Última actualización: 12/04/2019


Curso Académico: 2019/2020

Fundamentos Económicos de la Estrategia
(17161)
Máster Universitario en Economía de la Empresa y Finanzas/ Master in Business and Finance (Plan: 362 - Estudio: 69)
Escuela de Empresa


Coordinador/a: KAVADIS , NIKOLAOS

Departamento asignado a la asignatura: Departamento de Economía de la Empresa

Tipo: Obligatoria
Créditos: 5.0 ECTS

Curso:
Cuatrimestre:




Objetivos
The purpose of this course is to enhance students¿ knowledge on the foundations of strategic management research. The primary objective of strategic management is twofold: (1) to explain differences in firm behavior, as this is enacted at the organizational apex; (2) to explain differences in performance among firms, as well as provide suggestions on how to improve performance. We will review the main explanations offered by strategic management research and related topics, such as the industry-based view, the resource-based view, business and corporate strategies, and parameters related to the implementation of these strategies, in particular the governance context within which strategy is enacted and by whom. At the end of the course, students should be proficient on the foundations of strategic management research, and endowed with a greater ability to critically analyze research on this field, as well as to ask novel research questions. With these goals in mind, the design of the sessions emphasizes participants¿ autonomous thinking and involvement. Thus, the more specific objectives of the course are: ¿ Review the main explanations offered by strategic management research with regard to differences in firm behavior and performance. To do so, we will examine a list of articles that refer to the related key topics in strategy research. ¿ Critically analyze and comment theoretical and empirical issues in strategy from an interdisciplinary perspective. ¿ Integrate existing knowledge to develop an original research proposal with an interesting research question and testable propositions. ¿ Develop skills to present and defend your research proposal, and ideas more generally. ¿ Learn how to review a research paper.
Descripción de contenidos: Programa
1 Introduction 2 The role of industry 3 The resource-based view and firm capabilities 4 CEOs and top management teams 5 Owners and boards of directors 1 6 Owners and boards of directors 2 7 Corporate strategy 1: Diversification and vertical integration 8 Corporate strategy 2: Divestments and refocusing 9 Corporate strategy 3: Internationalization 10 Corporate strategy 4: M&As and alliances 11 Business strategy 12 Work-in-progress presentations 13 Paper Presentations 14 Paper Presentations
Actividades formativas, metodología a utilizar y régimen de tutorías
COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1. Article summaries In each session, one student will summarize (in a written form) one of the suggested papers, as well as present her or his summary in class. For Sessions 8, 9, 11, and 12, there will be two of these individual presentations. The written summaries have to be of one page in length (single-spaced, 12 font) and include: (1) The reference of the article, according to the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) format, as this is illustrated in the Journal¿s articles. (2) The name of the student. (3) Brief synopsis of the essentials of the paper: theoretical argument, assumptions, proposition(s) and/or hypotheses, research methods (if empirical), main empirical results, theoretical and empirical implications of the study. (4) The student¿s assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. The student has to send the summary by email to the rest of the class as well as to me the night before the presentation. The student has to send to me the file corresponding to the oral presentation (e.g., in PowerPoint format) the night before the presentation. The student will have approximately 10-12 minutes to present the summary of the paper in class. One week before the beginning of the course, I will provide the list with the assigned papers to each student. Assessment of this task: based on the ability to capture and describe the essentials of the paper. 2. Class participation The Strategic Management course is not a typical lecture course; hence just attending the sessions does not contribute by itself to learning. It is important that, not only you attend every class, but you contribute to the discussions with good questions, answers, and reflections. It is also important to raise original ideas and make constructive suggestions to your classmates. Assessment of this task: I will rely on the quality of your contributions in evaluating your participation. Outstanding contributions will lead to a premium (reflected on your grade), whereas a lack of attendance and participation will lower your overall grade. 3. Research questions At the beginning of the course, students will have to form groups. Each group should comprise three (3) students. In each session, one group will summarize (in a written form) one of the suggested papers (next to the one/s presented individually), as well as present their summary in class. Furthermore, the night before each class, each group has to send by email two questions to the rest of the class as well as to me. These questions have to guide the discussion about each paper and topic. I expect that you formulate questions that are original, provocative, and that reflect your knowledge of the topic. In the email, please include the names of the members of the group. Assessment of these tasks: based on the ability to capture and describe the essentials of the paper, and on the quality of the questions. 4. Work-in-progress presentation Before presenting the final paper (see below point 5), a work-in-progress presentation has to take place. This work-in-progress presentation has to take place in about 5 minutes + 5 minutes of comments and suggestions by the rest of the class. The work-in-progress presentation has to include: (1) The research question (2) The conceptual framework (which theory or theories will be employed and a brief description of them) (3) The hypotheses to test (4) A first assessment of the empirics to test these hypotheses. Deadline: Send me by email your PowerPoint presentation by the set deadline. Failure to meet the deadline will lead to points' deduction in this component of the grade. Assessment of this task: the soundness of the above-described components will determine the evaluation. 5. Final paper Each student has to write an individual final paper. The final paper has to be the front end of a research paper, within the context of one of the topics covered in this course. The final paper should include: (1) An appealing introduction with a clearly formulated research question (see Appendix on how to write an introduction that is considered as appealing). (2) A sound theoretical framework, with its formulated propositions and/or hypotheses. (3) A tentative research design. (4) A discussion that emphasizes the expected contribution of the paper to the existing literature on the topic. To write the final paper, I recommend you to follow the SMJ style guide. The maximum number of pages of text is 15 (without counting figures, tables and references). The number of pages dedicated to tables and references is not restricted. Each student is required to present her or his research paper (in about 10-12 minutes) at the end of the course (see Sessions 13 and 14). Deadline: Send me by email your paper by the set deadline. Failure to meet the deadline will lead to points' deduction in this component of the grade. Assessment of this task: the originality of the idea and the soundness of the above-described components will determine the evaluation. 6. Exam A final exam will cover all the sessions taught during the course. The quality of your answers will determine the evaluation.
Sistema de evaluación
  • Peso porcentual del Examen Final 25
  • Peso porcentual del resto de la evaluación 75

Bibliografía básica
  • Barney. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. . Journal of Management. 1991
  • Berry. Why do firms divest? . Organization Science. 2010
  • Bethel & Liebeskind. The effects of ownership structure on corporate restructuring. Strategic Management Journal. 1993
  • Bigley & Wiersema. New CEOs and corporate strategic refocusing: How experience as heir apparent influences the use of power. . Administrative Science Quarterly. 2002
  • Carpenter, Geletkanycz & Sanders. Upper echelons research revisited: Antecedents, elements, and consequences of top management team composition. . Journal of Management. 2004
  • Castañer & Kavadis. Does good governance prevent bad strategy? A study of corporate governance, financial diversification, and value creation by French corporations, 2000-2006.. Strategic Management Journal. 2013
  • Dalton, Hitt, Certo & Dalton. The fundamental agency problem and its mitigation: Independence, equity, and the market for corporate control. Academy of Management Annals. 2007
  • Davis & Duhaime. Diversification, vertical integration, and industry analysis: New perspectives and measurement. Strategic Management Journal. 1992
  • Delios & Beamish. Ownership strategy of Japanese firms: Transactional, institutional and experience influences.. Strategic Management Journal. 1999
  • Dyer & Singh. The relational view: Cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review. 1998
  • Eisenhardt & Martin. Dynamic capabilities: What are they? . Strategic Management Journal. 2000
  • Fiss & Zajac. The symbolic management of strategic change: Sensegiving via framing and decoupling.. Academy of Management Journal. 2006
  • Garrette, Castañer & Dussauge. Horizontal alliances as an alternative to autonomous production: Product expansion mode choice in the worldwide aircraft industry. Strategic Management Journal. 2009
  • Gulati. Alliances and networks. Strategic Management Journal. 1998
  • Hill. Differentiation versus low cost or differentiation and low cost: A contingency framework. Academy of Management Review. 1988
  • Hitt, Tihanyi, Miller & Connelly. International diversification: Antecedents, outcomes, and moderators.. Journal of Management. 2006
  • Hoskisson, Hitt, Wan & Yiu. . Theory and research in strategic management: Swings of a pendulum.. Journal of Management. 1999
  • Kogut & Singh. The effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode. Journal of International Business Studies. 1988
  • Kotha & Vadlamani. Assessing generic strategies: an empirical investigation of two competing typologies in discrete manufacturing industries. Strategic Management Journal. 1995
  • Lee & Madhavan. Divestiture and firm performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Management. 2010
  • Lubatkin. Merger strategies and stockholder value. Strategic Management Journal. 1987
  • Markides. Diversification, restructuring and economic performance. Strategic Management Journal. 1995
  • McGahan & Porter. How much does industry matter, really? . Strategic Management Journal. 1997
  • Nag, Hambrick & Chen. What is strategic management, really? Inductive derivation of a consensus definition of the field. Strategic Management Journal. 2007
  • Palich, Cardinal & Miller. Curvilinearity in the diversification-performance linkage: An examination of over three decades of research. Strategic Management Journal. 2000
  • Rumelt. How much does industry matter?. Strategic Management Journal. 1991

El programa de la asignatura podría sufrir alguna variación por causa de fuerza mayor debidamente justificada o por eventos académicos comunicados con antelación.