THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: Strategy Processes, Practices and Power (CMSE11523)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course will contribute to creating leading future scholars through exposing them to exemplary strategy research. It is targeted mainly at PhDs level students within a Strategy subject area but is also of relevance for students of organization theory, entrepreneurship, marketing and, to a lesser degree, accounting.
Course description Organised around core lectures, this course will prompt debate and conversation in the classroom. Students will be asked to do a substantial amount of reading prior to each class to show their understanding of the topics and engage with the topics. Suggested readings are provided for each session and can be used in preparation for the assessment. It is intended, however, that the list of readings is not exhaustive and should only prompt the beginning of an autonomous research process. Class interaction will be facilitated by the lecturer in order to become aware and debate the different nature of various approaches to strategy.

Overview of themes:-

Session 1: Process views on strategy
Session 2: Strategy as practice
Session 3: Strategy tools and technologies
Session 4: Power and strategy
Session 5: Summary & reflections on the evolution of strategy as discipline
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Knowledge and Understanding: At the end of the course, students will be able to construct a map of strategy research approaches in order to be able to combine, use, and contribute to, them in coherent and rigorous ways. This knowledge will allow them to frame their research and execute it following appropriate theories.
  2. Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding. At the end of the course students will be able to identify appropriate theories and techniques for carrying out their own research.
  3. Generic Cognitive Skills. Students will develop critical thinking skills in relation to the subject area and beyond.
  4. Communication Skills. The presentations and discussions in class will help students to learn to articulate their thoughts in a systematic and coherent manner.
  5. Autonomy, Accountability and Working with others. Students will be tasked with individual and group work which will develop both their autonomy and ability to work with others.
Reading List
Session 1: Process views on strategy
* Burgelman, R. A. (1994). Fading memories: A process theory of strategic business exit in dynamic environments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24-56.
* Pettigrew, A. M. (1992). The character and significance of strategy process research. Strategic management journal, 13(S2), 5-16.
* MacKay, R. B., & Chia, R. (2013). Choice, chance, and unintended consequences in strategic change: a process understanding of the rise and fall of Northco Automotive. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 208-230.

Session 2: Strategy as practice
* Kaplan, S. (2011). Strategy and PowerPoint: An inquiry into the epistemic culture and machinery of strategy making. Organization Science, 22(2), 320-346.
* Kornberger, M., & Clegg, S. (2011). Strategy as performative practice: The case of Sydney 2030. Strategic Organization, 9(2), 136-162.
* Wenzel, M., & Koch, J. (2018). Strategy as staged performance: A critical discursive perspective on keynote speeches as a genre of strategic communication. Strategic Management Journal, 39(3), 639-663.

Session 3: Strategy tools and technologies
* Doganova, L., & Eyquem-Renault, M. (2009). What do business models do?: Innovation devices in technology entrepreneurship. Research Policy, 38(10), 1559-1570.
* Giraudeau, M. (2008). The drafts of strategy: Opening up plans and their uses. Long range planning, 41(3), 291-308.
* Jarzabkowski, P., & Kaplan, S. (2015). Strategy tools¿in¿use: A framework for understanding ¿technologies of rationality¿ in practice. Strategic management journal, 36(4), 537-558.
* Kornberger, M. (2017). The values of strategy: Valuation practices, rivalry and strategic agency. Organization Studies, 38(12), 1753-1773.

Session 4: Power and strategy
* Knights, D., & Morgan, G. (1991). Corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: A critique. Organization studies, 12(2), 251-273.
* Oakes, L. S., Townley, B., & Cooper, D. J. (1998). Business planning as pedagogy: Language and control in a changing institutional field. Administrative Science Quarterly, 257-292.
* Flyvbjerg, B. (2002). Bringing power to planning research: One researcher¿s praxis story. Journal of planning education and research, 21(4), 353-366.

Session 5: Summary & reflections on the evolution of strategy as discipline
* Burgelman, R. A., Floyd, S. W., Laamanen, T., Mantere, S., Vaara, E., & Whittington, R. (2018). Strategy processes and practices: Dialogues and intersections. Strategic Management Journal, 39(3), 531-558.
* Carter, C. & Whittle, A. (2018). Making strategy critical? Critical Perspectives on Accounting 53: 1-15
* Rabetino, R., Kohtamäki, M., & Federico, J. S. (2020). A (Re) view of the Philosophical Foundations of Strategic Management. International Journal of Management Reviews.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsStrategy,Debate,Business,Organisation Theory,Marketing,Entrepreneurship
Contacts
Course organiserProf Martin Kornberger
Tel:
Email: Martin.Kornberger@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Ciaran Masson
Tel: (0131 6)50 9945
Email: Ciaran.Masson@ed.ac.uk
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