This graduate studies course in Strategic Management will deeply dive into how successful companies initially enter a market, continue to succeed, and maintain their competitive advantage over time. (Or not!) There is always some element of luck or serendipity. Still, we are looking for patterns of success and the key strategic moves that created a favorable environment for sustaining said success. We will start by studying several classic and still prevailing frameworks and apply them to historically successful companies, emerging giants of success, start-ups, and your team venture projects. Then we move into approaches for transformation and disruption. The course takes a hands-on experiential approach to analyzing, framing, developing, and expertly presenting a strategic direction using core strategy concepts.
This course equips students with practical tools to catalyze organizational transformation through strategic, systemic thinking. Students learn to diagnose the forces shaping firm performance, formulate and defend strategic choices, define the capabilities required to deliver those choices, and translate strategy into actionable roadmaps, structures, and metrics while staying alert to emerging trends and opportunities shaping sustainable organizations.
Five residencies move from fundamentals to executive-ready delivery: (1) shared strategy language and analytic baseline; (2) competitive and organizational diagnosis; (3) clear choices, where to play/how to win, and capability coherence; (4) strategy under uncertainty using scenarios and adaptive approaches to formulate, test, learn; and (5) growth pathways and final executive recommendations (including organic and partnership/M&A options).
An intention of this course is for students to establish their voice in strategy.
A point of view (where to play / how to win)
A coherent system (capabilities + activity fit + trade-offs)
An execution system (priorities, metrics, governance, learning cadence
This course equips students with practical tools to catalyze organizational transformation through strategic, systemic thinking. Students learn to diagnose the forces shaping firm performance, formulate and defend strategic choices, define the capabilities required to deliver those choices, and translate strategy into actionable roadmaps, structures, and metrics while staying alert to emerging trends and opportunities shaping sustainable organizations.
Five residencies move from fundamentals to executive-ready delivery: (1) shared strategy language and analytic baseline; (2) competitive and organizational diagnosis; (3) clear choices, where to play/how to win, and capability coherence; (4) strategy under uncertainty using scenarios and adaptive approaches to formulate, test, learn; and (5) growth pathways and final executive recommendations (including organic and partnership/M&A options).
An intention of this course is for students to establish their voice in strategy.
A point of view (where to play / how to win)
A coherent system (capabilities + activity fit + trade-offs)
An execution system (priorities, metrics, governance, learning cadence
- Instructor: Joyce Shulman