CORSO DI STUDIO: Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Economia aziendale                                                 a.a. 2015/2016

Denominazione insegnamento/Course Title

Business Strategy / Strategia d'impresa

Lingua dell’insegnamento: Inglese

Crediti e ore di lezione: 9 crediti; 72 ore di lezione

Moduli: NO

Settore/scientifico disciplinare: SECS-P/08

Docente: Andrea Moretti

Indirizzo email: andrea.moretti@uniud.it

Pagina web personale: http://people.uniud.it/andrea.moretti

Prerequisiti e propedeuticità/Requirements

There are no formal requirements. But students should be familiar with the content of the course of General Management and Operations Management (Economia e Gestione delle Imprese, BSc) taught in the undergraduate program. In addition, knowledge of some of the topics discussed in the courses of Organizational Theory and Design (Organizzazione Aziendale), taught in the undergraduate program may be helpful to better understand some themes of the course.

For students without a business economics (Bsc) background two useful references to know are:

Krajewski L.J., Ritzman L.P. (2002) Operation Management. Strategy and Analysis, Prentice Hall, VI edition

Daft R. (2010) Organization Theory and Design, XI° edition South-Western Cengage Learing

Conoscenze e abilità da acquisire/Knowledge and skills

The course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject of corporate & business strategy of firms and organizations.  Furthermore, it offers an overview of the theories, methods and techniques of Business Model, in an operational perspective.

Skills related to the discipline

The course aims to provide the fundamental concepts and knowledge on the topic of corporate & business strategy.

In particular, at the end of the course, students will:

• know the main theoretical theories and models related to corporate and business strategy;

• know the main methodologies for the implementation of business strategy;

• know the main theories, methodologies, techniques of Business Model, conceived as a tool for the analysis of a firm business strategy;

• be able to apply such theoretical knowledge to the diagnosis of business cases and problems of organizations of different size, sector, complexity;

• be able to apply such theoretical knowledge to formulate guidelines for the definition of corporate and business strategy solution, with reference to case studies related to organizations of different size, sector, complexity;

Soft skills

Students should be able to independently and critically formulate a diagnosis of strategic problems, and evaluate an intervention. Students should be able to choose independently which tools to adopt in the development of a strategic management process, given the environmental and organizational conditions.

Through teamwork, students should acquire the ability to work on projects, to manage independently a complex task, to manage conflicts, to manage independently their working time. Furthermore, they should acquire the ability to present oral and written analysis of a business strategy project.

Programma e contenuti dell’insegnamento/Course description

In order to incorporate the latest development in the discipline, the program may change. Any changes will be communicated during the first lecture and published via the online platform. Students are invited to attend the first lesson, to refer to the online platform, or, alternatively, to contact the lecturer.

The course will deal with the following themes:

The Concept of Strategy

• The role of strategy in success
• A framework for strategy analysis
• The evolution of strategic management
• What is strategy? Who do we describe it?
• How is strategy made?
• Strategy and not-for-profit organizations

Goals, Values, and Performance

• Strategy as a quest for value
• Value for whom?
• Putting performance analysis into practice
• The Balanced Scorecard
• Strategy and real options

Industry Analysis: The Fundamentals

• The objectives of industry analysis
• From environmental analysis to industry analysis
• Porter’s Five Forces Framework
• Applying industry analysis
• Industry and market boundaries
• Identifying Key Success Factors

Analysing Resources and Capabilities

• The role of resources and capabilities in strategy formulation
• Identifying resources and capabilities
• Appraising resources and capabilities
• Developing strategy implications

The Fundamentals of Strategy Implementation

The analysis of competitive advantage

• How competitive advantage emerges and is sustained
• Types of competitive advantage
• Cost advantage analysis
• Differentiation advantage analysis
• Implementing cost and differentiation strategies

Business Strategy in different industry contexts

• Industry Evolution and Strategic Change
• Technology-based Industries and the Management of Innovation
• Competitive Advantage in Mature Industries

The classification of strategic options: a proposal

Corporate Strategy

• Vertical Integration and the Scope of the Firm
• Diversification Strategy
• Global Strategies and the Multinational Corporation
• Implementing Corporate Strategy: Managing the Multibusiness Firm

Current Trends in Strategic Management

Business Model:  Canvas, Design, Process.

Attività di apprendimento e metodi didattici previsti/Teaching and Learning activities

Several teaching methods will be employed, including: frontal lectures, classroom discussions of business cases and assignments, presentations of managers and entrepreneurs, workshops, short-term projects.

Reference textbooks will be suggested during the first class, and communicated via the online platform. In addition, teaching materials synthesizing the topics discussed in class will be distributed via the online platform. Other materials will be distributed via the online platform.

Students are recommended to study the reference book(s) and the other texts distributed through the online platform; studying the presentations synthesizing the topics discussed in class is insufficient to ensure a productive learning. It is possible that not all the arguments constituting the course program are covered in class; students are required to study individually these subjects.

Class attendance will not be systematically registered; however, attendance is recommended for a productive learning.

Participation in teamwork is optional; however, participation is recommended for a productive learning.

Modalità di verifica dell’apprendimento/Examination

The exam is designed to assess students’ knowledge of the contents of the course program and their ability to critically interpret and apply that knowledge to a business problem.

The exam is written.

The evaluation criteria of the written test are the following: breadth and depth of knowledge of the contents of the course program; relevance and appropriateness of the connections established among the topics covered in the course; correctness and originality in the critical analysis of a business problem; appropriateness in the use of the methods for the purpose of the analysis; effective communication.

The test is the same for attending and non-attending students.

The outcomes of short-term projects and participation in class will be evaluated as specified during the first lecture and communicated via the online platform.

Testi/Bibliografia/Bibliography

The general references include (compulsory):

• Grant, R.M. (2013). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Wiley.
• Osterwalder A., Pigneur Y. (2010). Business model generation, Wiley.

For specific topics  (compulsory):

• Donaldson T., Preston L.E. (1995) “The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, and Implications”, in  The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 65-91
• Jensen M.C. (2010) “Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function”, in Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 32-43
• Mintzberg, Waters, (1985) “Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent”, in  Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1985), pp. 257-272.
• Cohen M.D., March J.G., Olsen J.P. (1972), “A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice”, in Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1-25
• Hagel J., Singer M. (1999). Unbundling the corporation, in Harvard Business Review March April, http://www.strategyworld.org/unbundling.pdf
• Eisenmann, T., Parker, G., Van Alstyne M. (2006), “Strategies for two-sided markets” in Harvard Business Review, October  https://wiki.aalto.fi/download/attachments/38374131/van+Alstyne+HBR+Two-sided+markets.pdf

More readings and further instructions regarding the literature will be given during the course.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica/Further readings and support material

The online platform will be used for the virtual office hours, when such feature is implemented. Otherwise, email is the preferred medium of communication.

All communications related to the course will be published on the online platform (https://materialedidattico.uniud.it).

Tesi/Thesis

Verify the list of thesis project offered on the personal page of Andrea Moretti.

Then contact Andrea Moretti.

Note/Remarks

Students who do not attend the class, who have a special enrollment (for example: single courses), who take part in international mobility projects, or with special needs, are encouraged to contact the lecturer promptly, preferably via email or through the online platform, for requests regarding the program and the exam.