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2020/2021  KAN-CCMIU1002U  CEMS Global Strategic Management

English Title
CEMS Global Strategic Management

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
Min. participants 60
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for BSc and MSc in Business, Language and Culture, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Diego Stea - Department of Strategy and Innovation (SI)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalisation and international business
  • Strategy
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 27-10-2020

Relevant links
Learning objectives
The goal of this course is to develop a strong understanding of the link between theory and practice within the content of the course. In the exam, students must demonstrate this ability on a written group assignment. Specifically, the learning objectives are demonstrated in the exam to the degree to which students can perform along the following dimensions, where a top performing exam should fulfill all of these requirements:
  • The thoroughness of the understanding of the relevant theories and frameworks.
  • The ability to choose and apply relevant theories and frameworks to solve the exam assignment, integrating case-specific data and information with frameworks and theory.
  • The quality of the analysis in terms of relevance of aspects and issues discussed.
  • The consistency as well as stringency in reasoning.
  • The ability to reflect critically on own conclusions and recommendations.
Course prerequisites
This course is only open to CEMS MIM students and is approved as an elective for the MSc in EBA, BLC and IBP.
Examination
CEMS Global Strategic Management:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Group exam
Please note the rules in the Programme Regulations about identification of individual contributions.
Number of people in the group 3-4
Size of written product Max. 20 pages
• Students are required to write a mini-project report in groups.
• The groups are formed by the course coordinator in collaboration with the CBS CEMS Office.
• Each group consists of either three, or four students.
• The maximum number of pages of the final mini-project report is 20 for groups of 4 students.
• The maximum number of pages of the final mini-project report is 15 for groups of 3 students.
• Exhibits, figures, tables, references and any other additional material is not included in the maximum number of pages.
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
• If no submission has been made for the ordinary exam, a mini-project report must be submitted for the re-exam.
• If a whole group fails, they must submit a revised mini-project report for the re-exam.
• If an individual student fails, the student must submit a mini-project report where he or she has revised those sections that the student was responsible for.
Description of the exam procedure

The students are required to write a mini-project report in groups.

 

Following programme regulations at CBS, in the group product it must be explained which parts of the product the individual student has written, so that individual assessments can be made of the individual students’ performances. The information should be provided both in the table of contents and at the introduction of the parts of the product which the individual student is responsible for. The introduction, the problem statement, methodology sections, and the conclusion can be written jointly. The individual student’s student number is to be noted, not the student’s name.

 

The project shall be based on a real-life firm case chosen by the group and should include the development and analysis of future scenarios, as well as an assessment of possible corporate strategic responses to those scenarios. In the course, the instructors will consult with the groups to provide guidance on the design and implementation of the mini-projects. The exam will be evaluated in accordance with the learning objectives of the course.

 

Each group is expected to:

  • Pick a real-life firm case suitable for scenario planning.
  • Decide which of the GSM course topics is most suitable for the case, and select a set of tools/theoretical frameworks related to that topic (two or three tools/frameworks maximum).
  • Apply the selected tools/theoretical frameworks from the course in the context of different scenarios for the future.
  • Offer recommendations/assessments as result of the analysis.
  • An ideal structure would be: i) firm case presentation and problem statement, ii) short introduction to industry and context, iii) development and presentation of future scenarios, iv) description of tools/theoretical frameworks to be used, v) analysis of the strategic implications of those scenarios for the firm, v) recommendations.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Around the world and also within the CEMS institutions, most courses on global strategy and strategic management adopt a rational, analytical perspective. Students learn theories that explain why some firms are better than others, why they differ, and what strategic actions can be used in which kind of situations. The underlying idea is that the combination of sufficient and relevant information as well as the appropriate analytical tools and processes enable us to optimize strategic decision-making. This is a classical, important, and foundational approach to strategic management. 

 

However, an increasingly influential stream of research uses insights from the behavioral sciences to understand and improve the strategic management of global organizations. This research has shown that important strategic mistakes are driven by logical fallacies and cognitive biases, by imperfect assumptions on the relational nature of business, by the inability to properly identify and tackle problems, particularly when they unfold on processes that are global in nature, and finally by a limited ability to navigate complex and fast-changing business scenarios. All of this, despite proper analytical tools and the availability of relevant information. 

 

This course takes a pragmatic approach, and focuses on the way strategy is crafted and carried out in practice.Particularly, the course starts by establishing a shared understanding of classical perspectives in global strategy and international business, and then advances this understanding by developing your capabilities in five core approaches to strategy thinking that will provide you with novel intuitions as well as powerful tools for the strategic management of global organizations—that is, a behavioral-based, relational-based, problem-based, growth-based, and scenario-based approach to strategy analysis, formulation, and execution. The learning experience will be enriched by the involvement of a number of practitioners from top level corporate partners. 

 

This course will provide you with practical skills, as well as theoretical frameworks and tools that are of utmost importance for being an effective global manager, and especially relevant for functions such as corporate development, strategy, and consulting.
Description of the teaching methods
The course is based on a combination of scientific articles, practitioner articles, and case material to build a critical, and up-to-date understanding of global strategic management. The instructors will engage with the students through lectures, case discussions, presentations, workshop and feedback sessions. These activities will be complemented by participation of a number of practitioners from corporate partners. There will also be group presentations where students will share their insights with the class so as to leverage, as well as receive feedback on their learning from the course. To get the most out of the course it is vital to be well prepared for class and to engage actively in class discussions.
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
Teaching 33 hours
Preparation and work 113 hours
Exam 60 hours
Expected literature

The course curriculum includes scientific articles, practitioner articles, and cases. All articles can be accessed via CBS library or CBS Canvas.

Cases for class discussion will be made available though Canvas. 

All readings for the course are listed in detail in the lecture plan, which will be made available though Canvas. 
Last updated on 27-10-2020