BE431-5-AP-KS:
Business Strategy
2020/21
Essex Business School
Kaplan Singapore
Autumn & Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 08 October 2020
Friday 26 March 2021
15
01 July 2019
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
Over the last few decades, the business world has become increasingly global, complex, and fast changing. While some organisations are consistently successful over a long period of time, many fail and are forgotten forever. Since capital, labour and management are increasingly mobile, in theory it should become easier to imitate the strategies of winning companies and dissipate their profits. In practice, however, only a few firms become long-term leaders. Why?
While there appears to be clear link between successful industry performance and superior strategy there is little agreement on what a strategy really is or how a successful strategy can be developed in a business or an organization.
This module introduces students to the concepts and tools of business strategy making. It encourages a critical appreciation of how firms make sense of their business environment and how they position themselves in their market. It also critically examines the process for making strategic choices and how firms turn strategy into action.
The aims of the module are:
1. To provide an overview of the different approaches to strategy, introduce you to the different tools used in business strategy analysis, and to discuss issues related to the management of business strategy.
2. To enable you to connect business strategy and strategic management issues to business situations
3. To train you in strategic thinking as well as in analysing and making sense of the complexities of the business world around you.
4. To enable you critically to analyse and work with different aspects of business strategy and strategic management, especially in view of your own future managerial practice relating to strategy, either in terms of your own strategic decision-making or in terms of dealing with strategic decisions made in the upper echelons of organizations.
The outcomes of the module are:
1. Recognise and understand what strategy is
2. Understand the different tools that strategists use to create a strategy
3. Understand the issues that strategist might face when using these tools
4. Link a specific case to general theoretical issues and approaches.
5. Make sense of a business situation, analyse it using relevant models and develop a strategy.
No additional information available.
Ten weekly lectures and five fortnightly seminars. The lectures introduce you to key strategic management concepts and theories. The seminars are aimed at demonstrating the application of the concepts to contemporary business practice. Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle. During the lectures, seminar tasks will be set. These can be based on case-study exercises and/or relevant readings. The seminar material will be broadly related to material covered in the lectures, but it will usually also introduce you to something new.
- Clegg, Stewart; Pitelis, Christos; Schweitzer, Jochen; Whittle, Andrea. (2019) Strategy: theory and practice BE431, Los Angeles: SAGE.
- Porter, M.,1996. What is strategy, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 61-78., http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?EbscoContent=dGJyMNXb4kSeqLQ4yOvsOLCmr1Gep65Sr6y4TbeWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGvtkmyqLdNuePfgeyx9Yvf5ucA&T=R&P=AN&S=R&D=bsu&K=9611187954
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course. The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students. Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Martyna Sliwa, email: martyna.sliwa@essex.ac.uk.
Martyna Sliwa
ebsugcol@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
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