MGMT E-5000 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Spring 2013

Transcription

1 MGMT E-5000 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Spring 2013 Sharon A. Mertz, Instructor Phone: Class: Tuesday, 5:30 7:30 web conference Office Hours: By appointment Leila Samii, Teaching Assistant Phone: COURSE FORMAT: This section of MGMT E-5000 is a web-based course utilizing the software program Collaborate version 11. Prior to the first class session on January 29 th, participants must attend an introductory Web Conference On-boarding session to ensure that computer equipment is functioning properly. This session is required for all participants, regardless of your previous experience with web conferencing tools. The sessions will last approximately 30 minutes and will be conducted at the following times please plan to attend one of these (all times U.S. Eastern Standard Time): Wednesday, January 23 rd, at 5:00 PM Thursday, January 24 th at 12:00 PM (noon) Friday, January 25 th at 8:00 AM Set up instructions for the tool are available at the end of the syllabus. Information about accessing the session each week will be provided from the Extension School: please look for this in your . Links for the weekly live web conference will be posted on the course isite ( COURSE MATERIAL: Strategic Management: A Dynamic Perspective (Concept and Cases) (2009, 2007, 2nd ed.) by Carpenter and Sanders. Pearson/Prentice Hall. (ISBN # ). I will also assign additional readings during the term as appropriate to the topic. These readings will be approximately 5-10 pages in length and will represent current research and viewpoints on the subject. More information on these readings will be made available on the course isite. COURSE BACKGROUND: This course familiarizes the students with the broad perspectives of general management and strategy. The focus of the course is on the overall organization. It covers roles and responsibilities of general managers and formulation and implementation of strategy, including such concepts as process and content of strategy, interrelations between corporations and their environments, interrelations among different functional areas of management, and role of management systems in implementing strategy. 1

2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This course will include cases on companies in domestic and international markets, employing basic and leading edge technologies, and operating within regulatory and environmental constraints. During the course you will learn how to analyze company strategies; you will also learn via the tools of strategic analysis, how to evaluate strategic options and how to develop an effective strategic plan. The course is structured so that you will need to work continuously throughout the course, reading, analyzing, and preparing your cases. COURSE FORMAT AND EVALUATION: This course will use a text and a number of case analyses. These cases are usually long and complex, and often require financial analysis. Case Write-up: You will prepare two written case analyses in a group (2 students per group). The written paper should be no longer than 5-7 pages (typed and double-spaced). You can add as many exhibits, tables, and figures as necessary in the Appendix. The paper is due in the relevant course drop box before 11:59 PM the Monday before the Tuesday class session when the case will be discussed no exceptions. If you have difficulty uploading your case analysis to the course drop box you may a copy to the instructor, but the same submission deadline applies. You are not allowed to do a write-up on the first case, Prince Edward Island (see Assignments section). You can choose from the rest. Useful frameworks for doing case analyses can be found in Chapters 3 and 4 (Internal and External Analysis). Also, read pages in the text to understand the basics of case analysis. In general, there is no single correct answer to a case analysis. The key to a good case analysis is to carefully analyze the situation, apply relevant conceptual materials, and evaluate possible courses of action before selecting your own recommendations. Although each case is unique and may require a different approach and analysis, your case write-up should include the following two elements: 1. An assessment of the current situation of the firm. This includes - The environment in which the firm operates - the industry The competitive situation and strategies of the firm including its financial results with the objective of identifying the key issues that must be addressed This is not a summary of the case but rather your personal evaluation/critique of the situation using the relevant tools developed in the textbook. 2. A description of the alternatives to address the issues identified, followed by detailed recommendations. This is a very important and potentially the most difficult part of the case analysis. The search for alternatives must be broad and should consider significant redirection, reorganization or disposition of parts or all the business. Also, changes in business and competitive strategies are expected here. Be specific in your recommended solution. Describe the (new or modified) strategies, the financial objectives and the implementation plan. Presentation: You will do a group presentation (4 students per group) on a strategy topic of your choice. You can pick any topic that is related to strategy. Some examples are 2

3 balanced scorecard, barriers to entry, board of directors, competitive advantage, core competence, cross-subsidizing, disruptive technology, dynamic capabilities, learning curve, related diversification, strategic group, and value curve. Try to narrow down the topic so that in-depth analysis is possible. You will submit your topic proposal (no more than one page) to me by March 5th. Once approved, you will develop the presentation. You should start with a description of the topic and explain its importance to business and strategy. Next, present the key findings related to the topic that exists in the literature. Then, discuss the challenges and unanswered questions associated with this topic. Finally, offer your recommendations for dealing with the challenges. I expect your presentation to spend more time on the challenges and recommendations sections. You can bring in examples of companies from various industries to present your arguments. Alternately, you may choose one company or companies from a particular industry as an example. Both the generalized approach and the case study approach are fine with me. You will have 20 minutes to present your project through the web conference. This will be followed by a brief Q&A session. Professional PowerPoint presentation is expected. You need to submit your presentations to the course drop box no later than 11:59 PM on the Monday prior to your scheduled presentation. As with the case analysis submissions, if you experience difficulty uploading your presentation you may send it via to the instructor adhering to the same deadline. Three sessions (4/23, 4/30 & 5/7) are allocated for the presentations. I will assign the presentation dates for the groups. Team Performance Evaluations: Each student will fill out a performance evaluation on each of his or her team members. Evaluations must be completed and submitted by close of business Wednesday, May 8. Failure to submit a team performance evaluation for each of your team members will negatively impact your grade. Participation: Attendance will be taken during the semester. Missing more than two classes without good reason will lower your participation grade. You are also expected to be on time for the class. If you cannot attend a lecture, will be late joining the web conference, or need to leave early, please notify the instructor in advance. Participation also means being able to make informed, relevant comments based on your knowledge of the material. Final Case: This is an individual assignment. The case will be given to you approximately a month before the semester ends. It will be a comprehensive case where you will analyze all major aspects of the company s strategy and performance. In the end, you will state your recommendations. This case will be due on May 14. I will provide more information as we progress through the semester. GRADING POLICY: Case write-up (2x15%) 30% Presentation 20% Team Evaluations 5% 3

4 Participation 20% Final Case 25% 4

5 ASSIGNMENTS Date Topic of Class Lecture Case Assignment 1/29 Strategic Management (Ch. 1 & 2) 2/5 Internal Environment (Ch. 3) (#5) Prince Edward Island 2/12 External Environment (Ch. 4) (#8) Update: Music Industry in /19 Business Strategy (Ch. 5) (#12) Home Depot s Strategy 2/26 Business Strategy (Ch. 6) (#14) Airbus 3/5 Corporate Strategy (Ch. 7) (#18) House of Tata, 1995 Presentation Proposal Due 3/12 International Strategy (Ch. 8) (#11) Wal-Mart in the 21st century 3/19 Spring Break (no class) 3/26 Alliances (Ch. 9) (#25) British Airways USAir 4/2 Mergers and Acquisitions (Ch. 10) (#28) Cisco Systems, Inc. 4/9 Implementation (Ch. 11) (#29) Impl. of the Bal. Scorecard 4/16 Corporate Governance (Ch. 13) (#35) Daimler Chrysler 4/23 Group Presentations 4/30 Group Presentations 5/7 Group Presentations 5/14 Final Case Due (No regular class) 5

6 Blackboard Collaborate Version 11 Instructions Please note: We will be using Blackboard Collaborate version 11 for our course. This software is very similar to Elluminate, which you may have used in other Division of Continuing Education (DCE) courses. However, the interface looks a bit different and you should follow the instructions below even if you are an experienced Elluminate user. 1. If you do not own an echo-cancelling headset, you should get one. You can buy them at an office supply store or online for about $30-$ About a week before the course begins, go to the Blackboard Collaborate First Time Users Page. (Also complete these steps if you use a different computer than the one you started with at the beginning of the semester.) 2a. Step 1: Checking System Requirements. When you land on this page your computer will automatically be checked to see if your operating system is compatible with Collaborate and if you have the correct version of Java to run the software. Most people sail through this step easily, but some have to prepare their computers. If you need to download a newer version of Java, you will be walked through the steps for doing this. If you have a modern computer with a fast internet connection, this can take just 5 minutes, but if you have an old computer and/or slow internet connection, it can take about minutes. Occasionally users computers are not compatible with Collaborate and it may take some time and effort to pinpoint and troubleshoot the problem. If you run into trouble, contact student computer support, listed at the end of these instructions. 2b. Step 2: Configuring your system. Click on the v11 Configuration Room. You can test your connection, settings, and configure your audio. 2c. Step 3: Training and Resources. Watch the Online Orientation to get an overview. 3. The first time you enter the Collaborate session, plan on setting up about minutes before the start time. After clicking on the link, depending upon your computer, you will see some, or all of the images below: Session Log In. Type your first and last name (every time you log in). 6

7 You may be asked to allow access. Click Allow. Launching Blackboard Collaborate. If you get an error message, contact DCE student computer support. Loading Java. Loading Blackboard Collaborate. This may take some time. 7

8 Collaborate is running. If you re waiting for Collaborate to open and you notice this icon in your task bar, click on it to maximize the Collaborate screen. If you see more than one of these, you have opened Collaborate more than once. The one farthest to the left is the first one that was opened. Close the others by clicking on them and exiting out of the session. Be sure you remain in one session! Meeting Download. If you re on a PC you may see this. If it seems like Collaborate has finished loading but you don t see the purple and white arrow icon above, you may need to click this. If there are numbers after meeting.jnlp, it means your computer has downloaded the session several times. Just choose one download to open. For help contact the DCE s student computer support: dce-distance-ed@harvard.edu (617) Mondays through Fridays from 9 am to 5 pm eastern standard time (617) Mondays through Fridays, 5 pm to midnight; Saturdays, 9 am to 10 pm; and Sundays, noon to 10 pm eastern standard time 8