Georgia Southwestern State University

School of Business Administration

 

Course:         Strategic Management

CRN:              MGNT 4190

Instructor Contact Information:

Work Number:           (229) 931-5130

                                                931-2090

Fax Number:              (229) 931-2092

E-mail Address:       mmf@canes.gsw.edu

Office Hours                        9:15-11:50 a.m. TR or by appointment

                                    317 BHP Building

 

Textbook:  Strategic Management: Text and Cases . Dess, Lumpkin & Taylor, Irwin/McGraw Hill Publishing Company, 2004.

Prerequisite:    senior status or permission of professor.

             

Course Description

 

A study of business strategy and strategic planning in relation to company resources, the environment, and changes which may bring opportunities or threats. An opportunity to apply one’s skills through strategic case analysis and through the management of a manufacturing firm in a computer-simulated business situation. Prerequisite: MGNT 3600, MKTG 3800, and BUSA 3150.

 

 

WHAT THIS COURSE IS ABOUT (and why you are required to take it).

 

Strategic Management is for students in the Business Program only.  The course is not an elective for any program and is limited to Business students.  Each student should have demonstrated competence in accounting, finance, marketing and management.

 

Strategic Management is intended to be a challenging and exciting CAPSTONE course for the undergraduate and graduate business school curriculum.  It is first and foremost a course about “strategy” and about “managing success.”  The course centers around the theme that a company achieves sustained success if and only if its managers:

1-     Develop, and revise as needed, an action-oriented strategic plan and,

2-     Implement and execute the plan with some proficiency. We shall stress how and why a well formulated, well-executed strategy nearly always produces good business performance.

 

This course not only serves the function of trying to integrate much of the knowledge gained in other business courses, also it is a  big picture” course, a trait that makes it a truly different kind of course from other business administration courses.  Virtually all of the other required and elective courses you have taken were concerned with a specific functional area (production, marketing, finance, accounting) and/or a well-defined body of knowledge (economics, statistics, legal environment).  More than a few of your previous courses have been highly structured and related closely to a well-developed body of theory.  Some provided quantitative techniques for you to sink your teeth into.  Others related to information and specific skills the faculty believes you needed to acquire.  This course shares few of these traits.  The problems and issues of strategy formulation and implementation cover the whole spectrum of business and management.  Many variables and situational factors must be dealt with at once.  Weighing the pros and cons of strategy entails a total enterprise perspective and a skill of judging how all of the relevant factors add up.

 

All business schools have seen fit to require you to take this course in order to drive home what the role and tasks of the “manager-in-charge” are, to introduce you to what strategy means, to lead you through the ins and outs of formulating and implementing a strategic plan, and to get you into the habit of automatically reviewing a firm’s situation and appraising the need for strategy revision. The overriding pedagogical objective is to sharpen your abilities to “think strategically” and to diagnose situations from a strategic perspective.  Accomplishing this objective entails introducing you to how an enterprise must in fact deal with all of the complexities and constraints of the environment in which it operates, why these cannot be assumed away or ignored, and how they affect strategic decisions.

 


It means giving you exposure to and some experience in trying to grapple with many determining factors and weighing how they shape what action needs to be taken from the perspective of the total enterprise.

 

It means drilling you thoroughly in the tools of strategy analysis and exercising you in the managerial task of sizing up a company’s strategic position.

 

It means systematically exposing you to the rigors of industry and competitive analysis, to the process of formulating an attractive strategic plan, and to the varied administrative tasks associated with implementing and executing the chosen strategy as well as circumstances permit.

 

The content of the course has all of the ingredients needed to keep your interest and attention.  In our minds, the glamour and the grand sweep of “strategizing” and managing an enterprise down the road of success make the course lively, fascinating, and fun.  I sincerely hope this course will be the very best course you have ever had–that it will be instrumental in making you (1) “competitively superior,” (2) successful in our career, and (3) much wiser about the secrets of first-rate management.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To integrate the knowledge gained in various functional business areas.

1.      To increase your understanding of what managers do to make business succeed over the long haul.

2.      To develop your capacity and to identify strategies issues and to reason carefully about strategic options.

3.      To build your skills in conducting strategic analysis in a variety of industries and competitive situations.

4.      To extend your ability to formulate a strategic plan and then execute it successfully in a variety of organizational circumstances.

5.      To improve your ability to manage the organization process by which strategies get formed and executed.

6.      To develop the ability to understand and apply analytical tools in problem identification, strategy formulation, and decision implementation.

7.      To better prepare you for a successful career as a manager in most any type of organization.

8.      To increase awareness of the global competition faced by U.S. firms and how domestic firms can build global strategies.

 

THE GRADING SYSTEM:

 

Case Analysis & Recommendation                                     10%

Assessment Test                                                      10%

Three Scheduled Tests                                                         30%

Mid-Term Exam                                                        20%

Final Exam                                                                 20%

Term Paper/ Presentation                                       10%

Total                                                                           100%

 

The final grade will be on the following basis: A = 90, B = 80, C = 70, D = 60, F < 60.

 

 

 

GENERAL PLOLICIES

 

RESEARCH PAPER

The research paper is expected to be a quality product. The student should select a topic from suggested list or a topic that is relevant to the course or an area of special interest that can be connected to strategic management. Each topic will be approved by the instructor prior to the submission of the paper. The research paper is due in its final form 10 days prior the final exam. The paper should be 7-9 pages in length, written in correct English grammar with words spelled correctly, and have sufficient references (minimum of six from 1998 – present, two of them can be from internet) included to support any statement made in the text.

 

CASE WORK

This part of the requirements includes two case analysis (10%). Additional instructions will be given concerning these write-ups. The case should be submitted on time and at the beginning of the class. If you must be out of class for any reason you should make arrangements to turn your paper in. Late work will not be accepted. Please do not ask. Although we will discuss your papers, I do not return them to you to keep, so please keep a copy of the work that you submit.

 

LATE WORK

All students are expected to complete assignments at the scheduled time. No allowances have been made for late cases or research-paper.

All assigned work is due at the beginning of class. If you are ill or must be absent, send your work to school so that it arrives on time.

 

ACADEMIC DISONESTY

Academic dishonesty (e.g., cheating, collaborating with other on individual assignments, plagiarizing, turning in previously prepared work, etc.) will not be tolerated and will be dealt with in a manner consistent with university policies (See GSW’s bulletin online)


 

 

                                            TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

                  FOR STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

                                   MGNT 4190

                                  Spring  2004

 

 

Chapter 1                      Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages

 

Chapter 2                      Analyzing the External Environment of the Firm

 

Chapter 3                      Assessing the Internal Environment of the Firm

 

TEST I                          Chapters 1-3 (1/30/04)

 

Chapter 4                      Recognizing a Firm’s Intellectual Assets: Moving beyond a Firm’s Tangible Resources

 

Chapter 5                      Business-Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages

 

Chapter 6                      Corporate-Level Strategy: Creating Value through Diversification

 

TEST II                         Chapters 4, 5 & 6 (2/13/04)

 

Chapter 7                      International Strategy: Creating Value in Global Markets

 

MID-TERM                          Chapters 1-7   (2/27/04)

 

 Assessment Test……………will be announced…………………………………………….OPEN

 

Chapter 8                      The Internet and E-Commerce: Creating Value through E-Business Strategies

 

Chapter 9                      Implementing Strategy: Achieving Effecting Strategic Control       

     

Chapter 10                    Implementing Strategy: Creating Effective Organizational Designs

 

TEST III                        Chapters 8, 9 & 10   (3/19/04)

 

Chapter 11                    Effective Strategic Leadership: Creating a Learning Organization and an Ethical Organization

 

Chapter 12                    Effective Strategic Leadership: Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

 

FINAL EXAM                      Chapters 8-12     (4/30/04)