Strategic Management Concepts and Application - Ray Grubbs, Ph.D Millsaps College

Strategic Management: Concepts and Applications (Core V) is the Capstone^®; course in the MBA Program. It draws on everything you have studied and learned and integrates it together in the study of strategic decision-making (policy). The course will explore strategic decision-making from three perspectives - corporate level strategy, business level strategy, and functional level strategy - but the viewpoint will be that of top management. Courses that you have taken in marketing, operations, and finance and other areas of business study primarily focus on internal decision making - how to make the business more efficient - from the perspective of that particular function. In a strategic context, however, business study is primarily interdisciplinary and of forces outside the company, though not exclusively so. When considering forces outside the company, you will look at the international dimension, industry forces, government forces, economic and societal forces, technological forces, and other influences on business which are less controllable by management but as critical to success as internal efficiency. Additionally, you will consider the interrelationships between primary functions in an organization in the context of strategic decision-making. According to Kenneth Andrews in The Concept of Corporate Strategy (1980), "business policy is the study of the functions and responsibilities of the senior management in a company, the crucial problems that affect the success of the total enterprise, and the decisions that determine its direction, shape its future, and produce the results desired. The policy problems of business, like those of policies in public affairs, have to do with the choice of purposes, the molding of organizational identity and character, the unending definition of what needs to be done, and the mobilization of resources for the attainment of goals in the face of aggressive competition or adverse circumstance."

The specific objectives of this course are to:

1. make the student aware of strategic decision-making and policies, their impact on the organization, and the differences in management that account for the success or failure of organizations.
2.   make the student aware of the field of action in which executives must operate and make decisions.
3.   integrate the student's knowledge in previous specialized courses. The student should learn to relate the functional disciplines to a given strategic problem or issue.
4.   realize that a decision made by a manager is likely to affect every other area of their organization because they are closely and strategically interrelated.
5.   assist in developing the student's analytical ability from the top management perspective.
6.   develop the student's awareness of the need and requirement to make decisions lacking complete information.
7.   teach the student how to improvise and compromise from previously learned concepts and theories.
8.   develop the student's ability to recognize the need for additional factual material which may be readily available or can be purchased from research or other outside suppliers.
9.   develop the student's communication skills by case writing, presentations to class and support for positions taken.
10.  allow the student to practice strategic decision making by use of a computer simulation.

Required Texts:

Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 8th Edition, Fred David, Prentice Hall, 2001

Capstone^®; : An Industry Simulation.

Student Guide

www.capsim.com

Student Evaluation:

Case Analyses and Presentations (Team and Individual)	40%
Class Contribution (Individual)	20%
Homework & Self-Test Performance (Individual)	20%
Performance on Capstone®; (Team and Individual)	20%
Total	100%

Case Analyses and Presentations:

There will be two written analyses and presentations required of the teams in the class. First, there is an industry study whereby you will define and profile the industry you are assigned. Your industry update will be presented in writing and will become part of your subsequent case submission. You will be provided a guide for the structure of your industry profile. Second, each team will be assigned one organization to research, develop, write and present a case analysis. Each individual in the class must actively participate in the discussion after having performed their own study and analysis and having prepared for the class discussion by reading each industry profile and case. Each team must present, to the entire class, a copy of their industry study and case analysis during the class meeting prior to their presentation so each member of the class may prepare their analysis and be ready for class discussion. Electronic distribution of the case analysis is the preferred method for distribution to the class and is the required method for submission to your professor.

Class Contribution:

Each student is expected to actively engage in class discussion of the issues of strategic decision- making, the industry studies and the cases. This is a class which requires each student to contribute to each meeting. You must be prepared to challenge each other and to mirror an internal discussion of managers as a strategic decision is under debate. You may all read the same material and come to different, valid conclusions. You are obligated to state your views in this class even if it seems you are challenging the conclusions of your classmates. That is precisely what you are required to do.

Homework:

You will be asked to read chapters in our text and respond to the chapter tests assigned by the date due indicated on the detailed syllabus. The tests may be found at the Course Compass web site. Thereafter, you will be expected to draw from this information as you complete the remainder of the work of the semester concerning the industry and case analysis and the Capstone^®; Simulation.

Business Strategy Simulation: Capstone^®;

You will be assigned to a team that will participate in the Capstone^®; Simulation. This team will make decisions as if you are the senior management team operating a company. You must design a strategy to compete in this industry with your grade determined by how well your company performs relative to other companies in the industry. One interesting feature of Capstone^®; is that it is each team's discretion in selecting the criteria by which you will be judged in the marketplace. In the simulation, the other companies with which you will compete will be management teams of your classmates. Capstone^®; will report your team's performance at the end of each decision period so you will know just how you are doing. This feedback knowledge will give you the opportunity to adjust your strategy as additional information about your performance becomes available. Your final grade for Capstone^®; will be the final ranking of competitors at the end of the simulation and will be judged by how well each company performs along their selected performance criteria. The procedure of calculating the final score will be discussed in detail in the Capstone^®; material you will receive. The highest ranked company at the termination of the simulation will receive an A, the second a B, and other teams will receive a C. Individual team members may have their grade adjusted for the Capstone^®; Simulation according to feedback received from their management teammates.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS

August 30	Introduction to Syllabus Assignment of Teams Assignment of Industries and Organizations Guide for Industry Profile and Guide for Organizational Study Discussion of Text and Testing Procedure Registration Process for Text Registration Process for Capstone®; Establishing Yahoo Groups
September 6	Read Capstone®; User Manual and Make Initial Practice Decision David Text, Chapters 1-2 Online Test Chapters 1-2
September 13	Debrief Initial Capstone®; Practice Decision and Submit Second Practice Decision David Text, Chapters 3-5 Online Tests, Chapters 3-5 Initial Contact with Organizations for Case Study
September 20	No Formal Class Meeting Debrief Second Capstone®; Practice Decision Submit First Capstone®; Simulation Decision David Text, Chapters 6-9 Online Tests, Chapters 6-9
September 27	Individual Team Meetings with Professor (if requested by Team) Capstone®; Second Simulation Decision
October 4	Industry Profile Due Capstone®; Third Simulation Decision
October 11	Capstone®; Fourth Simulation Decision Team Meetings for Organizational Study
October 18	Capstone®; Fifth Simulation Decision Team Meetings for Organizational Study
October 25	Capstone®; Sixth Simulation Decision First Draft of Organizational Study
November 1	Capstone®; Seventh Simulation Decision First Draft of Organizational Presentation
November 8	Capstone®; Eighth Simulation Decision Final Organizational Study and Presentation Due Capstone®; Final Results
November 15	Team Presentation
November 29	Team Presentation
December 6	Team Presentation