Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Lecturer
Randal Tame
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Credit points |
Credit points
4
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MBA or MMgmt or PGDipMgt or GradDipMgt or GradCertMgt or MEngMgt or MSocEntre or GradCertSocEntre
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit analyses the theories behind, and practical applications of, strategic frameworks used to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. You will learn why organisations change their strategic direction, the importance of those changes, and the process that leads to such key decisions. Importantly, there are no “universal solutions, only differing perspectives which can help you make competitively sustainable strategic decisions.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
---|---|---|---|
Individual case analysis | 20% | No | Friday, 1 November 2019 |
Group presentations | 30% | No | During session 8-10 depending on group allocation |
Final examination | 50% | No | Exam week: 25 November - 1 December 2019 |
Due: Friday, 1 November 2019
Weighting: 20%
Assignment Task
The individual report is your reflection on the business management simulation undertaken in Session 6.
After the simulation, you will prepare and submit an essay based on your reflection about the simulation experience, your individual results, and your strategic analysis of the simulation using course relevant strategic frameworks. In the report, you should briefly outline the strategic decisions you made during the business management simulation. The most important task is to do a strategic analysis of the firm’s success and failures using course relevant strategic frameworks, explaining what and why strategic decisions were correct, and what you could have done differently. You need to use the theories and frameworks we have discussed in the unit as analytical tools and to support your arguments.
Business management simulation
This simulation is designed to assist you in bridging theories in strategic management to the real-world context. In this simulation, you will be presented with challenges and opportunities associated with making strategic decisions under uncertain and highly-constraining real world conditions.
Simulation foreground readings will be provided to students closer to date. Students will be advised via the iLearn announcement.
Your role in the simulation
Your role in the business management simulation is to play the role of a senior manager and make strategic decisions in the business management simulation. Strategic decision-making involves the process of identifying company’s problems, opportunities and/or threats and resolving them accordingly. More details of the business management simulation will be available via iLearn closer to date.
Length of the Report
1200 words with 11 pt font and 1.5 spacing. You will be penalised 5 marks for every extra 100 words.
Submission
Students are expected to submit a soft-copy of the assessment on or before the due date listed above. The soft-copy submission will be submitted to Turnitin via the MGSM iLearn portal, a program used to ensure the originality of the work undertaken by the submitter.
Extensions and penalties:
No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
Due: During session 8-10 depending on group allocation
Weighting: 30%
Assignment Task
This assignment is a group presentation. The lecturer will form and assign you to a group and a particular company for the purposes of this assignment. In real life, you will often be put in situations in which you will be asked to work with a group of people you have never worked with before. It is an important part of your MBA to learn how to effectively navigate the team dynamics. Your group must conduct a comprehensive strategic analysis as described below. Please note: if your group would like to work on a specific organisation (e.g., your employer or your own start-up), please contact the lecturer to confirm if the organisation is suitable for this assignment.
You are expected to apply the frameworks and concepts from the course to identify and evaluate the business environment and strategy of the company that has been assigned to you. The following suggestions may assist you in preparing the group assignment. This is not a template to be replicated but a starting point for you to further develop.
Business Environment Identification and Evaluation
Use recent and older data/evidence (i.e., from the past 1-5 years) from multiple sources (references to be included) to analyse the operating industry of a company in terms of:
• Products, buyer, suppliers, overall size and importance
• Structure of the industry and participants (who are the rivals?)
• Demand - supply characteristics, growth, prospects for the future (Threats and
opportunities)
• Environmental factors- e.g. changes in technology, and other global influences
• Profitability of the industry and who captures the profits (b) Groups assigned to a company
Strategy Identification and Evaluation
Use recent and older data from multiple sources (i.e., from the past 1-5 years and with references) to:
• Study the formulation & implementation of strategy of the nominated company that has been assigned to your group.
• Detail the way in which the nominated company has evolved/positioned itself/ implemented its strategy in recent years in the industry/sector. Focus on a resources and capabilities view to show how competitive advantage has been built.
• Determine conclude what the strategic issues are for the future of the firm.
• In line with your strategic analysis make recommendations for the future that could improve the company’s strategy/positioning. Explain your criteria for doing so (i.e., show how the recommendations logically link to your strategic analysis).
Each group will have 20-25 minutes to cover their assigned company and 5-10 minutes for discussion. Groups should ensure their presentation fill this period without going over time. It is therefore important that you conduct a number of practice runs to get the timing and delivery right.
It is completely up to you how you want to approach your presentation in terms of approach, style, medium, etc. Creativity is strongly encouraged as long as it has impact and does not detract from the professionalism of the presentation. It is important that you make your presentation engaging in order to be able to continue to hold the active attention of your audience.
A marking criterion matrix for both the industry and nominated company will be made available on the class iLearn page which will be applied to this assessment. Students should follow the marking criterion matrix related to their allocated assignment.
Submission
Overall assessment of presentations will be based on a group mark component (50%) and an individual mark component (50%).
As part of the submission, the group is also required to provide, on one page, a statement of exactly what each member did for this task, signed off by each member of the group. If there are sizable discrepancies concerning contributions within the group, the lecturer reserves the right to apportion marks unequally.
Groups must ensure that all members contribute equally to the assignment. Should any difficulty occur with this, the group should talk with the lecturer as soon as possible. At the time of handing in the assignment the group should agree on what percentage of the mark each person should receive. You should indicate this information on the cover sheet of the assignment.
If the group assesses the contribution of each member as equal, each would receive 100% of the final mark. In cases where the group decides that some members did not contribute equally, this should be reflected in the percentage (if there is problem in the group, please tell me sooner rather than later).
The case study and presentation times (subject to change) for each group will be determined in Week 3.
Groups are to submit 1 x soft-copy of their presentation slides to the lecturer on the day of the group's presentation. The soft-copy submission will be submitted to Turnitin via the MGSM iLearn portal, a program used to ensure the originality of the work undertaken by the submitter. Please also submit in PowerPoint format only (No PDF files) to the lecturer's email.
Extensions and penalties:
No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
Due: Exam week: 25 November - 1 December 2019
Weighting: 50%
Duration: 3 hours and 10 minutes reading time
Format: Closed book examination
The date and time when exam will be opened and closed will be announced on iLearn.
Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D. and Regner, P. (2017). Exploring strategy. 11th edition. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited. ISBN: 9781292145129
Please note: It is recommended that you read the chapters suggested in the unit guide prior to the relevant class.
A selection of readings on Strategic Management will also be made available. Specific articles are recommended for review in connection with each class session. Optional readings (classic and contemporary) are listed below for students interested in reading further in the field of Strategic Management.
The Coop Bookshop: The Coop Bookshop is our main retailer for textbooks and other related academic material. For information on textbook prices and online ordering, please refer to The Co-Op Bookshop webpage at http://www.coop.com.au
Disclaimer: MGSM does not take responsibility for the stock levels of required textbooks from preferred retail outlets and other book retailers. While we advise our preferred book retail outlet, The Co-op Bookshop, of our maximum expected number of students purchasing specific required text each term, The Co-op Bookshop and other book retailers will make their own judgement in regard to their physical holding stock levels. To prevent disappointment if a textbook is out-of-stock, we highly advise students to order their textbooks as early as possible, or if the required textbook is currently out-of-stock, place an order with the book retailer as soon as possible so that these book retailers can monitor demand and supply, and adjust their stock orders accordingly.
We have also provided additional material in the iLearn unit (articles, book chapters and video links) as a resource for you. These supplementary unit materials are not compulsory and have been provided as extra resources should you be particularly interested in a topic.
Below is a list of other readings related and extended beyond this unit which you may wish to look into.
The web page for this unit can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/MGSM
Access to a personal computer is required to access resources and learning material from iLearn.
This unit will be presented over 10 sessions as follows (The proposed program might be subject to some minor changes as the term progresses (TBA)).
Session | Topics and associated case studies/readings/textbook chapters |
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1 |
Leading the way: The Strategy concept and LeadershipEssential reading: Case study: Rothaermel, F.T. & King, D.R. (2017). Delta Air Lines, Inc. McGraw Hill Education. MH0056. Allocated supplementary readings:
Optional readings: Christensen, C. M. (1997). Making strategy: Learning by doing. Harvard business review, 75(6), 141-156. Optional textbook chapter references: 1 & 15 |
2 |
Understanding the marketEssential reading: Case study: Suraj S, SGT., Srivastava, M., Chandoke, T. & Prakash, P. (2016). Netflix in India: The way ahead. Richard Ivey School of Business. The University of Western Ontario. W17100. Allocated supplementary readings:
Optional readings: D'Aveni, R. A. (2007). Mapping your competitive position. Harvard business review, 85(11), 110-120, 154. Optional textbook chapter references: 2 & 3 |
3 |
Understanding your organisationAllocated supplementary readings:
Optional readings: Teece, D. (2007). Explicating Dynamic Capabilities: The Nature and Microfoundations of (sustainable) Enterprise Performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 1319-1350. Optional textbook chapter reference: 4 |
4 |
Designing business strategiesEssential reading: Case study: McColl, J. & He, H.Y. (2016). Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth. Richard Ivey School of Business. The University of Western Ontario. W16339. Optional readings:
Optional textbook chapter references: 7, 9 & 11 |
5 |
Designing corporate strategiesEssential reading: Case study: Rothaermel, F.T. (2017). Alphabet's Google. McGraw Hill Education. MH0055. Optional readings:
Optional textbook chapter reference: 8 |
6 |
Strategy Simulation |
7 |
Blue ocean strategyEssential readings: Case study: Koo, O.Y., Kim, W.C. & Mauborgne, R. (2016). Drybar (A): The American Beauty Salon Industry in 2008. INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. IN1246. Essential readings: Case study: Koo, O.Y., Kim, W.C. & Mauborgne, R. (2016). Drybar (B): No cuts. No color. Just blowouts!. INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. IN1247. Allocated supplementary readings:
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8 |
Designing sustainable strategiesAllocated supplementary readings:
Optional readings:
Optional textbook chapter reference: 5 |
9 |
Contemporary issues in strategy - International and innovation strategyAllocated supplementary readings:
Optional textbook chapter reference: 9 &10 |
10 |
Bringing it all together; Overview and exam preparationOptional readings:
Optional textbook chapter reference: 13 |
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