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2013/2014 KAN-SMGE Strategy Making in Global Environments
| English Title | |
| Strategy Making in Global Environments |
Course information |
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| Language | English |
| Exam ECTS | 7.5 ECTS |
| Type | Mandatory |
| Level | Full Degree Master |
| Duration | One Quarter |
| Course period | Second Quarter |
| Time Table | Please see course schedule at e-Campus |
| Study board |
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and
Information Systems, BSc
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| Course coordinator | |
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| Main academic disciplines | |
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| Last updated on 28-01-2014 | |
| Learning objectives | |||||||||||||||||||||||
After completing the course students
should demonstrate:
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| Course prerequisites | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basic level of knowledge about strategy, e.g. obtained from reading the book Grant: Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Seventh Edition, Wiley, 2010 part 1 - 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites for registering for the exam | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Requirements about active
class participation (assessed approved/not approved)
Students must upload a one page solution to the case taught that particular day on Learn prior to coming to class |
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| Examination | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Course content and structure | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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IT and information management are prominent in strategy and strategizing, as they contribute to efficiency, effectiveness and innovation. But strategic analysis is often described as a ‘wicked’ problem, which tends to be complex, hard to clearly define, interconnected with other (organizational) issues and generally characterized by uncertainty, ambiguity and conflict. Furthermore, the complexity of strategic issues and strategy-making is only
amplified with
presence on the international scene as we see in
MNE’s.
The basic objective of this course is to provide the student with an understanding of the field of corporate strategy in relation to information and IT, and provide them with tools and methodologies enabling them to take
a key role in
developing a global IT strategy. The pedagogical model is intended
to familiarize the students
with
issues in
international business strategy as it relates to information
management and IT, and to take the
students
from theory to
strategy application through the use of case studies regarding
multi-national enterprises
(MNE’s).
At the bachelor
level, we have almost exclusively looked at the organization as one
integrated
business
primarily operating
only in one market. In this course we look at global companies and
companies made up of
a
large number of
Strategic Business Units, where the challenge and requests for
governance for the IT
function
are dramatically
different.
The course is basically bridging the gaps between corporate strategy, information management and IT management. The pedagogical model takes into account that students have different entry level qualifications,
since it is assumed
that students come with the skills acquired from the BA(im) HA(it)
programs
and
international
students taking the course as an elective. No technical skills are
required. However, it is
required
that students have a
certain familiarity regarding strategy literature. This means that
students without
any
knowledge about
strategy will need to study somewhat harder than those who have
this
background.
The course will start with a quick overview of the most relevant literature on general and corporate strategy and, and will proceed in exploring specific topics related to information and IT management for the MNEs. Some of the key issues that we shall deal with will be
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| Teaching methods | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Session 1 will be used to provide the
highlights especially for the IM students of the first 13 chapters
of the Grant text book. It is strongly recommended that the
students with a HA it bachelor degree also take part in this
session, although there will be substantial overlap with the course
on strategy from 4 semester of the HA it. This session will not
have a company case for students to prepare for, but I suspect that
we shall have a CIO present challenges from his company.
The typical format for the following sessions 2 – 7 will be a lecture, interactive dialog elements and an in-class discussion of the case. Some of the cases will be traditional teaching cases (HBR type but provided free of charge to students), while the remaining cases will be living cases, where I will invite CIOs of major MNEs to present their IT and information management challenges and how they deal with these. Before each of these six sessions, students must do a case analysis and upload their case solution. There will typically be 2 - 4 questions, to be addressed in relation to the case, and the students need to prepare a short analysis (max. one page) of these questions. For the HBR type cases, this requires the students to read the case and perhaps discuss it with fellow students before answering the questions. For the living cases, students should only use publicly available information on the Internet (company web-page, newspaper articles about the company etc.). The case analysis must be uploaded before class, and a few students will be called upon to defend or further augment their analysis in the class discussion. Students are encouraged to collaborate on preparing and solving the cases, but must hand in individual assignments. |
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| Expected literature | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Robert M. Grant: Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Seventh edition, Wiley 2010, part 4. And selected articles. |
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