Description: Strategic analysis, strategy development, implementation and evaluation and the foundations of strategic thinking and game theory are vital processes in business management. This course equips managers with the tools for adapting and modelling strategy to changing circumstances.

Background: At the core of business in the 21st Century is competitive advantage and sustainable business. Technology advances have enabled organizational agility and responsiveness. It has also enabled competition through new market entrants and advanced efficiency. All firms face pressure to be more productive, efficient and cost effective, increasing profitably and wealth for stakeholders. Michael Porter is considered the pioneer of strategy with his generic strategies model, Industry Analysis model and focus on building profitable firms in competitive environments. Porter focuses strategy on finding ways to position your firm uniquely in the market place so your position is difficult to duplicate and replicate by others. The success of strategy comes in finding this and then investing in it. Porter positions strategy as how we can balance activities to create a unique practice. At the core of his discussion are examples like IKEA. He suggests that IKEA, through a combination of brand position, marketing offering, operational excellence and distribution, achieves a model in the discount furniture segment that is stylish, popular, and globally successful. Due to the importance of strategy to the firm and the firm’s success, strategic management and the role of strategy in the firm attracts much attention and discussion. This unit elaborates on the themes, theories and practices related to strategy and strategic management.

Decription:Strategy and strategic management theory are required to manage long-term company objectives, competitive advantage, and business profitability. This course will help students understand the definition of strategy and how it links to other key decision making in business.

Background: Lynch suggests there are 2 key approaches to strategy: the prescriptive or rational approach, which focuses on Johnson and Scholes’ strategic planning process and the emergent approach where strategy is an experimental process of trial and errors and there is no clear link between formulation and execution.

Description: Mastery of the skills and professional conduct is required for strategic planning and corporate social responsibility in diverse business

contexts. This course provides the tools and critically evaluate the commercial, social, environmental and ethical factors impacting strategy in modern business.

Background: The process of crafting a strategy is a systematic sequence of activities that begins with an analysis of the external environment. It is essential to understand the interaction of the external and internal environments and their influence on the firm and how they impact the choice of strategy.

This includes the process of forming a vision after analyzing the external and internal environments. Some strategists suggest a holistic vision comes prior to analysis, with others suggesting analysis drives the vision. Irrespective of this lack of consensus, developing vision and values, designing and executing strategy are determined by the extent and power of forces in the external environment and the internal capabilities of the firm to achieve the vision, with the success of a strategy reliant on two vital factors.

The external environment contains the following parts:

• Relevant components of a company’s external environment
• Assessing the company’s industry and competitive environment
• Five forces framework
• Strategic group analysis
• Key success factors (KSFs)
• Mission and vision and values

Description: A firm’s business strategy involves research, analysis and synthesis of strategic management concepts, theories and strategic initiatives in organisations.This course provides an opportunity to build, apply and evaluate strategies in real world scenarios. 

Background: With many directions, strategic options and ideas in front of a firm, how to best succeed when rationalizing the findings of analysis is a complex challenge. Designing and implementing strategy are considered one of the most challenging parts of the strategy formulation process. A brilliantly conceived strategy can fail from a misinterpretation of the marketplace, over or underemphasizing findings, inabilities to find agreement, staff resistance, poor communication and lack of execution. This strategy must also align with the direction the firm identifies with the vision, mission and overarching corporate values. Core to successful planning is building a strategy execution framework that supports the direction for strategic business units to embrace the strategy for implementation.

Core to the success of SBU (Strategic Business Unit) level strategic planning are several managerial functions. These include:

• Matching organizational structure to the strategy
• Adopting best practices and employing continuous improvement management tools
• Installing information and operating systems

The core focus of developing the SBU-level strategic planning is to inform implementation and establish the direction for functional level implementation. This is not possible without a focus on leadership, management and operations with each essential to developing performance-driven ‘implementation’ or ‘execution’.

Description: Solutions are required for complex strategic business problems and there is a need to develop local and international strategic management plans and operations in diverse business contexts. This course provides the tools and critically evaluate and develop dynamic business plans.

Background: The final consideration for the strategy planning process is to consider implementation and the future. To ensure you understand the role of functional strategy, it is ideal to revisit the higher strategic levels.

Corporate Level Strategy is the company’s main purpose(s). At this level the strategic process aims to:

1. Set priorities and common goals
2. Focus the use of resources
3. Specify the expected results or achievements

The Business Level Strategy translates corporate strategies into more tangible actions and strategic directions.

The strategies at this level can focus on overarching themes for departmental levels and direction such as:

1. Increasing the market share
2. Improving product quality
3. Building brand exposure