BA 469 -- STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS POLICY

Spring 2007

[Schedule] [Handouts] [Lecture Notes] [Chapter Discussion Questions]

[Case Materials]

Professor: Thomas Dowling (dowling@bus.oregonstate.edu)

Office: Bexell 224C

Hours: Tuesday 12:00 - 1:00

Thursday 12:00 - 1:00 and by appointment

Required Text:

H&J Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, 6^thed.

C. Hill and G. Jones (Houghton Mifflin, 2004)

Course Objectives/Content

This course focuses on the activities of the general manager, who has the responsibility for establishing the shape, character, and direction of the total enterprise (or one of its business units). The general manager must combine a broad understanding of the organization, and its environment, with a detailed knowledge of the functional areas of the business. This course will provide you with a broad overview of the basic concepts in strategic management. You will be exposed to a number of frameworks and models to better understand and analyze the macro-environment, the industry environment, and firm level resources.

At the end of the course you should be able to think strategically, as opposed to only having a functional orientation. And you should be able to formulate and to implement creative and innovative strategies that are conducive to the demands of the firm and the environment in which it competes.

We will pursue the following course objectives:

Ø Develop skills in determining company-wide strategy;

Ø Develop an awareness of the impact that external environment factors have on business strategy;

Ø Develop the ability to discern between the causes and the symptoms of business problems;

Ø Understand the problems associated with long-term strategy formulation and implementation;

Ø Gain an appreciation for the complexity of the general manager's job, the types of strategic decisions that all organizations must make, and the variables which drive and constrain strategic decisions.

Methodology

Strategic Management and Business Policy builds on the other business courses you have taken. In many ways, strategic management is more a business approach or "way of thinking" than an academic discipline. Yet thinking and managing strategically requires careful analysis, insightful problem-solving, and being open to new approaches.

Strategic management cannot be best taught or learned in the conventional read-lecture-test manner. Strategic management is most effectively learned by discussing and debating real-world issues with others. Case studies provide an excellent means for raising pertinent managerial issues, framing discussion and debate of these issues, and involving students actively in analysis and managerial decision-making. Thus, case studies form the foundation for this course. Class sessions will involve lectures, discussion of assigned cases, and formal group presentations of case analyses.

Student Responsibilities

Attendance

As this is a case-oriented course, the most important part of the learning will take place in the classroom. Your contribution in class is essential; your participation will be significantly missed if you are absent. Thus, I consider attendance to be very important. Attendance will be monitored and will figure significantly in your class participation score. Even when absent, you are responsible for ensuring that any assignment is handed in on time.

Class Participation

One necessary skill for job holders and managers at all organizational levels is to effectively articulate the methods and results of business analysis; a second is to convince others of recommendations based on such analysis. Active class participation is an invaluable opportunity to develop and improve these skills. Therefore, class participation is also an essential part of the learning experience in this course. By failing to take an active role in class discussions, you lose a major incentive to prepare your analysis with the thoroughness which leads to real understanding, and you forego the opportunity to develop career essential communication skills.

Therefore, you are expected to be prepared to discuss EVERY case, to make brief presentations when called upon, and to respond to the points made by other students. At a minimum, case preparation should enable each student to:

Ø Clearly explain (not merely identify) the major issues in the case;

Ø Describe the impact of these issues on the company;

Ø Formulate alternative courses of action which directly address the issues;

Ø Recommend alternatives to management.

Assignments and Grading

Students will be evaluated according to their performance on the following individual and group assignments. Students are encouraged to discuss their ideas and analyses with others, both inside and outside their case teams. However, individual written assignments should reflect only your individual effort, and group assignments should reflect only the team's efforts. As the class will discuss each written assignment on the day it is due, late case assignments will not be accepted.

Team Assignments

Students will form case teams the first day of the term. These case teams will be responsible for preparing an in-class case presentation, developing case critiques, and presenting a sector analysis for the industry that the team’s case company competes in. Each student's contribution to the team will be evaluated by her/his peers at the end of the term using an evaluation form to be provided by the instructor. This evaluation will help determine the student's individual case team assignment grade.

Ø Sector Analysis: Each case team will be required to report in class the week of their case presentation significant developments and strategic issues in an industry sector. This presentation will provide an industry analysis based on the business sector that the case company participates in. This presentation is to be based on standard industry analysis techniques. The instructor will provide a separate handout explaining this assignment in more detail. There is also a sample Sector Analysis presentation from a previous term that your team may wish to consult for more background.

Ø Case Presentation: Each team will present an analysis of one of the "presentation" cases (indicated on the schedule). The prepared portion of the presentation SHOULD NOT EXCEED 25 TO 30 MINUTES (not counting time for answering questions). Every team member must be involved in the presentation. Case presentations will be evaluated on content, clarity, and the extent to which the presentation is professionally delivered.

A case presentation outline and grading form will be provided by the instructor. Extensive class case discussion will follow each presentation. Students who are not involved in that day's presentation are still responsible for analyzing the case and contributing to the discussion (see Case Critique below).

Powerpoint graphics are expected for this presentation. For the Sector Analysis and the Case Presentation, a copy of the PowerPoint graphics must be sent as an e-mail attachment to the instructor for grading purposes before 8:00 a.m. the day of the presentation. A copy of other supporting presentation materials (i.e. overheads, financial illustrations) used in class should be provided to the instructor immediately following the presentation.

Ø Case Critique: Each team will participate in a review of each case presentation. Each team member must participate in the critique. Your team is expected to have questions prepared prior to the case discussion to ask the presenting group. These questions and a summary of key issues for your functional area must be turned in to the instructor (typed) at the beginning of class on the day of the case presentation.

The case critique matrix included as part of this course outline provides different organizational 'views' your team will be responsible for this term. The quality of each team’s case critique (identifying key issues & preparing insightful, challenging questions) will be a component of the case team assignments score for each team member.

Individual Assignments

Ø Case Memos: You will be required to write a case memo for each case presented by student case teams (except for the one presented by your team). Each memo will be written as if to the CEO of the case company. The instructor will provide focus questions plus issues for analysis and comment for each case.

Final Grades - will be based upon the following distribution of points:

Group Assignments:

Sector Analysis Presentation 10.0% (100 points)

Case Presentation 20.0% (200 points)

Case Critiques 5.0% (_50 points)

Individual Assignments:

Case Memos 20.0% (200 points/50 points each)

Midterm Exam 17.5% (175 points)

Final Exam 17.5% (175 points)

Class Attendance/

Participation, Peer 10.0% (100 points)

Evaluation Quality

Note: There will be a peer review process within each of the case teams to ensure an equitable distribution of work and individual contribution.

The expanded letter grade system is used in BA 469.

Academic Honesty

All written work you do for this course must be your own. Be diligent about citing any work you do use in your research assignments, presentations, and papers (however it is not necessary to cite information from the textbook when writing your case analysis papers). We all know how easy it is to cut and paste material that’s available electronically, however doing so without citing the source is not only inappropriate but will have severe consequences on your academic progress. Here’s a link to the statement of expectations for student conduct on the university website:  http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm.

The University policy on academic honesty without exception will be strictly observed.

Team Case Assignment & Responsibilities

The following table provides the case assignment for each team. All cases are in the textbook.

Case Team #	Case name
#1	Case #19	The Home Video Game Industry: From Pong to X-Box
#2	Case #24	A Hundred-Year War: Coke vs. Pepsi, 1890’s – 1990s
#3	Case #25	Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.: Strategies for Dominance
#4	Case #33	AOL Time Warner: Creating a Colossus
#5	Case #37	Eli Lilly & Company: The Global Pharmaceutical Industry

Case Critique Responsibilities

The case critique responsibilities for each team throughout the term are as follows:

Case Critique Responsibility Matrix
Case #/Name	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4	Team 5
19. Home Video Game	P	I	M	F	E
24. Coke vs. Pepsi	E	P	I	M	F
25. Wal-Mart	F	E	P	I	M
33. AOL – Time Warner	M	F	E	P	I
37. Eli Lilly	I	M	F	E	P

P	=	Present Case
E	=	Executive Team (Senior Management)
F	=	Finance & Accounting
M	=	Marketing / R&D / Operations
I	=	International / Human Resources / MIS