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2017/2018  KAN-CIMMO1073U  Foundations of Strategy

English Title
Foundations of Strategy

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Wolfgang Sofka - SI
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization and international business
  • Organization
  • Strategy
Last updated on 30-05-2017

Relevant links
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors: The objective of this course is to enable students to provide an in-depth study of a problem of scientific relevance based on the course. Students must demonstrate this ability through theoretical review, analysis, and reflection. Specifically, the learning objectives are demonstrated in the exam to the degree to which students can:
  • Limit the scientific paper to a particular level of analysis and theoretical problem.
  • Show a thorough understanding of the relevant theories.
  • Apply relevant theories to produce a clear, consistent, and logical analysis within the focus of the scientific paper.
  • Demonstrate abilities in thoughtfully discussing and reflecting on the analysis.
Course prerequisites
The objective of this course is to enable students to provide an in-depth study of a problem of scientific relevance based on the course. Students must demonstrate this ability through theoretical review, analysis, and reflection.
Examination
Foundations of Strategy:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 5 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 7 days to prepare
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The exam is a short scientific paper for each individual student. The students will be informed of the subject of the article subsequently (by lot). In form and content, the article must correspond to the requirements of scientific as described in detail in the course outlined
Course content and structure

This is the first course in strategic management of the study program. The aim of this course is to provide students with a strong theoretical foundation in the strategy field. Consequently, the course offers a variety of strategy topics and views in order to provide a holistic view of the strategy field.

 

Strategy deals with the management of businesses and product-market activities within the umbrella of the larger, typically multinational, enterprise. Hence, the course focuses on the effective management of business entities operating across different product- markets and thereby builds on the business strategy perspectives concerned with firm positioning in industry specific product-markets. To observe and implement effective strategies managers need a strong theoretical foundation which is the rationale for the focus of the course. 

 

Upon completion of this course the student should be well equipped to address essential strategy issues and analyze a variety of different strategies through different theoretical lenses. Students must demonstrate this ability through a combination of theory and methods in a short scientific paper. The evaluation criteria are based on contribution, structural consistency and logical flow, clarity of argumentation with justification for use of analytical approaches, and thoughtful discussions that show a deep understanding of the strategic issue.
Teaching methods
The teaching mainly takes place in large classes and consists of a mixture of dialog-based lectures, presentations, discussions, and assignments/cases.
Feedback during the teaching period
The design of the course follows a proactive feedback philosophy by ex-ante mirroring the exam. Students are repeatedly exposed to learning objectives, exam sub-tasks, and situations during selected exercises and lectures. In the exam preparation sessions, students are debriefed and can ask for detailed feedback on their own performance. Hence, they have opportunities for reinforced learning based on exam-relevant tasks and feedback all along the course, and well before they enter the actual exam. The preparation and feedback sessions are scheduled for maximizing learning impact after the first half of the course and close to the end. Parts of the final lecture are used to recap material, provide overarching feedback and invite detailed student questions.
Student workload
Preparation 100 hours
Teaching 80 hours
Examination 26 hours
Expected literature

The course is based on the following textbook:
Grant, Robert M. Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 9th Edition, Text and Cases Edition, John Wiley and Sons, UK. The book will be available in the bookshop SL books.

Additional readings are announced in the course outline and can be accessed via the CBS library homepage. Case studies will be used selectively and similarly announced in the course outline.


Please note that there might be slight changes in the final readings before the respective class sessions.
Last updated on 30-05-2017