STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

MGMT 504 – Fall 2014

Day Class

Instructor: Dr. Samuel M. DeMarie

Office: Gerdin 3181

Office Hours: Mon. & Weds. 8:45 - 9:45 a.m., and by appointment

Phone & Email: 294 - 5526 (Office); email:

Department: 294-3659 (Office), 294 – 2534 (Fax)

Prerequisites: MGMT 501, ACCT 501, FIN 501, MKT 501

Course Description: Critical analysis of case studies in strategic management with an emphasis on integrative decision making. Strategy implementation in light of the global, legal, economic, cultural, and political contexts of business environments.

Course Objectives: After successfully completing this course the student will:

1.  Understand the major forces influencing the current business environment.

2.  Apply latest concepts of business strategy to current situations faced by organizations.

3.  Compose succinct analytical essays.

This is a seminar course, which means that most class sessions will involve the discussion of relevant business concepts and the application of these concepts to specific business situations. Through analysis and discussion in class, students will learn to better understand the forces shaping the current business environment, and the processes of formulating and implementing firm strategy. Assigned readings will provide the most prevalent theoretical frameworks available and will be applied to evaluate important, current issues facing businesses today.

Texts:

Winning by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch. Harper Collins, 2005.

Strategy: A view from the Top by Cornelis de Kluyver & John A. Pearce II, 4th edition, Prentice Hall, 2012.

Readings List

Most readings are available free to students through the journal index at the ISU Library online. Those articles that are not accessible through the ISU library are available free of charge on line. Electronic copies of these articles will also be posted on the course homepage at http://www.bus.iastate.edu/demarie/courses/MGT512/504Homepage.htm

or through the instructor’s home page at http://www.bus.iastate.edu/demarie

Performance Evaluation:

Class Participation (individual) 100 points (20%)

WSJ assignment (team) 30 points (6%)

Team Business Unit Strategy assignment (Team) 40 points (8%)

Discussion Leadership (team) 50 points (10%)

Case Competition (team) 100 points (20%)

Readings Position Reports (individual) 180 points (36%)

Total 500 points

Class Participation: Thorough preparation, regular attendance and active, informed participation are required. You should be prepared to discuss all assigned readings. Understandably there are circumstances that may cause you to miss a class; unfortunately, nothing can replace in-class participation. Submitting your ideas to the critique of your classmates and the challenge of defending them in an open forum cannot be duplicated. Therefore it is very important that you attend all class sessions.

Of course, attendance is the bare minimum required; to earn a passing grade for class participation you must actively participate during in-class discussion and activities. Class participation may be assessed by a variety of semi-structured and unstructured activities including class discussion, informal presentations, and other activities. Your class participation grade is determined based on quality of contribution, quantity of contribution, and attendance (in that order).

Readings Position Reports: To help prepare for class, you are required to complete three readings position reports during the class. These reports are due at the start of class for the week that the reading was assigned. Do not prepare a report for the first class session. Reports also may be emailed or faxed to the instructor. These reports are to be a maximum length of two pages. Each position report should present your thoughts about one or more of the assigned articles. Please do not simply summarize the material. Instead, tell me the most important ideas and contributions, and most importantly include your reaction/opinion/assessment of the content of the readings. Some of the best reports are those that take concepts in the readings and apply them to situations in your own life/career. You may also choose to compare and contrast the readings with ideas from other classes or earlier readings in this class. It is important that the majority of each report presents your own unique ideas, opinions, reactions, and/or analyses. Reading position reports may focus on a subset of the assigned readings, it is not necessary to integrate all of the assigned readings into the report.

A total of three reading position reports will be counted toward your final grade (70 points each). You may submit one optional/additional readings position report. If you do so, the lowest grade received on the four reports will automatically be dropped. Only one reading position report may be submitted per discussion topic. You may not submit a report on the topic for which your group leads the discussion.

Discussion Leadership: Each team will lead the class discussion of one topic area. A lottery system will be used to assign presentation topics during the first class session. Your assignment is to stimulate a class discussion of the most important ideas/concepts contained in the readings assigned for your topic area. The best presentations also will include supplementary materials (other articles, information, etc.) that clarify, update and/or challenge the material contained in the assigned readings. It is important that you structure your class session to include a significant amount of audience participation. Do not use a large amount of time to summarize the readings. You can assume that everyone has read and thought about the readings in advance of class. Feel free to take some chances and use creative approaches to organizing your session. You should plan your session to last approximately 80 minutes. Your grade will be based on the quality of the discussion generated, not on how well you summarized the material.

Case Competition: Teams will be presented a case approximately 24 hours prior to the competition. Teams will need to present their analysis and recommendations to an expert panel that will rank the teams based on specific criteria. Criteria for assessment will be shared with the teams during the first class session. Grades will be determined by the rankings as follows: 1st place overall 100%, 2nd place overall 95%, 3rd place overall 90%, 2nd place first round 80%, 3rd place first round 70%.

WSJ Assignment: Your team must choose an article from the Wall Street Journal (within the past 30 days) that you believe highlights how the external environment is having a profound effect on businesses and impacting their choice of strategy. Prepare a very brief (5 minute) presentation. In it summarize the content of the article, and then explain why/how it is affecting business strategy decisions. One page written summary is due to the instructor 24 hours before class of Oct. 21st.

Team Business Unit Strategy Assignment: The assignment is to assess the current business unit strategy using Porter’s generic strategy framework of the same firm that your team analyzed in your Accounting class. Provide compelling evidence the company is following either a cost or differentiation path, and also assess whether their target is broad or narrow. Provide your own analysis as to whether the current strategy is likely to be sustainable. Teams should prepare a brief (5 minute maximum) PowerPoint presentation of their findings to be presented on Tuesday Oct. 28th. No written paper is required. Teams should send their PowerPoint slides to the instructor.

This syllabus is a guide, not a contract. It may be revised if it seems in the best interests of the class to do so. Students will be notified promptly of any revisions.

Day Class Schedule Fall 2013

Date / Discussion Topic
Oct. 14
Tuesday /

Class introduction, Free Agent Team members, Team Topic assignments, Introduction to Strategy

Discussion: How do you define strategy?

Oct. 16
Thursday / Four Views of Strategy
Strategy & Performance
Discussion: Compare and contrast Porter, Rumelt, & Welch, save Hamel for last.
Oct. 21 Tuesday / External Environment and Industry Analysis, WSJ assignment.
Discussion: Which industry factors are most important to Victory Motorcycles?
Oct. 23
Thursday / Business Unit Strategy
Discussion: Differentiation and cost, is that all there is?
Oct. 28
Tuesday / Business Unit Assignment, Global Strategy
Discussion: Assess McDonalds’ international strategy. How might it be improved?
Oct. 30
Thursday /

8:35 – 9:55 Mergers and Acquisitions *

9:55 – 10:05 Recap
10:20 – 11:40 Strategic Change *
11:40 – 11:50 Recap
Nov. 4
Tuesday /

8:35 – 9:55 CEOs and Leadership *

9:55 – 10:05 Recap
10:20 – 11:40 Strategic Alliances & Outsourcing *
11:40 – 11:50 Recap
Nov. 6
Thursday / 8:35 – 9:55 Technology and E-commerce*
9:55 – 10:05 Recap
10:20 – 11:40 Globalization*
11:40 – 11:50 Recap
Nov. 11
Tuesday / Restructuring and Downsizing, APS
Nov. 13
Thursday /

8:35 – 9:55 Small Business and Entrepreneurship *

9:55 – 10:05 Recap
10:20 – 11:40 Diversity in the Workplace*
11:40 – 11:50 Recap
Nov. 18
Tuesday /

8:35 – 9:55 Careers and Workplace of the Future *

9:55 – 10:15 Recap
10:30 – 11:00 Case Competition Rules and Questions
Nov. 20
Thursday / Day off from class to offset case competition

* Denotes sessions available for team discussion leadership

READING LIST is available on-line through the course homepage at:

http://www.bus.iastate.edu/demarie/courses/MGT512/504Homepage.htm

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