Postgraduate Course: Corporate Strategy (MSc) (CMSE11097)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 15 |
ECTS Credits | 7.5 |
| Summary | The questions we ask in strategy [whether in an assessment or in real life] may appear simple, but the answers can be very complex. "What business are we in?" is a classic strategy question that examiners ask of students, consultants ask of companies, and boards of directors should ask themselves all the time.
There may not be a right answer, and if there is we may not necessarily have that answer. By the end of this course students should be developing insights into the strategy of organisations which will impress not only us as teachers but people running organisations. |
| Course description |
Corporate Strategy is an integrating module; it is concerned with the totality of what a trading business or other organisation is trying to achieve. In other words it assesses a wide variety of environmental and organisational aspects which, when considered overall, help us to understand why some organisations thrive and similar organisations may struggle. These aspects will be relevant whether the organisations are trying to sell clothes world-wide or provide health care in a geographically defined community. The aim of the Corporate Strategy course is to help students examine the corporate strategic possibilities of an enterprise and also to encourage them to integrate what they have learnt from other courses and elective choices.
The overall objectives of our strategy course are therefore:
- to integrate the functional courses which form the rest of the MSC programme
- to emphasise the generalist nature of management work
- to examine the role of top management in setting the direction of enterprise
- to examine and to be able to apply techniques of strategic analysis
- to be aware of competing arguments behind a number of strategic approaches
- to gain an understanding of processes of strategy formulation and implementation
Content:
The nature of strategy; leading strategic change; gauging context; strategic positioning; disruptive innovation; resources & capabilities; internationalisation.
Student Learning Experience:
There are three key features and differences to the way this course works. First, it adopts a flipped and blended approach to learning pedagogy, which means that delegates work through online written workbooks, additional readings, and answer questions in integrated and assessed online weekly pre-class tests (quizzes) ahead of coming to class, thus taking the place of formal lectures. These both inform and motivate learning.
Second, the classes or workshops that follow clarify and elaborate on that learning, and look at how strategy is put into practice, with students working in assigned teams on allocated corporate strategy projects. Students work together in these teams both in-class and on assessed team-level projects in order to develop the necessary team-based strategy skills required in practice. Each team project is assessed via a live presentation to a panel and Q&A session, and evaluated against specific criteria and associated rubrics.
Third, the course is taught in bi-weekly blocks (every other week) to provide time for delegates to both conduct preparatory reading and assessment, as well as work on projects in their teams.
Tutorial/seminar hours represent the minimum total live hours - online or in-person - a student can expect to receive on this course. These hours may be delivered in tutorial/seminar, lecture, workshop or other interactive whole class or small group format. These live hours may be supplemented by pre-recorded lecture material for students to engage with asynchronously.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | For Business School PG students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Show demonstrable understanding and use of conceptual frameworks of strategy
- Show methodical strategic analysis of a firm
- Research and analyse to understand a specific case
- Show coherent and professional presentation of strategies
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Reading List
McKeown, Max (2020), 3rd Edition. The Strategy Book: How to think and act strategically to deliver outstanding results, London: FT Publishing.
Resource List:
https://eu01.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/44UOE_INST/lists/28861774680002466?auth=SAML |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
-Knowledge of strategic planning techniques, and tools for strategic analysis.
-An understanding of the application of these techniques in business contexts.
-An appreciation of the main drivers of strategic change in an organisation.
-Knowledge of approaches to the implementation of strategic change processes.
-At the corporate level they will have particular knowledge of diversification, acquisitions, and the management of a group handling a variety of business units.
-They will be familiar with many examples of successful and less successful strategies.
-They will have extensive knowledge of industry cases, and major types of strategic decisions.
Cognitive Skills:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
-Take a holistic approach to the application of analytical templates and other techniques.
-Analyse cases which approximates closely to the rapid analysis of business situations.
-Rapidly structure ideas and presentations.
-Sift material quickly and efficiently, and to structure it into a coherent argument
-Research material related to companies and business contexts under pressure of tight deadlines.
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| Keywords | MGMT-CS |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Ian Clarke
Tel: (0131 6)50 9505
Email: Ian.Clarke@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Mary Anne Boeff
Tel: (0131 6)50 8072
Email: MaryAnne.Boeff@ed.ac.uk |
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