This course is designed to develop your ability to understand at a fundamental level how and why some firms achieve and sustain superior performance. The course draws on frameworks and findings from a number of academic disciplines, especially economics, organization theory, sociology, accounting, and management policy. Successful strategy design and implementation requires a broad-based understanding of the firm's external environment and competitive landscape, as well as its capabilities and potential positioning. The course is designed to develop this integrative view of the firm and its environment, along with appropriate analytical skills.
The course aims to provide you with specific tools that will enable you to:
1. assess the structure of firms' external environment and understand how this affects expected long-run industry performance;
2. evaluate firms' competitive positioning and interaction, and understand the factors that affect expected long-run firm performance;
3. develop appropriate and superior strategies;
4. assess the dynamics of competition and understand how economic, social, political, and technological forces can determine the need for strategic re-positioning and affect long-term profitability.