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ADVANCED STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
BA 569 – Sections 001 & 002 – WFD EG01
Fall 2006 Thursday 12:00 to 3:00 PM and 6:00
to 9:00 PM
Professor
Clay Dibrell, Ph.D.
Office: Bexell Hall 400b, Office Phone: 737-4110, e-mail: clay.dibrell@bus.oregonstate.edu. Office hours are scheduled for Wednesday (4:00
PM to 5:00 PM my office) and Thursday (3:00 PM to 4:00 PM (Bing’s Coffee Shop
in Weatherford). If necessary,
appointments can be arranged at other times.
Text
Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage. Jay
Barney & William Hesterly (Your text does not need to include the cases).
Strategic Thinking for the Next Economy.
Edited by Michael Cusumano and Constantinos C. Markides.
The Prince. Niccolo Machiavelli ISBN: 0553212788
Course description
Strategic
Management & Business Policy is a course for business students, which will
lay the foundation for your MBA course work.
This course concentrates on strategy and policy formulation and
implementation at the top management level where major decisions are made. Advanced problems in determination,
execution, and control of the strategic management process in light of complex
environmental change will be focused on in this course.
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to provide students with a broad overview of the
basic concepts in strategic management.
Students 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, students should be able to think strategically, as opposed to only
having a functional orientation, and students 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 resides.
Learning
outcomes
- To develop
skills in determining company wide strategy.
- To develop
an awareness of the impact that external environmental factors have on
business strategy.
- To develop
the ability to discern between the causes and the symptoms of business
problems.
- To develop
skills in using strategic assessment tools to identify company wide
problems.
- To
understand the problems associated with long-term strategy formulation and
implementation.
- To create
solutions to problems associated with business-related problems.
- To think
through the strategic implications associated with solutions to
business-related problems.
- To
understand the difficulties encountered by people working in organizations
and groups.
- To
communicate ideas and principles coherently to a business-related audience
through both oral and written mediums.
Class
procedures
Class will be conducted with through lectures and class
participation. Class lectures will
relate to chapter reading assignments but will not attempt to cover all the
material in the text. Because this
course is at the Masters level, it makes heavy use of readings, mini-cases, and
group projects designed to generate discussion of problems that you may face in
real business settings.
Student
conduct and expectations
Cheating, plagiarism, and other academic misconduct will not be
tolerated. Violations will be subject to
disciplinary actions as specified by the Oregon State University Academic
Regulations. Class members are expected
to treat each other with courtesy and respect.
The outcome is not that you have met certain “minimum” standards; the
outcome will be that you will leave this class with knowledge of how to
formulate and to implement an innovative company strategy that you may utilize
in the future. Behaviors that signify to
me that a student is committed to excellence include:
1.
Attending class regularly (and arriving on
time!).
2.
Being prepared for daily case analyses and
reading assignments.
3.
Leaving such distractions as newspapers and
other courses’ assignments outside of the classroom.
4.
Not talking in class while someone is
presenting.
5.
Participating in class with active listening,
questions, or comments.
6.
Talking with the instructor anytime an issue
discussed in class is unclear.
Student expectations
of instructor
In order for this course to be a personal success for you, it is
necessary that you receive certain commitments from me to receive maximum
benefit. Just as I have challenged you
to pursue academic excellence in this course, I must do the same, and I commit
to doing the following:
1.
Listen to your comments.
2.
Keep you informed about the direction of the
course including any changes to the course calendar.
3.
Be prepared for each class period including
starting and dismissing class on time.
4.
Be open to your ideas, opinions, and
questions.
5.
Be available to discuss any problems or
questions through office hours or appointments with you.
6.
Return out-of-class assignments and tests so
that you have feedback in a timely manner.
Evaluation
and grading
Students are expected to do both individual and group work. Please submit all assignments on time. Grades for late assignments will be
reduced by 20% for every class period submitted late. Please talk to me if you have any problems
with understanding the material or completing the scheduled
assignments/examinations.
How I Grade:
1.
A =
Exceptional & Outstanding Work. You
have wowed me.
2.
B = Very
Good Work
3.
C =
Average Work
4.
D = Sub
Par Work
5.
F =
Exceedingly Poor Work.
Your grade will be composed of the following
components:
- The Prince 5%
- Class
Participation 10%
- Group-Led
Chapter Discussion 15%
- Group Market
Discontinuity Project 35%
- Final Exam 35%
1. The Prince: Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly said that The Prince was the only book worth reading.
Similarly, I have had many business leaders espouse to me the virtues of
understanding the logic associated with The Prince. I want you to write
a three page double-spaced summary of the five key points that you learned from
The Prince, and how you anticipate that these findings will aid you in
business. Likewise, you need to indicate why this text is still considered to
be significant for strategic leadership in organizations.
2. Class
Participation:
Having read the assignments prior to class, students should come to class
prepared to discuss/debate the chosen daily topic and case material. Students will be graded upon their relevant
comments or lack thereof to the class conversation. In order to do well on this component, you
must not only be in class, but you must also participate in class
discussion. Those students who choose
not to participate in class will get a lower participation grade in class
compared to those that come to class
and actively participate.
Additionally, I will ask each student to nominate three people that they
believe have been the most active participants during our course. I will take these nominations under
consideration when I calculate class participation scores.
Indicative grading for class participation:
>90%: Attend ALL sessions having completed
class readings and contributed frequent and very high quality comments to class
discussion.
80-90%: Attend MOST sessions (i.e., missed
1-2 sessions) having completed class readings and contributed frequent and very
high quality comments to class discussion.
70-80%: Attend MOST sessions (i.e., missed
1-2 sessions) with minimal contribution.
Below 60%: Miss more than two sessions with minimal contribution.
3. Group Led Chapter Discussion: There are several chapters,
which we will be discussing throughout the term from the Strategic Thinking
text and The Prince. A group of
three to five will be asked to lead the discussion on the assigned chapter or The
Prince. The material provided in the
text is in many ways just an introduction to the topic. Each group will be responsible for starting
and bringing in additional relevant material to augment the material from the
text. Students will be graded upon the
level of participation from their peers, the quality of additional material
which they bring to the presentation and their creativity in presenting the
article. Likewise, each group should
provide a list of questions to students which can be answered throughout the article
discussion. Some of these questions may
appear on the final exam.
4. Group Market Discontinuity Project: Each group (up to five people
per group) is required to turn in a typed 12pt Times New Roman font,
double-spaced, and must be no longer than 20 pages (not including references
and appendices) identifying a market discontinuity and creating a strategy to
exploit the discontinuity. You should
attempt to convince me of your logic for choosing the discontinuity, and why
your proposed business plan will be effective.
You should draw on aspects of the course and your personal experience in
creating this document, as it will be useful in the integrative process. Likewise, your ability to clearly communicate
and use the language of business will be considered in your grade. I have created an evaluation sheet to provide
guidance for you.
I suggest
that you choose groups that are related to your IBP group. If you do not belong to an IBP group at this
stage, I ask that you please tell me, and we will organize a group. Likewise, group participation will
count. Your group will evaluate you on
your level of participation on the group project. Their evaluations will be used to create a
multiplier that will be employed by me to assign your grade on the group
project. Appropriate contributions are
expected from each team member and may be enforced by grade sanctions. Members
of each research team are required to submit a written evaluation of
their peers for their contribution to the successful completion of their
project. These evaluations will be used to generate a multiplier used in
computing each student's grade on all project activities. I have
attached the peer evaluation sheet in the back of the course syllabus.
Each group
will be asked to provide evidence of progress on their project at two times
through the term (please see course outline for actual dates). From your submissions, I will provide
feedback to the group on their progress.
In addition, I will keep a running set of notes, which I will use to aid
me in determining your final grade for the project.
All material
incorporated from external sources which is used in your paper should be
clearly cited using APA format.
5. Exam: The exam will cover all readings and lecture
materials. It will be closed book and will cover all of the materials,
including readings, textbook chapters, and in class discussions. There will be
one exam that will consist of short answer and essay questions.
Example 2: If
you earn a final grade of 81.5 for this class, you will receive a B for the
term.
Negative Participation Rule: I reserve the right to lower the final grade of any student who I feel has had a detrimental, distracting, or negative effect on the classroom learning environment over the course of the term up to one letter grade.
Final
Comments
I may change the course schedule during the term. However, these changes will be done in
consultation with the class and will be announced well in advance. Students
not attending class on the date changes are made to the schedule have the
responsibility for obtaining the information regarding the changes.
I will do everything that I can to help you learn the material and make
our class a meaningful experience. I
hope that you will do everything possible to be prepared so that you can enjoy
your learning experience.
Fall
2006 Course Calendar
Dates |
CH |
Concepts |
Deadlines |
|
THUR 9/28 |
Course Introduction; Strategic Management
Process; Entrepreneurship:
Exploiting Market Discontinuities; Start-up Challenges;
Alternative Fuel Technology Video. |
|
|
|
THUR 10/5 |
Firm’s External Environment; Firm’s
Internal Capabilities. |
Self-Select Groups for both projects and
Sign-up for dates related to Group Chapter or The Prince
Presentation. |
|
|
THUR 10/12 |
Business Level Strategies. |
Strategic Thinking: Chapter 1. |
|
|
THUR 10/19 |
Business Level Strategies; Vertical
Integration. |
Submit initial concept of Group Market
Discontinuity Project. |
|
|
THUR 10/26 |
|
The Prince paper assignment. |
|
|
THUR 11/2 |
Corporate Diversification. |
Strategic Thinking: Chapter 4. |
|
|
THUR 11/9 |
Implementation of Corporate
Diversification; Strategic
Financial Ratios. |
Strategic Thinking: Chapter 12. Submit rough outline for the Group Market
Discontinuity Project. |
|
|
THUR 11/16 |
Strategic Alliances. |
Strategic Thinking: Chapter 9. |
|
|
THUR 11/23 |
|
|
Thanksgiving |
|
THUR 11/30 |
Mergers and Acquisitions; Review for Final
Exam and finish any remaining topics. |
Strategic
Thinking: Chapter 10. |
|
|
THUR 12/7 |
|
Group Market Discontinuity Project. |
Groups Presentations
Strategic Terms That I
Wrote on the Board
BA 569
Group Evaluation for Market
Discontinuity Project
Title of
Project:
Group:
I.
CONTENT OF ANALYSIS (90 pts)
- General Environment (10 Pts) ___________
- The Industry Environment (10 Pts) ___________
- Industry: Life Cycle and Structure (5 Pts) ___________
- Competitor Analysis (10 Pts) ___________
- Globalization (5 Pts) ___________
- Industry Trends (5 Pts) ___________
- Market Discontinuity Including Demand Drivers (10 Pts) ___________
- Proposed Business Model (10 Pts) ___________
- SWOT Analysis (10 Pts) ___________
- Business
Strategies (5 Pts) ___________
- Financial Analysis at the Industry and Firm Levels (10
Pts) ___________
II. THE WRITTEN REPORT (10 pts)
- Clarity, Conciseness, and Completeness ___________
III. OVERALL GROUP SCORE ___________
Project/Peer Evaluations
Students should
recognize the extreme difficulty of passing this course without the support of
their colleagues. However, sometimes, you may find a group member who does not
contribute in any meaningful way to the task at hand. Student teams are
responsible for documenting the contributions of each member to the successful
completion of the group assignment. The group has a right to terminate (that
is, to FIRE) that individual. A non-discriminatory process should be
used in this event. The recommended procedure is as follows:
- Team members should first issue a verbal
(witnessed) warning to the individual. The faculty should be notified
immediately, in writing, of this initial disciplinary action.
- If this fails to resolve the problem
then a written warning should be issued to the offender listing the
offenses and steps necessary to improve performance. Again, notify the
faculty immediately.
- If previous steps fail, then a termination
notice may be issued. All members of the involved group must then meet
with the faculty to attempt to resolve the issue. Typically, this involves
removing the offender from the group and assigning equivalent work to the
offender.
Peer Evaluation
Form
This form is to be
used at the end of the course to evaluate the contribution of your fellow team
members to the overall performance of your group. Please give these
evaluations your careful consideration as they will be used in determining an
individual's project grade, therefore, your evaluation has direct consequences
for the final grade assigned each student in this course. Individual
evaluations will be kept confidential.
List the names of
each member of your group (including yourself) in the spaces provided below.
Now, considering the contribution of each student in terms of (1) proportionate
participation in team activities, (2) timely completion of assigned work, and
(3) quality of work; assign a percentage of the team grade to each individual.
For example, if a fellow team member performed well on each category, then you
might assign them 100%, lesser contributors could be assigned lesser
percentages. A student who exceeded all expectations in their contribution
could be awarded up to 105% of the group's grade. No more than one student per
group can receive in excess of 100%. Percentages below 95% must be accompanied
by a written explanation of the reasons for assigning a low evaluation to this
(these) student(s). Use the back, or separate sheets if necessary to provide
necessary documentation.
YOUR TEAM’S
Number_______ and PROJECT NAME_______________________________
Percentage (0-105%)
of Students' Names Project Grade Awarded
1. _______________________________ (yourself)
__________
2. _______________________________ __________
3. _______________________________ __________
4. _______________________________ __________
5. _______________________________ __________