational settings.

Topics covered are as follows.

• Strategy execution in practice
• The strategy cycle
• Structures and systems
• Managing change
• Evaluating performance