Strategic Management - Dr. Robert Girling Sonoma State University

Course Description 

This is a course about the theory and practice of business strategy. It involves practice in applying the tools of management to developing and implementing business strategies. Teams in the course of a business simulation will apply these tools.

Course Objectives

• To gain a basic understanding of the meaning and nature of strategic management and how the various functions of management fit together.
• To develop a practical understanding of leadership and teamwork.
• To learn how to analyze and diagnose real life situations, to develop alternative strategies, and to make decisions and to implement them.
• To apply your knowledge of marketing, finance, organizational behavior and production in a simulated company. To improve your level of confidence in your capabilities as a manager.
• To improve your level of personal productivity.

Course Materials

Capstone^®; Simulation: this will be ordered by you on-line after the semester begins. It is accessed through www.capsim.com.

Textbooks

Cornelius de Kluyver. Strategic Thinking. Prentice Hall 2000 
Tom Gorman. MBA Basics. Alpha Books. 1998 
John Maxwell. The 21 Laws of Leadership. 
Lorna Catford. The Path of the Everyday Hero.

Recommended books:

Stephen Covey. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Simon and Schuster 1989. 
Joseph Straub. The Rookie Manager. Amacom 2000 
Philip Evans. Blown to Bits. 1999 
Peter Schwartz. The Art of the Long View. 
Michael Porter. Competitive Advantage of Nations 
Deepak Chopra; Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. 
Krishnamurti. Think on these Things. Harper, 1989.

Reserve materials: Textbooks and supplemental readings will be placed on reserve in the Schultz Information Center.

Professor Robert Girling. Previous professional experience includes consulting with the World Bank, USAID, the United Nations and work as Director of Regional Development for the Government of Jamaica. He has taught and consulted in 20 different countries and has served as a faculty member on the University at Sea. He is the author of over 50 articles and books. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford, an M.A. from the University of Essex, England and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Class Elements:

Students have a variety of learning styles and I try to address the different styles by employing a variety of materials and methods to convey class information. I believe that active engagement with the material is a sin quo non of effective learning.

Lecture/readings: Much of the content will be presented in lectures and in readings out of textbooks and handouts. Lectures will be aimed at clarifying concepts as well as discussions of key topics. Therefore attendance at all classes is essential.

Cases and videos: Cases illustrate the real life situation of organizations. They can help us understand how concepts are applied.

Computer simulation: 
You will participate in a computer simulation which will allow you to organize a team and make decisions and see the results. You will be assigned to a team and each team will operate as a company. This will include developing a business strategy and making annual decisions in regard to implementing the plan. Details are provided in the Team Member's Guide which will be provided to you and the extensive documentation available on the Capsim website which you are encouraged to study in detail. The simulation is administered by the Internet. Following the initial practice rounds, each team will run the simulation for 6 years. Each team will be in competition with five other teams in its industry.

Evaluation

Autobiography 10% 
Strategy Essay 10% 
Case 10% 
Capsim tutorials 5% 
And assessments 
Capsim Paper 25% 
Bonus Responses 20% 
Participation 20%

Class Schedule

Week

1. 9/3 Introduction and Overview of Syllabus

Read: Lorna Catford. The Path of the Everyday Hero.

Assignment 1: Assignment: Write an autobiography of approximately 4-8 pages telling me about yourself. Review the section on life purpose and the self assessment in Catford (chapter 2) and the section on life challenges (chapter 4). Try to address the following questions: Who you are? What important experiences have made you who you are today; what are your sources of inspiration, connection and creativity? What is your challenge? Who are your allies? What you hope to learn in this class? And if you could make a contribution to the world, what would it be? (due 9/12)

2. 9/10 What is strategy?

Read: Strategic Thinking

Team building activity 
Assignment 2: Write a (3-5 page) essay addressing the following questions: a) What is strategy? b) How can strategy assist in responding to change and uncertainty? c) What does it mean to be proactive and why is it important to begin with the end in mind? (due 9/24)

3. 9/17 Using Capsim for Developing and testing strategies

Read: MBA Basics chaps 1-3; Capsim Team member's Guide. 
Prior to the end of class complete tutorials 1 and 2 on the Capsim website (you will be graded on whether you complete the tutorials on time) 

4. 9/24 Ethics, Leadership and Strategy

Read. Strategic Thinking Chap 4-5 , Cisco Systems and ABB in China cases. 

Case: Prepare an analysis of the ABB China or Cisco's strategy. Develop a SWOT analysis. Identify the external environment, internal environment and key results areas (KRAs) of ABB's or Cisco's strategy. 
(due 10/1)

5. 10/1 CAPSIM PRACTICE ROUND 1

Designing and implementing strategy. 
Team meeting: situational analysis 
Prepare decisions for practice round P1 and upload decisions by 9:30pm

6. 10/8 Financial Analysis

CAPSIM PRACTICE ROUND 2

Read MBA Basics Chaps 10-12; review Strategic Thinking Chap 3

Team meeting: situational analysis 
Prepare decisions for practice round P2 and upload decisions by 9:30pm

7. 10/15 Marketing Strategies

CAPSIM PRACTICE ROUND 3

Read: MBA Basics Chaps 21-26

Team meeting: situational analysis 
Prepare decisions for practice round P3 and upload decisions.

8. 10/22 Evaluating strategies 
GUEST SPEAKER: TBA

Come prepared to discuss your practice round strategy in comparison with one of your competitors.

9. 10/29 CAPSIM COMPETITION

10. 11/5 CAPSIM COMPETITION

11. 11/12 CAPSIM COMPETITION

12. 11/19 CAPSIM COMPETITION

13. 11/26 CAPSIM COMPETITION

14. 12/3 CAPSIM COMPETITION

15. 12/10 CAPSIM TEAM PRESENTATIONS 
CAPSIM PAPERS DUE

16. 12/17 TBA

CAPSIM FINAL PAPER QUESTIONS

Part I. Team Questions: (May be written collectively, but one copy must 
be submitted for each student. ) Team name_________________ 
1. What was your team's strategy in both practice and competitive rounds? 
What goals did you set for your team and how did you set them? What 
did your team learn about strategy during each round? Why did 
you choose that strategy? Did you change your strategy during the course 
of the competitive simulation; if so, why and in what way? How did you 
set priorities? 
2. Organizational culture may be defined as comprising shared values, 
beliefs, organizational styles, structures of decision-making as well as 
traditions and ceremonies. Organizational culture serves to pattern our 
relationships within an organization as well as toward the outside world. 
How would you describe the organizational culture of your CAPSIM team? For 
example, describe the division of labor, work styles or norms, 
communication styles, power structure. What rules did you set? Were they effective? What was effective/ineffective about your team culture? 
What form of leadership prevailed; who had the 
most power and what was the source of their power? Was there a team 
leader? How did your team make decisions? And what did you do to improve 
the quality of decisions? 
3. What did your team accomplish in each round? What was particularly satisfying? What was especially frustrating? How did your perform in relation to your 
success indicators? What were the strengths and weaknesses of your team's 
performance? 
4. What do you see as the strengths and limitations of the CAPSIM 
simulation? What suggestions do you have to improve this educational 
experience?

Part II Individual Questions 
5. What was your job (e.g. strategic intelligence officer) and how did you 
do it? 
6. What have you learned from this experience about (a) management; (b) 
teams and teamwork; (c) leadership and human values; (d) group process; (e) 
marketing; (f)finance and (g) strategic planning? 
7. Did the simulation provide you with an understanding of what 
strategy really is? What in your own words is strategy? How does that 
differ from your earlier perceptions of strategy as explained in the 
textbook and cases? 
8. What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn, if anything, 
that you might be able to apply in the future? How might you apply these 
lessons to your next position? If there is nothing that you learned that 
you can see applying, then why was this the case? (You may wish to contrast 
your comprehension of management at the beginning and at the end of the 
simulation.) 
9. Were you able to improve your (a) analytical skills, (b) computer 
skills, (c) writing skills, (d) financial analysis, (e) marketing (f) 
teamwork skills? In what way ? If not, then why not? In what respects 
do you feel either more or less competent than at the beginning of this 
class? 
10. Evaluate your own performance in this class.