• Knowledge about and understanding of relevant terms, concepts, models, processes and perspectives within the field of strategic management
• An ability to identify and solve strategic problems within organizations and industries (cases) by applying relevant terms, concepts, models, processes and perspectives from the discipline of strategic management
• An ability to discuss and evaluate the strength and weakness of the applied terms, concepts, models, and processes within the field of strategic management in relation to the behind organizational and economic theories.

Aim
To provide students with an introduction to the discipline of strategic management by looking at classical and modern strategic concepts, models and perspectives. An additionally ambition is to provide students with an understanding of how the strategic models and processes draw on different types of economic theory. Furthermore the course aims at giving students an insight into what kind of considerations, issues and cross-pressure top-level managers are confronted with when working with organizations' overall long-term business and corporate development.

Competences
After following the course, students will be able to identify strategic problems, conduct relevant strategic analysis and present strategy solutions to the identified problems. Students will be able to analyze a firm and its environment, develop relevant strategies, evaluate the strategies and put forward an implementation plan.  Additionally, students will be able to explain how different kinds of economic value are created through the application of different types of strategic models and processes.

Content
The course opens up by presenting some basic strategic concepts, processes and perspectives and associated economic theories. We then look at how to analyze the business environment and the internal organization of the firm as well as its political and cultural contexts. This is linked to the ideas of economic value creation through positioning, capabilities, incentives and institutions based on neoclassical theory, resource based theory, principal/agent theory and institutional theory. Then we look at developing competitive strategies, corporate strategies, growth strategies, international strategies, and strategies of innovation and entrepreneurship. In relation to this, we also draw on transaction cost theory and evolutionary theory. Finally, we will look at how strategies are implemented through organizational design, the design of management systems, and handling strategic changes. Related to this, we will draw on institutional theory and behavioral theory.

The maximum numbers of participants are 60 due to the teaching and exam format

This course can be connected to bachelor thesis in the HA program. Bachelor thesis in this course are normally formulated in Danish.
 

Tentative literature:

Mandatory
Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, ”Exploring Strategy – Text only – Ninth Edition”, Pearson Education/FT/Prentice Hall 2010 (500 pages).

Supplimentary
Articles and cases handed out by The Boston Consulting Group

Joseph T. Maghoney: “Economic Foundations of Strategy”, Saga Publications 2005. (200 pages)
 
Mehmet Barca: “Economic Foundations of Strategic Management”, Ashgate 2003 (selected parts 40 pages)